Found a rabbit hole ...

I am taking a side trip down a different rabbit hole. Don't worry if I miss more days. I signed up for the Kindle Unlimited. I was reading a saga about a lady in my favorite era - WW1 and I have four books of it waiting for me.

Okay, so I am a bit selfish in my old age, but I do love to read and I hear there are no plug-ins on the other side of the dirt (no wifi either).

Later, friends, I'll peek in from time to time, until I get sick of this little tablet. Happy shopping, etc!

Y'all take care!

Letter from home, November 25, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Some time has passed since I last wrote. I hope you are doing well, or as well as can be expected. 

Today would have been my mother's 99th birthday. I cannot begin to imagine how her life would have been if she had lived til now. Circumstances and life choices made for a rough go of it for her. I can only wish it would have been better for her.

Mom in 1994 with generations

 
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I guess my youngest is coming to visit. I really don't have anything big planned. I did, however, take a stab at cleaning the floors yesterday, as I no longer have a helper. Every muscle in my legs aches and I am not going to even think of trying to work over a hot stove for dinner. I remember years ago of cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for most of the crew, all they did was show up. I should have done something about that. Well, by now they know first hand that it's not easy, it's not cheap, and it's more work than they really want to do. I know longer hear, "Are you cooking?" Forgive me, this is just an old woman rambling on about circumstances in her life.

We have had our killing frost, three nights in a row actually and autumn is withdrawing in favor of the winter weather. Brr! We had a low of 20F twice, which is a shade unusual for this early.

Jill has taken up sleeping with me. She likes to get under the top blanket, aligning herself with my legs. She makes for a rather large 'hot water bottle' and that's okay. Guess I will have winters of a one dog night from now on. I still haven't found a 3/4 bed. LOL.

I'm still reading lots of fiction. I read many of the free books on Smashwords.com and the supply seems endless. True, some of them aren't that great, spelling can be a problem, grammar can be a problem, BUT I read something memorable every day. It amazes me that there are so many good stories out there! As far as I am concerned, it's the content that counts.

I'm thinking of my friends out there, going through trials of their own and wishing them the very best. 

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all.

I love videos, BUT ...

I also pay a lot for my GBs of wireless service. I hate to remind folks who live where they have fast and unlimited service that I don't and there are still lots of people out there who are in the same position.

Once I click on a video, it begins to load and even though I may not want to watch 18 minutes of politics, or 5 minutes of some unknown singer, or even 3 minutes of cute puppies sitting under a tree barking - I am paying for whatever comes in. I have to be a "Quick Draw" to shut the bleep thing off!

I know that I am a little gun-shy, as far as clicking on things of interest. I also know that I would watch more of your fun things and recipes and educational items IF I knew ahead of time how much of my precious GBs would be used. Would it be too much trouble if I asked you to time your videos and write it in the beginning where I (we) can see it before clicking? I have noticed that a very few of you do this, and I thank you!

It started as a plain blah sunset ...

After the edge of the storm ...

Yesterday

Yesterday, I posted early and then my day began. Before sunrise, the sky was something else. It looked as if the artist had a heavy hand with the paint. I was delighted.

You can see our truck in the front. DH has it sitting in the front yard with a 'For Sale' sign in the window. Needless to say, the artwork was long gone before the sun actually rose. (I was ready though, for something truly spectacular)

A few hours later, Jill said she had to go outside and as I opened the front door, we were surprised to see a tall white-haired, bearded man at the top of the porch steps. Jill and I were both startled. Immediately bristling, Jill went out the door with me screaming, "Jill, Jill, it's okay!" I could see the man had someone there looking over the truck. She panicked. I could see she was between a rock and a hard place - wanting to protect her mommy and needing to evacuate her bowels. (And me worrying about her thinking about biting the man) As soon as I could, I got her back into the house - dripping on the floor. She came in, ashamed yet angry about the 'intruder.'

It goes without saying, that Jill gives the full meaning to the phrase, "Scared sh*tless" and I had a bit of clean up. It was not the first time, if you remember the first time her daddy took her for a ride in the little red convertible... 

The man didn't buy the truck, I was exhausted, and Jill spent the better part of the day upset. I'm hoping for a better day today. How about you?

Jill and the monkey

Jill 111516

Jill has a new toy, a monkey or maybe it's supposed to be a gorilla I don't know. Tonight I found her with the monkey, a teddy, and a puppy in my bed. She likes to lay up there and watch me at my desk. Actually, she goes where I do, carting her latest 'favorite' baby. Tonight it was the monkey. I often find them in my bed. I don't mind one or two, but there is a limit you know. She couldn't believe I tossed all three of them on HER bed when she decided to go to sleep. The look said, "Of all the nerve!" I just have to love my Jill, even if she tears the bed apart making a nest for her toys and leaves them there at bedtime.

I have been reading, get this - Western Romance! I have read nearly all of the free Smashwords selection under that heading. It's fun to fantasize and want a "Do-over" I think I would make a successful mail order bride, LOL. I have finished most of the free Regency books, not so sure about wanting to live back then - I don't believe I could be that prim and proper. Most modern day romance isn't all that great unless the characters travel or are out of the city. I am not all that thrilled with modern technology or the crowds. Not much to fantasize about ... I did notice a lot of things about the authors, a lot of them make their main characters writers and they are successful. Also some are rich and they spend their money. They have a fantasy all their own, LOL! Nothing wrong with that, it just doesn't sound realistic enough to be caught up in the story.

Last bit of news and I hope you can take the shock - I have been getting food catalogs in the mail and I am considering ordering some for Christmas. This old Bah Humbug can hardly believe it herself. The urge may only last as long as long as I don't watch any of those dad-gummed commercials on TV.

New day starting, have a good one!

Setting us up for the chill

We're having quite a nice day today, mostly sunshine, a light breeze, and 72F. What is not to love? True, it is not going to stay this way, but this fall has been better (warmer) than last fall.

Looks like we will get our first frost this week, we have been fortunate that it stayed away as long as it did. We usually have first frost in October.

I hope you are having pleasant weather, wherever you are.

Power... pfft!

I'm sitting here in the dark. I guess the power company is working on something. The lights, heat, and puckity quit working at 12:00.

Bless 'em. It's getting a tad chilly in here. I thought I would read a bit and play a bit as long as I was so rudely awakened by the bleeeeeeep of the shut-off warning on my puckity, I guess I had slept just enough to be wide awake now.

They should have us "lit up" in a few hours. I suppose I will find out how long the non-replaceable batteries will last in my hat. I have no idea where another flashlight is. :-) Looks like they are dimming already. Haha. Cheap junk.

Have a Good Sunday!

SAD light

Daylight savings time ended on Sunday. That brought quite a shock to my weakening system as the days had been becoming shorter and shorter as autumn progressed. It happens to me every year, so it was no surprise. I, like so many others, seem to depend on sunshine. This year, I bought a SAD light with hopes of lessening my bouts of seasonal depression.

I will say one good thing about the light, it has me making a more regular wake-up time on my own without benefit of a startling alarm clock that had me pushing the snooze button and feeling worse about waking up. It does take some getting used to doing it on schedule, but if I'm up on my own - what can I say.

This particular light has three different brightness settings and three different timer settings. Now, I don't know if this type of light therapy is proven or not. I just know that to wake up willingly and not drag out of bed works for me.

This thing is really white, but the room light is on because it's overcast.

This is the 'HI' setting

This is the 'LOW' setting

  You do NOT look directly at it, the light is set to the side. I look at my computer and the light faces between me and my monitor. These lights come with detailed instructions. I'm just telling you what helps me face the day since the days have shortened. Your results may vary.