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.

WINDOW THROUGH WHICH WE LOOK

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.
The next morning while they are eating breakfast, The young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry,
The young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a Nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and Cleaned our windows."

Reno - part two

During the Gun Blogger Rendezvous held in Reno Nevada, a couple of weeks ago, we had a day at the range to introduce "Steel Challenge" to the folks who were interested. There were two stages set up, so all could shoot the stages and find out for themselves just how much fun it was.
I really enjoyed seeing the smiles on the faces of the shooters, as lead met the metal targets and the shooters were challenged to shoot five steel targets, hitting all in the shortest possible time.
When Mr C gets time, he will have a post on the day with more pictures to share.

Reno visit part one

Last week we in Reno Nevada for the fourth Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and were gifted with the bonus of seeing the Reno balloon Races.

We were delighted to watch around 100 hot air balloons take to the skies over Reno, Nevada for The Great Reno Balloon Race. Since 1982, this event has attracted visitors from all over.
The Glow Show was on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, but you had to be at the park to view it. At 5am from our bedroom window on the 28th floor of our hotel room, I could see just the tops of a couple of the glowing balloons above the trees in the distance.

At 6:45a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I watched the Mass Ascension of balloons launched from Rancho San Rafael Park.
Among the uniquely shaped balloons I saw at the event this year, were the Energizer Bunny, Smokey the Bear, Tony the Tiger, a Panda Bear, and a stage coach.
I have finally had my wish granted to see a mass of beautiful and unusual shaped balloons quietly drifting against a brilliant blue sky.

We are back in the real world

We are back (a day late, due to mechanical problems with the plane) from our visit to Reno. We are both very tired, but had a great time.
During the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and also from an online raffle, we sold tickets to raise money for ProjectValour-It , and are proud to say many dollars were raised for this most worthy cause.

I have many, many photos to edit, and as soon as I can, I will begin on some posts ASAP

Six days of R&R

Tomorrow, bright and early 5am *groan* we will be waiting for the shuttle which will be taking us to Seatac. From Seatac we fly to Reno to attend The Gun Blogger Rendezvous.
There is a LOT of talk about firearms, shooting etc. you know, guy talk. After a while I glaze over and escape to the casinos. I am one of those people who only takes a certain amount of money to gamble (and it's not much) and have fun with. This time I am going with the intention of winning BIG and retiring. Well! it could happen you know *chuckle*
This is the third year for the Rendezvous and promises to be the best yet. We are raising funds to help our wounded veterans, a very worthy cause indeed.

Garden snakes can be dangerous

Garden Grass Snakes also known as Garter Snakes (Thamnophissirtalis) can be dangerous. Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. Here's why............

A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze.

It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants. When it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.

She let out a very loud scream.

The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind. He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor.

His wife thought he had had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance. The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on the stretcher, and started carrying him out.

About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.

The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief. But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa.

The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her. The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.

The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.

By now, the police had arrived. Breathe here......

They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake.

The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.

Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.

The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.

Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire department. The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires, put out the power, and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area (but they did get the house fire out).

Time passed! Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was right with their world.

A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The wife asked her husband if he thought they should bring in their plants for the night.

And that's when he shot her.

Thanks to Gail

Whidbey Roundup

I have the privilege to live on beautiful Whidbey Island, and wish to share with you some of the lovely places I visit as I travel the roads.

There was the promise of a beautiful day ahead as the fog drifted in over the ocean, obliterating the sun, then fading away to let the warmth of the sun, kiss the sand on the beach.

Piles of driftwood giving protection to wildflowers and grasses

A couple of birds, probably sandpipers, foraging for food in the tidal pools.

Visitors to the beach have constructed shelters from driftwood, or perhaps they are forts built by children.

Progress report on my new garden

Early June 2009 I started work on my new Shade garden. Here is a slide show from the beginning up until 8/31/2009. I still have plenty more to do before it will be finished, that is, if a garden is ever complete. Us gardeners are inclined to change our minds about the location of plants, and of course we are always buying new plants to add to our gardens.

I have moved plants from the flower bed in front of the house into the shade garden, and planted quite a few hellebore which were in pots, into the terraced beds and alongside the path which leads down the incline. I am anxious to see how this is all going to look next year, after the plants have had a chance to settle in and put on a spurt of growth in the spring and summer. A friend has offered some ferns from her place so I had better get my shovel and go dig them and get them into the ground before the cool weather gets here.

Makeover completed

The three pots I bought in a garage sale yesterday, (look at the previous post to see how shabby they looked) have been made over using a couple of cans of spray paint, formulated for use on plastic. Next spring I will have fun deciding what plants and the color combinations will grace these pots. Now I am thinking all my older pots are looking kinda' sad and also need a makeover. I will put that task on my to do list.

A day off for fun

This morning Mr C and I decided to go garage sale hopping, and we both found a few treasures to bring home.

I found the large flower pots, the book and the fish shaped serving (for lack of a better word) dish, at separate garage sales. The pots will get a good scrubbing, then painted using a can of the special paint made especially for plastics. I have in mind to use some nice bright colors on them so they will be a focal point in my garden. As I glanced briefly through the book before deciding to buy it, I found there was some very useful information on growing vegetables, and for a dollar I couldn't go wrong.

When I saw this fish shaped 'thing' sitting on a piece of plywood with other merchandise for sale, I was immediately intrigued. What on earth is that, I asked myself? The woman who was hosting the yard sale came by, so I asked her about this unusual 'object D' art' I was told that it came from Mexico and it was used in restaurants to hold, and keep food hot. A can of Sterno was placed inside the mouth of the fish and lit to keep the top of the server hot. H'ors deurves were then placed in the center section, while tooth picks filled the sections at either end. I don't know if I will ever use it as intended, which would certainly be a talking point at a party, or if it will end up as garden art. I nearly forgot to tell you, that I also bought a nearly new push lawnmower for $2 I have wanted one to mow the grass in front of the vegetable garden, but did not want to pay around $85 for a new one. Mr C is going to adjust the blades so it will do a better job, and I will be able to keep the grass under control. The rabbits are way too slow in doing their part to help *grin*

As we were driving down a narrow road after perusing yet another yard sale, I had Mr C stop our car, so I could snap a picture of the bird houses adorning the tops of the fence posts surrounding a garden.
That was our fun morning, and to top it off, we stopped a Dairy Queen for a Blizzard treat.

California trip

Last .Wednesday Mr C and I flew down to Burbank CA, picked up a rental car and drove to Valencia, where we stayed until Saturday. Mr C competed in the World Steel Challenge which was held on a range about a half hour drive from the hotel, at a place called Piru.

Thursday morning Mr C was to compete, and we had to be out at the range very early, so he could register for the match as we arrived too late the night before to do so. As we drove to the range I noticed this finger of fog slowly drifting in over the hills down into the valley we were passing through.

The fog thickened as we drove along, but did not drift in over the road. It was a pretty sight indeed. This is a very dry, hot, dusty place except for the areas which are irrigated for the various crops being grown.I saw chili peppers, tomatoes, oranges, and other crops I could not name, as I saw them from our vehicle, as we drove along.

The day after Mr C Competed, we once again drove to the range to watch more of the competitors shoot. Not far from this orange grove is a fruit stand, where last year we stopped so I could buy some freshly picked oranges. I was sorely disappointed as they were not at all very sweet.

As we made the turn onto a side road which led to the range, this herd of horses came ambling towards us, so we had to stop and wait, until they passed on by.

A section of the range.

The building front you see, are set up for Cowboy action shooting, but was not part of the weeks events.

There was a Steel Challenge stage set up behind the western store fronts.

The last day on the range was quite warm, in the upper 80's, which was a whole lot better than last year when we had to suffer temperatures in the 100 degree range. The only complaint, well almost the only one, is that the wind came up whipping up the fine dust, which found its way into our eyes, down the top of our shirts sticking to our damp sweaty skin. I was very happy to arrive back at the hotel to take a nice long shower and wash all the grit off myself.

Sighhhh!

Yes, that is a sighhhh! of relief you hear.

Last night and into early this morning, we have had a good soaking rain.

The plants and critters seem happy to see this downpour.
I watched a little finch sitting on a branch in the rain, fluffing it's feathers and preening for all it's worth, and happy flocks of birds were bathing in the puddles on the driveway leading to the house.

Visitors to my garden