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Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023

9:27pm EDT

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PORCH PONDERINGS

by Queen NormaJean is cheering

Rated: 13+ · Book · Biographical · #2198921

Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana

Well, hey there!
Welcome to Roundup, Montana! If it's a nice day, we'll sit a spell on my porch and talk awhile.

"All the resources we need are in the mind.” Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President of the United States of America.

Another quote I find interesting: "Creativity is intelligence having fun." Albert Einstein

What's on your mind today?

Signature for use by anyone nominated for a Quill Award in 2020

Signature for nominees of the 2019 Quill Awards

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Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Kåre Enga 🇹🇭 Udon Thani

Sep 23, 2023 at 2:34pm
In response to "Equinox"

I do like autumn. Usually calm and pleasant in Missoula. Not to forget the harvest.

I said goodbye to folks today. I leave on the 28th. Not exactly thrilled over the timing nor the flights but I need to be back 'home'.

Spotty frost and snow here in the West.

Queen NormaJean is cheering

Sep 19, 2023 at 7:34pm
In response to "OctoPrep is coming!"

Thanks - it is a lot of work. That's probably why I don't do NaNo. I'm pretty much wiped out in November. But I do so like getting the number of writers to the finish line greater each year. That's my goal.

Kåre Enga 🇹🇭 Udon Thani

Sep 19, 2023 at 6:53pm
In response to "OctoPrep is coming!"

I don't have any oomph and my Muse is on vacation. Doubt I'll participate this year. Hope cheerleading goes well as it's a lot of work.

SandraLynn

Sep 13, 2023 at 10:33am
In response to "Knee Surgery"

Knee pain is no laughing matter. As you know it affects your quality of life. I hope you find relief.

QPdoll

Sep 13, 2023 at 6:45am
In response to "Knee Surgery"

I think surgery was the best choice since you're experiencing so much pain. I don't know if it's like a knee replacement, but I sure hope everything goes well and that you'll be up and walking sooner rather than later! Hopefully, they'll get the surgery scheduled right away.

Hugs and prayers to you!

Kåre Enga 🇹🇭 Udon Thani

Sep 12, 2023 at 9:46pm
In response to "Knee Surgery"

Supposedly here's a green comet you'll be able to see on the eastern horizon before sunrise. We have no eastern horizon in Missoula.

4th day back and haven't done much. A sore neck tonight doesn't bode well and I'm still between time zones.

Need to find something to do from bed.

1 Like

QPdoll

Sep 7, 2023 at 5:58am
In response to "Cooler Temps"

I know it can't be easy to get someone to clean up their mess sometimes. Glad you were able to do something about it. Have fun at the masquerade!

Kåre Enga 🇹🇭 Udon Thani

Aug 27, 2023 at 12:30pm
In response to "The Idea of Kung Fu"

Yes, we write and write. I hear that some folks actually edit! Wow... what a concept. I could take off a month to just reread and edit what I have here at WdC ... which is way over 1000. Years ago, when I was keeping better track, I was way over 5000. I've been writing since May 1999.

QPdoll

Aug 21, 2023 at 5:43am
In response to "A Picture is Worth..."

Kåre Enga 🇹🇭 Udon Thani

, yes, as kids, we knew the neighbors. Even now, as an adult, I know my neighbors and their names. Maybe not their last names, but at least their first names. We actually talk to each other, too. What a concept!

Queen NormaJean is cheering

, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this kind of neighbor. And to be accused of trespassing is crazy, too! You're right. Not furniture I would want to be left outside.

Kåre Enga 🇹🇭 Udon Thani

Aug 20, 2023 at 10:52pm
In response to "A Picture is Worth..."

When my house-mate decided to move from Kansas to NYC he put everything outside to sell. Didn't cover it. Didn't care.

Where we grew up... when we grew up!... are we grown up yet?... didn't we know the neighbor's names or was that just because we were children?

1 Like

September 27, 2023 at 9:44am

#1056288

OctoPrep is Coming

It looks like I am finally going to get this knee of mine repaired. Thank goodness. October 19th is the day of the surgery. It will be outpatient. Then I am expecting a recuperation of a few weeks. It's not a knee replacement, just an internal repair.

But the strange thing about this - it is the 7th incident of a knee problem in our church. I told everyone we should lobby for a group rate.

OctoPrep is right around the corner. I note on that group page that quite a few have signed up already. Hurrah! The cheerleaders are getting their pom-poms dusted off, rehearsing their routines, and getting ready to throw some GiftPoints and Merit Badges your way.

I'll be able to keep track of everyone from my couch and chair. No walking around for a time it seems.

We have a museum fundraiser this Saturday - our last day open. For the first time, we're having an end-of-season ice cream social. Another lady and I are new members of the board of directors. We're sort of the rebels with new ideas and all. The 'old guard' shudders when we ask for approval of our items. But we're doing this. And of course, it's supposed to rain. So wish us luck. We want this be a yearly event.

Enjoy the last gasps of September before OctoPrep everyone!

Like • Comment

September 23, 2023 at 10:22am

#1056107

Equinox

The change of season is in full swing here. We're having the Equinox storms right now. Every year about this time our motel owner in Gardiner would mention this. Spring and Fall when the Equinox happens, there would be storms around the time of the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes.

Sure enough, storms happened usually around those dates. Right now we're getting rain. Unusual for us. We don't get much rain here. It's welcome, as you can imagine.

On another note, it's almost time for OctoPrep. Time to start thinking of your project. I thought of doing one, but too much on my plate this year. Knee surgery, doings at church, a retreat for SE Montana coming up, my charity fundraiser starting. Again, I have to 'just' be the cheerleader. Help people over the hump. Give them the incentive to finish the marathon.

Enjoy fall. Soon we'll have snow. It snowed in the mountains already. Beartooth Pass is closed. But it's at 10,000 feet, so...

1 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

September 18, 2023 at 9:26pm

#1055928

OctoPrep is coming!

Well hello there!! Have you signed up for OctoPrep yet? If not, and you are considering doing NaNoWriMo, perhaps you might want to give the October prepping fun a go.

You did know that WDC.com does a whole month of prepping for the Novel Writing Month contest in November, right? Well, if you didn't, we do! Lots of challenges to get your novel headed in the right direction.

I am the head cheerleader. With my team of Phyllis, Robert and Kim, we will try to keep you motivated. We'll try to keep everyone within that 72 hour window. Because there are rules. Of course there are. Total chaos would ensue and we would all be flung off into space if no rules were in place.

Hmm, sounds like a plot for a novel....

Check it out here:

FORUM

October Novel Prep Challenge

(13+)
A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore!
#1474311 by Battywyn🎶

We hope to read you soon!

Queen NormaJean - cheering you on!

1 Like • Comment • View 2 comments

September 12, 2023 at 8:29pm

#1055655

Knee Surgery

I got the official word yesterday on my knee. I injured my meniscus. I tore the lateral and medial menisci of my left knee. The outside edge and inner edge. I know how to do it right.

So, in case you aren't aware, the meniscus acts as a shock absorber for the two bones of your legs - tibia and femur - that meet under your knee cap. It is a donut-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure. It cannot be repaired as in sewn-back-together. My options were to use injections - may work. Leave alone - continued pain. Or surgery to clean up the space and trim the torn edges. Plus physical therapy.

Outpatient surgery is what my husband had done some months ago for this same problem. So I know the drill. I chose surgery and PT. I have ongoing pain. It's worse at night when I try to sleep. I can walk, but then I limp, which puts pressure on that hip, which causes the hip to also hurt. Arggh. I just pray they don't drag the scheduling process along for weeks and weeks.

The summer was just one crisis after another. Mercy sakes.

I am so ready for a breather. So It seems that for OctoPrep I will be laid up. I also have a charity fund-raiser starting in October. Again, somethings I can do with no problem when sitting or lying about.

It has been nice here. The people behind me have cleaned up a bit. They have until the 15th of September to clean up their act. The dogs around me still bark, but I've been staying inside, so I don't hear them as much. It'll snow soon. Then they really won't be out much, I pray.

I just would like to be back to walking again. Walking all around town. Not just limping about for a few minutes or so.

Like • Comment • View 3 comments

September 6, 2023 at 11:05am

#1055253

Cooler Temps

Our weather is changing. Here in Montana, that is. I know elsewhere things are pretty nuts, but here we are seeing the cycle continue on as usual. Fall days, cooler temperatures moving in. Our tree in the backyard is starting to turn colors. Nights are getting longer.

Yesterday we woke to no water. Great. Seems the water main down the street blew about 2:30 overnight. So two city blocks had no water for about 12 hours. Lucky for us we have a reverse osmosis filter, so we can have up to about 2 gallons of drinking water at any one time. And we have water stored in the basement for such events as this. But still...pretty inconvenient.

I did go to the city offices to complain about the people behind us. The mess in that yard is pretty awful, as I've complained about here. So the city official in charge of such and I had a nice long talk, about this and that. We actually talked more about another issue in town. He is quite vehemently opposed to a developer that is/has been working on a project in the old elementary school building.

This project started about 6 years ago. Great promises, great potential. Still not finished. Every time the local contact publishes information on the project I just shake my head. I don't believe empty promises. You can promise me the moon and all the men on it, but can you deliver it to me?

So after about 45 minutes of chatting, the secretary buzzes into the office. "You have 3 people waiting." Oops, Time to go. So I left with a copy of a letter going to the owner of the house in question. Seems he owns quite a few rental houses in Roundup, does nothing with them. Just buys them, rents them. Takes no care of them.

Imagine my surprise when I come home and find the tenant in the messy house actually cleaning up some of the mess. What??? Thank you so much, I say to my hubby. There is still a mess, including a refrigerator and stove, outside. Now a refrigerator with a door still attached is a danger. Some child could get trapped in there. And all this mess is an attractant to wild animals, feral cats and such.

Well, enough. Have a great rest of the day. Enjoy the birthday of WDC and all the fun. I am having fun as Tammy Faye Bakker in the Masquerade game whodunit.

2 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

September 1, 2023 at 3:37pm

#1054966

Mercy Me!

The days are getting shorter and the nights a little cooler. With September 1, more than the WDC birthday is afoot in my little kingdom. Fall is definitely in the air.

School has started. Windows stay closed. The sun sets earlier and rises later. The sunlight seems less intense. We are harvesting the garden bit by bit.

But I tell you what, the mess behind me, the one I've told you about, is continuing to grow. Mercy! Now there are more branches, more cut logs. another table saw. There are baby clothes on hangers on a clothes rack. A large green ladder appeared as well as three baby bouncy seats. Soon there won't be room in the driveway for the big white truck that drops off these items nightly. The couch is still there, the wooden table, the wooden chairs, the storage unit: still there. And we just had a whopper of a rain storm the other night. So Now I am thinking this is a hoarding situation??

We've talked about what will happen if they, meaning the mysterious occupants of this house, park in our drive, miniscule as it is, in front of our garage. If we get blocked in, we are calling the sheriff. No walking over to the house. No talking to them. You just don't park without permission in someone else's space.

Then today we hear a chainsaw. A few doors down, someone is cutting down all the lovely lilac bushes. Cutting down a plum tree. Oh mercy, I never like to see trees or bushes of any sort cut down. Trimmed, pruned, of course. But eliminated? No. Getting things to grow here are difficult enough. Some lilacs in town are decades old, if not hundreds of years old. Then again, it's their property. We just recently planted a new lilac bush and are protecting some old bushes. We lovingly water them in the summer, protect them from deer until they get a little larger. And greenery helps the environment. Shade in the summer. Oxygen. Sigh...

I do have a plan. I am going to the city offices come Tuesday. Complaining. May not help, might work.

Oh, and another thing happened to end my summer with a bang. I woke up yesterday with eye pain and a huge red eye. We had to go to Billings for my knee MRI, so I stopped at the eye doctor. He checked it out. Yes, spontaneous hemorrhage. But it will resolve. But look at this Norma. You have something else happening in your eye's interior. Perhaps we need to check out this anomaly in a month. Glaucoma was tossed about.

Ever felt like you are in a tiny ship on the ocean being tossed about, clinging to the mast?? That's me.

1 Like • Comment

August 26, 2023 at 10:37pm

#1054693

The Idea of Kung Fu

I have nothing new to report on the neighbor across the alley. Stasis is good. I like that.

But now I am watching something on Netflix,. The series about Marco Polo. I don't know how authentic the history is. But I found this little tidbit: Kung Fu - supreme skill from hard work. That was the definition given to Marco Polo by the man training him in the art of Kung Fu back in the 1200's. So he states anyone can learn Kung Fu by repetition of anything, such as sweeping steps, being a masterful servant, a calligrapher, a poet, a painter, a cook. Practice, endless repetition to achieve Kung Fu. I guess in my Western mind the equivalent is 'practice makes perfect'. You don't play a concerto the first time you sit at the piano. You don't paint like Renoir the first time you pick up a paintbrush.

So we write, and write and rewrite. To someday achieve in the Eastern way of thinking 'Kung Fu'.

3 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

August 25, 2023 at 11:26am

#1054576

Another Update!

Update!
Well folks, the mess behind us is growing yet again. Sort of like a volcano and some slow moving lava,. Added to the other accumulated 'stuff' are multiple branches from trees and whatnot, a baby walker, and more boxes.

Gracious...as long as they don't start parking in front of our garage door, I guess I'll just shake my head, complain again. Telling the city is of no effect. There is a 'compliance officer' but he does virtually nothing. Quite disheartening actually.

Then we have dogs. Dogs, dogs, dogs, barking, barking, barking. The ones next to us, they have three, barked for at least an hour, maybe longer, last night. Their house is just a few yards from ours. Their windows are open, I am on my front porch. A Weimaraner, a little shaggy dog and a not-quite adult shaggy dog. All barking out the open windows. Oh my. Now I am a dog lover, but after an hour of full-on loud barking I was having some not-so-nice thoughts about that trio.

So I gathered my laptop, my books, my papers and stomped upstairs. There I can turn on a box fan full blast and tune them out.

I am off to the Library Book Sale. This once-a-year event has hundreds of used books to peruse. I need more books. As if...

2 Like • Comment

August 19, 2023 at 9:57pm

#1054329

A Picture is Worth...

So that is the mess I've been ranting about. Now, I don't have a cell phone. So this picture was taken from my garden with an old Nikon point and shoot.

But, I think you get the picture...or at the least the idea...

1 Like • Comment • View 9 comments

August 19, 2023 at 7:41pm

#1054327

A Real Mess - Continued

Okay for those of you that caught the drama yesterday, the saga continues.

And the mess behind me grows. Somehow, I am thinking the woman who claims she moved into this house may actually be living in the driveway.

Let's see, she has a stove, refrigerator, a table and chairs, a couch. a dining room table. a shelf unit. There is now also a microwave cart with dishes on it, wood pallets, tires, items in boxes. Earlier a truck pulled up with sheets of plywood in the back.

How do I know all this? I can see this from my garden, which I go to daily now to pick tomatoes. And while I am checking for tomatoes and doctoring my kale for little tiny flea beetles and picking potato bugs off my remaining potato plants, I can see the flea market pile growing beyond the alley behind this house.

But there is a deadline I can see coming. Rain. Rain from that Hilary storm that is threatening all of the SW of the United States. We actually had a wind storm yesterday into last night. Wind gusts up to 70 MPH were reported in the area. So if there is anything worse than junk in a yard, it's wet junk in your yard.

Perhaps some of you don't believe this. Perhaps I'll get photo evidence, Stay tuned,

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