Been dealing with a sinus infection for past few days but believe I’m on the mend… 😀 just in time for some stormy weather and undecided weather also…
Been mild but windy for the past few days setting up the scene for some crazy weather first of the week, mainly Tuesday… depending on the track of the Low, could get snow…
Or if the track moves further north, could get severe weather…
That being said, remember the third week of (or the second, not sure at the moment) January of 1967 where we had the same time of weather, had tornadoes one day with thunderstorms and when the front come through that night, the other shoe fell and had a ice storm and was out of power for a week… hopefully that will not happen for anyone…winter returns end of the week…
And what does Bree think about this talk of storms and all… it is what it is, stretched out and snoring with the best of them… 😀
We are prepared for whatever happens, ready should we lose power for whatever reason.. lights, candles, etc.. also found a inexpensive solar powered portable charger ( can also charge it by USB) for cell phones and mobile devices.. haven’t had the chance to use it yet…
Also made a pot of homemade vegetable soup….
Saved bowl for Tuesday and put the rest in individual containers and in the freezer for future use..
So that is about all for today, Diary, hope you stay warm and safe, going to leave to finish the day, shall return again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…
Been somewhat busy here bringing some pages of history to a close and starting new pages…while dealing with every day tasks and chores, dealing with the weather…and while dealing with the weather, briefly returned to Florida as the subject matter…comparing the benefits of here and there…. 😀
Here in the prairies I went fishing last Friday, caught my limit in about two minutes, actual fishing time, not counting transportation, etc…
Little expense, a great variety and already cleaned….
Also go to be beach every afternoon…
The water is a generally calm, the weather a constant 74 degrees, gentle breeze and low humidity… don’t have to fight the crowds…. I may be the only person miles around that has a genuine Ron-Jons boogie board!….
And, of course, I have my lifeguard on stand-by should I need assistance…
That being said and one’s status in life is largely a state of one’s mind, I can go to the beach and fishing with all the comforts of home, saving the expense and not having to deal with large fish, large lizards, large snakes, man eating ants, etc… and it gives me time to explore and live life for there is more to life than beaches and fishing…. 😀
Also gives me time to chase rainbows…
Now, getting away from being the village beach bum for the moment, chatted with a friend briefly about how fast the children grow up…times does seem to fly and in time the children seem to fly away also…the way of things I suppose… especially difficult for the mother (who will become a grandmother, etc) as it is said “ a child is the mother’s heart outside her body”… but the key is memories, for as long as there are memories, no one goes anywhere..
The conversation reminded me of two songs I heard many years back, both about memories….the first by Red Sovine…not sure how well one’s audio is, but he will sing the line “I fussed at her” and with the quality of the video and all, it may seem like he said “cussed” at her…
The second is by Charlie Daniels…
Well, enough for today… have some lettuce and tomato that needs to be used or lose so homemade chicken noodle soup and BLT’s.. Will return another day as we travel down the path least traveled, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise… and while on the subject of memories, will let Andre Rieu finish…
Had a active, productive week so planned for a not too busy day today, a gloomy day before winter arrives again, the weekend.. some small tasks along with daily chores and tasks… one of the tasks were to replant the Christmas Cactus…
The only time it blooms is in July… tried some of the methods to get it to bloom at Christmas but they never worked and almost killed the plant… have had it for years, a tough ole cactus as it has taken some punishment and has some health issues… so if one wishes to see this cactus bloom at Christmas, one needs to take a picture of it in July and put the picture out at Christmas…. 😀 Put some starts in a glass so hopefully they will take root faster…
Another task was the miniature citrus tree…
It is a tropical tree and won’t tolerate the winter outdoors, so I set it out in the spring after the danger of frost and bring it inside in the fall.. it has fruit that looks like a tangerine about the size of a silver dollar.. it is a old tree, has fruit whenever it wants to, like the cactus and the blooming.. it has taken a beating and has some health issues also, but just like the cactus, it keeps on going.. 😀
I got it when it was about the size of the sapling that I managed to start from a seed several years ago…
I was doing the weather this morning, as I do every morning, and Bree had gotten up earlier than usual so after a brief venture outdoors, she came in and laid down by my feet… she was a bit in the way but would never tell her that.. 😀
Like the cactus and the tree, she too is old, has taken some punishment over time…been bitten by a loose dog that some irresponsible person did not have on a leash, has a heart murmur that gets a tad bit worse every year and one day she will venture out and go on the chase and it will be her last…the vets said I should attempt to keep her calm and sedated… I grinned and said “that is not Bree, that would be like telling a bird not to fly”…
To tell the cactus when to bloom, the tree when to bare fruit, to tell Bree not to chase is not acting in their best interests but mine, me being selfish, and that is not the way it is here on the path least traveled… we are what we are and wish to be, not chained or imprisoned by someone else’s ideology… 😀
I, too, are like Bree, the cactus and the tree…aging and have taken some punishment over the years and I suspect that at some point in time in the future, as yet to be determined, we will be singing along with Johnny Paycheck..
In the meantime, there is a life to live and explore and in doing so no doubt will have some dark days, some days where it seem life isn’t fair and knocked back a bit but we will follow Frank Sinatra’s lead…
And when we wake up in the morning, being glad that we woke up on “the green side of the grass”, we sing along with Lucy….
There is a great deal yet to be done on the path least traveled, adventures to be had…
Ran some errands today before the next round of winter arrives this weekend…stopped at the local grocery to get a few things and encountered a group that was discussing religion… now, they know my views and feelings about religion but one of them ask me, with a smile on his face, “Woller, if you were into the religion, what message would you give to the faithful?”…
Well, I grinned and said “ if I were into religion, my backyard is my cathedral…”
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The sky is the ceiling…
All the creatures are the choir..
Bree, of course, would be choir director….
And the message we would give to ALL the faithful world over would be the one written and sung by Tom T Hall… and we would turn up the volume, as we are doing just fine on the path least traveled…
Did some multitasking today (yesterday also) and usually something I am not very proficient at doing…. 😀 but press on we did, keeping one eye on the weather… Andre Rieu set the pace…
Unfortunately the multi-tasking made me break a new years resolution… not to depend on technology so much.. 😀 .. So while listening to Andre on the “computer” ( a little laptop I use as a radio/player), I made some bagels in the “toaster oven”
And while the “toaster oven” was on, decided to cook some beef tips for the “freezer” (did pork yesterday)..
And while that was cooking, did the laundry with the “washer and dryer”…
And while the laundry was drying and the beef cooking, prepared the ingredients for beef stew to put in the “slow cooker” tomorrow..
And had to stop for a few minutes to warm my tea in the “microwave”…
And all this before lunch time.. 😦
And now, Diary, I am here on the computer telling you about it… guess I cannot do without technology, can I…
And what does my faithful companion, guard dog, helper and part time supervisor think about all this, you would ask..
Wake me when it’s spring she says…
Such as it is on the path least traveled……sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…… will return again one day, fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise (or get too much snow… 😀 )…
And speaking of spring, how about some spring music, Andre Rieu….waltz anyone??… 😀
Hello Diary..
Have spent the holidays finding a place for everything and everything in its place, as you know, have decided on the likes/hobbies to be working on and enjoying, so with the gardens and other adventures, should be a active and exciting year, and hopefully years to come…also the usual tasks and chores, have a multitude of paperwork to go through to bring part of history to a closure also but all that can wait till Monday, my official start of the New Year… 😀
Will enjoy the weekend, the final days of the holiday puttering around the house and all the while perhaps entertaining curious thoughts about the future and perhaps where the answer to destiny lies…. Bree is in no hurry, she got up early, decided to finish her sleep and got into my office/weather chair… I had to get another chair to turn in the weather… 😀
So where does the answer lie one wondcrs, perhaps in a dream??.. ??…“We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing “ Louisa May Alcott
Or perhaps in nature…”The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo
Or perhaps in the wind…..“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” Pope John XXIII
Maybe, just maybe, it is time itself…..”It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, the man who at best knows achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Lyrics;
Who can say where the road goes
Where the day flows, only time
And who can say if your love grows
As your heart chose, only time
Who can say why your heart sighs
As your love flies, only time
And who can say why your heart cries
When your love lies, only time
Who can say when the roads meet
That love might be in your heart
And who can say when the day sleeps
If the night keeps all your heart
Night keeps all your heart
Who can say if your love grows
As your heart chose
Only time
And who can say where the road goes
Where the day flows, only time
Who knows? Only time
Maybe at the end of the rainbow….“Anyone can achieve their fullest potential, who we are might be predetermined, but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can’t be changed but, it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one“. -Martin Heidegger
Perhaps Doris Day has the right idea….“No road is too long for him who advances slowly and does not hurry, and no attainment is beyond his reach who equips himself with patience to achieve it.” Jean de La Bruyere
Will be looking forward to all the tomorrows to search for the answer as we venture down the path least traveled, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise….
Well, the new year is here, should prove to be a interesting one…and I have learned a few things.. I had a teacher in high school once tell me that “ the day I need not gather anymore knowledge is the day of my funeral”.. 😀 so what have I learned, one asks?..
“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”
“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”
“I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.”
“I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.”
“I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.”
“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.”
“I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.”
“I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.”
“I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.”
“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.”
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
And remember, Diary; “Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow remains a mystery, today is a gift. Greet it with open arms, a open heart, a open mind and a smile. Enjoy it because it won’t come again. (Larry “Dutch“ Woller penned 6-7-2008) “
That being said, the last post I shared a few hobbies that I did not get to finish, for one reason or the other… will now share some that I will be working on and a new one or two… 😀
But before that, a picture of Bree opening Christmas presents;
One of my likes/hobbies is puzzles.. in the past I never had room to put one out and leave it out to work on as I wished so made a puzzle table….
I like the challenge of a complicated puzzle although I would probably be more successful if I stayed with the 6-10 year old age group… 😀
Two things I have done in the past is draw and paint, nothing earth shattering because time would not let me dwell on it like I wish to but now have a drawing/painting table, can use it for drawing;
Been doing a bit of practicing;
Or I can use it for painting, either by numbers, as you see here, or by free hand..
In either case, I can leave it all out whenever I have had enough for a time, unlike in the past… I recall in history’s past about a time I were building a 36 inch model of the USS Constitution.. I had it painted and all put together, ready to run the rigging and the sails, when a group of children (who shall remain nameless but the know who they are.. 😀 ) decided to have a pillow fight…when it was over, the model looked like it took a direct hit from a cruise missile, completely destroyed!.. to this day do not know who the perpetrator was…. 😀
Anyway, while I am not very good at multitasking, while I am doing any of the above, I can work on my Spanish..got interrupted a number of times so more or less starting over….
While I was going through my list of hobbies/things I like to do, woodworking was one of my favorites and still have number of tools.. one of which is this dremel;
Going to send the dremel to a close friend as my friend has developed a interest in carving, scribing, relief work, etc and this is the tool to do it with.. Takes practice and patience, I never used plywood but real wood and each type was a bit different to work with but one can do a lot with the dremel… I made music boxes with it, one or two like this one, which I kept;
With garden and other likes, it should be a active, interesting and pleasant year on the path least traveled… will return again one day, Dairy, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise..
As for my outlook for the coming year, I agree with Mr. Armstrong…
onthepathleasttraveled 