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BLOG DESCRIPTION:
   Shi Blogs Too: from out of the mountains where I live. I will now be keeping a journal. This is something new for me. I have no idea what I am doing, just that I am diving in. This should be an interesting journey for me. Mainly because I consider myself to be a semi-private person. I live with my fiance and our two kitties, in what I have come to recognize as a small community in a somewhat remote area. Retirement has it's own life style and livelihood. Far away from the norm.       ![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
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Sorry for outbidding you in the [Link To Item #2113623] ...I'm not a fan of bidding wars and feel bad about it. I know this isn't the same thing as the package itself, but it's the least I could do. *^*Smile*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) If you want to find out more about me...read my Author Bio ~
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| Our trip to town the other day contributed to our work out in the yard. We ended up over in Lowe's garden shop, and I could not resist the colorful heather they had on display outside. I ended up buying four nice sized pots of it. That must have put Ron in a planting mood because he said that he wanted to stop at Thompson's Nursery again on the way home. He wanted to buy some pampas grass. He had some in the bed out front of the house in Lynnwood, and missed it. So after we had dinner at El Gitano's we headed for home and stopped at the nursery. They had their gate closed with a sign that said that they close at 5:00 pm. I told him about another nursery closer to home. We stopped there and he found two really nice grass starters in a couple gallon containers. He only had to pay $10 for each plant. He figured may as well get two while we were at it. So we headed home with our belly's full and proud of our purchases of the day. We picked yesterday and today to plant them. First Ron had to dig up the ugly dying forsythia, one other bush we did not recognize (nor like for that matter), and a couple of lilies growing along the driveway. He did that yesterday. He decided that is where the pampas grass should grow. He spent a few hours digging and removing the roots of those destined to be eliminated. Of course he would rest in between digging and pulling. He finished up toward evening and announced he would plant the grasses the next day. By midday today he had the pampas grass planted with plenty of room for growth between the two plants. He was by this time pretty wore out from all of yesterdays digging and pulling too. So he sat out on the front deck in the lounge chair and drank cold juice in the shade. By then I was ready to go plant my heather. He had emptied the wheelbarrow and left me the shovel for me to do my dirty work with. I would plant two of the beautiful magenta shrubs out by the fence at the end of the driveway. The other two purple ones I would plant up at the corner of the deck steps. First I had to dig their holes deep enough in the clay and rocky soil out by the fence. By the time I had my first hole dug and put the shrub in the ground water was starting to pour off of me! And I had three more to go! I continued to dig up the ground where the next one would be planted by the fence. After plenty of huffing and puffing, and breaking my back, I got the other one in there too. Then I rested on the deck chair and drank my juice. It was beginning to heat up more outside by that time, and I had the two to plant in the corner by the steps yet. I was secretly hoping that Ron would feel sorry for me and come dig my two remaining holes for me. No such luck. He was too wore out already. So I put my dirty gloves back on and began digging in the corner. I ran into buried rocks! Not only buried rocks but buried tiles! Mind you these rocks were bigger than my fist. Some were as big as my foot. Ron just looked at them and said "Pitch them in the wheelbarrow". So I began digging and pitching. By the time I had the last two shrubs planted in the corner by the steps I was dripping wet and wore out. I headed for the bathroom to get the sweat off me and get cleaned up. I was actually huffing and puffing in there too! Boy, am I getting older or what? I can't remember yard work ever being so hard. Next time I think we will think twice before we grab up any new shrubs to plant. We really got our butts kicked today!   |
Well as of today I am an official Rising Star Sponsor to  runningwolf04. You must check out her port if you haven't already. I am very excited about sponsoring her for this wonderful program here. She too is so excited she could barely sleep last night she told me! I had some difficulties with choosing and recommending earlier Rising Stars. Thanks to Gabriella she has come through with a fine candidate in SensualRoses. My contest is really getting a SLOW take off the ground here. I'm not giving up though . Everyone is so encouraging and helpful. It just will take some time before the entries start pouring in I guess. My auction is at a standstill...but with numerous entries for bids. I have a new Signature Collection. As some of you know I had to replace the "The Good Ole Days" Collection because of a misunderstanding with shareables. I didn't want to breach anybody's copyright. So I created this one with all free photo's and my own photo's. It's called Shi's Bridal Shop and All Things Girlish -
Be sure and check it out! |
I've really been a busy little bee lately. I created and opened my first ever contest here:
It's a little bit of a diversion from the normal contest seen on the site. I am hoping it will be a hit and that I can run it every week with new prompts up of course. Well, we'll see how that goes. My auction is still going on and it is not doing too bad really. Things at home have been rather slow so I've been spending more time on the site than usual. That was partly due to our crappy weather we were having I'm sure. It's beginning to warm up around here now though. We are seeing the sun again at last! What a crazy spring this has been! April- snow and May- heat wave. Now June -cool and cloudy for half the month there. Wonder what our summer is going to be like? If it don't heat up real soon that should be a big hint.  |
| It's been fifty six days since I quit smoking. I'd like to say that it's been fifty six days that I've been SMOKE FREE. If I said that I would be lying. Yesterday I slipped and took two puffs off a cigarette!!! I hate myself for that. I had quit taking my Chantix for about a week there and it just threw me into the ole craving claws. How anything can be so hard to shake is beyond me. I want to quit for good though so I am back taking the Chantix again today. No more puffs! Ron has been so supportive it's a crying shame how I bite his head off for it!! He is only caring about me and my health and I know it. Yet, when he makes comments to me about my craving or even my "slipping" I get so darn defensive. That's when he tells me to get off my "pity pot"! God, I hate that phrase "pity pot" when it's used against me. I admire him for his supporting me through this, however. It's not an easy time for either of us that's for sure. It's especially hard for me to have to give up something so "familiar" again. Seems like I've spent a lifetime giving things up. I'm not going into it here though. Oh no...there's that pity pot again. |
| We finally have a decent day this month! It's been a rare day for the sun to shine here this June so far. Today is an exception, and more like the normal June day. It feels pretty good out there. I'm not sure if it hit 80 degrees anywhere else around us...but we are well over 80 here today. I'm loving it. I'm wearing my shorts. One of only the few times so far this year. I've been weeding flower beds and Ron has been removing the rocks that the previous owners put around all of the beds here. He has also put the Wisteria Arbor back into the proper position that it was in before that big windstorm awhile back. Our peony really took off and bloomed with big huge blossoms this year. It is now on it's last stand after showing off for about two weeks now. I was only able to get one good shot of it today. ** Image ID #1439732 Unavailable ** I took a couple of the hanging petunia basket here though. ** Image ID #1439723 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1439726 Unavailable ** |
| Boy, have I ever been busy. I decided to have a Summer Auction on here. I have never given an auction before, or ran a contest for that matter. I just felt it was time I did something like that to benefit some pretty wonderful groups here and not myself. My earnings from the auction will be split 50/50 between RAOK and The Angel Army. The auction will run for two weeks and end on Saturday, June 28th. Wish me luck and stop by when you can and check it out!  |
| I wrote a new poem yesterday. It was written for the Pond Poetry Contest following the picture prompt. Here it is: ** Image ID #1427067 Unavailable ** So Far Away From Home Spent my last dollar dropping coins in a slot. Sick and tired of listening to all your lies. So now I'm leavin we're not givin it another shot. Save your damn ole pleas, I packed up my goodbyes. Sometimes I wonder why I ever left my home. So long ago it seems, since when we both were so young. Starry-eyed and stoked high on leather, steel, and shiny chrome. "Send me my belongings", you'll hear when I've rung. Stretching miles before me a long paved highway. Soon some lonely trucker will stop to give me a ride. Surely he'll listen to a heart you did betray. Sunset will find me knowing I could confide. Spilling secrets openly to a caring stranger. Somehow I'll manage the courage to forget. Searching forevermore the ways out of danger. So far away from home, so tired and so upset. Form: Hendecasyllabic Has a syllable count of eleven syllables per line. Written for a contest following the prompt shown here. |
| Earlier today we went to Sedro Woolley to find Thompson's Nursery. We found it about four miles north of town. We heard from a friend that Thompson's had the best. The best flowers, shrubs, trees & you name it. So we had to go find out for ourselves. We were very impressed with all that we saw. The hanging baskets were absolutely beautiful! The flower mixes were striking. They certainly knew what they were doing, and did them all up exceeding my expectations for sure! I felt like I never wanted to leave the place. Oh, I am sure we will be back there again and again. Today we were going after a hanging basket for our front deck. As it turned out this was a year that I didn't get one for Mother's Day, and so had to go find one myself. I would have boughten two of them, but the one we got was $34. The BIG purple petunia baskets were selling for $70 each. Can you imagine? They had some lovely baskets with red, and white flower mixes. My favorites were the ones with begonia's on the top! We saw the prettiest pink fuchsia baskets I had ever seen. It was a hard time picking out one to take home. We both decided on the light pink petunias with the yellow flowers. I'm standing under them here. ** Image ID #1436892 Unavailable ** It's hanging out on our front deck now. ** Image ID #1436912 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1436890 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1436895 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1436916 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1436897 Unavailable ** The delicate pink fuchsia |
| On Friday morning our phone rang early while we were still in bed. The machine picked it up and carried it loudly to our ears. "Hi we're at the hospital Angella's water broke." That got our attention real fast. Angella is Ron's only daughter and the mother of the three year old twin granddaughters. This baby wasn't due until five more weeks! Ron said he wasn't that surprised though because Angella had emailed him and said that she was so uncomfortable and big that she just didn't think she could get any bigger. Besides, she had mentioned too that she thought that baby had dropped. We got the word that there would be a CSection scheduled for later that afternoon. Then before noon a call came back from Matt (Daddy) "Come now they are not waiting any longer". When we arrived at the hospital two hours later Annalyn had already made her entrance ahead of us. She weighed in at 6 lb. 4 oz. and was 18 3/4 inches . Sporting a full head of jet black hair! Her sisters were born with deep auburn colored hair. She was already distinctively different than the twins. Mother was recovering painfully and Annalyn was being watched and treated for fluid In her lungs resulting from her early arrival. The more she fussed the better it was for her lungs to clear, we were told. Ron took some pictures (with permission). So this is Annalyn ~ ** Image ID #1436368 Unavailable ** |
"My Smoke Report" As of today I am forty two days smoke free! That's quite an accomplishment for me. Here I am listing my pro's and con's of quitting this addictive habit that I had since age sixteen. I am now 64 years old by the way. Remember these are only my reactions to quitting cigarettes. 1. Am I feeling the results? Yes, I have more energy now. 2. Do I see a physical improvement? Yes, my cheeks are rosy every morning! They haven't had this much color in years. 3. Do I crave cigarettes? Of course, but I am in control, and the cravings don't last longer than a few seconds at the most. 4. Do I eat more food now? Yes, and I get some crazy munchies! Mostly in the evening while watching TV. I'm told that this will level off eventually. 5. Have I gained weight since quitting? Yes, I weighed in FIVE pounds heavier at my last dr. visit. which was May 21, 2008. My Dr. told me "better to be five pounds overweight than to still be smoking those cigarettes". Heck, he even offered to give me something down the line to help with the weight gain.  (like I really need another daily pill?) No thanks Dr.6. Can I smell better now? Yes, I can smell "everything better now". I can smell things that even Ron can't smell, and he never smoked in his life. The best part is smelling the sweet fragrances of all the flowers in bloom. The worst part...uh is that my shoes down there that I can actually smell??? My clothes no longer smell of tobacco. I never smoked inside so I can say that my home never did smell that way. 7. Can I breathe better now? Wow, boy can I ever! This has got to be one of the best parts of quitting...if not THE best part! I can actually take deeper breathes than ever before. I am not winded from our daily walks like I used to get either. 8. Can I feel good results in any other part of my body(other than my lungs)? Yes, I actually feel less aching in my legs. I am not sure if this is related to being smoke free or our walking on a DAILEY basis. I like to think that it is due to both of these. Well, I guess that pretty much sums up my report on "quitting smoking". Hope it helps some, or even one of you, that may be reading this and still smoking...but thinking about quitting. I have not done this on my own, however. I have been on the Chantix(varenicline) non-smoking program. It is a pill that is doctor prescribed. It contains no nicotine like the patch does. It somehow blocks the ability of nicotine to activate receptors in the brain and thus stimulate the central nervous system. The most common adverse effect is nausea. This can be adjusted by dosage, however. I take a lower dose daily than what is called for and I don't have the nausea any longer. Another common reaction is sleep disturbance. I have very strange and vivid dreams. I can't really call them nightmares though. I know of others who have completed this program and succeeded at being smoke free. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who has had difficulty with trying to quit smoking. It's never too late to quit. For end results...stay tuned! |
| I don't know about anyone else, but we got more weeds here this spring than ever! I swear first it was dandelion invasion - now its buttercups everywhere.The thistles are as big as the house too! Or should I say the pickers(stickers) as we called them when I was a kid. They took over my rose bed out front below the deck. Ron went bike riding yesterday and I weeded. I spent an hour and a half weeding out there. When I got done with the full length of the front deck and below into the rose bed, the water was running off of me. I came inside after dumping a wheelbarrow full of weeds and crap, looked in the bathroom mirror and my face was as red as a spanked baby's bottom. Well, I know they don't spank babies anymore(thank God) but, my face was that red anyways. The rose bed looks wonderful, however. All my hard work paid off. The rose bushes have come a long ways since when we moved in almost two years ago. Then they were all diseased and skimpy looking. I gave them a lot of TLC and this spring they are looking so much better. I can't wait till they start blooming. The Rhododendrons are blooming beautifully. So is the Wisteria out back. It is so full of suckers again though. It really got some clutters of blossoms this year! Looks like it went wild out there. The roses are the most work for me though. It's like a never ending battle to keep them healthy. I lost only one bush. That leaves me with nine now. ** Image ID #1433848 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1433849 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1433852 Unavailable ** |
| I put up a recent picture of me on my blog here. Ron doesn't like it. I took it myself last night...that's why he doesn't like it...lol. He says he can get a better one of me. He says this one isn't candid enough. He says that he can capture the twinkle in my eyes, and that there is no twinkle in this one. He may be right but... whatever. I happen to like it. It'll do. At least until he can come up with a better one. |
The "Older" Serenity Prayer ============================ In answer to the issue, "The Changed Serenity Prayer" The "Older" Serenity Prayer God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, The good fortune to run into the ones I do, And the eyesight to tell the difference. A MountainWings Original |
I thought that this MountainWings Original was worth its weight in  GOLD So I am entering it here in my blog today. Enjoy!"The Person I Can Fix" God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change. The courage to change the only person I can, myself. And the wisdom to know the difference between when it is my problem or their problem. ~ A MountainWings Original by Dane Gravely, Collinsville, VA~ |
| Our Memorial Day trip to Eastern Washington was nice. We had warm weather all the way on Monday. I actually left home wearing a tank top and jeans. By the time we arrived at Moses Lake seven hours later I was wearing shorts with my tank top. We had a great visit with Patricia & Mom. Pat was feeling better after her bout with sinus infection that she had for weeks. She said she felt better than she had in about 6 weeks. We were able to enjoy the warm, yet not to hot temperatures, and the balmy breeze coming off the lake, all the while we were there. I gave them both some of my poetry books. They were just tickled to get them. Ron opened up his birthday gifts from Pat while we were there. His birthday was May 23. She really spoiled him by getting him two t-shirts, a cap, and a bottle of nice cologne! How sweet of her to do that. We had taken over the gift that I gave him so that they could see it. I had a photograph book made up for him called "Ron's Road Trips". He loved it. They loved it too and enjoyed looking at all of the photo's printed in in. We headed home on Wednesday morning. We stopped at Dry Falls in Eastern Washington and took a bunch of pictures. There is an observatory there and we were able to go up into it and get some really good views of the Dry Falls. They also have a Visitor Interpretive Center managed by the Washington State Parks Service. There we were able to learn more about how the Dry Falls were created during the last of the Ice Ages 12,000- 17,000 years ago. Glacial Lake Missoula which covered most of the area known as Western Montana., overflowed its ice dam. The evidence shows that glaciers advanced and blocked the Clark Fork River as many as 85 times in the last 16,000 years creating the large lake. The last time the lake was formed it's sudden draining produced the last and greatest flood. (12,000- 17,000 years ago). Ice Age Floods thundering with torrents of water, ice, and earth roared across the Northwest, rushing down the Columbia River drainage, across northern Idaho and eastern and central Washington, through the Columbia River Gorge, back up into Oregon's Willamette Valley, and finally poured into the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. All the while carving new canyons, creating monstrous waterfalls, and instantly transforming the face of the land. Scientist estimated the flood waters were once 300 feet above your head. The eroded canyon is 3.5 miles wide and the small lakes are 400 feet below the rim, now. Compared to Niagara Falls which is one mile wide with a 165 foot drop from the rim! It is so hard to imagine that flood water could have traveled such great distance and carved such natural geographic wonders in these Northwest states- Montana, Idaho, Eastern and Central Washington, and Oregon. Such are the words of scientist J Harlen Bretz ~ "I could conceive of no geological process of erosion to make this topography except huge, violent rivers of glacial meltwater...It was a debacle which swept the Columbia Plateau." You can read and learn more about it here: http://www.nps.gov/iceagefloods. Here are photos Ron took of the Dry Falls. ** Image ID #1432432 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1432482 Unavailable ** |
| I am leaving in the morning for Eastern Washington. I'll be gone until Wednesday evening. See ya! |
| Yesterday I was reading some writings of authors I had never read before. Some had writings in their ports that pertained to the personal child abuse which they had suffered. I was deeply moved by what I read. My heart ached for those victims of relentless abuse. I was never a victim of that kind of abuse. Yet, I felt so strongly connected to those who were. I wrote this poem afterwards. It is the first time I ever ventured into such a sensitive area that I knew nothing about. I really felt compelled to write it anyways. Say You're Sorry Did you feel Pity when you beat me- then left black and blue; robbing like theft my childhood? Sending me scurrying with hidden scars, secretly burying my quiet rage. Suffering in silence like an animal in a cage. In a gentler ambience can I set free my steely chains that keep feelings intact- leave nothing that remains like love in the abstract? For years of enduring abuse that's so evil forgive you I could may seem less uncivil if only you would Say you're sorry, for God's sake! |
| I logged in and had only one email earlier. It was to announce the arrival of Baby Jack at last! What a big boy he is too! I had to go and check out his picture that Daddy StoryMaster has in his blog. He sure is a cutie and a very healthy looking baby too, that's wonderful.  Congratulations to both Mom and Dad. They must be so proud of their precious bundle of joy.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We paid a visit to Ron's twin granddaughters again today. We took them new outfits that Grandpa couldn't resist buying for them. They are posing here in their new Disney outfits. They are three years old and very talkative now. We really enjoy our visits with them. They were waiting our arrival and greeted us on the front porch when we got there. What big smiles we got from them both. This time they had drawn us pictures and traced their own handprints on the back of them.I of course, have put them on the front of our 'fridge' for viewing. They had a ball entertaining us on their mini trampoline. Grandpa took so many cute pictures of them today. This one of them jumping on the trampoline, shows them in midair here! How adorable. That's their Mom (Ron's daughter Angella) in the background. I can't remember if I had mentioned in an earlier blog that their Mama is pregnant with another girl! She is due the end of July. This time it is a single birth. A baby sister. The twins are going to mother this baby girl I just know it. Mama will really have her hands and her heart full soon. ** Image ID #1428773 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1428784 Unavailable ** |
| It has been sooooo hot the last two days. Yesterday it hit 104 degrees on our back deck! Today it read 102 degrees! Now that is hot for May. Our rivers are swollen. Many Counties have flood watches and warnings. Our County- Skagit does not, but Ron said the Skagit River is really high here. Right about now I could go for a swim in it too! Just kidding. The air conditioner is going in Ron's office. We have all the fan's going in the rest of the house. Don't ask me how he got to keep the air conditioner in his office! Hmmmm. Today I organized my portfolio. Now you have to go through my Rendez-Vous page
Hope y'all like it better now. |
| Well, I have to say that my stay at my daughter Julie's was such a memorable event. Nothing out of the ordinary mind you, but very pleasant and a lot of laughs and hugs. It was down right fun! The first evening there my son Patrick(Pat)fixed us all chicken enchiladas. He really did a great job on them too. My son Matthew(Matt) brought the dessert. Chocolate cake. He brought his friend Kim also. They came bearing flowers and cards for me for Mother's Day too I might add. That was so sweet of both of them. Pat had his two boys with him- Jayce and Christian. I didn't get to see Sierra this trip though. My oldest son Mike was there also. We sure had a good time eating and getting together. The next day Julie, Alex , and I were off shopping for a birthday gift for Alex. She turns thirteen on the 23rd of May. She picked out some really nice skinny leg designer jeans. I was quite shocked that we had to get them in the Junior department. She is way bigger than the girls size 7-16. That wasn't all- she is a tad bit bigger than her Mom! So when we got home Grandma had to have her model them and I took her picture, front and back views. That evening we watched two movies that Julie rented. One was called "Moon Dance Alexander" I believe. The other one was called"August Rush". They were both pretty good movies, though I liked the latter one the best. It was the story about an orphaned boy searching for his parents. During which time he discovers that he is a musician Prodigy. It was a bit of a tear jerker. A good time was had by all. I'm including here pictures I took of my youngest son Matt and his friend Kim. He has shaved his head recently. I am trying to get used to seeing him bald! ** Image ID #1426586 Unavailable ** ** Image ID #1426607 Unavailable ** |
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