Some Christmas Photos

Christmas Eve with a fire in the fireplace and my sister playing with her dog.

Christmas Eve tree.

Santa Crock!

Christmas Day with my husband, me, dogs and Santa Crock.*

Yesterday in the backyard. Now I understand the phrase, "blanket of snow."

*It was just starting to snow lightly when my sister took this photo.  By the next morning there was 6 inches of snow on the ground.   So, technicality we had a white Christmas.

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Christmas would not be Christmas without Darlene Love singing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) on The David Letterman show. She has been on the show every December since 1986. Below is her original 1963 recording (God, she sounds so young), a compilation of all her Letterman appearances up to 2013 and her final appearance on the show from this year. She just keeps getting better and better.











(Christmas)
The snow's coming down
(Christmas)
I'm watching it fall
(Christmas)
Lots of people around
(Christmas)
Baby, please come home

(Christmas)
The church bells in town
(Christmas)
All ringing in song
(Christmas)
Full of happy sounds
(Christmas)
Baby, please come home

They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
'Cause I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year

(Christmas)
Pretty lights on the tree
(Christmas)
I'm watching them shine
(Christmas)
You should be here with me
(Christmas)
Baby, please come home

(Instrumental interlude)

They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
'Cause I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year

(Christmas)
If there was a way
(Christmas)
I'd hold back this tear
(Christmas)
But it's Christmas day
(Please)
Please
(Please)
Please
(Please)
Please
(Please)
Please
(Please)
Please
(Please)
Please
((Please)
Baby, please come home

I Dislike Winds So

But they do make the view of Longs Peak stunning.

Do You See What I See?

It's Christmas Time In The City

Decorated house a few block away.

Cigars For Everyone!

U.S To Restore Relations With Cuba

American Is No Longer Great

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

1. The "Graywashing" of CIA Torture

2. (Dick) Cheney: 'The report is full of crap.'

3. Pardon Bush and Those Who Torture

4. Reaction to the CIA report suggest that many involved would do it all over again

5. UN: 'We won't take 'no' for an answer, CIA torture must be investigated"

6. Why Obama Won't Prosecute Torturers

I Am Learning To Sew- Project 11

A messenger bag for my sister's birthday. She loves light houses.

Home Town News

"The pest management and school staff have indicated that the current pest management system generally addresses work orders in response to specific sightings and does not implement an integrated plan for the entire school. This is NOT an effective way of mitigating a pest infestation."
-Danica Lee, Food Safety Manager for Denver Environmental Health.

I can't tell you how many apartment buildings I lived in that played chase the cockroaches from apartment to apartment. If you want to get rid of pests you must spray not only the infected apartment but also the apartments on either side and above and below the one you are treating. In the long run this is cheaper; something some apartment owners and, it looks like, the Denver Public Schools do not seem to understand either.

Two Self-Satisfied Hunters

Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness?
- Jonathan Safran Foer

Photographed in the field by Bob Bixler.

Thanksgiving 2014

- Convection roasting produces a beautifully browned turkey.

- Costco's Bistro 28 Organic Cranberry Sauce is very tasty. Ingredients: Organic cranberries, organic sugar, and water.

- Al Roker's mom's Sweet Potato dish is yummy.

- Turkey sandwiches the day after are always better with a side of mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce.

- "Little Thanksgiving" on Saturday night, when the majority of leftover Thanksgiving dinner was eaten up, is in some ways even better than Turkey Day.

- Stirring a Lindor orange dark chocolate truffle into your hot cocoa makes it a hot cocoa to die for. Adding a shot of Cointreau doesn't hurt either.

- Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without family and friends.



(Edited at 1:50 PM to add hot cocoa note.)

Cream And Sugar Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Turkey Willl Come Out Tomorrow, Bet Your Bottom Dollar That Tomorrow There'll Be Turkey

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya, tomorrow!
The turkey's only a day away!

I Am Learning To Sew- Project 10

  A child's wallet. I made it for the boy who lives across the street from me.
(Dollar bill for display purposes only.)

The cover of child's wallet. I used a patio furniture fabric on the outside to make the wallet a bit sturdier.

I Am Learning To Sew- Project 9 a,b, And c

Reusable market bags made with left over fabrics from other projects and one old bed sheet.

Bad Politicians

This explains why tweeting the photo below

forced a British politician to resign today.

I Love Beautiful Graphics

The Kin-Der-Kids is a comic strip that was drawn by painter Lyonel Feininger in the early 20th century.  In the bathtub are Sherlock Bones, the dog;  Strenuous Teddy, a very strong little boy; Daniel Webster, the boy reading the book; Pie-Mouth, the boy with the big appetite; and Little Japansky, the clockwork boy in the back of the tub.  Following them in the boat named Gwendoline are Aunt Jim-Jam and her son Gussie. Aunt Jim-Jam is always trying to get the kids to drink their Castor oil.

Cool Design

I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.
- Lindon Leader

I accidentally let my phone battery die and this is the graphic shown while it charges. Bubbles of electrons at the bottom of the screen rise to fill the battery at the center of the screen.  Very mesmerizing.

I'm Looking But Am I Seeing?

If you look at a thing 999 times, you are perfectly safe; if you look at it for the 1000th time, you are in danger of seeing it for the first time. 
-G. K. Chesterton

Storm drain near my house.  How long as that fish been there?

 

Married Life

Conversation with my husband after he puts on a just washed pair of flannel sleep/lounge pants.

My husband:  These have too much static. I thought you were putting fabric softener in the wash.

Me:  I did use fabric softener.  If they're still staticy  why don't you grab all of them and run them through the wash with more fabric softener?

My husband: That's a good idea.

He collects all his sleep/lounge pants and head to the laundry room where I hear him open the top of the washer, then silence as I wait for him to ask the question.

My husband:  Where's the fabric softener?

Me: In the rolling cart next to the dryer.

Another moment of silence.

My husband:  It's not there.  All I see is Dreft and Downy.

Me: Downy is fabric softener.

My husband: Ohhh.

Well They're Out There A'havin' Fun

In that warm California sun.
-The Rivieras


It's been a busy day.  I drove down to Denver to return my sister's sweet little dog to her and then drove back home- in a snowstorm. I shoveled the driveway and front walks- in a snowstorm. (This way I'll have less to shovel tomorrow.) And I took my two dogs for a long walk- in a snowstorm. Now I am going to open a chilled bottle of Riesling, pour myself a glass, pop a DVD of episodes of the TV version of Gidget starring Sally Field and pretend I'm out there a'having fun, in that warm California sun.

Light Shadows 22

Do You Know What It Feels Like For A Dog?

When the temperature is 1 degree Fahrenheit (-17.2 Celsius) and you can't go outside for a walk or  a run or to hunt?  Well, it's pretty darn depressing.

Veterans Day

"In war, there are no unwounded soldiers".
-Unknown

"Tis a privilege to live in Colorado."

-Frederick G. Bonfils


Fifty-nine degrees at 7:00 this morning when I took the dogs for a walk. Now 23 degrees and snowing.

"If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."
-Everyone who lives in Colorado

I Am Learning To Sew- Work Area

If you had told me a year ago that I would be turning a section of my basement into a sewing center I would have laughed out loud.  Now look what I have:

A sewing table (back wall), a bookcase, a cutting table, and a small dresser.

This 1947 Singer Featherweight 221 is my newest machine. 

The re-purposed table my husband turned into a sewing machine table and the bookcase I build years ago. 

        

Cutting table with scissors, rotary cutters, and rulers hanging on the wall behind.

Close-up of the racks my husband made for me.  He cut up a brass rod to make the hooks.

The dresser was a gift from a friend and stores my fabric, patterns and larger supplies.  That is my 1960's Kenmore in its carrying case sitting on the ground to the right of the dresser.

And that ends the tour.  I've found that having a dedicated space for my sewing makes the experience  more gratifying but I still cannot believe how much fun I am having learning to sew.  Who'd of thought?

Light Shadows 21

The view from the end of the leash.

New Sunglasses

Bug eyes!

Election Day

If you don't vote, you don't matter!

I Am Learning To Sewing- Project 8 a, b and c

Photo my niece sent me of her dogs modeling the coats I made for them. Got them done in time for Halloween.

Happy Halloween

"At the end of the world, on an island alone, lies a city of secrets, mortar and stone."
-The Kingdom Of Witches

Fear, Panic, And Lies 5

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.
 -German Proverb

Fear, Panic, And Lies 4

Fear, Panic, And Lies 3

Fear, Panic, And Lies 2

Fear, Panic, And Lies

"Because of the lack of education on AIDS, discrimination, fear, panic, and lies surrounded me."
-Ryan White (1971-1990)

Get That Cat Two Pairs Of Air Jordans!

Women- If You Don't Vote, You Don't Matter

"Ten million more women than men voted in the last election. In fact 53% of voters were women. That is not a voting block it's a majority. Women have decided literally every election in our lifetimes, yet, midterm turnout is historically low. LET'S CHANGE THAT!"
-The Department of Peace



"You Don't Own Me" PSA - Upworthy from The Department of Peace on Vimeo.

October’s Poplars Are Flaming Torches Lighting The Way To Winter

 -Nova S. Bair

Not a poplar but still on fire.

My Soul Is In The Sky

Had a friend fly in to attend a family member's memorial service this weekend.  We drove him back to Loveland/Fort Collins Airport on Sunday and got a quick tour of his Cessna 210G Centurion (not shown) and then watched him take-off. I had forgotten how much I love small airports.

Beautiful day to fly. Loveland/Fort Collins Airport.

Again, beautiful day to fly. Loveland/Fort Colllins Airport.

Xtra Airways, a charter airline out of Boise, ID

What Are We Going To Do About The Other Generation?

 How will we ever communicate without communication?
 -The Other Generation from Flower Drum Song

In this month's issue of AARP Bulletin there is an article, Selling Us Short, about how advertising is ignoring, to their detriment, people over 50 in order to focus on the 18 to 34 demographic.

"The 50-plus market that many advertisers ignore or insult is not big: It is enormous.  According to a Nielsen study, by 2017 boomers will control 70 percent of the country's disposable income.  From 2007 to 2010- tough economic times- retirees were on of the few demographic groups to experience stable or rising incomes. Nearly 60 percent of homeowners over 65 are not weighed down by mortgages, compared with just 11 percent of 34- to 44-year-olds. And boomers account for 80 percent of America's luxury travel spending."

The reason why advertisers ignore such a large market?  Ageism and advertising myth.  Ageism is present in an Esuance commercial which shows an older woman who confuses facebook's  wall with her own living room wall.

"Though 28 million people over 55 already subscribe to Facebook  and boomers buy twice as much online as younger adults, according to Forrester Research, cranky, befuddled Beatrice can't fathom social media."

One advertising myth is Brand Loyalty. 

"Ken Dychtwald, CEO of the consulting firm Age Wave, believes many marketers live in the past. Lifetime brand loyalty 'was once a reality, but now it's just a myth, ' he says. Previous generations often selected a brand between the ages of 15 and 25 and never switched. That became the target age for advertisers."

That is no longer true.  Brent Bouchez of Bouchez Page calls boomers "brand-promiscuous."  And a survey done in 2014 showed that most millennial were the same way.

The other advertising myth is that older people are cheap and will not part with their money but the Nielsen study disproved this, "Boomers make the most money and spend what they make."

It will be interesting to see if advertising moves away from its worship of youth before or after 2017 when older people will be too large a market to ignore any longer.

I Just Bought my First Smart Phone

 

That's one small step for a woman, one giant leap in technology.

Two Roads Diverged In A Yellow Wood

I took the one less traveled by
-Robert Frost, American Poet  (1874 - 1963)


I learned of the death of two men this morning-both infamous in their own way. First, David Greenglass (1922-2014), whose false testimony sent his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the electric chair in the early 1950s.





Second, Tommy Lewis (1931- 2014), who came off the bench during the 1954 Cotton Bowl to tackle an opposing player and stopping what would have been a 95 yard touchdown run. Although, doing so did not stop the referee from awarding the opposing player credit for the touchdown.




Rest In Peace, Tommy Lewis. Burn in Hell, David Greenglass.

Thought For The Day

I Am Learning To Sew- Terminology

I would guess they do not use this term anymore.

Better Homes & Gardens Sewing Book (1961)

Bobby Baby, Bobby Love!

Happy Birthday to one hell of a fisherman!

Grow Old With Me, The Best Is Yet To Come

These are the Brown sisters, Heather, Mimi, Bebe, and Laurie, in 1979. Bebe's husband, photographer Nicholas Nixon, took the photo and kept taking one photo a year of the sister for the next forty years.
If you go here you will see those photos.   As you click through them you will watch the women grow older, become closer,  less guarded, and more comfortable with themselves.  Striking photos.  Some of them made me cry because they are so honest and the women so open.