25 Ticks, 3 Turtles, and 1 Sweet Baby Boy

Today I was at home all day! Doing more or less just as I pleased! 

What a great "vacation day!" 

Oh, I know I am retired, but the last two months have been hectic. And today I finally just did what I wanted to do. Unfortunately our beagle didn't know I wanted to sleep late, but he sat at the doorway to our bedroom and waited an extra 30 minutes this morning.

Later he came back from his "hunt" in the forest and brought his catch--over 25 crawling ticks! He was immaculately clean, but covered with ticks! When I put him outside every single day I buckle on his tick collar. Not a cheap one from the Dollar Store, but a real jewel from the Vet. Maybe that is why the ticks are dancing around in his clean fur.

While I was combing out the ticks on the front porch, I noticed three huge turtles sun bathing on the banks of our pond. I even had to get out the binoculars to make sure what I was seeing in the distance. I am so glad those three turtles have a good home in our pond. Now if the fish would just jump high enough for us to see them, that would be worth all the distress we experienced with that pond.

And the icing on my day was the birth of Sweet William, my youngest brother and his dear wife's first grandson. This little baby boy is actually William the IV. 

Sweet William and a super sweet day!

Thanksgiving Dinner at Wetcreek

I know, it is supposed to be all about the people, but be honest. Yesterday was all about the food.

No restaurant food today for my nephew W.

And our son J. filled up with home cooking, too.

And then leftovers today! ;)

Thank You

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'Thank You,' that would suffice."

 (Thought to be a quote from Meister Eckhart in the early 1300's. Eckhart von Hochheim O.P. (c. 1260 – c. 1327), commonly known as Meister Eckhart[ˈmaɪ̯stɐ ˈɛkʰaʀt], was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic.)

Be thankful and have a great Thanksgiving Day tomorrow!

Girly Car

Last Spring I saw this girly automobile on one of our walks to the grocery store. As usual, I did not have my camera. Seven months later we made the same walk, but this time I remembered to take along my iPhone. 

And here is one of the girliest vehicles I have ever seen. Pink and flowers and EYELASHES! Now! Now! Ain't that SWEET!

What a profile!

And pink piggies for headrests!

Everybody Ride on my Morning Walk

This is the craziest bike traffic sign I have ever seen:

This sign says all bikes have a green light at the same time. Is that not nuts?

If you look carefully, there is even a countdown to disaster.

Would you trust your kiddoes at this stoplight?

Now for the rest of my walk this morning--

A carpet of fallen leaves.

Typical window dressing for at least 40 years.

Underground garbage disposal. Each bag deposit costs Euro 2.50.

 Is this plastic? I won't check!

This is what you get when you charge so much for depositing garbage. Full public trash bins!

Blogger and Pinterest Friends

In case you think this blog post today is a "pity party," get those thoughts out of your head. I am happy with my life. (Even if the workers do not show up to finish our remodeling before we go back home!!!!)

Back in 1979, I chose to turn my life around. I chose to leave my friends and family and most of my worldly belongings behind and begin a new life with my love in a new land.

Since that time my family has grown, but the friend group has stayed pretty thin. My hub had (and still has) some super friends. They became my friends, too. But "real" friends like I think I had back before my hub, I have not found. 

But I am still trying to make and keep friends.

My iPad has been a great medium for being and staying "friendly." Just last evening we Facetimed with our friends A and J, while our friends M and J were visiting us in our newly remodeled apartment. My mom and I were even in the middle of an iMessage chat while we were Facetiming! (I know what you are thinking, but this situation with the technology is rare. I do not walk or drive while texting, and in fact my iPhone is rarely even turned on.)

In the last few months I have made some good Blog and Pinterest friends. Although the whole idea may seem creepy to some folks, I do not feel "creeped" out at all. If I notice something peculiar about a follower (or friend), I know that I have the possibility to block them or stop following them. In other words, I can "unfriend" them. But luckily that has been the exception instead of the case.

Every morning when I turn on my iPad I look forward to seeing if my Wetcreek and Wetcreek Museum blogs have gotten Comments. Then I begin to read the blogs that I follow. I comment when I think I should, and even stop following when I realize I really am not interested in the blog. The texts and projects and photos give me the kind of friendship that I missed for many years. My hub even gets to listen to my recounting of my "blog friends'" stories and lives.

I hope you are not sitting reading this and saying " oh, how sad." Because it isn't sad! I cherish the friends I have made on both Pinterest and Blogger. 

Ideally your friends should live next door or down the street, but mine are right here in my lap. 

On my iPad!!!

No Toilet Tomorrow Night!

Last night we almost ate our babi pangang and bami with our fingers out of the plastic containers. You guessed it, we had no access to our kitchen. And guess who forgot to rescue forks, knives, spoons, and plates from our kitchen before the floor guys forbid us to walk across the newly oiled wooden floors!

After picking up our Chinese dinner, we realized that we needed utensils and dinnerware. So back to the grocery store for plasticware it was!

Tonight we are sleeping in the living room. We can still make it through the rubble and dust to our bathroom, but that will not be the case tomorrow night. We will have to play hopscotch with polishing clothes to get to the toilet. 

And we are supposed to have a sleep-over guest. 

Pajama party at our age? Hope she doesn't mind :P