Not for me thankyou all the same.

OK I can stop whining about not having anything to blog about, well at least for today.
On my way home from work today, I took a detour to the beach at Double Bluff to see the kite boarders. We can actually see them in the distance, about a couple of miles as the crow flies, from our house, but this time I was lucky to see them up close, and I just happened to have my camera with me.

I think this person was getting ready to launch, or whatever the term is.

At the other end of the line is this quite large kite. The kites come in different shapes and colors, and it is great to see many of the kite boarders out skimming the waves at one time.

This kite boarder was trying to get the kite under control as the strong, and I might say, cool wind whipped in towards shore. Whenever we see onshore winds from the house, we look for kite boarders, as these are the winds they like.Think about it, if they had offshore winds, they could be blown waaaaay out into Puget Sound, now they wouldn't want that, would they?

A kite boarder coming back in, after an enjoyable ( I am surmising) time.

Hang in there , don't want to lose it *chuckle*

I love to watch as the guys speed across the choppy water having the grandest time.

You can see the stormy weather conditions we are having today.
As I drove back home it started to rain, and as I neared the halfway point to the house the rain was coming down to the point where it was difficult to see out the windshield.

Ugene, or perhaps it is Eugene ( sorry if I miss-spelled your name ) Was kind enough to pose for a picture. You can see the wet weather gear they wear for protection from the elements, and they sure need those warm suits today.
Kite boarding looks like a fun sport, but as I am not much of a swimmer, I think I will pass *grin*

Not much happening right now

I haven't had much to say or anything to blog about this last week. I have been working a few more hours a week at work (so much for semi-retirement) and also getting ready for a couple of weeks vacation in November. More to come about the vacation soon
I am posting using a very small notebook which I will take on vacation with me. This keyboard is a teeny tiny thing compared to the one I use on my regular PC and I can see where anyone with large fingers would have a frustrating time trying to type, as they would be hitting two keys at the same time. I plan on using this notebook so I get used to it.

My eyes are opened

HANDBAGS
Have you ever noticed girls who set their handbags on public toilet floors, then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a lot! It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress. Sometimes 'what you don't know will hurt you'!

Read on.............
Mom got so upset when guests came in the door and plopped their handbags down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said that handbags are really dirty, because of where they have been.

It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our handbags, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day.

'I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a lot,' says one woman. 'On! The floor of my car, and in toilets.' 'I put my handbag in grocery shopping carts and on the floor of the toilet,' says another woman 'and of course in my home which should be clean.'

We decided to find out if handbags harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake , and then we set out to test the average woman's handbag.

Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their handbag. Most said at home they usually set their handbags on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their handbags were at least a little bit dirty.

It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.

Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick.

In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. 'There is fecal contamination on the handbags' says Amy. Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier handbags than those without, with one exception.

The handbag of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. 'Some type of feces, or possibly vomit' says Amy.

So the moral of this story is that your handbag won't kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat.. Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.

Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. 'If you think about putting a pair of shoes on your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your handbag on the countertops.' Your handbag has gone where individuals before you have walked, sat, sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc!

Do you really want to bring that home with you?
The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a handbag will help. Wash cloth handbags and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags.

It pays to carry a camera with you

Yes indeed, it does pay to have a camera with you when you travel the roads, as you go about your daily business. I may have missed this stunning shot if I forgotten to place the camera on the front seat of my car, and waited until next week. You never know when a wind storm will come up and whip all that glorious color from the trees.

Clammy but beautiful

Click on the picture for a better view.

As I drove through a rural area this morning on my way to work, I couldn't resist taking this photo from the car. As Usual, my camera was on the passenger seat, as you never know when a photo opportunity may arise.
On this small farm is rolling acreage where the owner raises sheep, and as I drove along the road beside the farm, I could see the sheep happily grazing the rich green grass, while the damp fog drifted in and swirled around the farmhouse and out buildings.

I have been waiting for this day

The first thing I would do after greeting my client each week when I went to her home, was to look at her orchid.
A few weeks ago this lovely flower was just a small bump on the stem, and today I was delighted to see the first of three flowers in bloom.

I am on top of the cleanup chores this year

It has been a cleanup day around the yard today. I took 24 cuttings from some of the plants and shrubs in the garden so I will have some nice new plants next spring. One in particular is a gorgeous dark purple geranium. I took five cuttings of this one and hope they all grow, although that is not always the case. The vegetable garden is pretty much cleaned up, except for spreading some straw on the raised beds to protect them throughout the winter.
The gutters over the front door have been cleaned out, and a messy job it was. Mr C and I are discussing placing some specially made foam inserts in the gutters to keep all the leaves and pine needles out, but it is rather expensive stuff, so we will buy a few lengths at a time.
The pine needles have been raked up from under the tree which grows by the front door, and swept from the front porch, but dang if the wind didn't come up about the time I scooped the last bucket full up, so I will have more needles to sweep up. You know what they say about "no rest for the wicked" I guess I must be really wicked.

This week the weather is supposed to be 60F + degrees so I will endeavor to get some more compost spread on the rest of the garden. It is a race against time, to get everything done before the weather is too cold to work outdoors.

There is a nice large stack of books sitting next to my favorite chair just waiting to be read. I have been collecting books for a few weeks now, usually buying them at yard sales or at the local thrift store. Yesterday, I bought 10 books for a dollar at the local Eagles yard sale, what a great find.
I am almost ready to hibernate in front of a nice cheery fire with my books for the winter, which is not my favorite time of year.