“I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it./I’m about to lose control and I think I like it….” Who remembers that 1982 song and which group sang it?  Why am I so excited? Today I received an email from Baker Creek that my heirloom seed order, which I placed yesterday, is in the mail. Yi-haw!  Here’s what I ordered. Veggies 1. Blauhilde Bean (climbing) and Cantare Bean (bush, la la la la) 2. Abashi Bittermelon (from Okinawa) 3. Orchard Baby Sweet Corn (this with Blauhilde will be part of the Husband’s Three Sister plot) 4. Nagasaki Long Eggplant 5. Serpente de Sicilia Cucuzzi (a long, pale green gourd, which from the photo looks like the Filipino tabongow) 6. Job’s Tears (seems you can make rosary beads out of this grain) 7. Ishikura Bunching Onion 8. Banana Sweet Pepper Flowers 9. Canterbury Bells, rainbow mix 10. Candyfloss Red Cosmos 11. Twinkles Phlox 12. Ki No Mai Stock (butter-creme yellow, so stated the description) 13. Hopi Sunflower (supposedly the Hopi used the ...

These are some of the things that I find frightful these days: 1. ignorance 2. misinformation 3. sheep mentality 4. bitterness 5. stupidity 6. greed 7. anonymous threats 8. mean spiritedness 9. “alternative facts” 10. complacency 11. narcissism  12. evangelism 13. fascism Our primary election in California is in March, less than two months away!  It astounds and disgusts me that a lot of people believe the current top GOP presidential candidate represents who they are. Shudder.  May humanity prevail. Being Thursday, I’m linking up with Thursday 13 . Come check out other bloggers with me. 

On this fourth day of the new year:   1. No resolutions did I make to break by today. 2. I figured out what the “auto sense” feature is all about on our new washing machine. The machine is sousing the clothes with water before filling up the basket. That is as high tech as this non-smart washer gets. Thank goodness. 3. Health Benefits, which is reported to be a fake insurance company, has been calling our landline at least once a day for the past couple of weeks or so. I can’t decide if the caller is a machine or a real person. Today I responded by saying nothing after the initial hello. When the voice asked, “Are you there?” I responded, “Are you there?”    Click went the other end. I did not hang up until I heard another click and a dial tone. Next time, I’ll ask the voice to verify herself. 4. I took my first dose of medicine this morning to deal with isolated systolic hypertension, which is when the top number is high while the bottom number is normal. Dr. B has been ...

Here are some of the highlights of my 69th adventure around Apo Init, aka El Sol, aka The Sun. For the wanna-knows, the first language in that sentence is Ilocano, the second, in Spanish, and the last, English, the  three languages with which I’m familiar (Spanish, a little bit, and Ilocano in memory). Without further distractions. . . . 1. Knee-haw! Sing, my left knee joint, was renewed with titanium and plastic parts. The 14th of December will mark the prosthesis’ first anniversary. The first step I took after surgery told me I made the right decision to trust Dr. G to open up my leg, saw off the bad parts, insert a new prosthesis, and close up the incision. Did I have to get so graphic?  2. For sale. Good friend L and I held two yard sales to sell our mothers’ collections of stuff. I’m already thinking about what to do differently for our next yard sale. This last one, which was on Saturday, for example, I got artsy-fartsy with the signs, one of which someone either stole...

My list of fun stuff that I want to create this year continues to grow. For this week’s  Thursday 13 , I  share the 13 new things I recently added to my list. Sew new curtains for L Studio. The above photo shows some of the fabric I’m putting together. Sew an iron board cover. Make bookmarks out of fabric scraps and beads. Reupholster Mama’s love seat that Mama bought in the 1960s. I love this ratty tatty love seat. Sew a garden apron with deep pockets. Grow dahlias. This year I started the seeds in eggshells and they actually popped up. I transferred 21 sprouts into individual tiny pots. So far, so good. Make a jar of pickled bamboo called atchara the way Mama did. Sew a dress of many colors. (This will be the year I do it, by golly!) Paint at least one mural on the fence. Make concrete steps for garage. Paint the garage door. Paint a wall mural in the hallway bathroom. Make Asian dumplings from scratch, except for the wrappers. To check out other Thursday 13   part...

(1) True confessions, as opposed to false: If I don’t publish this post today, I will have two unfinished Thursday posts.   Keep on chugging along, Su-sieee! Mac.  (2) Do you have a day of the week in which you have a lot of physical and mental energy? Thursday is usually when I feel self-motivated, creative, and productive. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been the other days.  (3) This morning was quite fruitful. I pedaled my under-table bike for 10 minutes or so before breakfast, then later followed a short Qigong video. I must’ve unblocked some energy. The Husband found me dancing to golden oldies while getting ready for my physical therapy session.  (4) Today was my last prescribed PT session. Eight weeks, twice a week, 30 minutes, more or less. I don’t believe Sing 2.0 would be as sturdy and assured as she is today without a professional showing me how to stretch and strengthen her. (Sing is my left knee who got her joint replaced two months ago.) The surgeon...

(1) Be forewarned, I'm talking a lot about Sing in this Thursday 13 post. Sing is my titanium and plastic left knee joint. Yep, by golly, I am anthropomorphising (what a long word!)  my artificial joint. Sing a song of sixpence. . . . (2) Sing celebrated her sixth week anniversary yesterday, Wednesday, by revealing her name to me.  Whoot, whoot!  (3) I’m now up to 20 minutes of steady heel-toe, heel-toe around the neighborhood with a walking stick, no less. Knee-haw! There’s definitely a difference in my gait with Sing taking the lead. I feel like I’m walking stronger and surer. My right knee joint isn’t protesting too much, thank goodness.  (4) Spoiler alert: My future artificial right knee joint will be called Song. Hence, one day in the near future, with Sing and Song, I shall be hiking through meadows, crossing creeks, and climbing mountain trails. Ahhh. Delightful.  (5) Another milestone: I drove Sally Forth today. After our walk, the Husband and I ju...

Hi ya! Yes, today is Friday. Before I could publish this post yesterday afternoon, the Internet server went down. As was the cable, it turned out. Nothing until this morning. Without the iPad and TV, the Husband and I had a wonderful time reading, talking, and not falling asleep on the couch. Old-time doings, to do more often.  So, on with yesterday’s post. See ya. . . . This week, LeeAnna, hostess of I Like Thursday , asked participants if and how they make lists. Yep, I certainly do, especially when I have a bunch of things to remember or I need to seriously keep myself focused on task. Lately, except for writing things we need at the supermarket, I’ve an aversion to list making. Not much gets done when that happens.  So, today, I’m encouraging myself with a list of thirteen things to tell myself when I hesitate to try, start, do, and finish stuff. You can do it! Keep on keeping on. Onward and upward. Take one step. Take another. Now another. Breathe.  Center of the Ear...

  (1) Heel, toe. Heel, toe. That’s my mantra as I learn to walk with my new left knee joint. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. (2) My usual way of walking is shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, scrape, dang, stubbed toe. I definitely want to kick that habit. (3) I’ve learned a new set of acronyms and technical terms related to knee replacement surgery. TLKR stands for total left knee replacement, which is what I had. ROM stands for range of motion. The goal is to have a ROM of 0 to 120 degrees, with zero being a straight knee. To do most normal activities, I need to bend my knee at least 120 degrees.  (4) Extend, bend. Extend, bend. Another new mantra of mine.  (5) Yesterday marked three weeks since my TLKR surgery. Yes, it already seems so long ago. I’m glad I did it during the winter. All the rain and cold temperatures keeps me from working in the yard. Okay, I admit I sacked leaves the other day. It was great knee bending practice.  (6) Did you know that many, if not all, U.S. insuran...