Kings of the Sea



"Now hear this, there will be no more shoving and barking. . . listen up!!"

"Listen and Learn!! "

Are you talking to me?     who is that big tall guy with the camera.  He's getting awfully close!



"Those on the barge think they rule the roost...listen to them barking...sound like a pack of dogs.   Oh, oh.....you fell off....so......you can't take up all the room"





Our day trip yesterday was to Crescent City, the Harbor and the wonderful Fish and Chip restaurant.  John had his new camera and took some pictures for his blog.   I stole a peek and thought they should be shared on my blog....he agreed....and here they are.     The Sea Lions are huge, fat, barking animals and they are close knit.  They juggle for space and it has been known one tosses the other into the sea without so much as a 'how do you do?';    they manage to climb the huge rocks and sit up on the tarmac of one of the parking lots.   One of these days they will probably realize if they cross the street they will be on the ocean side and on the beach where they can go play in the waves.    It really is fun to watch them.   Yesterday there was more than one making a barking noise , a rather catchy tune to them, we would need ear muffs after awhile.

I love to watch them.    If you come this way remember to stop for fish and chips and a look at these wonderful specimens.     So ugly they are beautiful.    Hope you are having fun today.    Keep smiling!  Hugs to all.

New

A new momma . . .  a spry little colt, what a cutie.    



I think I like this little hovel almost as much as I like tree houses.    What fun it would be to have a play house like this in the back yard for the children to play in.     In my day it was an old chicken house which Pa converted into a play house with a dutch door and windows that could be pulled up inside and hooked into the ceiling.    So many summer hours of playing paper dolls, and hikes out into the field for stickers to make doll furniture.     The closest we ever got to a tree house was climbing a cherry or an apple tree and sit on the high limbs pretending we were living in a castle.   Ah, imagination a good tool to grow on.

So today use your imagination and do some day dreaming of how to spend your seconds today.    How can it be Friday already, a weekend coming up to enjoy . . . time just has a will of its own and sometimes it just flies by and leaves us wanting more.    Then there are times when it seems to stand still and we wish it would speed up . . .guess it all depends on what is going on in our lives and we find that time is not of our choice but one all its own.    Take time to plot and plan to use time to your advantage and then make sure you equal it out and make some 'down ' time for yourself.   It is what makes your world go around.   Wish I could remember the adage of 'time to live, time to die, time to laugh and time to cry'  ;  live each second as it comes and enjoy each and every one of them fast or slow . . . just go with the flow.    Hugs to all.

Erin

Erin used her ticket and she and Donaleo are in Rome .  She was on Skype with her mother last evening saying it was three a.m. there and they were staying at a hostel near the Vatican.  They were both starving and waiting for a restaurant to open so they could 'fill up' and then go sight seeing.    Excitement runs high and I am betting they learn to put a little snack bar in their pack as they go adventuring.  I wish I were with them, imagine the wonderous sights they will see today.
More later . . . J.

Friendship

Yesterday a friendship attachment came in with these beauties.   So know that I am sending each and everyone of you a friendship bouquet;   wish it could be a live one at your door, but beggars cannot be choosers and this one picture of beautiful roses says it all . . . thank you for being my friend.

I don't know if you have ever had lox and bagel for your breakfast but I can attest to the fact that it is just as tasty at five in the morning as at noon time or even dinner time.     Jock and Pat's friend Rob came up with a special recipe and canned lox for his future use and in the course of their dinner conversation while imbibing in a special taste of the lox and bagel, Pat mentioned that her mother was a lover of bagels and lox and ordered it whenever there was a restaurant that served them.     She's right, I was introduced to them when I ate at the Brothers Jewish deli in Sacramento many years ago;  in fact I had them earlier as I grew up in a neighborhood with a league of nations neighbors and it was exchange day so many holidays that we had a taste of all kinds of delicacies.   But, I particularly remember going to the deli at least once a week just for the special treat;   Then there was dark round pumpernickel bread filled with slices of roast beef and ,of course, a huge dill pickle right from a big round barrel .  Not too long ago we had a Jewish restaurant here in Brookings but they didn't stay long.  They served bagel and lox and I was a favorite customer.   So, to make a long story shorter, Rob immediately got a jar of his lox and sent it home with Pat for me . . . yum, and there is not a tiny piece left.    I wonder if Rob takes orders!

Well I am in a quandary as the computer picture program seems to be working and uploading the pictures I want to share with you on the blog.  The only problem is only one pictures comes out, where the rest go is any ones guess.  They don't seem to be anywhere I can attach to.    I would love to tell you I have learned more about using the electronic devices but I am still a kindergartner and haven't advanced beyond the basics.    "they" , the wonder wizards of the computer program, keep making changes and I have to wonder what they did, where did they put my 'old' stuff , the familiar, the stuff I know what to do with . . . but it is an unsolvable mystery.  I need a little computer geek sitting by my side.   There should be a special area for octogenarians that has a bright red button that tells them not to touch our computers.   They have no idea how fragile we are.

So today Thursday all day, with a big storm heading along the coast promising snow, but, if it is our usual snow fall then we will have a bit of slush on the road here on the coast, but, inland they are going to have enough to shovel.   It is winter.   Snow is inevitable and usually expected and enjoyed.     So if you are one of the lucky ones traipsing around in snow piles, put a smile on your face, a song in your heart and shovel away.    Make your seconds memory builders and stay dry as you do not want the flu that is going around.  I hear it is a nasty one.    Stay healthy and happy and make today special  . . . just like you.    Hugs to all.

Travel

A fantasy;  a giant hand with many fingers groping the earth;   friend Angie posted this on her Facebook and thanked Kevin of USGS for the sharing the picture.   There were no words to tell what it is, but coming form a geologist it has to be a river spreading over the earth.   I've never seen anything like this.  Nature, an artist, at work.  When I worked for USGS many years ago, the geologists had many pictures of the valley and the other areas they were mapping and writing up their findings.   They had some of Honey Lake and the Bay area and Lake Tahoe and Washoe Valley.    Each picture in their study was always a form of art in itself.    I remember one of our geologist had a picture of Washoe Valley and the meanderings of the water that followed a pathway from the Sierra mountains to the valley and it looked like a Spanish dancer.  It had a beauty all its own.  Our earth is a fascinating place .

The rain is pouring down and making noises on my window pane at the moment.    I was hoping for a bit of sunshine but two days in a row would be asking a lot of 'mother nature';   so what shall I do with all my seconds today?  . . . like you, I will have to give it some thought.   Housework has little appeal but then it is a good day to do the hidden chores that do not show, like kitchen drawers where crumbs like to hide.    Maybe redo the 'catchall' drawer and be surprised by what I stuffed in there until I had time, or, maybe I'll look at the local newspaper and see what is playing at the theater and talk Pat and John into going.  Now that thought has merit . . .   Come on, join us, I'll share my popcorn;  that is if I can talk them into it, if not, you go and tell me all about it while I sulk and find out what is in my catchall drawer.  
Granddaughter Erin and Donaleo are on their way to Rome, Italy .   Now the adventure begins.    We will be getting snippets of their adventures which I will be happy to share with you.    Erin was very excited about her first trip overseas.      What will she find in her travels?     How long will she be gone?    She is hoping for a tour with the Peace Corps and is waiting to find out if she has been accepted.   My altruistic granddaughter wants to teach the world to sign and help the children learn how to communicate.    Donaleo is well traveled and speaks several languages so it should be an exciting adventure for the two of them.    Keep them in your prayers and wish them well as it is an adventure of a lifetime and I wish I were right along with them . . oh the sights to see, the sounds, the people . . um . . . Italy, what a lovely sounding name.     I know, you want to travel too;  well maybe you can plan your trip soon to your favorite dream place.     I'm humming . . . ;  that ole rocking chairs got me . . . sad but true.  Really not a bad place to be, just remember live one day as it comes as you will arrive at your 'age' destination soon enough, but meanwhile make plans and go when and if you can.  Hugs to all.

Help

This is a poinsettia plant that is two years old.   In fact it is two plants.    When I received the plants, one from daughter Pat and the other from Jock, they were filled with beautiful red blooms.   Usually after Christmas they die out and unless you plan to work with the plant to keep it alive, it dies and you get a new one the next Christmas.   Well this one lost its blooms but it just never quit in the leaf department.   It continued on and on and on. . . it wants to live, it wants to thrive but it does not bloom again.   I am sure it is root bound by now, but it doesn't seem to mind.  So I will continue to care for it and see what develops; who knows . . . maybe a blossom will reappear again.

So today, be a poinsettia and thrive.   Get on with life.    So many are caught in a circle of doom and gloom, refusing to see past the corner of their nose.     You have a new year, seven of them gone already and what have you done to improve yourself and your surroundings.     I decided to down size and get rid of some of the excess.   I am starting in my closet and that is like going into a small box store.  I have boxes of 'things' saved. . . for?   I don't know what I put in some of them.    My first box to unload and down size was a big one.  It was filled with old writings, old pictures and a head full and heart full of family history.   How can I throw these away?   I cannot.    So I spent the day reading and remembering and came out with a knowledge of a few of the whys of life.  I was introduced to a 'me' who could have been, or should have been . . . when I had to stop and think and realized I had no reason to play the 'blame game' as I had lived each day as it came and did the best I knew how to do and here it was in writings and pictures that brought with it both happy and sad tears.   Where did all that time go?    It went by like the wink of an eye and it reminded me there is a lot more living to do.    So I packed my box of history back and it is neater than before.   I will check out a couple of smaller ones today and see what treasures I had to save . . . maybe, just maybe I'll be able to throw some things away;   but, I doubt it.    Who knows who will find pleasure in the treasures we hold dear.     They may bring a few smiles or tears but isn't that what living is all about . . . I think so.     Go find when of your treasure boxes and find out if they are worth keeping and I am betting they are.     Make today a treasured day.  Hugs to all.

Iris



Day Four of the lovely bouquet that sits on my dining room table thanks to Jo.  I said tulips when it first arrived but the Iris were closed and looked like just green stems . . . what a nice surprise when they opened up and showed off in all their glory.    Flowers have a way of making one smile.    there is something special about real flowers , each one has a beauty all its own just like people . . . just a matter of opening up and spreading out.

Yesterday was a crab feast day and the last of our crab feasts for this year.   They are expensive, but worth it;   they are of varied sizes and some smaller than expected with the claws not as strong as they should be.     The crabbing boats are out there for it is the season but it was delayed because the crabs had not grown enough and they waited until now to open up the season.    We had no real complaints as they were very, very, tasty, and the salad was really special.  If you have not tried the different salad dressings on the market shelves, do. . . try a different kind and you will find your taste buds will open up.   If I could spell 'tsabi' correctly I would recommend it as it had great flavor.

It is Monday, all day, and we may get some rain.   After a couple of days with a bit of sunshine we are going back into the one storm follows another routine;  winter in Oregon;  come to think of it spring and some of summer has the same patterns.   They didn't name one of the college football teams Ducks for nothing.   The other college named their team 'Beavers' and they build dams...it is very strange to hear an Oregonian complain about rain.  So today, rain or shine, put on your work hat and get busy starting, or finishing up, some of those chores you have been putting off.    if you smile they go faster, frown and you'll be there longer, cry and you'll never get them all done.     Remember the hardest chores first and the rest will be easy;  then you can cuddle up with that new book you got for Christmas, or have a new series on DVD to watch.    Son John and I have been watching one called "Once Upon a Time" and it has been fun to watch.   Make your seconds worth while and don't forget smile with your eyes and lift up the corners of your mouth and you'll never get those deep wrinkles . . .maybe a smile dimple but then they are 'becoming' . . . look in the mirror and you will see for yourself.     Hugs to all.