Search where?

This Portfolio (normajeantrent)

All of Writing.Com

◄ April ►
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30
Archive				RSS

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Tuesday, Apr. 16, 2024

7:29pm EDT

Members: 987

Guests: 1,500

Total Online: 2,487

PORCH PONDERINGS

by QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham

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

Previous ... 3 -4- 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ... Next

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Elycia Lee ☮

Apr 11, 2024 at 5:36am
In response to "Test Resuils"

EMG sounds horrible. Get well soon. Hope this phase in life would pass and that you would have that quiet period that you yearn for.

1 Like

Schnujo is Late to Lannister

Apr 11, 2024 at 3:30am
In response to "Test Resuils"

Wow! You do have a lot going on, but I'm glad you're trying to make the best decisions you can for yourself.

I had an EMG once. Yeah, not a pleasant experience and mine yielded no new info, so that was even worse -- it was all for nothing.

I hope things improve soon! Take care of yourself!

1 Like

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Apr 7, 2024 at 11:09am
In response to "News from Roundup "

Is the EMG like acupuncture? I have neuropathy (self-diagnosed) in both feet. When I get back I want some advice from a doctor. I don't know whether an EMG would work but my ability to flex my toes and foot may be a starting point.

Pan wants to see snow. But... this isn't the proper season! Why he didn't mention this in December or January... Snow is fickle. Remember the Great Lakes? Can you imagine a walk with big flakes, through a foot or two of fresh fall, slugging through slush, negotiating ice, below zero and sparkling crystals, a blizzard!

I may be back in early May. If I lived anywhere near Roundup we could go somewhere for coffee. That's what I really miss in my life.

Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT

Feb 28, 2024 at 9:32am
In response to "Free for works for me"

Clark Gable was sure swoon worthy.

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Feb 28, 2024 at 12:12am
In response to "Free for works for me"

Free works for me... but I avoid Amazon. I use youtube for my Thai shows.

These old movies will 100 years old when you are in your 90s!

R.E. Pete

Feb 27, 2024 at 11:22pm
In response to "Free for works for me"

You should check out Errol Flynn in Captain Blood

Elycia Lee ☮

Feb 23, 2024 at 11:15am
In response to "Leap Year"

Congrats!

Wordsmitty ✍️

Feb 8, 2024 at 11:27pm
In response to "Update"

I second Kåre Enga in Udon Thani on warmth to the hand. I was told after initially using cold to stop swelling, then heat helps the tissues. Then again, I didn't break anything last year, just pulled something that would pinch a nerve and give a knife stabbing pain. Of course I use the old saying from a doctor when a patient said it hurts when he does this. "Don't do that."

Once winter leaves, things will perk up. Congrats on the publications. I'll keep watching for the NYT to pick one up with your byline.

1 Like

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Feb 8, 2024 at 10:00pm
In response to "Update"

Having more than one issue makes it much harder. Which to do first, which is most important, which will just have to wait, which needs to be let go of.

I was fortunate that my elbow never gave me much pain, didn't constrict my movements, and slowly heals after weeks.

I have neuropathy and circulation problems, especially in my feet. Rubbing does help some. Soaking in hot water is heavenly.

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Jan 31, 2024 at 3:34am
In response to "Don't Do It!!!!!"

Frozen fog outside... the dry air inside... everything's bothering me... I'm between time zones too. Even my anxiety floats around barely attached to reality.

At least you have some good news and a mystery. Wonder if those two events could be woven into a fictional story set in a small town where the seasons change daily... hmmm...

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,

Like • Comment • View 3 comments

August 17, 2023 at 11:14pm

#1054249

A Real Mess

So, the house behind us, just beyond the alley, is becoming a bit of a mess. At first I saw one dog. Then I heard screeching like nails on a blackboard one day. Did I mention this before? That was a wee puppy in the heat several days ago. Two dogs. Then the other day I saw another wee pup. Just a few days after that, another dog appeared. So now four dogs. In a postage-stamp sized yard. All day alone. In the 100° heat. Barking. Crying.

And then there is the junk. I think it is breeding. At first there were boxes. Then a shelf appeared the next day. Then we saw a table and chairs. Then a stove and refrigerator and a band-saw. And now there are pallets and about 4 tires. Oh, and a couch. The driveway is becoming crowded. I'm not sure if this is going to become a flea market. When the garage door was open the other day, there was so much junk in there you could not park a car in it.

I forgot to mention the 15 plants outside the garage door that are now wilted and probably dead.

Am I living in some sort of alternate reality or are they? We try to keep our place as neat as we can. You know, trash picked up, yard mowed. House looking nice. We never let our dog bark for hours when she was alive. Egads.

Perhaps they are aliens come to steal what is left of my sanity. They aren't aware of the rules here on Earth. Or at least the rules about pet ownership. If it gets too much worse, I will complain to the city. But they won't believe the alien claim, so I'll have to come up with a real valid problem.

3 Like • Comment • View 11 comments

August 12, 2023 at 11:49pm

#1054027

To Pass the Time

.Again this year I have a piece nominated for a Quills award. I feel so honored.

STATIC

Overnight Snack

(E)
Quills Nominee and Finalist 2023 The Writer's Cramp 7/19/23 W/C 833
#2300064 by QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham

was nominated in the Flash Fiction category. Thanks to whoever thought it was good enough to merit a nomination. I had fun thinking of the characters, the dialogue, and the plot for that little tale.

This past week I've been in a self-exile of sorts. I injured my knee, and so have been sticking close to home, my bed and couch, ice and painkillers. Bugger. But I have read some, and watched some interesting computer videos.

One thing I did watch was a British cooking series. It is on Netflix, and this is from 2018. So far I've watched season 2 only, so I need to find season 1. 'The Big Family Cooking Showdown'. It's actually quite amusing. No big prize that I can tell, just the pat on the back as the best family team.

The teams were three people from the same family. Mother or father or child or aunt or uncle or cousin. You get the picture. There were 16 families to start. So you watched 4 families cook at one time, then they were winnowed down to the final four.

I did make a few notes of some funny lines. And the interactions of the groups as they cooked, well, they were amusing and sometimes hard to watch as well.

“Treat night - and nothing says treat night like half a lobster’s head on your plate.”

“So you season. If it calls for one teaspoon chili - and you put in 4 tablespoons - you’ve created …LAVA!!!”

“Got a watch on?”
“Yep, it’s 10 to shut up..”

“We try to buy most things British”
“It's hard to buy British bananas.”

“We don’t have anything to worry about, cake baking isn’t an exact science.”
“Where did you read that? Jack and Jill make cakes?”

So entertainment til I get the old knee examined on Monday.

3 Like • Comment • View 4 comments

August 8, 2023 at 4:35pm

#1053829

A Big Complaint

I'm just going to put this out here. If one more thing that disrupts my life happens, well, you'll hear the primal scream from your armchair.

Now it's the knee. And like three others in my church, my left knee. What the heck...

Yesterday we took my son-in-law to the airport. He spent several days with us after a conference in Big Sky, MT. Okay, nice time had by all. At 4:30 AM, we start to load up the borrowed truck. We still don't have our new vehicle. Sigh. Anyhoo, I think, okay, he is getting out first, he has a big cup of coffee, I'll get into the small seats behind the two main seats in the truck cab. Right.

I step up to get in, and feel a 'pop'. I think, that's not right. And sure enough. Something is not right. I couldn't put weight on my leg, couldn't move that leg. Pain. So we drop off the passenger and go back to our motel room to rest a bit before we do shopping. And, nope, no rest. I am hurting, bad.

So I tell hubby, we're going to the ER - which is right around the corner. Hubby pulls up the truck while I wait. He is blocking the traffic line as I get to slowly moving toward him. A real jerk starts screaming profanities and honking his horn. So hubby pulls up the truck this guy screeches out of the parking lot. Good gravy. That on top of a painful knee set me off. So I am now so upset as we get to the ER.

Long story short, I either have a severe strain/sprain or an ACL rupture. I now have another Ortho appointment on Monday to find out more. I was sent home with narcotics for pain. And also a spray in case of overdose. ??? Since when is that a requirement??

Oh, and I also had to see the eye doctor for an eye infection yesterday. Mercy sakes.

I am spending today in bed, leg elevated. Icing off and on. Eye drops. Pain pills. Eye wash.

Tomorrow has got to be better.

1 Like • Comment • View 5 comments

August 1, 2023 at 4:58pm

#1053447

Ugh - bugs.

We're heading down to the finish line in the garden and I think the bugs know it.

I for the first time have potato bugs. These little guys showed up a few days ago with a whole army. So hubby and I have been picking them off, putting them into a 5-gallon bucket with a thin layer of Lysol. (My friend used to pick them off when she was little and get paid a penny a bug.) That is as far as we go with pesticides. We don't spray for bugs in our yard or garden. I want bugs, the good kind, and bees and birds. Insecticides and pesticides are bad for all those. I did see some ladybugs in the garden. Good. I also saw a praying mantis type thing today. Good. Also lots of bees. Good.

In my garden, I have lots of potatoes, kale, beets, carrots, tomatoes. I also have some butternut squash coming on. I didn't plant that. I guess it's just a 'volunteer'. I also planted some cantaloupe, but it may not be ready before the weather turns cold. We also have a raspberry plant, but it never produces berries. So it just happily sits in a corner.

Grasshoppers are also trying to wreak havoc this year. But we read somewhere that baking soda hampers their ability to eat. So we've been spreading that about. They seem to be a little affected. Not eliminated, but lessened a bit.

So we're dealing with some hot temps for another day or so, then back to manageable 70's and 80's. But it's summer. I like hot. I don't have a problem with hot.

2 Like • Comment • View 3 comments

July 25, 2023 at 7:01pm

#1053047

Hot and Dry

We're in the midst of a hot spell here. 90's, 100's. Dry and hot. But you know, it's summer. It's supposed to be hot. I survived without A/C growing up in hot and humid NE Ohio. And our bedroom faced West at night. Egads. Many a hot sweaty uncomfortable night. And riding in cars? You just hoped for a fast ride with the windows down.

So get used to being hot in summer, cold in winter. Quit whining about the weather. It could always be worse.

My cousin and her husband visited on Sunday. They have a heck of a pickle. They are traveling in an RV and somehow the towing mechanism for their car has drained their battery. So they are locked out of their car. Because they have one of those fancy-fancy keyless entry thingies. Ha! Stupid is all I can think. Give me a good old fashioned key and lock any day. No computerized gadgets that can go flujey and leave you high and dry and locked out of things. They couldn't even call OnStar - no power - no entry. They did call me a day after they left and tell me they figured out how to get in. And they have an appointment with someone in CO to look at the problem. They live in AZ.

We are still waiting for our vehicle. It's still in VA. Hubby needs to fly or take the train back to pick it up whenever the son-in-law has a fixed it up. It's an older Jeep. So we are still borrowing a truck. But I find myself not wanting to drive it anywhere. So I walk everywhere.

And right now I am walking back and forth to church for our Vacation Bible School program this week. We knew of at least 10 children that would attend. We are now up to 25. Amazing! It is a wonderful program. I think the kids are having a good time. I'm sure all of us will be worn out come Friday, though.

So now I am switching hats and getting ready to attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting. I am the treasurer. Yeah, well. Someone had to do it.

1 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

July 14, 2023 at 9:07pm

#1052617

He is found!

Thanks be to God! My grandson has been found, he is back on base where he belongs. But there are so many unanswered questions. An NCIS agent picked him up in Seattle. He'd been there all along.

Talk about finding a needle in the haystack! And I don't mean the Space Needle.

I thank all of you here on the Writing.com site that prayed for his safe return and sent me kind wishes. I really appreciate each and every one of you.

Now perhaps with this burden off my shoulders, I can cope with the next crisis.

A friend of mine, like a sister from another mister, just had a heart attack and is in the ICU. We need prayers doubled for her now.

Thanks again...

4 Like • Comment • View 3 comments

Previous ... 3 -4- 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ... Next

© Copyright 2024 QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham (UN: normajeantrent at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/normajeantrent/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/sort_by_last/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/4