To one and all, thank you! I raise up my glass of water to all the men, women, and children today and throughout our country's history who have toiled and boiled and troubled to build and maintain our public infrastructure; tend the fields and put food on our tables; create, produce, and sell the goods we use; make sure all business, administrative, and financial services are done; educate and inform us; and perform every other job under the sun. Without sweet willing labor, governments, small businesses, and multinational corporations could not prosper, and the rich could not become filthy rich! May we all have raises tomorrow.  A gal can dream. I am grateful for a national holiday that honors the American worker. And that's what we all are, whether or not we are employed at the moment and whether or not we are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or immigrant workers.  I hope you're all having a nice break from your regular routine. Watching cartoons is a nice break. So, f

See that mess of fabric on the right. I'm almost finally going to turn them into some things. Operative word here is almost . A couple hours ago I ordered more fabric from Sew, Mama, Sew!   Almost 8 yards worth of different happy, calming designs with such names as Good Earth,  Daisy Dance,  Carnations on Gold, and Poppy Parade Brown.  So, once my shipment comes in, I shall drop everything and sew pillowcases. Pillow cases? Yes, pillow cases. I'm going to get off my butt and sew at least seven pillowcases for "A Case for Smiles," a fabulous project sponsored by ConKerr Cancer.  Based in Philadelphia, the nonprofit group delivers donated handmade pillowcases to terminally ill children in hospitals across the United States. The founder is Cindy Kerr who started making pillowcases for her son and other children in the oncology unit in 2002 to help bring smiles to the kids as well as brighten their hospital rooms. According to the ConKerr Cancer Web site, the organization

Like a Hole in the Head by Jen Banbury was the fifth book I read for the Cozy Mystery Challenge . Some reviewers likened the author's work to that of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I think Banbury's style is her own, with comparison to no one in the mystery genre. She caught my attention immediately when I randomly picked her book at the library. "I woke up with a hangover and roof tar on my feet and a vague recollection of pacing around up there half the night. . . ."  That's her first line. Uh-huh. Jill is the name of the main character. She lives in Los Angeles and works at a used bookstore. For the past few years, she has been running away from the memories of her mother's death. Every so often the author cleverly lets some of those memories enter Jill's mind, and we, the readers, learn that her mom was painfully dying from a terminal disease. Her mom may have asked Jill to help put an end to the misery. With that bit of background, it is unde

San Juan Bautista is the next town over to where we live . And, in that darling mission town is where you will find these trees. What kind of trees are they? How old are they? That's what I want to find out. These photos are my contributions to this week's Wordless Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday . Click on over to each site for more contributions on its theme. That is, after you check out mine. :-) Do you see the face in the tree? Can a gnarled tree be gnarly? Anyone else see a figure hugging the tree?

For our last 23rd date , the husband and I decided to go see a movie.  For once, our local theater was showing several that we wanted to see: Inception , Deception , Nanny McPhee Returns , and The Other Guys . Ah, choices. We decided to go with something light, silly, and fun. So, off we went to see the The Other Guys .  All we knew was that it was a farce about cop movies. But we were assured (well maybe the husband was more than me) that anything with Will Ferrell ought to be decently hilarious. We weren't wrong. There were several scenes that had us laughing out loud and long. I ask you, have you ever seen a movie with cops driving a red Prius in a car chase? Ferrell and Wahlberg play two NYPD detectives, who mostly do paperwork. Ferrell's character, Allen Gamble, is happy about it, while Wahlberg's character, Terry Hoitz is furiously not. They are made fun of by the other detectives for not having done any heavy-shooting, car chasing detective work. Terry wants to know

Framed is this week's theme at PhotoHunt. I love the sound of bells. These bells are part of the newer Catholic church in town. They look like they are for show only, but I could be wrong. I hope so.

For this Wordless Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday , I give you a look at the Mama's garden. This is how the mama's garden looked in April of this year. The mama's garden as of last week. Can you see her at work? The mama gave her first gourd of the season  to her friend. The mama chops the banana plants back every winter. By summer they are in full bloom again. The Mama's sunflowers had to be over 12 feet tall, three times taller than her. Today, we celebrate the mama's first day of starting another trip around the sun. Joy!

Chapter and Hearse by Lorna Barrett is the fourth title of the Booktown Mystery series. It's the first one I've read. I doubt I'll read any of the others. The protagonist, Tricia Miles, is the owner of a mystery bookstore in a small (fictional?) town in New Hampshire. That alone ought to be enough for me to enjoy the series. It's not.  I don't care too much for Tricia. She doesn't have much confidence in herself, though she was much better about her worth by the end of the book. After all, her husband dumped her because he went off to Colorado to find himself. A reporter guy likes her, almost stalkingly. The police guy who likes her put their relationship on hold because he decided to care for his ex-wife who is being treated for cancer. To add to that, her older sister is a type A author, bookseller, and cook. So, Tricia does have a lot to get herself out from under. I'm just not curious to see how her life progresses in future books. The plot? The booksto

"Que sera, sera. . ." The husband looked up from the Sunday comics. "Whatever will be, will be. . ." He looked down the hallway. The mama had already wandered out of sight. "That's the first time I heard her sing," said the husband. "She's getting ready to sing tonight at the novena," I said, just as surprised as him. "I don't think they'll be singing that song," he said. "No," I said, "But they should." Unfortunately, the mama didn't have the chance to sing. Her ride never came to take her to the second night of the novena of mourning for her friend. That's a Catholic Church ritual of praying that soothes the souls of the departed's loved ones. My definition. Fortunately, the mama didn't seem to mind that she had been forgotten. She was probably relieved. She did not have to deal with the question that people seem compelled to ask her. How old are you? It's not a question anyone

I'm feeling lazy today. No, that's not true. If I really was lazy, I wouldn't even be writing this. Ha! More precise is this: I'm struggling with words today. If cartoon bubbles could surround my brain cells right now, they would say "puff, puff, puff, fizzzzzzle." This morning a whole lot of sparrows were eating out of the feeders in the front yard today. My brain cells feel like how the sparrows looked as they scattered to the bushes, the fence, and the rooftops when a sharp noise spooked them. Seriously. I sound like a loony tune right now, I know. By writing about it, I'm a loony tune with a spotlight on it. Hmmm, which reminds me of the Bugs Bunny cartoons on Saturday mornings. Do you remember how Bugs and Daffy Duck began the show by singing "This is It!" Don't recall it? Don't know it? Well, then, have a look-see and enjoy. As for me, I'm heading out to the farm stand for some fresh apples.  Maybe by the time I've come bac

Clippity clop, clippity clop. Earlier this summer, the husband and I watched the  Horse Show and Rodeo parade that takes place in our town every year. While waiting for the parade to start, I aimed my camera at the sky. Snappity snap. This was my favorite shot. If you'd like to see photos of the parade, clickity click here to be taken to my Take 25 to Hollister blog. For more Wordless Wednesday photos by other grand bloggers, click here for a list of links.  For photos by other bloggers participating in Outdoor Wednesday , click here .

I believe the husband and I reached another milestone yesterday. We went to the grand opening of Vertigo Cafe in the next town over. We decided to drink our free coffee and eat our croissants on the patio. The husband went out with the coffee to grab the last free table, while I waited for the food. When I came out, he was standing next to the table. "There's only one chair," he said at the same time that I noticed why he had been standing. "We can sit on the bench," he said. That was okay by me. I was in need of coffee and food to break my evening fast. Everything was registering very slow with me. "Take my chair," said a voice behind me. I looked over at a young family. Two small children were perched on chairs. Dad was standing behind his son, and Mom was standing beside her chair. "No, thank you," we said. "We can sit on the bench." "You have a plate," the young mom said. "Besides, we are about to leave." Th

This week, the PhotoHunt theme is orange. To see other photos, click here to tnchick's (our host) site. What Came First: The Color or The Fruit?

Today, I offer you, dear readers, a review of my third entry for the Cozy Mystery Challenge . Four more to go. Actually, I finished Corpse Suzette by G. A. McKevett about three weeks ago. The book has been sitting patiently on my table to be written about for over a week. How time flies! Corpse Suzett e is the 11th book of the Savannah Reid series. Savannah is a 40-ish ex-police officer who turned private eye many years ago. She is based in the fictional town of San Carmelita, which I think could be anywhere on the California central coast.  Originally from Georgia, Savannah loves cooking and eating yummy rich food (think Paula Deen) and is happy about her zaftig size. She has no problem getting around as she sleuths the traditional way. In contrast, Savannah's assistant is a slim, hyper health nut named Tammy, who is also a computer whiz. Savannah's other sidekick is Sgt. Dirk Coulter, her ex-cop-partner who still serves on the local force. Because no one wants to work with

I like it when the husband drives. I hang out the car window, like a happy puppy, clicking away at the scenery. As we were driving home the other evening, the fog was starting to roll over the hills. Click! Today, I'm sharing my photos at Wordless Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday . Head over to those sites to check out links to photo works by other bloggers.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-Ow! Owwww!" "What were you doing?" asked the husband with alarm. No, not a clock. Though, I did ask him to time me for a minute. He saw me get down on the floor, but didn't notice what I was doing. He kept tippity tapping away on his computer, after he said, "Go" and then 60 seconds later, "Stop." I did 48 stomach crunches.  I was soooo impressed with myself since I hadn't done sit-ups in several months. But I didn't think the crunches would cramp me up when I sat down in front of the computer. "Owwwwww." "You silly woman," said the husband. See. That's the kind of sympathy I get after 13 years of marriage. Why was I doing the crunches? It was a test to find out where to start my 200 sit-ups training program . Yep, another challenge. And, yep, you heard me right. 200 sit-ups. The goal is to be able to do 200 sit-ups, one after the other, in 6 weeks or more. You only need to crunch up to a 35-degree

Our child is growing. Til today, she felt shy to go to social events. Now look. Two days. Two parties by herself. Before we know it, our 80ish mama will be dating. --- This is a 160 Character Challenge, hosted by the Monkey Man . Give it a try. What can you write in 160 characters or less? You must count spaces, too.

I'm having fun checking out different blog hops and linky parties around the blogosphere. Today, I've hooked up with two new groups of bloggers.  One is PhotoHunt hosted by tnchick.com. This is my contribution to the pack of photo hunters. PhotoHunt has a weekly theme. "Colorful" is this week's theme. I took this photo at a local diner because of the colors. The second blog hop is called "Saturday Sharing," hosted by Say Anything...Cuz Censorship Sux. There, you link up your favorite post of the week.  Take a look, why don't ya, and maybe link your post, too.

Two rambling Fridays in a row. I don't think I'm dedicating Fridays to non sequitur rambles. At least, not yet, dear friendly readers. I'm afraid to make anything be set in stone about this blog, because once I do that I'm sure to sabotage myself. It's like when I pronounce that I shall lose so many pounds by such a date or start walking the Pacific Crest by such an age. Then, I don't. You would've thought at my age I had outgrown the fear of success. Yes, I said it. Fear of success. Not failure. I'm fine with the knowledge that I might attempt something and fail. I just try again, if it (whatever that is) is something I really want or need to conquer. But, then, you may ask, will I continue to fail short because I won't want to succeed? Good question. Maybe because I'm in the middle of doing it (whatever that is), I'm not spinning my wheels thinking about what may happen if I succeed. Hence,  I make my designated finish line. Wanting and/or

Hanging out at two linky parties today— Wordless Wednesday and Watery Wednesday . Click on the links to check out photos of other bloggers.

Burp. Excuse me. It's past midnight. Dinner was over at six this evening. I am still full. Tonight's dinner was extra rich. I didn't realize it was. Until now. We invited friends over for dinner, and  I wanted to serve something that would be easy to put together and eat because we were going to a meeting afterwards. So, I made fried sirloin beef wontons and shrimp and grits. The grits were cooked with gouda and cheddar cheeses. The shrimps, with a bit of onion and chives, were sauteed in olive oil, and at the last second (freshly cooked) bacon bits were stirred into the mixture.  Fried meat bits. Shrimp. Bacon. Cheeses. Tooo, tooo heavy. I was just not thinking, was I? The shrimp and grits dish was delicious. I followed (kinda) the Smokey Shrimp and Grits recipe at the Whistlestop Cafe Cooking blog. The cook adds creamed spinach to the dish. I didn't. Just as well. Did I mention that we had semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies for dessert? And, that I drank a bottle of F

Yes, indeed. I finished reading my second book for the Cozy Mystery Challenge ! Murphy's Law , by Rhys Bowen, had been sitting in the hallway for almost a year. I bought it after I finished Royal Flush , the last book in Bowen's Royal Spyness series, which was published in July, 2009. Because I was so taken with Bowen's story-telling, I decided to try reading her Molly Murphy series. Murphy's Law is the first in the series. It had won the Agatha, Reviewer's Choice, and Herodotus awards. Molly Murphy is the main character. She is a ballsy, well-educated 24-year old Irish immigrant living in New York during the Tammany Hall times. The story opens with her running away from home because the master's son tried to have his way with her. She had kicked him away and he cracked his head when he fell. Molly got on a train to London and ended up on a ship to America. She took the identity of a dying woman who had persuaded Molly to take the woman's children to their

This morning I woke up with a stuffy nose. The husband stirred beside me. The mama scraped a chair on the floor in the kitchen below. She was either about to eat breakfast or she had finished. "What time do you think it is?" asked the husband. "Time to dust the room," I answered. I got up, picked up my glasses, and headed to the bathroom. As I walked by the stairs, I glanced down at the clock in the living room. 9:30. The mama had slept later than usual. The husband had slept his eight hours. I was lacking again. Oh, well, what does it matter? The three of us have not had to answer to a boss's clock in years. Only our own. My self-discipline comes and goes. There is so much about which to be disciplined. House cleaning, for one. Writing, for another. Finding writing jobs, a third.  Exercising, most indubitably, a fourth. And then there is downsizing our stuff that has been in storage for years now. The list of what I need to work on keeps growing rather than sho

The Octogenarian Pruning Mama I've joined the Wordless Wednesday linky party today. Head on over and check out photos of other bloggers.

Were you wondering what the husband and I finally did on our 23rd date last Friday ? Yes or no, I'm here to tell you. Well, actually to show you some photos of different things we saw as we stopped here and there. Wild chickens are continually crossing the streets in San Juan Bautista. Here's a bee that knows a good thing when it sees it! Taggers will leave their marks on anything standing! Can you see the turtle and the chimpanzee sitting on it? In a fancy boot store in Carmel-by-the-Sea, I peeked at the price tag of a pair of cute ankle cowboy boots. Over $1,000! And, they were not as elaborate as these. I didn't even want to know how much they were. Are those golf balls edible? Probably. Up close, they looked real enough not to eat! Cute handbags. Do you think that arm belongs to the bag or an actual human being? How to describe downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea? Drink and eat, see, shop. Or, coffee house, art gallery, boutique. This is the tallest and hunkiest eucalyptus tree

The spell is broken, thanks to the Cozy Mystery Challenge ! and to the numerous power outages we had yesterday. For most of Sunday, I kicked back in a comfy easy chair and read U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton. Grafton is known for her mystery series featuring Kinsey Millhone, a private detective who works in the fictional town of Santa Teresa, which resembles Santa Barbara. Every year or two since the mid 1980s, Grafton has published another adventure of the 30-ish, tough, and vulnerable Kinsey. Some people call Grafton the alphabet mystery author. Her first book is called A is for Alibi , her second B is for Burglar , and so on.  Four more titles and she'll be out of letters. I wonder if by letter Z that will be the end of Millhone. I hope not. In U is for Undertow , a young man hires Kinsey to check out the truth of his memory. When he was six years old he came across two guys burying something in the woods. He thinks that what he saw was them burying the body of the four-y

Baby robins in our tree in 2009 This morning I was reading this post at Please Be Edible and came across a comment in which the author said that you can feed cat food to wild baby birds, which have been separated from their mamas. I told the husband about the tip. Said the husband, "Revenge is sweet." "Uh, wait," he said, after a long bit of chuckling. "I was thinking of cat meat. That's different." Uh-huh. I got curious and did a search for more details about feeding wild baby birds. It seems like more birds are making nests in our trees, and well, I want us to be ready in case something happens. If you're interested, check out these links: Orphaned Wild Baby Birds , Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine Bird Babies Baby Starling and Sparrow Care

Our 23rd dates seem to come too soon. Not that I'm complaining, I love getting away for the day with the husband. It's just that I have yet to accomplish things on my to-do list that have been there since mumble, mumble . As I'm writing this, the husband and I have yet to decide where to go and what to do. Hiking is out this time because I'm supposed to let my ankle rest. According to the doctor, I have a chronic ankle sprain. I have no idea when I even sprained it. All I know is that since we walked up that mountain in May, I was wrapping it up whenever it hurt to walk on it. When I finally couldn't put pressure on the foot, I decided to go see the doctor. That only took, uhm, two months to give in. "Doctor, Doctor, it hurts when I do this," said the patient. "Then don't do that," advised the doctor. That joke cracks me up every time. My doctor felt up the ankle, gave me a prescription for anti- inflammatory medication, and said, "Don&#

I consider myself a reader. But lately, my reading matter consists of blogs, newspapers, blogs, web sites, blogs, Facebook, and more blogs.  Nothing wrong with that, but I really should spend more time off the computer. The last book I read was a politician's autobiography. Shudder. Talk about a horrible reading experience. Have you ever read a book and got angry about almost everything that the author wrote? I should've put it down after the first page, but I needed to know about this woman since she says that she talks for the real Americans. I'm a real American but nothing she wrote represented my point of view. Bleah! I finished that book about five months ago. I started three books since then. Put each one down after a few pages in. I just could not focus. Five months is a long time for me to go without reading a book. But, that's about to change. To motivate me back to the book path, I signed up today to complete the Cozy Mystery Challenge hosted by Not Enough Bo