Sue's Blog - Some assembly required.

Alan's Birthday

2012-02-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

Friday was Alan's Birthday.
We got him a birthday card.

This is the front of it.

This is the inside.
Well it made me laugh.
He seems to have enjoyed his birthday. I made him a birthday cake. A chocolate one.

It looked like this.
It actually is quite yummy.

I put candles on it and he seemed to really enjoy it.
I am glad he had a good birthday. We bought him gifts and took him out for a meal.

Today, Saturday, we got Bubba some more jollop from the vet and then set off to do some shopping.
I needed new jeans as the zip of my favourite ones broke this morning. We also wanted to look at mattresses and bed linen too.
It was one of those days when everything in my favour was against me.
I couldn't find jeans I liked, the mattresses were pants and we couldn't agree on the bed linen.
But, my day was saved by a trip to the Chinese take away shop.
I had been perusing the menu and as we don't often have Chinese I asked the young girl behind the counter what Hunan Shrimp was.
She looked very puzzled and found an older lady to consult with. After some discussion she piped up....."Shlimp, callots and cerery."
Oh...ok....what about the Szechuan Shrimp?
More puzzlement and another consultation with the older lady.
"Szechuan Shlimp.....shlimp, callots and cerery, " she announced.
I sighed at Philip. I wanted to know what the dishes were. Were they sweet, spicy....what flavours were they.
So, this time I asked her what sort of sauce the Szechuan Shlimp...I mean shrimp came in.
Oh this was a very hard question.
She consulted with the older lady. The older lady started to look puzzled and then she became quite frantic. They both set off to the back of the shop where they winkled out a man who looked like he might be the chef.
Intense consultation this time. All three became quite animated but, of course, we had no idea what they were saying. Eventually they all seemed to reach an understanding and the young girl returned to us at the counter.
"Sauce is brown," she proclaimed triumphantly.

I thought I would collapse with laughing. Oh that was alright then, I would have the 'brown' sauce.
This kept me giggling all the time we were waiting for our dinners.
I couldn't get over the degree of discussion that went on to get to the resulting description of this exotic Chinese sauce. Brown.
Now ya know.

Nick Falldown and Jack Knickerless.

2012-02-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

Sunday.

Out to brekkie, which was delish. I had a veggie skillet again. This time the hash browns were crisp and golden.
There were also lots of veggies and two fried eggs on top.
Philip had something similar but it was a steak skillet and Alan had the meat lovers skillet.
So, off we went, all full of grub, to have some fun on the driving range.

Alan hadn't played before so Philip gave him some useless....oops I mean.....useful (well that probably depends on your outlook) advice.
I stayed in the warm car and read my book.
Alan seemed to enjoy himself.

This picture made me laugh.

It looks like Philip is creeping up on him and about to clonk him on the head with his golf club.
After all this excitement we calmed down with the grocery shopping and then headed home.
The Superbowl was on in the afternoon and although the excitement wasn't as great as last year, Alan did wish to watch it.
I didn't, but I was reliably informed that it was a boring game.
I did see the halftime show which starred Madonna.......YAWN !!!
I had read that she was going to mime and mime she did.
She may be able to afford lots of botox or whatever to keep herself looking young but no matter how young you look, in your 50s you will not have the energy or vitality that you had when you were in your 20s. So, she spent a lot of time ........ walking up and down ....while all the backing singers and dancers did all the energetic stuff. One was over energetic with her gesture to the crowd which has caused quite a bit of upset over here.
Apparently, she hadn't made this gesture once during rehearsals so, I suppose she did it to get her name out there. She has achieved this. Unfortunately, it turns out she is British.
The news & sports reports loved to emphasise this of course.
On the upside, a Brit did relieve the monotony of a tedious American football final........can't be all bad then.

Bimbling about a bit.

2012-02-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Alan and Philip are still getting on well........see above.

I have only had to use the "Did you see the giraffes back there?" card a couple of times.
Philip did start poking cocktail sticks in Alan's leg the other day but that is fairly mild.
So, what have we done this week?
The two 'old gits' went to see a movie on Tuesday.
"Contraband" I think it was called.
If you get the chance to go and see it .........go to the dentist instead. It seems you would have more fun.

They left around 6.45pm and I settled down to play WoW on the computer.
The movie was due to start shortly after 7pm I think. I received a phone call around 8pm to say they were on their way home.
They had walked out of the cinema.
Apparently it was that bad.
I have never walked out of a cinema before the end of a film.
Bloody hell, I even stuck with "Space Truckers" until the end and that must rank up there with one of the worst movies of all time.
I remember I went to see it in Folkestone by myself as Philip and a gang of mates were all playing computer games at the house.
I wasn't involved in it all so I thought I would treat myself to a movie.
I was the only person in the place and when it started, the girl at the ticket office came and sat next to me, as she said, to keep me company.
It was awful.
Halfway through she turned and told me it was one of the worst she had seen but we stayed until the end.
To be honest, I think I only stayed because I would have felt bad leaving when she had been kind enough to sit with me and probably she didn't like to get up and go because she didn't want to leave me sitting there by myself.

Alan and I ventured out to the mall on Thursday. I was a bit miffed because we ran to catch the bus which was early as they had changed the schedules without telling anyone, and I hurt my leg.
I then had a difficult time walking around the mall and was dreading it being something that would take weeks to heal.
When Philip hurt his leg (calf muscle - same place as I hurt mine) it took months to heal.
Anyway, I needn't have worried. It was a bit dodgy all day but yesterday it wasn't too bad and is just a little sore today.
No need for crutches then.

Tomorrow we are off to the driving range (heated etc) for a spot of golf.
Alan is going to have a go.

Alanmas Dinner & Great Lakes Distillery

2012-01-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

"Ahhhhh............we meet again Mr Bond."
He looks so much like a Bond Film villain in this picture with Lily.

I have got this new blog page set up thingy. This is my first post using it so it could all go pear shaped.
So far, so good.
Alan cooked us a meal on Wednesday.
It was delish. We started with tasty mushroom, sherry & wine tarts.
The main course was Talapia (fish) in lemon butter sauce with veggies.
The dessert was this amazing creation below.

This was the dessert as served.

This was a few minutes later.
Yummo !!

Saturday we went to visit two of the foster kittens that we had during the summer.
They are doing really well and look fantastic. The boy had been the weakliest one out of the litter and it was amazing to see what a strong, beautiful cat he has grown into.
The girl always was pretty but now her fur is even softer. They are really loved in their new home and it was heartwarming to see them.
I also think it was very kind of the couple to allow us to visit.
After we left there we made our way downtown to The Great Lakes Distillery.
I hadn't known this existed until I saw a segment about it on the news the day before.
Milwaukee is well known for its breweries but we never knew they had a distillery.
It was a brill deal. We got a free guided tour of the distillery by a young guy who really knew his stuff and explained the whole process. It was really rather interesting as he added a lot of history regarding distilling/prohibition etc.
After the tour for $5 you can have a tasting of 5 of the different spirits they make.
There was whiskey, gin, rum, absynthe & vodka. Philip was driving so he didn't take part and neither did I. I am hopeless at drinking during the day. This was 1pm and if I had drunk those spirits I would have been flat out.
Alan made up for our failings. He liked most of them. Philip and I got to sniff them and decided that the rum smelled like rum/butter. The gin also smelled very smooth.
They bought a few things. They had shot glasses and t.shirts as well as booze. Have a look at this link. It is very interesting.

http://greatlakesdistillery.com/

All in all a good day despite having to clear the snow again before we left.
It had to be cleared again this morning but......it is Wisconsin.
I think Alan is having a lovely time. I hope so. Currently he is watching the American football ProBowl...........no I don't know either.

Ticketty Boo

2012-01-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

Cedarburg.

I am all ok now (mostly). I have my sensible head back on.......as if.
Saturday we had a peruse around some furniture shops.
The plan was to seek out the cost of a new bed.
As we were considering a new bed, I thought it would be sensible (had the right head on) to get a King Size bed.
Philip is quite a bit larger than me or as one salesman in the bed shop put it when trying to flog us a decent mattress...."Look at you two. He weighs around 130lbs and she weighs about 30lbs."
What a diplomat.
He should be in a foreign minister or something. He would have given Henry Kissinger a run for his money.
We also have numerous felines that like to share our bed. Or, more correctly, they like to share my side of the bed with me.
A King Size bed would be a dream come true.
Alas, I fear a dream is all it will ever be. They sell beds in a peculiar way over here. You have to buy the headboard, baseboard and frame as one unit.
Then you have to buy a mattress and base separately.
We found a headboard for around $400 (this was probably the cheapest one we could find that we liked). I, in my innocence, was thinking.....maybe another couple of hundred for a mattress.
I was a little off in my calculations.
Philip, quite rightly, thought that if we were going to get a new mattress then we should get a decent one. Not top of the range but pretty good. We both suffer with back problems and sleep problems so it would make no sense to get a dirt cheap one.
Mid range then.
$2500 then...................and that was in the sale........and they would charge delivery........and you have to add on sales tax which would then mean we were talking about $3000. Oh of course, then you have to add on the cost of the bed.....another $500ish.
If we had that sort of money to chuck around then I would chuck it at the kitchen or one of the bathrooms.
Sigh........
The old bed isn't too bad.

Sunday we went to Cedarburg.
A charming old American town which I think I have blogged about before. The last time we went we had the most amazing breakfast there. So, we thought we would take Alan.

It is a beautiful, small town, with lots of little shops and a fab converted mill. The mill is now a winery. Lots of places to walk around (if you are well wrapped up in January).
First stop though.........brekkie.
I had been really looking forward to this.
It was pretty crowded in the restaurant, so we had a bit of a wait, but Philip told Alan that it would be well worth it.
It wasn't.
It was pants.......well mine was anyway.
The waitress was a nightmare. She was so over the top, gleefully happy to serve us. Thrilled at our accents which she attempted to emulate. This always winds us up. Why do people think it is cute to try to copy what we say in a dreadful accent?
She was going to get us everything "Licketty splitt".
I ordered the veggie skillet, which is what I had before.
It in no way resembled what I had before. Where were the assortment of vegetables nestling under my 'over easy' eggies? Where were my wonderful, golden crispy hash browns?
I got a mound of undercooked white hash browns which had the same texture as mashed potatoes, topped by a couple of pieces of tomato, a few bits of sad broccoli with eggs on top.
The ebullient waitress fluttered around us continually. She made comments on everything....my bag....my glasses.....
I would not have said a word about the poorly cooked brekkie. We are British. We don't complain.
But, the poxy waitress came to collect our plates and made a big fuss about why I had not eaten my hash browns......which should have been called hash whites. She spoke to me as if I was a child, not finishing my dinner.
So, ok, she wanted to know....so I told her. I didn't eat them because they were not cooked properly. Had they been crisp and golden I would have eaten them.
Ooooh....just for a moment the mask slipped. She didn't like that.
We left our tip and came out.
Then Alan told me that I wasn't the only one who left all the hash browns. The lady at the next table had, apparently, left a whole mound of them on her plate.
I wonder if she got told off too.

Kicked in the stomach.

2012-01-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

For some reason the text is sometimes leaving out the capital letters....I don't know why.

I think I am in shock. All these years I have had the niggling feeling that they covered something up. I was told it was pneumonia, but there was a word on two death certificates that I will never forget.

That word was burned into my soul. Pseudomonas.

A horrid word that no one would explain to me. What was it? It was always fudged over when I asked and I was too weak to insist or to make a fuss. Never, ever make a fuss. 'It was no one's fault. Just one of those things. Put it behind you'. After all these years this word flew off the page as I read this latest news. I always thought that the hospital was at fault in some way. After all this time it has hit me so hard. It needn't have happened. It wasn't my fault. It shouldn't have happened. But it did and I must again 'put it behind me'.

Pseudomonas.

I hate that word.

Three babies dead after infection at Belfast hospital

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been blamed for the deaths of three babies at Belfast's Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital, in the neonatal intensive care unit.

What kind of illness does it cause?

The severity and type of the illness it causes depends on its route into the body.

If it enters lung tissue it can cause a form of pneumonia.

If the bacterium infects the gastro-intestinal system of a vulnerable patient, then a condition called "necrotising enterocolitis" can follow, which again causes severe tissue damage.

This is the form most associated with premature babies.

How is it spread?

The usual route is through contaminated hands or medical equipment such as catheters and feeding tubes.

Infection control measures such as regular handwashing and decontamination of equipment are the most effective tactics to prevent its spread.

How can it be treated?

Once established in a weakened patient, a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is potentially a severe problem which requires immediate treatment.

While mortality from the infection varies depending on where the infection is, how soon it is treated and the underlying weakness of the patient, some studies suggest a third of infected patients may die.

Inflatable thingies....

2012-01-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

Gary was as good as his word and sent me pictures he had taken at the Ice Hockey.
He is a brilliant photographer.
The above is one of the inflatable creatures who kept us amused during the breaks in play.
These photos show what happened when an official went onto the ice to try to make the monster thingy leave.
It ate him.
All of him.
You can see the official's legs sticking out. It was hilarious and totally unexpected.
It then spat his shoes out.

This is a picture of the photographer who had a special, personal hole.
I think Gary was rather jealous of this.
Of course, poor Gary then came in for quite a bit of leg pulling about the other guy having a hole and how Gary must wish he had a hole to poke his thing through.
Philip suggested that the other photographer's thingy was bigger than Gary's but that was mere speculation.
We also had some chuckles at the players names which are displayed, boldly on their shirts.
Really.......if you were a super tough, rugged, ice hockey player would you want the word
JESSIMAN emblazoned across your shoulders?

We had to scoot home to watch the Green Bay Packers play like a bunch of little old ladies who were on an outing from the Wisconsin Nursing Home for the Bewildered.
They played The New York Giants. I won't go into details re the outcome.
Alan was not pleased.

Philip had to work all night on Monday. This is the first time he has had to do this. They were having some sort of major install (I don't know...he uses lots of words I don't understand...maybe it has something to do with plumbing but I am guessing it is computer related).
Anyway, as we live an hour and half from his workplace in Chicago, it made no sense for him to drive home and arrive at 10.30pm when he would need to be back by 1.30am. He would have more or less had to turn round and go straight back.
So, he took his little bag and decided to sleep there.
He apparently only got an hour's sleep but at least he hadn't had the long drive.
So, it was just Unky Al and me on Monday.
Tuesday morning I got up, looked out the window..........What the ??????????
Overnight we had had another load of snow and it was still snowing hard. Blizzard conditions. Poor visibility ......the lot.
Well, our good old weatherman hadn't mentioned that.
Philip then phoned at around 10am to say he was on his way back and should arrive in about 30 minutes.
Arghhhhhhhhhhhh.........don't panic..........don't panic.....................
The drive, which had been dug out only a couple of days before, had completely disappeared...well actually the road...the kerbs.....everything was lost in a deep expanse of white.....and Alan was still in bed.
Philip would not be a happy bunny if he arrived home and couldn't get up the drive, not after working all night.
So, Unky Al was mobilised and he did a great job.
It was still snowing hard so we wouldn't usually start digging out but if Philip couldn't get the car in the garage he would have to leave it at the roadside which would mean digging that out later.
Philip arrived home in time to help finish off and put the salt/grit down. Phew!!!!!!!!

Then I had an angina attack.
Pants. It wiped me out for the rest of the day. I couldn't go to work this morning, Wednesday, as apart from still feeling a bit iffy, the temperature had dropped to minus 25C overnight (with windchill). Too chuffing cold to go walking and bussing.
The snow now is not like lovely fluffy British snow (when they get it) but is frozen totally solid.
The frozen tundra is back with a vengeance. The rest of the week is forecast to be the same with more snow on Friday.
Typical Alanmas weather really.

Every day he's shuffling ....I mean shovelling.

2012-01-15T14:33:00.001-08:00

Well we knew it couldn't last.
We have been all through November and December with barely a flake or two of snow.
That changed on Wednesday.
We got quite a decent dollop of snow but we have had worse. Much worse.
The temperature has dropped dramatically too.
Oh well.......it gave Unky Al an excuse to get outside with his shovel.
I am quite liking it at the moment.
Wisconsin in January just didn't seem right without the snow.

Tootsie is growing fast.
I think she is trying to catch up with her feet.
She is the kitten with many, many toes, or as Gary calls her "the one with feet as big as her head".
This afternoon, Sunday, we went to see the Admirals play ice hockey.
It is a pity they decided to play tiddly winks instead.
They were playing the Lake Erie Monsters.
We had to leave early so that Alan could get back to see The Green Bay Packers play The New York Giants on the telly.
Oh it is all go in this house. Sporting events all over the shop.
The Admirals were losing when we left so it wasn't hard to drag ourselves away.
They were playing like a bunch of 'big girl's blouses', although there were a couple of punch ups.
Gary and I had a giggle making rude comments about the Monster's names and about a guy with a camera.
Philip said this guy's was bigger than Gary's ........well Gary took umbrage over that.
Gary has promised to send me some photos so I will tell you more when he does.

Apart from this.........meh.......I have been feeling a bit down. I wake up in the morning feeling like I have been hit by a truck, and I never have a pen and paper to write down his number plate.
I then feel tired most of the day. I think it is depression.
If I went to the doctor he would probably say, " Have you had this before?"
I would reply, "Yes."
"Well you've got it again," he would say.

I am a bit worried about a friend of mine too. He seems to be having a rough time lately, looking for another job etc. He sounds rather depressed to me. He seems to have lost interest in the things he used to love doing. He has lost his sparkle. I know how hard it is to get through stuff like that. As I am way over here there isn't a lot I can help him with. I hope things work out for him soon. It seems to me that if you can manage to sort out the main problem, then the others soon work out too.

Alanmas continues

2012-01-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

Alanmas is well underway.
What more could anyone want?
Playing World of Warcraft, with a bottle of Jack Daniels to hand and a big fat cat asleep on your shoulder?
No wonder he likes coming here.

The weather continues to be amazing. We have no snow and temps of 10C.
Totally unheard of in January. Apparently records are being broken.
Unfortunately, it looks like today might be the last mild day. Cold weather and snow are forecast for us starting tomorrow.
We are not sure how much snow yet but I have an idea that Unky Al may be christening his new shovel.

Today Alan and I ventured out to the mall, without headsocks and 8 layers of clothing.
This is very odd for Alanmas.
Sod's Law states that :-
When thou doth hath a compatriot in attendance, thou shalt not be harassed by idiots at the stop of the bus...eth.
So, the trip was uneventful.

The sales are on so I was on the track of Billy Bargains.......I got a couple.

Alan kindly accompanied Philip when he took Lily to the vet for her vaccinations.
I gave her the tranquilising drug 2 hours before as instructed. Last year it took affect in about 20 minutes. I hated it.
She was staggering around and her eyes were dilated.
This time, after about an hour and half, there was no effects apparent.
No staggering. Sparkling, bright blue eyes. ..........Oh dear.
I had to phone the vet as they were leaving to let them know she was on her way.
With Lily the plan is ......in......needles.....exam.......weight........done........out......before she explodes.
Philip told the vet on arrival, that the meds didn't seem to be working. It seems the vet turned a little pale at this.
Lily was pretty good though. They gave her the vaccinations and weighed her but she had had enough by then.
The vet was going to examine her belly and teeth but our sweet, white, fluffy, little girl emitted a deep low growl and everyone changed their minds and decided she was done.
We think the meds may have been out of date and lost potency.

I will get new ones next year.

Alanmas has begun

2012-01-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

With Alan due to arrive yesterday, I got his presents ready.
There was one special one amongst them.
Philip picked him up from the airport in Chicago, after work. He'd had a pleasant flight over even if he hadn't got the best seat in the house.
The plane went up when it was supposed to, stayed up and came down when it was supposed to. That to me is a perfect flight.
Flights should be boring. I never want to be on an 'interesting' flight.

After a cup of tea and something to nosh, it was time to open gifts.
We all had lots of lovely things.
Then Alan came to his surprise present.
I have an inkling that he guessed what it was?

Coo.....what a surprise for him. He looks very happy with his new shovel.
At the moment the weather gods are being very kind to him and this is almost no snow.
There isn't any in the forecast for the next 6 days either. In fact, for January in Wisconsin, it is very mild.
We are going to make the most of it and get the outside decorations and lights down this weekend. They usually stay up (although not lit) for a few weeks yet as it is generally too cold and the ground too frozen to get them out.
This time last year I was waist deep in snow in the back garden. I can't help thinking we will have to pay for this mild weather.

Alan seems very happy to be here. I think the cats believe he lives here and has just been out to the shops for a while. It certainly is hard to believe how the year has flown by since his last visit. I like to see how his stress floats away when he gets here, after a year's hard graft on Alcatraz (Guernsey).
It is great to have someone to make me a cup of tea and to give a hand with things.
No doubt when the snow hits, Philip will happy to see the drive and sidewalk cleared when he has driven all the way home from work in Chicago.
I bet everyone wishes they had an Alanmas too.

It's beginning to look a lot like Alanmas

2012-01-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

Seems like the winter has been saving itself for Alanmas.
I knew the mild weather couldn't continue for much longer.
It is cold and snowy now.
Not, huge drifts of snow, yet, but very cold. The air is also very dry and my eyes are sore today.
I have the humidifier going all night, despite Lollipop's attempts to kill it.
She has been doing battle with the thing every day. A couple of times she has knocked it right over and I thought it was broken.
But, Humidifier Wars continue......"those damn drips....why aren't they where my eyes tell me they are??"
Poor Lolly, her bemusement still makes me chuckle.
The covering of snow also brought us some amusement.
As you probably know, I feed Arnie The Possum every night.
The new snow showed us his tracks. You can tell a possum's tracks from any of the numerous squirrels, because they look like little stars.
Their toes are like fingers and they spread out.

We have seen them many times before but this time old Arnie made me laugh.
We have an old wooden bench swing thing in the back garden.
Arnie's footprints were in the snow on the bench.
I like to imagine him sitting there, rocking gently eating his burritos that I am still feeding him from the freezer meltdown we had.
Maybe I should get him a pipe.

I don't know if it the new year blues or what but I have been feeling rather depressed of late.
I really don't like feeling like this and am trying to shake it off.
I find myself getting tearful at the least thing that goes wrong.
That isn't good is it? I expect it will pass.

Christmas.

2011-12-31T12:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning.
Above is a picture of our pressies.
These were the pressies we bought each other.
We are both Christmas nuts and just love the whole thing.
These gifts are not all expensive items. We love unwrapping stuff so we buy each other a couple of good pressies and the rest are lovely, but relatively inexpensive.
We opened these in the morning.
Gary came over and we had dinner about 4pm.
After dinner it is stocking time.
We buy each other lots of little, fun pressies for our stockings.
I always do Gary a stocking too. This year I think I wrapped 28 gifts for his stocking.
It is a lot of fun and is only once a year.

This year my main pressie from Philip was a laptop.
I was thrilled.
I really didn't think I would get one as they are quite expensive. It means I don't always have to sit in the basement if I want to bugger about on Facebook.
I can now sit and watch telly and browse the 'interwebs' at the same time.
How tra la posh is that? I have been a bit envious of people who can just flip open the laptop and see what is going on in the world.
I use Donna's when I am staying with her and it is brill.

Every year I like to get Philip something to totally surprise him.
This year I got him an electric guitar, amplifier and a 'guitar playing for dummies' book.
I knew he had always wished he had learned to play a guitar so it was just right.
He seemed suitably impressed.
As I said, the rest of the gifts were not so grand, but lots of fun to open.

Gary stayed until about 1am. So he must have had a good time. Philip used a vacation day so that he could have Boxing Day off. We didn't do much except eat....:)

Then reality set back in with a bill for about $185 from Philip's doctor.
It was for an x ray he had when his chest was bad a few weeks ago.
What???
At our doctor's office they have a clinic downstairs for blood tests, x rays etc.
So, if anything is needed he will just send you downstairs.......boom...done.
Philip phoned to find out why, when he pays $300 a month insurance, was he being charged AGAIN.
They told him that he hadn't met his $500 deductible.
What???
He has paid in the region of thousands in doctors/hospital/ambulance bills this year due to his kidney stones and chest problems.
How could they say he hadn't the $500 you have to pay before they will pay out anything.
He was told that none of the money he had been billed for came off the $500 so he would have to pay the bill.
They couldn't properly explain this but just expect you to put up with it. He did tell them that it was daylight robbery the way they interpret everything to favour them while we had to pay.
It makes me afraid to get my hand seen to.
It makes me afraid of being poorly.
You can't really change your insurance provider either because the next one wouldn't cover any existing conditions. So, if you have an ongoing health problem you wouldn't be covered for that at all. Imagine the cost.
People lose their houses over health costs. It is bloody ridiculous.

If there is one thing I miss about England, it is the health care system.
At least in the UK you can choose to take private health care if you wish and if you do they don't still expect you to pay.

People who know me will be aware that I don't do New Year.
New Years frighten me as you never know what they hold.
So, I will wish you this..........I hope your new year brings whatever you want it to.
Good health to you all.

Christmas Idiot.

2011-12-24T10:28:00.001-08:00

Off we went to :- visit this year's Christmas display at the bank and then on to Christmas Carol at the theatre.
The display, as always, was brilliant.
It changes every year and it has become one of our traditions to visit it on our way to the theatre.

We had put our glad rags on for the occasion and I thought I looked passable.
We both scrubbed up quite well, as they say, but unfortunately I didn't realise that I still had my idiot magnet in my coat pocket.
We arrived at the theatre, found our seats and settled down.
We didn't know that we would have Cousin Eddy's (from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) little known, imbecilic, moronic brother, sitting behind us.
Two lumbering oafs, brothers apparently, accompanied by a tiny elderly lady (who turned out to be their mother....saints preserve us) arrived loudly.
The loudest had all the personality traits attributed to the badly stereotyped American often portrayed in old movies.
He was loud and obnoxious. Please believe me....Americans are not generally like this. We have always found them to be kind and polite....mostly.
This did not bode well.
After complaining, loudly, to "Ma" about how bad the seats were and that he had better seats before when he had seen various bands, it became apparent that poor little, aged "Ma" had bought the tickets.
The lights dimmed and the show started. He quietened down a bit and the first half passed uneventfully.
Then it was the intermission.
Sigh.........
He really let fly then.
"Why were they talking in English with English accents?".....he couldn't understand them.
If ever there was an English movie on at home he would turn it off because he couldn't understand them. Why couldn't they speak in American accents? "
He thought it was crap and wouldn't have come if he had known they would be speaking in English accents.
"If it got any worse, he might leave and go to the bar up the street where they could meet him when it was over." Oh we wished.

All this time poor little "Ma" was saying pathetically that she could understand it and she had been to see this play 4 or 5 times and always loved it.
He meanwhile, totally oblivious to how ignorant and boorish he was, banged on about how much the tickets were. "Ma" had obviously bought them as a Christmas treat for her two sons.
I felt so sorry for her.
"Well, I think it sucks", he wailed, " I can't understand the stupid English accents."

By now I had had enough. Those that know me know that I have a long rope but will reach the end of it eventually.
I turned round and said to him in my best English accent "Would you like me to translate it for you?"
His face was a picture.
You have to understand that there are virtually no British or English living in Milwaukee. We know a couple ....that is all.
So, when we are out people are always amazed when we speak.....coo....we have accents.
I could see he didn't know whether I was putting an accent on at first.
He spluttered and blustered a bit, obviously even a lout such as he could be embarrassed.
"I really don't mind", I continued, " There are two of us here who could translate for you if you are having that much of a problem."
For a while he was struck dumb. It didn't last long though.
The rest of the intermission was taken up with him bemoaning the fact that his implanted teeth were playing him up.
Apparently, they were fine for the first two months but now they were giving him jip.
I wanted to suggest keeping his mouth shut more might do the trick but decided against it.
He went on...and on.....the teeth had cost him sixteen thousand dollars and he thought that he was allergic to them.

The second half started. He quietened down a bit after a few shs's.
Towards the end it was very quiet, maybe he went to sleep.
When it was over I turned around as I was getting my coat on just in time to see the back of him making a very hasty exit. He was like a rat up a drain pipe.
His family were still getting their coats etc.
It made me chuckle all the way home to think that little me had almost scared the pants off a large, backward, inconsiderate yob.
An English accent will do that over here.

Almost here......

2011-12-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

I have been busy.
The little cakes are all marzipanned, iced and given out.
I have now finished our Christmas cake (the one above) and it doesn't look too bad.
Donna sent me some marzipan and I made good use of it.
This cake has about a pound of the stuff on it. We both like marzi.
I cannot get the 'easy roll out' regal ice over here so I made Royal Icing.
Personally, I think this tastes way better and I should know as I ate enough of it while I was icing the cake.
I have also made the mince pies. We ate a few yesterday but I have put some more in the fridge and some in the freezer..........good job we have a fridge/freezer again.
I usually make some Christmas pudding ice cream (which is delish) but a friend of mine in England said she bought some mince pie ice cream and that it was wonderful.
So, I think I will make some.
I will probably wait until Alanmas to make that so that he can try it too.
Alanmas is less than two weeks away.

Last night we delivered the gifts to the kids up the road (Lauren's mates) and to my friend June.
Those kids are getting so excited. I love to see it.
The parcel I sent to Donna, Lauren and Glenn has arrived at last. That took more than 3 weeks to get there. I really don't understand it as I sent 3 other parcels at the same time, all to Kent, and they arrived after about 10 days. I was beginning to think Donna's one had got lost.

Tonight we are off on our annual pilgrimage to the theatre to see "Christmas Carol".
We shall also stop by M&I Bank as every year they have an amazing display of animated bears.
The scenes are different each year and they are beautifully done.

After the theatre I will be a little bit sad. I always am as it means that Christmas will soon be over. It does seem to have arrived rather quickly this year.
I bet Alan doesn't think so though.

I am looking forward to seeing the old bugger .........but don't tell him. :)

Finally, a very Happy Christmas to all my mates, old and new.
I hope the New Year is everything you wish it to be.
Health and happiness to you all.

Meltdown

2011-12-20T13:13:00.001-08:00

These pictures show just some of the stuff I had to cook for Arnie, our visiting possum, yesterday.
I had found a puddle at the bottom of the fridge/freezer in the basement.
My worst fears were confirmed when I opened the freezer part to find the contents warm, soggy and anything but frozen.
I could have cried....and almost did.
We had bought our Christmas food last weekend.......turkey etc and it was all ruined.
I had no idea how long it had been defrosted which meant cooking it for ourselves was totally out of the question.
I remember when we had power cuts in the UK we were told that frozen food would stay frozen in the freezer for 48 hours (I think) as long as you didn't open the door.
Well, this stuff must have been defrosted for some time.
The fridge light still came on and at first I thought that was still working. A thermometer which read 60F soon convinced me that that had broken too.
I spent most of the morning lugging black bags of heavy food upstairs and then dragging them out to the rubbish bin.
I then decided to cook some stuff for Arnie, the possum.

It just seemed too wicked to throw everything out.
So, I fired up the oven and began cooking it all.
Coo, the house smelled amazing.
I also had 7 Christmas cakes to ice for Philip's chums at work and a couple of my mates too.
I also had 2 loads of laundry on the go.
Oh, I did have fun.
What with my dodgy hand and arm..........it was pants.

I finished up doing my back in totally.
Last night I could barely move so I spent the evening stretched out on the sofa.
I did manage to drink 3 brandies though.
Every cloud has a silver lining.

Yesterday afternoon Philip found a comparable fridge/freezer online at Sears.
This morning at around 10am they delivered it.
The delivery and installation was free - plus they even took the old one away.
They had to take the back door and screen door off to bring it in and they put them back on again.
The service over here is amazing. The guys told me that we should soon be getting a phone call from the company to ask what we thought of their work.
He said they will ask what number on a scale of 1 - 5. I assured him they would get a 5.

We were going to go shopping this evening to refill the freezer but apparently it takes 24 hours to get cold enough. We will go tomorrow.
A friend mentioned insurance........ha ha ha.
Insurance here is pants.
We can't claim on the insurance because our deductible (the amount we have to pay out before they will pay out) is greater than the amount we lost.

I am just happy to have a fridge/freezer for Christmas .
What would we have done with all the leftovers!!!

Arnie had two packets of shrimp and a veggie bake last night.
He must think it is Christmas already.

Christmassy

2011-12-17T13:50:00.000-08:00

When I opened my eyes this morning I knew the light was different.
It was a cleaner, brighter light.
I opened the curtains to reveal that our world had turned white overnight.
At last the snow had arrived.
Not a huge amount (especially by our standards) but enough to cover the ground and roads.
It made everything look Christmassy.
This is really late for us to start with the whole snow thing.
There have been complaints to Fox6 News.........I wonder what difference that made.
Oh, maybe it did make a difference. Maybe Fox6 is responsible for this snow fall.
Of course, this is just the start for us.
I made a point of saying cheerio to the grass and said I hoped to see it again in April.
We set off to the mall.
A more distant one than I visit on my bus adventures.
The above picture is of a mature Barber Shop Quartet who were doing a wonderful job entertaining the millions of shoppers scrurrying through the mall.
They were really, really good.
They proved it when people were actually pausing in their quests for last minute Christmas gifts. People actually stopped and smiled.
I love it when things like this happen. It makes the world a much happier place.

Father Christmas was there.
I don't know how he finds the time to do this when he has toys to make, lists to check (twice), reindeer to feed, a sleigh to oil.......maybe he gets the elves to do some of it.
I think he is wonderful.

Gary's Bauble

2011-12-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

In case anyone ever gives you something like this...........throw it away.
Or, give it to someone else.
This is the evil Christmas Tree decoration that Gary gave us.
If you don't know what I am talking about, then take a look back at my blog entries.

Just found this quote from Dave Barry on my calendar and thought I would share.

The Christmas season can be a difficult and stressful time for a certain group - a group whose needs, all too often, are overlooked in our society. That group is : men.
Why is it so hard on men?
There are many complex reasons, by which I mean: women.
This problem dates back to the very first Christmas. We know from the Bible that the Wise Men showed up in Bethlehem and gave the baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Now, gold is always a nice gift, but frankincense and myrrh - at least according to my dictionary - are gum resins.
Who gives gum resins to a baby?
The answer is : Men.
The Wise Men, being men, didn't even START shopping for gifts until the last minute, when most of the stores in the greater Bethlehem area were closed for Christmas Eve.
The only place still open was Big Stu's House of Myrrh.

Brilliant.

Easy money

2011-12-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Wanna make a fortune?
It's easy.
Become a vet. It isn't hard to do, just buy a book......ermmm...."Vetting For Dummies" or something.
Then rent a couple of rooms and put up a sign.
"GUILT TRIPS R US" would be a good one.
Then just wait.
Very soon along will come Mr & Mrs Gullible Suckers accompanied by their precious kitty, Sir Squitsalot.
Put your concerned face on and listen to his symptoms.
What next? Should you....
a, Suggest X Rays (very expensive)
b, Suggest blood tests (very expensive)
c, Suggest an ultra sound procedure (super expensive)
d, Prescribe medicine (make sure it is expensive stuff)
e, Sell them special anti allergy food (bloody expensive - $50 for a bag of dry food)
f, Prescribe more medicines (more expensive than the last lot)
g, Try to convince them that the only things to do now are even more expensive procedures.

Answer :-
All of the above.
At this point you should lean heavily on the guilt trip side of things.
Mr & Mrs Gullible Suckers are guilted into doing whatever you say. Good so far eh?

Mr & Mrs Gullible Suckers bring in another of their kitties , Miss Tub-o-lard, for vaccinations and a check up.
You look inside Miss Tub-o-lard's mouth.......suck some air in through your teeth and shake your head sadly.
You announce that she has a bad tooth, possibly two. She must have a hard time eating, you sympathise.
Miss Tub-o-lard meanwhile, looking plump and smug, has settled down and her bulk has spread out sufficiently to cover most of the examination table.
A couple of days later Mr Gullible Sucker drops Miss Tub-o-lard off for her dental appointment.
Explain simply that each tooth extracted will cost from $20 - $95 depending on the difficulty of the extraction.
Later that day when Mrs Gullible Sucker phones to enquire into the well being of Miss Tub-o-lard, you should be bright and breezy and announce that the patient is recovering well. You then slip in quickly "we took 4 teeth out".
Mrs Gullible Sucker will then say something like "Oh poor thing. How much will this cost?"
Now you must use the guilt trip thing again.
"Only $550".
Do not be surprised if Mrs Gullible Sucker then explodes with, " What ??? For four kitty teeth !!! Were they the size of elephant molars with roots like a mangrove swamp??"
You may find that she then goes on to remind you that since April they have already spent 3 million dollars at your clinic on Sir Squitsalot on useless procedures & tests prescribed by you, only to find out a couple of weeks ago that all he needed was a $20 dose of jollop.
She might even suggest that after coming to your clinic for the last 13 years she might decide to take their menagerie somewhere else to waste money on them.
This is where you must show empathy. Show you understand. Simper a bit.
Then say " Maybe we could knock it down to $460. As a gesture of goodwill you understand."
She will probably be thinking, gesture of goodwill my arse, but what can she do?
You, meanwhile have raked in another $460.......that is over a hundred dollars per little kitty toof.
So, to any of my chums who would like to make a mint of money, if you have any sort of scientific background or if you have an old white coat in the back of the closet.
Become a vet.
This time next year you'll be a millionaire.

Giants and hermaphrodites

2011-12-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

This morning I once again took my life in my hands and ventured out to the mall.
As I approached the bus shelter I could see there was someone already waiting for the bus.
As I drew closer I found I could not distinguish whether this person was male or female.
Well, I know it is Wisconsin and we all 'bundle up' this time of year but even so it is usually pretty apparent what gender someone is.
Nope, couldn't tell. No particular shape and the face could have swung it either way (poor thing).
It also looked like it had come from the "shallow end" of the gene pool and worthy of some compassion.
I was just beginning to think, rather complacently, that if this was the strength of my "idiot of the day " encounter.......then.....poo....I can handle this.
Poo indeed.
From nowhere, it seemed, there appeared a huge neanderthal man. He was at least 9 feet 10 ins tall and big.
In a deep, guttural voice he yelled,

"WHAT TIME BUS?"

It was rather obvious that he had fallen out of the Ugly Tree and hit every branch on the way down before landing in the Ugly Bush.

My small voice quavered as I meekly replied, "ermmm....anytime now I think".
He then flapped his coat at me as he bellowed,

"COLD COLD COLD"

What....was he thinking I would crawl in there and give him a hug to keep him warm?

Once more I found myself praying for the bus.
It seems I spend most of my time praying for buses.
I am beginning to believe that if the Lord decides to call me, then there will be no stairway to Heaven for me.
No ferry across the River Styx........ no chariot of fire.
Nope.
When my ticket gets punched (so to speak ) I am sure it will be a Celestial Number 64 Bus that arrives to transport me to that great bus depot in the sky.
I digress.

Back to the bus shelter.
During this flapping display, our little hermaprodite friend showed that he/she had more common sense than x or y chromosomes, by making a hasty exit and standing just outside the shelter.
After about 5 years the bus appeared on the horizon like a knight in shining armour.
We all came out of the shelter........me last so I could keep an eye on Hagar The Horrible.
The bus arrived and then a strange thing happened.
Strange things often happen around me, but I guess you have noticed that.
Herman or Hermione the hermaphrodite, instead of getting on the bus, suddenly walked the other way and crossed the road.
What was that about?
Did the confines of a 56 seater present too small a personal space in which to avoid Ugg?
I shall never know.
I let the troll get on first and paused long enough for him to occupy his seat of choice before making my way to the back of the bus where I could continue to watch what he was doing.
He flapped at a lady sitting opposite and roared,

"COLD, COLD, COLD."

She, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly found something rivetting that caused her to stare fixedly out of the window.

You would think this latest adventure was over now but there is a twist in this tale.
I bet you think I make this stuff up. Well, I have to tell you that my imagination would never stretch this far.....it is all true.
Thankfully, he got off before me having flapped a few final flaps before leaving.
I watched him walk up the street.
Fascinated, I watched him go into a shop.
Not just any shop.
He went into, probably the poshest, most select, superior, made to measure tailor's shop in Milwaukee.
It is likely one of a few left.
I do not know of another "bespoke tailor" in the area.
This was not the ending I was expecting.
This would have been the last place I would have expected to see him enter.
I hope they make him something

"WARM WARM WARM"

Bug or Rodent ?

2011-12-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have been decorating the Christmas Tree since Friday and finally got it finished late yesterday.
The picture is when I was almost finished. I hadn't cleared up the floor or anything yet.

This morning whilst tidying up, hoovering etc.........I heard a noise. A strange noise I didn't recognise.
Two of the cats were sitting under the tree staring intently upwards.
After a while I heard the noise again.
It sounded sort of rustly and squeaky.
The cats were fascinated.
Oh no.........was there something living in the tree?
When we bought it on Thursday it was really tightly compact. The branches took a couple of days to relax and open up a bit.
Was something in there and we didn't know?
I listened...........there......heard it again!!!!
This time it sounded like a chirrup, sort of like a cricket. Oh ...maybe it was some sort of big bug.
Oh no.
I got on the internet.
Yes, there are pests that you can bring into your home via a Christmas tree.
They listed, mice, bats (oh no not a bat) and various insects, the most common of which were praying mantis.
Oh yuk.
Apparently they lay eggs in sacs in the tree but the warmth of a home can make them hatch.
Your house is then invaded by praying mantises. You can't spray the tree as the sprays are flammable so you have to wait for them to die and then hoover them up.
By now I had decided that this would be the very last real tree ever to set trunk in our house.
Back to the tree.
I heard it again.....this time the rustle and squeak. It must be a mouse, chipmunk or bat.
To test my theory I got a muffin.......yes a lovely banana nut muffin........ and tucked it way inside the tree.
I would look later to see if there were any nibbles out of it. If there were....then it was a rodent of some description.
I then went out with my friend June and grossed her out with the tale of the intruder who had hitched a ride on our tree.
She said I had to phone her when we got back to let her know the 'nibbles' situation.
There were no nibbles but I could still hear the noises.
I decided that when Philip got home we would set up the humane trap in an effort to evict the beast.
I had written my dilemma on my status on Facebook but hadn't had the chance to check it any more.
I had a think.
This morning I had found a special, boxed ornament that our friend Gary had given us when he came to Thanksgiving dinner.
It wasn't very glamorous. No sparkles. Just a ball with a picture of zombies (very festive) and a ribbon. I remembered that as I put it on the tree I was surprised when it rattled. I even tried to see if it opened. It did not. Why would it rattle?
I hadn't heard the noises before I put the ornament on the tree.
I went and got it. I then noticed that the string that holds it retracted into the ball when it wasn't hanging.
Miss Marple hat was well and truly plopped on my head now.
Hmmm.........I hung it next to me on one of my reindeer.
After some time.......it chirruped.
That bugger Gary......it was a trick ornament.
I flew downstairs and went onto Facebook where my status had produced quite a few comments from friends.
One of which was Gary who said......."you might want to check the ornament I gave you".
I hadn't been on there and hadn't answered. After several other comments there was another from him......"seriously, you might want to check the ornament I gave you."
It was very well done. The noises are really spaced quite far apart.....maybe 5 or 10 minutes so you are not able to track them down.

This will explain it all.

Tannenbomb Prank Ornament from ThinkGeek
I will probably murder him.

Lights R Us

2011-12-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

This was last year's outside lights.
We have put even more up this year but I haven't taken a picture yet.

I have been working on the inside ornaments/decorations for over a week now.......and I am still not done.
Philip had Thursday and Friday off so we bought the tree and have installed it indoors.
I have been working on that too and so far we have the lights on it and most of the ornaments.
I have still to put the beads, crackers and 'poke it in things'. I don't know the official name for these items but they are glittery sort of branches you poke into the tree.
They had to the festivities.
I really wonder why we go to all this bother when there is only going to be the two of us this year.
But, even though it wears me out, we enjoy it.
We enjoy it more when it is done but we enjoy it.

It have been a little tougher for me this year as I am having problems with my hand.
It seems I have probably got carpal tunnel with a little bit of tendonitis thrown in ...just to make it more interesting.
I saw the quack yesterday and she wants me to see the 'hand doctor'.
Of course over here this means actually finding out if the 'hand doctor' is on our list of doctors that our insurance will allow us to see.
The insurance never covers everything, you always get bills, but if the doctors are not on 'your list' then they won't cover any of it. In which case I won't be seeing the hand doctor.
Now I have to bugger about finding out and then bugger about a bit more to find out if whatever is recommended is covered at all by the insurance.
So much simpler on the NHS.

Bubba (our big old boy cat) has been having problems with the 'squits' since April. He has had various medications, blood tests, x rays and ultra sound which has cost us a small fortune.
The vet was trying to get us to send him for an endoscopy which would have cost us around $1500. We couldn't do it.
So they were going to do more blood tests but as a precaution gave him some more meds that were to check he didn't have a parasite.
He had to have this stuff every day for 5 days. It cost just $20.
It worked.
We couldn't believe it. Normal poops......the first in 8 months.
We are of course thrilled that he is better (they were starting to suggest he may have cancer) but actually rather miffed too.
Why didn't they give him this stuff back in April?
It would have been $20 instead of about $500.
What if we had agreed to the endoscopy?
Apparently this parasite is a single celled organism. It would not have shown up on an endoscopy......so another $1500 up the spout...so to speak.
Today Bubba and Lollipop went for their vaccinations.
All ok except that Lollipop has a couple of bad teeth that she has to have out.
She is going in on Wednesday for the day.
This won't be cheap either.

Tootsie has discovered there are things dangling on the tree just asking to be bopped.
So she is bopping them.
Willy nilly.
Well, you would wouldn't you?

Difficult time.

2011-12-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

December 1st.

This time of year is tough for me.
Suffice to say.
Happy Birthday to my two precious little guys who couldn't stay long with me.
I think of you every day.

Thanks and things.

2011-11-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

An odd week.
Tuesday I ventured out to the mall only to NOT be accosted by any Tai Chi instructors, Jehovah's Witnesses or people with crabs.
Have a told you that one?
Oh ok....I shall tell it again.
I was on the bus (now there's a novelty), quietly minding my own business and being careful not to make eye contact with anyone, when a man started making his way down the aisle talking to everyone he passed.
It seemed he must have been asking a question because everyone he spoke to shook their head and he passed on.
What could he be asking?
Usually they are asking for money or a spare bus ticket both of which I didn't have.
He drew closer. I was curious now.
Ooooh...oooh....it was my turn.
He got to me and said.
"Excuse me, do you happen to have a plastic bag as my crabs are leaking?"
Doesn't bear thinking about really.

I did a trawl of the mall.....love saying that, then got my cup of coffee from McDonalds and sat in the food court.
I saw The Mole Man (his is another story), but suffice to say he is knocking on a bit and I am always relieved when I see him as it confirms that he is ok.
I think he must spend every day at the mall.
Father Christmas is also in the mall now so I watched him scaring a few children before I came home.
At the bus stop there was a couple who were in the middle of a major domestic. She was calling him (very loudly) every name she could think of and some I have never heard. He didn't seem at all concerned so I would assume this is a regular occurrence.
Fortunately they were not waiting for my bus.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving - our first as American citizens. We still didn't have turkey. Turkey is for Christmas. Americans tend to have ham at Christmas. That just doesn't seem right to me.
Our friend came over for the day and we were all typically American....ate way too much but it was delish.
What did we give thanks for?
I am thankful for most things actually. I never cease to be amazed that I have anything so I suppose I am always thankful.
Actually I am thankful for friends. Recently an old friend found me on Facebook. Oh I was so pleased. Mostly friends enrich our lives. I have lots of friends from years back who I rarely see but that doesn't stop me caring about them and being glad I have them.
Sometimes they are not quite what they seem but I suppose we can all be this way.
I am learning though. I have learned that on facebook I can "hide" them or "unsubscribe" to them.
I have done that a couple of times this week........ooh I am a little devil.
It is a pity we can't do that in real life. I am sure there were some families who have to get together for Thanksgiving who would like to "unsubscribe" a few relatives.

Christmas Craft Fair tomorrow........a highlight of the year.

Witness

2011-11-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about the Jehovah's Witnesses.
What are they witness to?
I looked online. Oh it is a sad and bleak religion. I can't imagine why anyone would want to be one.
No birthdays, no Christmas ....it seems no celebrations of any sort. They believe that when you die you cease to exist...no afterlife as such. Come judgement day then those deemed worthy will be resurrected but only 144,000 ( I don't know who came up with this number.....oh Jehovah I suppose) of them will be taken up to be with God. They will then teach the remaining goodies, who are saved, how to worship correctly.
Well, that is something to look forward too, work towards and go without any fun for.
In church they don't sing, they just study the bible.
Why on earth does that young lady want to be part of this crowd?
Perhaps she is only happy when she is miserable.
Surely, if you are going to follow a religion - follow a happy one.
Look at the gospel churches. Oh I envy those people. They all look like they are having such a good time.
I bet they really look forward to Sundays.

Witness.......witness.......being a witness might be like holding a secret. A secret someone has told you perhaps.
I am not fond of those.
Oh, I am up for a bit of juicy gossip, as long as it isn't anything serious.
You know the sort of thing........

"Have you heard that Mavis Sittingbottom's husband, the one with the bad leg named George, was caught dressed up as a nun in Sainsbury's. In the deli section too!!"

I am fine with that. It makes life a bit more colourful, but serious secrets can be a burden.

I currently hold safe 3 very serious secrets for other people.
I would not breathe a word about them as I was told in strictest confidence, but that aside, the consequences of other people finding out would be dire.
In the past, people have told me secrets, sworn me to secrecy and then I have heard it being bandied about by someone else.
This is where the problems set in. The original secret sharer has obviously not been as good at keeping quiet as they should have been but do they realise this?
Or, will they accuse me of letting the secret out?
It isn't a nice feeling to be put under suspicion when you are totally innocent. So, I think that secrets can be a burden.
Being a 'witness' to Jehovah himself sounds like way too much responsibility for my liking.

Anyway, I like Christmas too much.

Unbelievable.

2011-11-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

It has been a funny old week.
A really mixed bag.

On Friday Philip came home from work poorly.
He continued being poorly all over the place on Saturday with no improvement on Sunday.
He was either asleep or being poorly.
I did my best to look after the poor, poorly bugger. I made nourishing food and nagged him into taking various cold & flu remedies.

On Monday I suggested a doctor's visit might be in order when the poorliness ( coo I like that word) wasn't showing any signs of responding to soup, curry, cold & flu remedies and , believe it or not....TEA!!
Now everything is supposed to throw in the towel when tea is appears on the scene. I am sure that, had they had tea back then, the biblical plagues would have been drastically reduced.

The plague of locusts, after a nice cuppa, would have probably been a few greenfly on the roses.

The plague of boils, after a cup of Rosie Lee, would have probably been a mild case of acne or nettle rash.

By Tuesday, having seen little improvement, he did go to the quack's.
He has bronchitis. Now he has bronchitis and bronchitis jollop.
So, now we are seeing some improvement. Which is a blessing rather than a plague.

Yesterday it was back to THE bus stop at 8.15am. My mission being to get to work.
It was bloody cold. Way below freezing but bright and sunny.
I was wrapped up like a very well wrapped up thing and patiently (this is not entirely true...I was not being particularly patient...thought you should know) awaiting the arrival of the wonderfully heated bus.
A car drew up.
A fleeting, thought flitted its way through my brain....chuckling wickedly to itself.
"Oh ho ho ho"....(must have been a Santa thought) "what if this was the Jehovah's Witness who cornered me last week", the thought chirped merrily.
This thought didn't stick around long, which is just as well, as I would have sewn its head to the carpet had I managed to catch it.

Because........it WAS the bloody Jehovah's Witness who ambushed me last week.
She came straight at me. Over here that one statement, so I am told, empowers you to shoot anything.
"It was coming right at me" is a valid excuse for letting loose with both barrels......so I am informed.
Good job for her that I am a pacifist then.
She said hello and asked if I had read the leaflet and what I thought of the questions. I told her I thought they were pretty general questions that probably everyone has asked at some point. She agreed and proceeded to bore me some more.

Our parents have a lot to answer for.
If I hadn't been brought up to be polite, civil and to smile at people, I could have told her to *&%* off !!
But, it is impossible for me to do. I would not be able to utter the words.
Jehovah's Witnesses beware.
I do not think this current generation will be so accommodating. You should prepare yourself to dodge some pretty strong language in the future.
Pee, po, belly, bum, drawers ...it will not be.

The bus came and I now burdened with, not a leaflet but two booklets boarded it. She bid me farewell adding that she would look for me again at the same time, at the same bus stop.
Oh joy!!
I feel I have homework to do now.
Actually, next time she stalks me I shall be honest and tell her that, even though I seem harmless enough, she has no chance of converting me.

I mean, I am a fully paid up member of

The Prince Philip Movement

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/100325/duke-edinburgh-cult-vanuatu

I feel sure they won't want me once I confess to that. Surely some things are beyond forgiveness.

I think this is how I will present myself at the bus stop next time.
I wonder who will come to save me then.

Funny things happen at bus stops.

2011-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

I expect this chap is probably waiting for me to come along. I probably will soon.

Wednesday.....horrid weather. It was raining hard and the wind was blowing up a storm.
I had to go to work therefore I have to go to the bus stop.
My blog would be empty without bus stops. They have a lot to answer for.
I tucked myself into the shelter but couldn't sit down as the seats were all wet.
All the normal Americans were smugly passing by in their large, comfy, heated cars.
Cold and miserable, I was surprised when a young lady appeared in the shelter and said hello.
She then asked how I was .......I told her I was fine and asked how she was. She went into a little bit of shock mode then.
I have found that when people are trying to sell you something either on the phone or in a shop, they will start with "Hi how are you today?" and are taken back when I immediately ask them how they are too. Must not have been on script they had to learn.
She was in shock for another reason too.
"Accent trauma". This happens all the time to Philip and I. Someone will speak to us and when we answer their eyes glaze over and they turn into "accent zombies".
Once this happens we know that what ever we were ordering or buying will be totally wrong as their brain had frozen up as soon as it detected an unforeseen accent.
Anyway, this pretty young lady was armed with........a bible and leaflets. So it was clear a Jehovah's witness had found me.
I found this odd. I have never been accosted at a bus stop by a Jehovah's witness. I have had lots knocking at the door, in fact I had one couple who I used to come regularly and I would ask them in.
I am very interested in people's beliefs. I told them they would never convert me......I wouldn't be able to cope without Christmas for a start.....but they seemed happy to sit next to my laden Christmas tree and explain their religion.
One day, after I had been asking lots of questions, the guy stood up and said....." Oh dear look at the time. We really must be going."
My son thought this was hilarious. He said that with all the doors they get slammed in their faces this was probably the first time they had had to make excuses to leave.
They were a very nice couple who even used to bring little gifts for the cats but I didn't see them any more once we moved.
Back to the bus stop.
She then asked me if I had ever asked these questions.......pointing to one of her leaflets that was becoming rather soggy in the rain.

Does God really care about us?
Will war and suffering ever end?
What happens to us when we die?
Is there any hope for the dead? (I would have thought this was pretty obvious. If someone finds a body and says "there is no hope" it generally means they are dead and "beyond hope"....but what do I know?)
How can I find happiness in life?

I think that the above questions have gone through the mind, even if they resist the urge to stop and just keep on going, of most people regardless of religion.
So, they have pretty much got you right at the outset. I did like her though.
She was shorter than me. Heavens be praised.
Being vertically challenged myself, it is highly unusual for me to be taller than anyone else and I like it.
I liked the fact that she had to look up to speak to me. It was quite an odd feeling.

She then spent time talking to me about God etc, whilst I had one eye out for the bus.
She was not wearing a big coat, had no hat or hood, no umbrella..........."Coo", I said, " You picked a bugger of a day to go out doing this mallarky".
She agreed and I told her she needed a "brolly". I then explained what a "brolly" was.
She then wanted to know where I was from and the conversation rapidly left religion behind as I had now peaked her curiosity.
The bus was on the horizon as I bade her farewell and hoped she didn't get as drenched as her now rain sodden leaflets. She wanted to know if she could find me another day at the bus stop. I assured her (sadly) that she probably could.
I told her she should have dressed more warmly and then she informed me that she had a car parked just around the corner.
So, she had actually stopped her bloody car and ambushed me when she saw me at the bus stop.
Every day, it seems, I am so glad when that bus shows up.
Cow could have offered me a lift though.

Thursday...........off to the mall. Snowing. Windy and snowing.....oh I know it's Wisconsin.
Uneventful journey to the mall and quite a nice bimble around the mall.
Back to the bus stop to go home. Bus stops are taking on their own persona now.
They are like dread portals to a mystical land filled with numpties and Jehovah's witnesses.
I wasn't going to have a bus stop numpty free day....oh dear me no.
It was still snowing.

There was a man at the bus stop.
"The bus is coming", he reliably informed me. I actually did know this as I could see it too.
"Yes," I politely replied.
"The bus is coming.......the bus is coming." he repeated.
"Yes....I can see it."

"I have to get another bus after this one", he told me (as if I cared).
"Oh, I hope you don't have long to wait," I said. I know I shouldn't answer but I was brought up to be polite and it is difficult to switch that training off.
"No," he said, "my next bus is really fast."
"Goodo"
"I live on National and I have a cat," he continued, "it is a big black cat".
"Oh," I mumbled.
"My cat weighs 50 lbs" he fibbed. No way does he have a cat that weighs 50 lbs. That cat would weigh almost half of me or 2 and half times our Bubba cat and he is no lightweight.
"Big cat", I agreed.
He then looked at me at said enticingly " I am single and live alone !"
Now who would have thought that.
The bus had just arrived.
"No you don't," I disagreed, " You live with your big cat".

He waved me onto the bus before him and I stupidly went. I usually make sure any muppets get on first so when they sit down I can find the seat furthest away from them.
Fortunately, he sat at the front and I went way to the back.
I spent the whole journey gazing fixedly out of the window but just out of the corner of my eye I could see him keep turning round.

Another great bus adventure. I could write a book.

Always something.

2011-11-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

Look at this poxy eye.
I know none of us are at our most glamorous first thing in the morning but I had a bit of a shock when I looked in the mirror this morning.
We have had to put the humidifier on at night again. This is a sign of a Wisconsin winter.
The air gets dreadfully dry. Your skin itches and you have to put lots of lotion on.
Without the humidifier your eyes dry out and swell up during the night.
Sometimes, before Ivor (we named the humidifier this as it puffs out steam....we did have one called Mothra who sort of sprayed mist about but made a humming sound that kept me awake all night) anyway...what was I saying...oh yes...before Ivor I my eyes would be swollen shut in the morning.
Lovely isn't it?
But, I hadn't had this happen before.
I have no clue as to what caused it.
But...........oh wouldn't it have been delish if it had happened last week.
Just think how I could have scared the Trick or Treaters with my "evil eye".
If I had to have a bad eye at least I could have got some fun out of it.

This picture of Her Royal Highness Princess Lilibet III has caused quite a bit of amusement on The Purebred Cat page on Facebook.
I thought they might like to see that purebred cats....even royal ones.....don't always behave in the most decorous manner.
Actually, this picture still makes me smile.

Been an odd weekend.
Firstly, during the week, the tap in the kitchen stopped working properly. It dribbled.
I hate it when things like this happen. Philip replaced that tap not so long ago.
DIY isn't really his comfort zone and replacing that tap had been an ordeal. After it was all done, the hot came out of the cold etc, but we got used to that.
Now the water would only dribble out.
This was a double nuisance because it meant that the dish washer didn't fill up properly and I had to keep stopping it to chuck buckets of water in it.
Off to Home Depot.
I did have a little chuckle in there. Philip often uses American words....like trunk (boot of car)...hood (bonnet) .....trash (rubbish)...etc.
I usually tell him off and remind him to keep his 'Britishness', but he reminds me he spends all week at work with Americans and has to be understood.
This is fair enough.
In Home Depot though he slipped up. He asked where he could find the taps !!!
The girl gave him a completely blank look and I stepped in and said "faucets".
That was a bit of a first for me.
We bought one which was much like the other one and in the afternoon the war began.
The first battle was getting the other one off. It didn't want to comply.
I then remembered that last time the old fixture for the little spray thing wouldn't budge and Philip had to just put the new one on the old fixture.
It wouldn't budge again............or "it f...ing would, f...ing come off this time". That wasn't me who said that.
The battle was long and momentous. There was muchly cussing, muchly banging, muchly more cussing and way too much water dripping on someone's head.
Still it would not move.
It seemed that there would be no more Mr Nice Guy........I hadn't noticed him being around previously to tell the truth. He must have snuck in.
Well, if he snuck in .....he went out with a bang.......and a drill and a saw .......until eventually it came off.
The silence caused me to creep back up from the basement. Had the tap clonked him on the head once too often?
Was the murderer Mr Faucet with the spanner in the kitchen?
NO......HUZZAH.......the new tap was installed .........but the dishwasher connector didn't fit.
Sigh.
There was some "Percy Filth" talk about male and female connections, most unpleasant, before a trip back to the store was in order.
He came back with the new connector......................but it was the wrong one.
Oh he was laughing.
Back to the store again.......................they didn't have the correct one.
He did eventually find one in another store and peace was restored to the kitchen.
We just have to get used to the cold coming out the cold tap and the hot coming out of the hot tap again.

We have to have a window replaced, probably this week, as it has rotted.
Marty, who lives up the road, is doing it for us.
Heavens be praised.

All is safely gathered in........

2011-11-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Suffice to say I have recovered from last Thursday's unpleasantness and am back to my usual dopey self.
Halloween helped.
I love it. I have such fun with the kids.
The two girls above live across the road and they told me they wished Lauren could have been here to go Trick or Treating with them.
I too wished she could have been here.

The dogs don't get left out.
I think this pooch was in some sort of bug costume but he seemed happy enough whatever he was supposed to be.
We spent about $30 on sweeties. We try to buy decent stuff so that if there is any left over we can eat it.
We had a lot of kids come round this year.

At one point I was a bit worried that we might run out of sweets. That did happen to us one year and Philip had to nip out and get more.
Fortunately, we had enough with just a few left over.
We made short work of those ourselves so there was no waste.
Some of the kids and families who come round look very poor. It worries me that this is maybe the only time of year some of these kids get any sweeties.
I didn't take photos of those kids. Some of them have no costume except for maybe some make up on their faces.
Poor little buggers.

This one was cute.....couldn't resist taking his photo.
There was another couple who came along with two little boys in a cart......not the ones above.
It was so funny.
They were so anxious to get out of the cart to get to the sweets that the first one tripped in the street and fell over......the second one tripped over the edge of the cart, fell out of it and landed on the first one.
I commented to their parents that they were good value for money as they provided a cabaret act too.
I then asked the kids which one was Curly and which one was Moe?
The Two Stooges hadn't a clue what I was talking about but the parents and I had a good giggle at them.
Today I have a bad neck. A really bad neck. I shall soon be putting some heat on it in the hope it eases up.
I had it like this a couple of years ago and it went on for weeks. I don't want that again.
Philip has just phoned from work to say he seems to have developed a sudden cold.
He sounded groggy.
Oh well.......winter is on its way I suppose.

The whole world has gone mad.

2011-10-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today has been a most peculiar day.
It started normally enough with a trip to the mall for a manicure.
Whilst sitting amid the throng of 'ladies' having their nails done, a young woman came into the salon and asked for if she could get her nails done.
Cindy, the manageress, who was in the process of doing someone's nails, told her it would be about 5 minutes.
Pretty normal still.
After a minute or two the young woman approached Cindy and asked if she remembered her previous visit and did she remember her baby son, whose picture she waved under her nose. Cindy didn't seem to.
She then announced very loudly that he had died.
All the eyes in the place immediately looked up. You could feel the tension in the room.
Cindy, obviously shocked , asked what had happened.
"He died in his sleep last week and they can't tell me yet what happened. It was probably a cot death," she replied, "and I want my nails done for the funeral".

I would be the first to say how grief affects people in different ways. So, I was not about to judge this woman.
I had a personal tragedy in my life. It was many years ago and I still find it almost impossible to talk about.
Whoever said time is a great healer had never experienced mind numbing grief. Listening to this woman, the years flew away and I was right back there at my worst moment.
The tidal wave of emotion hit me hard. My stomach went into a knot. I was in fight or flight mode but could do neither.
The woman asked for Cindy to do her nails. The collective sigh of relief that came from the other manicurists was almost audible. They didn't want to do her nails...what would they talk about?
I wrestled with my conscience.
I felt I should talk to her, maybe offer some words of comfort. Pah....what words of comfort could I offer? I had none.
What could I say ............after all these years it doesn't get any easier!!!!! The wounds are obviously just as raw as they were back then. How would that help the poor soul?

Back then, when my tragedy occurred, I didn't leave the house for weeks. I couldn't face the outside world and then when I did it was worse.
I would be walking along the street and would see someone coming towards me whom I knew.
Inevitably, that person on spotting me, would cross the road.
Now I do not condemn them for that. They must have been scared to death of bumping into me.
What could they say? There was nothing anyone could say. But, the thing was I didn't want them to say anything. I only wanted them to say stuff like "Isn't the weather horrid" or just hello. I needed things to at least seem normal.
It gets very lonely when people constantly avoid you, even though their motive isn't to be horrid.
When someone who is older passes away....granddad, grandma, even mum or dad...well that is the natural order of things and you can quite easily say "oh dear I was so sorry to hear about your mum, dad, granddad" etc. It seems ok.......when it is a child or children then the whole game plan changes. This shouldn't happen and it is impossible to know how to deal with it.
Actually, there is no prescribed way of dealing with it or if there is no one told me.
There was no counseling or anything offered. You just had to get on with it. Which I did...in a fashion.
I was thinking that she must still be in shock and denial. I was thinking what she would go through when it did hit her. Then it got even more bizarre.
She sat down to wait and started an equally loud conversation on her phone.
It went something like this.

"I don't know, babies do that. If I go to jail over this you had better all f---ing stand by me. No, he didn't. He didn't kill him. I know he has been mean to me and was jealous but he didn't kill him."

By now I had had enough and needed to leave. I was shaking when I walked away from there. This was all too much.
After a few deep breaths, I decided I needed some Christmas therapy.
I made my way to one of the dept stores and immersed myself in the Christmas stuff. I was vaguely aware of some Elvis music in the background. After I had quenched my thirst for all things shiny and sparkly I came out of the store to find a small stage had been set up. It was surrounded by chairs for the audience and there on the stage was an elderly man who was belting out Elvis songs. He was excellent.
His voice was amazing. I then noticed that the audience was rather elderly too.
I went to the floor above and watched from the balcony as he finished his bit. I was just going to leave when I was intrigued by about a dozen elderly ladies in Hula outfits (no bare midriffs thank goodness) who made their way onto the stage.
Then accompanied by suitable music they started Hula dancing.
It was surreal.
Most of them were pretty good........oh ok the Margaret Rutherford look a like on the end wasn't really with it most of the time but she was having a go.
As I watched them, with their colourful outfits and flowers in their hair I came over tearful.
Just like I do when I watch the primary school kids put on their Nativity Play.
Bloody hell..........I thought, I must be a wreck if I get emotional over a group of old biddies dancing. Time to grab a coffee in the food court.
Curiouser and curiouser.
It hadn't ended yet.
Having got my cup of McCoffee I was doing a spot of people watching and trying to make sense of the mornings activities when I noticed a young couple looking for a table.
She was carrying a very new baby wrapped in a blanket.
As they sat down the blanket slipped back a bit and I could see the baby's head. It's hair looked odd. Then as she tried to adjust it's blue hood and pull the blanket back up I could see it was a doll.
What next?
I'll tell you what next.
She fished around in her bag and came up with a baby bottle full of milk which she pretended to feed to the doll on her lap.
I kid you not.
This went on for quite a few minutes before they got up and left, still pretending to feed milk to the doll.
By now I had decided that I or the world had gone completely bananas.
I came home.
What will tomorrow bring.......best not to ask.

Pee, po, belly, bum, drawers.

2011-10-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

If you can't find a cushion - a Bubba works well in a pinch.

A bit fed up today. I was a bit fed up yesterday too.
After weeks of planning and recipe searching, I have had to call off the Halloween Dinner.
People are ill or having to work so it really wasn't worth all the effort when only a couple could make it.
It is better to put it off for another time when everyone can attend.
It is pants though.
I had worked out a fab Halloween menu.

We were going to start with grilled goats cheese on grave stone toast with a bloody salad.
Main course was to be bowls of chili covered by pastry spider's webs and spiders.
This served with witches' fingers fries in spooky goblets.
There were also going to be various dips, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and ghoulish cole slaw.
And ....cheese scones. These sound a bit out of place now so I shall call them ....ermmm .... Zombie poops. How appealing.
Dessert was going to be tiramisu cheesecake covered with a green spider's web, chocolate bats and spiders.
In case anyone didn't want chocolate (well someone might not) a second dessert was going to be blood jelly oozing with gummi worms.
Sigh.
It would have been a lot of work but I was so looking forward to it.
I have a fab outfit to wear too.....I got it at the charity shop.
Oh well at this time of year there is a lot of illness about.

Also, I wasn't required at work today. So, that meant I was sad and bored.
The cure for me in these cases is to do something useful.
So, I cleaned the basement. Coo that was a job and three quarters. Certainly didn't have time to be miserable.
It looks pretty good now.........well except Philip's desk.
I don't touch that. He probably has some method to his mess........I mean creative environment...and if I go tidying it up he might not ever be able to find his collection of sweet wrappers and assorted computer bits again.
There could be a tribe of pygmies living in there for all I know. If I were to delve too deeply I might never be able to find my way out.
Far safer to let it all sit there and fester.
Makes for a peaceful household.

I may wear my Halloween outfit on Sunday and scare the kids when they come round Trick or Treating.
That would be fun.

Fall is falling.

2011-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Autumn or Fall...whatever you choose to call it is in full swing.
There are advantages to Autumn.

The stifling heat of Summer is past.
The need to spend hours watering the garden is over.
The grass doesn't need cutting every week.
The kids are back in school.
The days are crisp, the nights are cool, the snow hasn't arrived yet and Merv (across the street) has put his shirt back on.
That last one, just in itself, is a reason to welcome fall.
I can now peer out of my living room window without the fear of being confronted by the belly and silver matted nest of hair that is Merv's frontage.
We should be grateful for small mercies and seeing a properly attired Merv is anything but small.
Speaking of Merv.
As my regular readers will know, Merv gets upset about the leaves at this time of year.
They fall.
They also have no consideration for where they fall, and what is worse, they blow around too.
At this time of year Merv is, once again, in and out like a fiddler's elbow.
Philip tells me he is often out there at 6.30am raking those pesky leaves.
The big problem for Merv, is that no one else rakes their leaves as often as he does. This includes us.
You see, the leaf collecting truck comes around maybe once every couple of weeks. So, you rake or blow your leaves to the side of the road and they are scooped up and taken away.
Works for us, works for everyone else down the street........does not work for Merv.
Anyway, at this time of year I am used to seeing Merv popping in and out to remove a rogue leaf from his lawn. I have even seen him picking up leaves in the road in case they blow back onto his garden.
The guy next door to Merv, Chuck, obviously couldn't give a hoot about leaves. He seems oblivious to leaves. His garden is buried under the things.
And they blow around. They blow over Merv's lawn. This must drive Merv nuts.
Yesterday I couldn't believe what I watched Merv do.
He was out there, as usual, raking and picking his leaves up, but the other side of Merv's drive is a strip of grass, about 3 feet wide, that must belong to Merv even though it looks like it is part of Chuck's lawn.
As I watched, Merv raked this strip, gathered up all the leaves, walked across Chuck's lawn and dumped them on Chuck's doorstep.
He repeated this procedure several times.
Oh Merv !!! They are only leaves.
Fortunately, Chuck (young guy....big) was at work. I doubt he even noticed the leaves on his step and if he did he probably thinks they blew there.
I shan't tell him.
Never mind Merv, soon the snow and ice will be upon us and you will have your hole to look after.

Times they do change.

2011-10-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Funny how things change.
We were watching America's Funniest Home Videos last night and one of the finalists was a toddler who was pretending to ....how shall we say "break wind"......and going into fits of giggles.
It was very funny.
During the commercial break they showed this ad....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyVsHNEBeBk

Do take a peek. It is hilarious.
Did you look? Well do it now, it is only a few seconds.
OK...you looked then? Really?

It got me thinking. If my mother had seen that advert she would have had an attack of the "vapours".
Breaking wind, puffing, blowing off.......and especially farting (such a bad word), whatever you choose to call it, did not exist in her world.
She would not acknowledge anything as nasty as that.
I remember one time we had a puppy which was asleep in her lap.
"Oh dear," she said whilst wrinkling her nose, " He has made a 'bad smell'. I think you should take him outside as he might want to go 'uttars'."
UTTARS !!!!
What was that all about.
I can remember getting the chuckles over that for years. I still have to smile even now when I think about it.
I must have had a sheltered upbringing.
Once, as a child, I was playing with a friend of mine when she told me this story about her brother. Apparently, the local bully had been walking past their house.
She said " My brother hid behind the fence and when he went past he blew a raspberry at him."
Me, in my serene innocence replied, "Oh, did it hit him?"
She then explained patiently to me the meaning of the phrase "to blow a raspberry".
How sad was that?
I wonder if I ever trod on her foot?

I have read that in Japan, whilst it is totally unacceptable to blow one's nose in public, it is perfectly ok to fart.
Good job my mother never went further than the Isle of Wight where I think farting is practically a criminal offence. She would not have done at all well in Japan with all those people needing to go uttars every five minutes.

Swearing was another big no no. I hadn't heard most of today's favourite colloquialisms until I was about 14.
No one in my family said anything worse than poop. Oops...I do fib. I remember my mum saying quite blatantly....arse.
Only, I might add, when she was running late for something she would utter (not uttar) the phrase "Oh, I am all behind like a cow's arse."

One day as a child, I remember overhearing her and her sisters being horrified that one had started to read a book only to find it contained 'four letter words'.
FOUR LETTER WORDS......I was intrigued. What could they be? They were obviously really terrible because of the scandalous way they whispered about them.
I finally decided at least one of these 'four letter words' must be shit.
I never could figure out another one and it remained one of life's mysteries for many years.

I have noticed on my visits to the motherland how often some of the, hitherto unknown to me, four letter words are being used on TV.
I found it rather shocking at first, as that is something, unlike farting, that is unacceptable on regular TV over here.
When I am in England I do get used to it but, to be honest, I would prefer it not to become commonplace over here.
If my mother had heard this language on TV she would have been in a permanent vapouric state.
Times do change and so must I.
Oh....pee, po, belly, bum, drawers to it !!!!

Cakes & Puds and yes toofs.......

2011-10-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

I had been doing rather well with my hole.
The one where there used to be a tooth.
I had progressed beyond mashed potatoes and left the yoghurt way behind. I was hanging on to the ice cream, well you would wouldn't you?
Then last night I got over confident whilst brushing my remaining teeth. I have been very careful not to get the toothbrush near the hole but I must have been feeling particularly exuberant last night and must have touched the stitches with the brush.
Not a good idea apparently.
Bleeded and everyfing.
I was not happy.
Today it is sore again and I am back on the yoghurt........sigh.

On a totally different topic..........Sunday I made the Christmas cake.
I eventually managed to acquire the ingredients, even if a couple of substitutions had to be made.
Why don't they have sultanas over here? I made do with golden raisins. I can't get mixed spice either but fortunately I had stocked up on that during my last visit to the homeland so that was covered.
Treacle......they have never heard of it. In fact, when we called one of the foster kittens Treacle the head of the rescue centre told me she had googled the word to find out what it was. Maybe she thought it was something rude that they wouldn't want to put on their website.
Or a swear word !!!
"You treacle you!", sounds like something Frank Spencer might say.
I have found that molasses works as well so I used that.

Today I am making the Christmas pud.
I have got washing in the machine, more washing in the dryer and all the ingredients for the pud laid out on the kitchen work top.
It will take my mind off my gob.
I am not good at sitting around doing nothing at the best of times.

There is no such thing as a rich fruit cake or Christmas pudding over here so everyone is amazed that I am making them so early. I have to explain that they both have to mature and that the fruit cake has to be fed brandy for weeks.
I am sure they think I am making it up.
There are no mince pies either. I shall make those too, but at Christmas.
They do make cookies at Christmas.
Lots and lots of cookies. It is amazing how many different sorts, shapes etc that they make.
The kind lady across the street brought me a whole tray of them last year.
I made a couple of little Christmas cakes too so I think I might give her one of those when they are iced etc.
I worry a bit though as rich fruit cake is something of an acquired taste and they may hate it.
Oh well, I am sure the squirrels will take it off her hands.
As long as they don't get drunk on the brandy (because that hasn't cooked out) and fall out of their trees.
Squiffy squirrels :)

Toofs again.........

2011-10-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

As my loyal readers will recall, I have been visiting a dental specialist (endodontist/ orthodontist/ upyourdontist...whatever) since April.
My regular dentist/dentist had referred me to him when I had a crowned tooth which had already had the luxury of a root canal, fail.
I had an infection in the bone next to the roots of this tooth.
Many visits, many treatments and much money later, on September 1st to be exact, he told me I was all done and it was all ticketty boo.
He would see me next summer (bliss and joy) for a check up on it.
He was wrong.
A mere two weeks later something evil stirred in that vile root ridden jungle.
It started to ache.
Not the just the tooth but the jaw, ear and right up to my eye.
I tried to put up with it thinking that maybe it was just some left over inflammation kicking around in there but by Wednesday last week I had had enough.
I phoned him and told him and arranged another visit for that afternoon.
He really couldn't figure out what was going on and as a last resort he could (you might want to read this bit through your fingers) surgically cut into and fold back the gum, drill out the bone of my jaw, bugger about with it a bit (technical term that I don't think he used) and then stitch it all up again.
Of course this too might fail.
I told him I didn't actually fancy this too much.
So we agreed the tooth had to go.
He said the oral surgeon was still about and if I stayed where I was he would get him to look in on me and explain what they would do as this being a tooth that had been so worked on ( and what with it being weighed down by its little bags full of money), it would be rather brittle and could cause problems.
So, I sat and waited.

I heard another lady come in and go into the next room.
I then heard another male voice in the room with this other lady.
He started explaining to her, in gory detail, how best they could remove her tooth. He explained the sedation, how long she would be asleep, how this carried some risks and how she would be afterwards. She would need someone with her and wouldn't allowed to drive for 24 hours etc.
I could hear the lady hesitantly agree with everything he said.
But, I was bloody sure he was supposed to be saying this to me.
He went on to explain to her how he had done 5000 of these procedures. How they would put her under but only lightly, not dangerously so.
She nervously agreed.......again.
After a few minutes I heard my bloke go in there. There was some mumbled chat followed by profuse apologies to this poor woman.
The surgeon then came into my room.

"Oh dear," he said, "I have just terrified the woman in the next room who is only here for treatment".
"I know," I replied," I heard you."
"Oh well," he said, " there isn't any point going through all that again.
I did my best not to laugh.

This type of thing happens wherever I go. Nothing is ever straightforward.
Anyway, the upshot was that I went in at 6.45am the next morning, Thursday.
The nurse sorted me out and the surgeon stuck the needle in my arm. The next thing I knew I was awake with a stitched up gob. I left armed with painkillers and antibiotics.
Philip brought me home and I slept most of the day.
I know I complain about the cost of everything over here (and this poxy tooth has cost an awful lot of money) but you do get service.
The surgeon phoned at around 9.30pm that evening to ask Philip how I was doing.
I was impressed with that.
The swelling is starting to subside now and the stitches should dissolve after around 10 days.
Hopefully I will be able to eat something more than yoghurt , scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes soon.
Good excuse to eat ice cream though.

Oriental.

2011-10-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I cranked up the idiot magnet and set off for the bus stop.
I was on my way to do my shift at the animal shelter.

Picture the scene.................
There am I, sitting on the bench at the bus stop.
Standing in front of me.......just in front of me,.........about 3 feet away and facing me......is a little, chubby Chinese woman.
She has her eyes closed.
Next to me, on the bench, is her iphone/pod/whatever, which is blasting out plinky plonk Chinese music while a morose Chinese male voice droned something which sounded like the "Ying Tong Song" in very slow motion.

Traffic is whizzing by and sometimes even stopping at the traffic lights where we are situated.
The little Chinese woman is going through a set of manoeuvres which are triggered by the bloke's voice.
For instance ....he would announce "Ying Tong Piddle Aye Po" and she would proceed thusly.

Set movements and what they appeared to represent.

1. Reach down to the ground, feel around for loose elastic and pull drawers up.

2. Wrap large invisible towel around you.

3. Pick up invisible baby and hurl it over your head.

4. Do up invisible buttons on invisible shirt.

5. Whoops, elastic has gone again. Reach down and pull drawers up again.

Sigh. It is odd but the length of time I seem to wait for that bus seems to be directly influenced by the magnitude of the idiot who shares the bus stop with me.
There should be a maths equation about this phenomenon.

She looked so smug too. I don't know why the orientals think they are so superior when it comes to Tai Chi etc. We Brits have our own ancient set of movements which are known by people throughout the land.
We don't waste them alone at bus stops. We use them when we all gathered in celebration.
It is called The Hokey Cokey.
It is way more fun and I bet that is older than Tai Chi.

I was amazed this week to realise just how far back my idiot magnet goes.
It is a much older garment than I thought.
This is what happened.
I got an email from Friends Reunited. I haven't had any contact with them for years. I have made a few contacts from the past and they have been wonderful. Now, if I am looking for anyone I tend to use Facebook which seems to work really well.
Anyway, this email from Friends Reunited said this person had left me a message. So, I had a look.
It was from a girl I vaguely remembered from my Primary school. PRIMARY school....remember that.
She just said her name, mentioned a few teachers and asked if I remembered her.
I wrote back and said I thought I did remember her (we were never really chums but were in the same class), I asked how she was etc, etc. and hoped she was doing well.....you know the sort of stuff.
I got a reply.
She said "Were you the girl who trod on my foot?"

I almost wrote back to ask if she was the girl who borrowed my pencil but I decided not to bother.
To think my idiot magnet was already working when I was 8 years old.

This job's too hard.

2011-10-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Been a bit of a dull week.
My dodgy ear has been playing up and I had a poxy angina attack on Wednesday. They were probably the most exciting things that happened.
After Philip (Phil The DIY Guy, as he is now known) successfully installed the cat flap on the basement door, it should have been all systems go for kitties flapping in and out willy nilly.
It wasn't.
We taped the thing up for a week so they got the idea of going through the hole.
We thought once they became accustomed to going through it then gently pushing the flap open would not be a problem.
We thought wrong.
We didn't think about Big, Thickie, Bubba, Woosie, Thickie, Pussy, who wouldn't be able to tell a willy from a nilly if it smacked his bum and called him cupcake.
The girls figured it out in minutes.
But Bubba........sigh.
We waited to see if he could work out what to do.......the result of that being he sat there banging on it with his paws. The bloody flap was swinging like Tarzan on a jungle creeper but would Bubba go through - would he buggery.
He just bashed it again and got more and more frustrated every time it came back at him.
So, it was time for a bit of gentle persuasion.

We were like the line from the song "Delaney's Donkey"

"There was Philip pushing it, shoving it, shooshing it."

We pushed him through a few times but he still can't do it. I even opened a can of tuna on one side of the door whilst he was looking through from the other.
He went nutso on the flap......banging away doing a drum solo, but he couldn't figure out how to come through.
Poxy thing is taped up again. We will try another day.

Autumn is here.
What does it mean? Windy weather, leaves changing hue, cooler temperatures, Halloween costumes in the shops, houses festooned with decorations, pumpkins, mists of mellow fruitfulness and the bloody squirrels pinching all the bird seed out of the feeder.
I had changed the feeder onto another pole as the squirrels could climb the other one.
Then, as I watched this one, he climbed the first pole and jumped across to the feeder which swung around like Bubba's flap scattering seed all over the place.
Oh well, at least it keeps the cats amused.

Just added this last picture of our little snow leopard. I still love those feet.
I worked out what they reminded me of the other day.......Monster Munch !
I told Philip who then got all gloomy because it made him really fancy a bag of Monster Munch.
No such luxuries over here......poor chap.

Still works..........

2011-09-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Good to know my "Idiot Magnet" is still working.

Went to WalMart this morning.
Oh this is the place to go if you are idiot hunting.
Personally, I don't seem to have to do any actual hunting. They come out of the woodwork to find me.

It was pouring with rain. Thunder, lightning - the works - which was very good.
We haven't had any rain in ages and the ground has turned to concrete. The grass was crispy and I was totally ticked off with having to keep watering the plants.
Fortunately, we don't have such things as hosepipe bans over here. They did try to do that one year and it caused uproar.
There were radio presenters who put the case that it was a ridiculous suggestion.
I quote,
"So they are telling that when we have had no rain and the garden needs watering that I can't water it, but, when we have plenty of rain and the garden doesn't need watering then I can "
This did come across as oddly logical.
But I digress.
On entering WalMart with a dripping brolly, the greeter (do you have 'greeters' yet over in Blighty? Wondrous beings 'greeters'. I don't know how we could possibly shop without them), oh yes, the greeter handed me a "wet umbrella plastic bag".
What a fab idea!!!
I know you lot over there are all very excess plastic bag conscious, but over here they still hand them out willy nilly.
As I was putting my wet brolly in my wet brolly bag and thanking the 'ancient greeter lady' a nearby idiot said "Oh sounds like you are not from around these parts."
This prompted my standard reply of, " No, I am from Texas."
His face sort crumpled a bit as his three brain cells fought each other to try to work this out.
I tried to escape.
No deal.
He chased after me. "Where are you really from?" he said in the worst British accent it has been my misfortune to hear.
Now this really winds me up. Why do some people think it is endearing to try to mimic the way someone speaks?
And, why do they think it is alright to do that to British people in particular?
I wonder, do they do a Basil Fawlty, goose step and mimic German people?
Would they pull their eyes and say "Ahh so" to Japanese businessmen?
What about Indian people? They could really let loose on those.

Anyway, he continued to follow me around the store still speaking in this monstrous accent, telling me that his great uncle came from England.
I am pretty sure he expected me to compliment him on his mastery of English. I did not.
I asked him where his uncle came from. Of course, he didn't know and gave up the chase.

I had an all too frequent experience with the nurse who gave me my flu shot on Thursday.
Philip gets his done at work but I have to go to the chemist for mine.
Anyway, the nurse asked me where I was from and I was kind this time and just said England.
Well, she was about to stick a needle in my arm so I wasn't going to upset her.
Her grandfather came from England.
"Oh", said I "Whereabouts?"
"The county of Kent", she replied.
"Oh really. I was living in Kent before I came over here. Do you know where in Kent he came from?"
"Totton Street", she said.

At least she didn't ask if I knew him.

A what a wondrous kitty.....

2011-09-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

YAY.......Tootsie found my bracelet.

There I was embroiled in an altercation with a small mountain of ironing, not something I find utterly enjoyable, so my mood was a little low.
As I flung yet another shirt onto the torture device known as the ironing board, I noticed Tootsie playing in the cupboard under the stairs.
The very same cupboard under the stairs that I had cleared a landfill of old toot from the day before.
I had undertaken this herculean task for two reasons.

Firstly - There was a load of old toot under the stairs........the kittens had been playing under there during their stay and had had riotous times shredding up paper and emptying the winter "Bloody Hell it's Chuffing Freezing" bag (this contains lots of spare gloves, scarves, hats etc in readiness for that which must not be mentioned.

Secondly - I was hoping to find Looby Loo's stash and thusly my bracelet. Of course I failed miserably on both counts. But, I had taken the whole lot out, thrown the paper out and put the woolly stuff back into the "Bloody Nora It's Enough To Freeze Your Tabs Off" bag. There was no stash and no bracelet - as "Great Boo" is my witness, it was not there.

So, after ironing a couple or maybe a dozen spiffing shirts for my better half, I was more than surprised to see glistening in the sunlight, on the floor right in front of the previously mentioned, well cleared , cleaned and tidied cupboard........my wovely bracelet.
I had thought I would never see its likeness again, but there in all its gorgeousness it sparkled.
Tootsie had succeeded where I had failed.
I think she must be a bit of an Indiana Jones Tootsie......or maybe a Captain Kirk Tootsie ........ rummaging around where no cat had rummaged before.
Looby Loo is probably spitting feathers that her security has been breached.
I, on the other hand, am so pleased to have it back.
Never again will I leave the precious thing lying around where that evil cat burglar can whisk it away.
Never.

The ironing didn't seem anywhere near so bad after I got my bracelet back.

Treasures......

2011-09-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is the little sauce dish thingie I got in the charity shop.
I have photographed it next to a mug to show how dinkie it is.
I love it.
It will be tra la posh on my table when I have a dinner party.

What was also tra la posh was the bracelet that I got last Sunday.
I had been looking for a leather one as I used to have one years ago which I loved.
It was so comfortable to wear.
I was a bit fussy about how wide it should be and it had to have a popper fastening as I don't like the tie up ones.
Nothing ever seemed to be just right or if it was then the price was anything but right.
But, in Cedarburg last Sunday I found the perfect one. Soft, blue and with sparkles.
Loved it.

I wore it Monday and Tuesday but on the way to work Wednesday I realised I had forgotten to put it on.
Promptly forgot all about it until Thursday when I discovered it was missing.

Our feral cat, Looby Loo, has always had a habit of stealing little things. Things you mostly don't notice. As I looked for my new bracelet the truth started to dawn and with a sinking feeling my searching became more and more frantic.
The little cow had pinched it.

She has a stash somewhere but we have never discovered where.
When the kittens were here they must have found it during their adventures as they would turn up with nail varnishes I hadn't seen for ages, make up brushes I hadn't realised were missing, plus an assortment of hair bands, nail files and even one of Lauren's plastic horses.
Looby Loo must have been in despair to see all the little buggers prancing around with her treasures.
I have been a bit complacent, I suppose, in as much as I did leave the bracelet lying around.
Soft leather.......yummy.....easy to pick up.....OH and SPARKLES !!!!
She must have been in heaven when she found it.
We have searched this house and cannot find where she is hiding her stuff.
I suppose I will have to look for another one. It was lovely though :(

Tootsie had a ball with this paper during the week.
I love the innocent "What?" expression on her face.
I wish she would find out where Looby Loo has hidden my bracelet.

Surprising.

2011-09-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

A funny couple of days.
Yesterday, before I went out, I noticed some people (locals) complaining on Facebook, of a strange smell outside.
To be honest I thought people might be imagining things.
But, when I took myself off for a trawl of a huge charity shop........I could smell something, and it wasn't the usual charity shop smell - you know the one - old clothes and lord knows what else.
It was like a distant bonfire.
Then when I walked to the bus stop, everywhere was hazy.
It reminded me of the smog that I say hanging over Los Angeles on the two occasions I have been lucky enough to visit there.
It was quite heavy and made the air thick.
After having a fruitful rummage through the treasures (old toot) in the charity shop.....I found a beautiful little dish with lid, tray and spoon that you could serve apple sauce etc in, for $1.99 AND a brandy glass for 49 cents......I returned home and switched on the local news.
Oh it was full of it.
Apparently there is a wild fire burning in Minnesota, which is something like 700 miles away.
The wind direction has changed and the haze/smell was the smoke from this wild fire.
I was amazed that we could be affected so much by something so far away.
Mind you it is massive. Something like 60,000 acres has been burning since mid August.

Yesterday and until 11pm this evening people with breathing problems and other various ailments have been advised to stay indoors.
Also, schools etc have been advised against doing outdoor activities.

I find this just a trifle worrying really. That something so far away can affect us. I am glad that it only smoke.

Who knew???????

2011-09-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

When we got Bubba we were told he was a Maine Coon mix. He is a big boy .
Anyway, we took Tootsie for her vet check on Saturday.
We had to laugh ......they took her into the back rooms to weigh her and clip her many, many claws.....and all we could hear were "ahhs and ooohs". She was popular.

After telling us that everything is ticketty boo, the vet paused and then told us she thought that Tootsie was probably best part Maine Coon.
Apparently, it is part of the breed genetics to have the extra toes (polydactyl), and her general body shape, ears and laid back personality, points to Maine Coon.
Hah !!!
I thought she might be a little cat. I have always fancied a little cat but it seems she is going to grow into a monster too.

Dear Bubba we do love him as he is a silly old sod.

Sunday we had a brill day out in Cedarburg. Fabulous. Lots of little shops to browse around.
Donna would hate it .......Lauren would love it.
Lauren is my shopping partner. She can spend hours looking at things (shiny things) in shops without ever really needing to buy anything. Oh ok........that is me. Lauren does like to spend money.
Donna on the other hand, shops like a bloke.
She will only, ever, go shopping if she has something specific to buy.
Then she will go to that one shop, ONE SHOP, march directly to the item she requires, buy it and then leave the store and head home.
This is not natural.
This is probably what every man would like in his dream woman, but it isn't every mother's dream. How lucky I am that Lauren was genetically wired (not with lots of toes) but with the "Shopping Gene".

Whilst in Cedarburg I had another lump of Peanut Butter Cookie Dough ice cream which was delish.
Then lastly we went shopping for a cat flap.
Cats are not allowed outside in Wisconsin so we don't need one to let them out, but it would be great to have one on the basement door.
When you come in the back door the basement steps are in front of you and to your right side is the door to the kitchen. We have always kept this door permanently open to allow the cats access to the basement, food etc.
We have had/ still are having , a glorious summer but I know winter is lurking in the wings.
I started thinking that if we could keep that door closed then it would help keep the house warm in those dreaded months of ice age Milwaukee.
So, a cat flap in that door would allow this.
Sounds easy........go buy a cat flap. T'isn't.
We found lots of cat flaps, dog flaps etc.....starting at around $20....BUT they were for "normal" sized cats. Up to 15lbs.
It has been a long time since Bubba was on the right side of 15lbs.
He would never fit through.
We thought about getting a dog flap but they were over $50.
Isn't Amazon wonderful.
A few clicks on good old Amazon.com and a cat flap will soon be heading our way.
I won't tell Bubba we had to order the "Tubby Kat" one.
He likes to think he just has a lot of "floof".

A bit of a posh do.........

2011-09-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful invitation on Tuesday.
A couple of friends have generously donated their skills and time to the above event.
They are an interior designer and a floral artist. They are creating beautiful floral displays to the Paws & Claws Gala Dinner.
This is in aid of the Wisconsin Humane Society......not the place I volunteer at now but somewhere I volunteered when we first arrived 14 years ago (yes really it is that long!).

Anyway, I hadn't been invited to the 'do'......at $250 a head that is just a little beyond me....but my friends had been invited to a 'thank you reception' for all the people who had donated in one way or another but one of my friends couldn't make it.
So the other one took ME !!!
It was fab.
I got a chance to wear my posh frock & high heels.
It was in a very tra la posh lakefront restaurant. We had wine and appetizers (silly name for nibbles on plates brought round by waiters).
We were treated like royalty (bout time too) and I got to talk to some very nice people. I even spoke to the executive director of the humane society.......and she was very pleasant.
My friend said we made some good contacts, hopefully for his business and who knows, maybe even for me.
It was brill to go out unexpectedly in the middle of the week.
So kind of him to ask me. I secretly think it was because he knows I will talk to anybody and he is a bit shy.

The International Kite Festival is on at the lakefront this weekend.
It made me a little sad.
I would usually be heading over the pond around this time of year but this year money has been a bit tight with unexpected bills etc, so for the first time since we have been here it looks like I won't be going.
I have been fortunate that Donna and Lauren have visited 3 times this year but I won't get to see Glenn or any of my old mates.
And I miss them.
When I heard about the kite festival it made me think of some of my friends as they often get together for kite flying weekends.
The kite festival here is a huge event and I have to admit, I wonder if it would be as good as the events they attend.
When we first came over here we were thrilled that Milwaukee hosted GenCon.......a huge gaming & scifi convention. We could walk there from where we lived at the time....downtown...and we did.
We had been to a few European GenCons. They had been held in Camber Sands and the last one we went to was in a university in Leicester I think.
They were a lot of fun. People were very friendly and everything was laid back and easy going.
People could set their own games up in the bars etc.
But, the ones in Milwaukee were nothing like that. They were so totally organised. You had to book up to play games laid on only by the organisers or makers of the games.
There was nowhere you could just set something up yourself. The food was outrageously expensive and there no bars.
Beer or any alcohol.......forget that.
Sure they had some big names who came in to sign autographs or to speak to the masses, but the whole feel of the event was different. It was sort of indifferent.
I happened to fall in with a bunch of live action role players who were a lot of fun and I made some friends I still have contact with all these years later.
But we much preferred the Euro GenCon which done on a much smaller scale, with far less outlay and far more improvisation.
I just wonder if the kite festival would be a similare experience. It is probably wonderfully organised but it could suffer from this and be over organised.
Anyway, it has made me miss my mates. I shall just have to hope to be able to see them next year.
Facebook is a wonderful tool. It enables me to keep up with all their "goings on"....outings, weekends away etc. Plus I get to see all the photos too. Really helps me to still feel part of it all even though I am not there.

Frank Mots International Kite Festival at Veteran's Park

30 Great Years! The World will be Watching Us Fly! The 30th Annual Frank Mots International Kite Festival will be held on Saturday, September 13th,& Sunday September 14th, 2008, in Veterans Park on Milwaukee's Lakefront from 10a.m. -5p.m. Sat. and 10a.m.-5p.m. Sun. County Executive Scott Walker will kick off the festival at Non with a grand launch of hopefully 500 kites. That's right...two great days of flying. The event is sponsored by the Kite Society of Wisconsin and Illinois, and Gift of Wings, and our newest sponsors, Milwaukee County Parks, 102.1 WLUM, B93, and 1290am WMCS. Featured performers include Chicago Fire, feraturing Eric Wolfe, the new Revolution Kite Flying Team...IQUAD, featuring John Barresi. Mots also will feature Josh and Zack Gordon, Charlie Sotich, Team Pegasus, Dan Newman, Paul Koepke, Paula Schenk, Mike Delfar, Ann Brinnehl, & Donna Schenk as Mrs Kite Lady, and the kites of Yves LaForest. Yves Laforest will feature 2 GIANT Octopi kites flying high over Milwaukee. The Grand Launch of around 500 kites will take place directly at noon. The professional kite teams will start performing at 12:30 pm followed by the Kids Mad Dash at around 2:00. See Roscoe from the Milwaukee Admirals, and Bango from the Bucks. This festival is FREE with plenty of FREE parking. This kite festival is one of the largest in the country and will draw nearly 25,000 folks during the two days of kite flying. Veterans Park in one of the top ten best kite flying park in the United States.

I suppose it is free which can't be bad.

Rather quiet here now.

2011-09-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

Treacle & Rascal went to their new forever home this morning.
I found this rather difficult.
They are both super loving kittens.   Treacle has such a big personality. She is in everything you are trying to do.......very helpful !!!!
Rascal is just as adorable but such a baby. My baby.
The young couple who have adopted them seem very nice and super excited to be taking them home.
I am sure they will be fine but I am still sad.
Tootsie seems a bit lost but in a day or two she will be ok too.

It is our holiday weekend.   Labour Day weekend.
The weather is a bit cooler today which is rather nice.   We are not doing anything exciting as Philip has to monitor a work process from home.
Saturday we had a bimble around the shops.   Philip was most impressed with a kitchen rubbish bin that sensed when you approached and opened the lid for you. It also told you when it was full.
He wasn't amused with my rendition of
"Do,da, do, da, do....Inspector Gadget, do, da, do, da ,dooooo, do, do........woo hoo!" ..............as I sung it in the store.
Why do guys go for gadgets so much?
He never empties the bin unless I ask him......I am sure he would soon tire of the bin telling him it needed emptying.

I am using the new blog set up they suggested.
I am not impressed with the typing....very awkward.
What do other people think?

Two down.........

2011-09-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

Had a phone call from the animal rescue centre on Tuesday saying that someone would like to come and see Benny and Bootsie.
Brill.
The young lady above duly arrived. After a little chat she sat on the floor and Benny immediately climbed onto her lap, grabbed her arm, rested his head and went to sleep.
Well, he sold himself.
She got me to take photos of her to send to her partner who was itching to meet them.
He had been awake all night afraid that they might have already gone.
She left and then they both came back, plus his mother, in the afternoon.

They were a lovely couple. So kind and so excited about Benny & Bootsie.
They have a 3 bedroom house with a basement so the kits will have lots of room to play.
I really liked them.
They left to go shopping for the kits' toys, food, equipment etc and to go back to the shelter to complete the paperwork.
A little later they collected the boys. I was sad to see them go but so pleased for them at the same time. It seems to be a perfect home and I got some satisfaction out of it after all the ups & downs I have had with the little buggers for the last 3 months.
Now I hope we can find an equally good home for Treacle and Rascal.

Wednesday was the last night of River Rhythms.
5 Card Studs were playing and they were brilliant.
Caesar Palace came out into the audience to entertain "The Ladies".
It was a lot of fun. This summer has flown by way too quickly. I don't want winter to start yet.
Hopefully we will have a warm autumn.
Today the temperature was in the mid 90s.
Just need to keep the white stuff away until at least December.

The balloon man was at River Rhythms.......or Balloonie as Gary calls him.
He made this fab hat. Just had to get a picture of it.

It was Lauren's mates dad's birthday on Tuesday.
We had bought him a couple of videos and, as they live just up the street, I was walking up to give them to him.
Just then the youngest son, aged about 6, (who always cracks me up) came flying down the street towards me.

"It's my dad's birthday." he grinned at me.
"I know, " I said.
"Is that present for him" he asked.
"Yes it is ........how old is he .....21?, " I joked.
"No........he is 43," he replied.
"Oh really," said I.
"And do you know how that happened?" he asked me seriously.
"No, how?" I enquired.
"Well, last year he was 42," he said looking at me as if I should be in the special needs class.

I giggled all the way to their house.

This & That

2011-08-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Rascal & Treacle Versus The Box

Been a quiet few days.
The weather continues gorgeous but we could do with some rain. NOT WEDNESDAY.
Wednesday is the last night of River Rhythms, the free concerts in the park, and it is a brill band.
5 Card Studs.
We have been looking forward to this one........in a way, and at the same time dreading it as it heralds the end of the season.
Next weekend is our "bank holiday" as it is Labour Day weekend.
Traditionally, families get together for picnics in the parks or have barbies at home.
We will be doing neither of these as Philip has to monitor a work process from home.
Poor thing but he can play a computer game at the same time so he won't mind that much.

Sunday we went cheese shopping. Wisconsin is known as the dairy state and famous for its cheese........which is pants.
I suppose it is a matter of taste but the cheese round here doesn't taste of much.
There is a fab shop about 20 minutes away that has proper cheese. They charge proper prices for it too so we don't go often.
We found some Caerphilly.........I think that is how you spell it and a lovely blue cheese.
I have been fancying, of all things, a ploughman's lunch.
I wanted to do it for tea on Sunday.
So, we had cheese. This shop also has good beers so Philip got some proper beer.
I spotted some "suspicious looking sausages" in there too but could not get Philip to try one.
He bemoaned the fact that there was no such thing as Gala Pie over here.
I think he was regretting not trying the Scotch Egg on a Stick when he had the chance.
We also managed to find Branston Pickle and Pickled Onions.......in the World Market shop.
$5 each.........worth it.
We did pay $12 once for a jar of pickled onions. Now if they would only import pickled red cabbage from England then all would be cultured and genteel.

Bit of a giggle with my old mate yesterday.
She is a sweetie and the most amazing, true Christian I have ever met. She really tries to live her life helping others.
She picks me up on Monday mornings to go swimming. As the weather is so lovely we decided to go in the outside pool. There was no one else in it........at first.
Then along came these two very young guys. Very young, very attractive, very pretty.......young guys, one of whom carried a handbag.......'are you with me so far?'

My old friend greeted them, although we didn't know them. The one with the handbag said "Oh hello, how are you today? What a lovely day "....etc, etc.
They then had a dip in the pool before lying out on the sunbeds to soak up a few rays.
Along came one of the maintenance men whom my old friend knows. She started to call out to him to tell her husband to do something or other.
The maintenance guy was laughing at her and said "oh you are the boss then. The women are always in charge even when we don't think they are".
At this point my dear old friend called out to the young guys lying in the sun.

"I HOPE YOU ARE LISTENING TO THIS. YOU NEED TO LEARN THIS FOR THE FUTURE. THE WOMAN IS ALWAYS THE BOSS."

I didn't know where to look......so I looked at the young guys who were looking at each other out of the corners of their eyes and smiling awkwardly.
I did try to make eye contact to wink at them but I don't know if they saw me.
Oh bless her......she is 73 years old and such an innocent.

River Rhythms

2011-08-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

So, despite feeling a bit crappity, crap, crap, I went to River Rhythms on Wednesday.
I had no idea who the band were.........just wanted to get out & about.
We met Gary over there and discovered that the band were called.........wait for it.............

Reverend Raven And The Chain Smoking Altar Boys.

Personally, I think we should have reported them to the 'Trade Descriptions Police'.
The Reverend Raven was like no clergyman I have met..........and considering I myself belong to the clergy - I do.........I should know one when I see one.
And, the Chain Smoking Altar Boys may have been chain smokers but they were definitely not boys and hadn't been boys for many a long decade.

Here is proof in case you doubt my word as a minister.

Anyway, they were not to my taste.
They are apparently a well known Milwaukee band.
They are very good musicians.......but........it was all blues with a pinch of jazz thrown in.
They played their own songs, which, of course, we had never heard before.

We stayed for a couple of hours by which time, I was getting tired and Philip was thoroughly bored. It was good to see Gary though. We gave him the 5 Card Studs t. shirt we bought him.
He has strict instructions to wear it next week when they are at River Rhythms.
We have them too so it should be a bit of fun.
That will be the last River Rhythms free concert for this year. It is always tinged with sadness as it heralds the end of summer for me.
I suppose we shall be thinking about Halloween soon. I have noticed the spooky stuff in the shops already.

Gary did bring me an interesting clothing catalogue.
Remember this is Wisconsin.
The sizes were as follows.

Small
Medium
Large
X. Large
and
Ample

Oh I bet they sell way more Amples than Smalls around these parts.........or those parts for that matter.

Arse our sads...........

2011-08-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

They have arrived safely home.
We were up around 3.30am yesterday as they had an early flight.
As Philip works in Chicago, he dropped them at Chicago airport on his way to work.
I tried to go back to sleep but found I couldn't.
That month flew by.
It is hard to believe they were here for four weeks.......and it has gone.
Poo.
So, I threw myself into stripping beds, doing washing, hoovering and generally getting the house back to normal. It kept me occupied.
I say back to normal.............as normal as we can be with 5 kittens hurtling around.
I miss Lauren's help with the kittens. She is a terrific kitten wrangler.
She would gather up an armful of the little buggers to take up to bed with her. I think they are missing her too.
She may come back again at Easter time.
They can't come for Christmas this year as they spent Christmas with us last year.
Speaking of which........I bet that will be coming at us at speed.
Must put the brussel sprouts on soon.

It was our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday.
It never ceases to amaze me how he has put up with me all these years.
I got him a brilliant card.
It said on the front.

"If I hadn't found you"

Then inside

"I'd probably be driving somebody else nuts"

Then this morning I had a poxy angina attack. Again......out of the blue.
I might be seeing a bit of a pattern though.
The last one I had was the day after our citizenship swearing in ceremony at the courthouse.
I was very stressed over that.
Yesterday I was very stressed over Donna and Lauren leaving and also that they should have a safe trip.
This morning......the angina.
So, maybe it doesn't show up on the day of the stress but the day after.
I wish I didn't stress over anything then I would be ok, but I think everyone stresses over something so that isn't likely to happen.
I am feeling a bit washed out now but it won't stop me from going to River Rhythms this evening.
I will have fun seeing Gary and I might as well be washed out there as be washed out indoors.

Festering and Irish Festing

2011-08-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Irish Fest.
It was as well that we decided to go on Sunday as Donna was in no fit state for festing on Saturday.
She was festering.
She had been out on the razzle on Friday night and her chums had taken her to a bar that had "live Karaoke"............I didn't know what that meant and in case you don't either it means instead of singing with a karaoke machine, you sing with a band.
A real band.
A real live band.
She thought she was in heaven. I don't really get this whole karaoke shennanigens.
I do know though, that people who do the karaoke thing, do seem to be very passionate about it.
I have an inkling that the drink helps things along.

So, Sunday after the steak & eggs brekkie.............not for me of course........it was off to Irish Fest.
I had a banana split sundae waffle.
This is..........a waffle, with bananas, strawberries & sauce, two scoops of ice cream and mounds of whipped cream.
I thought I would eat healthily this week :)

Another hot sunny day meant we were soon thirsty.
We bought some cokes but for some reason I cannot understand.....I felt a bit queasy.
But, I didn't make a fuss. I just bought some stomach pills and carried on.
We saw all the Irish dancers, many bands, some traditional and one band which were a lot like The Pogues.

We also spent some time watching the above.
This is a sport. Donna likes watching any sport.
Well, that was her excuse for spending so much time here.........and who am I to disagree.

Hangovers are us.......at least some of us !!

2011-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a bimbling weekend.
We pootled around shops etc. Nothing too strenuous, as Philip had to monitor a work process we couldn't go far from home.
Donna has made a habit of having steak, eggs, hash browns & toast for brekkie on a Sunday whilst she is here.
She starts looking forward to it around the previous Monday morning.
So we went out for that and then did a bit of shopping.
She had had a bit of a late night on Saturday so she was happy to come home for a kip.

Wednesday was River Rhythms.
They amaze me at the variety of music they have.
This week was a Scottish band who are over here for Irish Fest........work that one out.
Irish Fest is this weekend and is reputedly the largest Irish Festival in the world.
Who knew?
There is much boozing and merry making, as of course, suddenly everyone in Wisconsin is Irish.
Anyway, this week's band were called The Red Hot Chilli Pipers !

They were described as high energy and a mixture of rock and bagpipes.
Bagrock they called it.
They were bloody good. Philip groaned initially when I told him it was bagpipes but combined with the rock theme, guitars etc, they really put on a show.
One thing they lacked though.
A singer.
Very often they would start an instantly recognisable rock song and you can't help waiting for the singing to start.
Donna and I both agreed it was missing.
They were very good at getting the crowd going though. There were a lot of people there to see them too.
We were a bit puzzled at their references to the Irish though.
They tried to tell this American crowd that back in the day when the Irish and the Scottish would do this or that together...tra la........rubbish.
We knew it was because they would be playing at Irish Fest over the weekend. This crowd mostly have no idea where Scotland and Ireland are and certainly not a clue about their history.
But it gave us a giggle.
We all shouted "Aye" instead of yes as the band had requested, whenever they asked if we were having a good time or something.
Well, I did anyway.
We speculated on how many times they would drink their hosts under the table over the weekend.
They were a lot of fun and very different. Not in the same league as Brother.........."steady....nurse the screens!!!.", but very good.
Rotten Lauren would not go up and request ... "Donald where's ya troosers?" ....for me.
Wasn't she mean?

....when a plan comes together.

2011-08-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday the kittens all went off to the vet for their surgeries.
I felt really bad about them going and the house was really quiet all day.
You could open a cupboard without having to empty it of kittens before you shut it.
You could put things down and they would still be there when you wanted them again.
But it wasn't nice really.
I was told that when they returned in the afternoon they should be kept quiet for the rest of the day.
Yeah right.
The boys bounced out of the carriers and Treacle almost bounced too.
She immediately removed the dressing on her belly.
Poor Tootsie was not bouncy at all. She was very subdued and trembling.
We let her sleep.
Next day, Friday, Lauren didn't feel well. Sore throat. So she stayed in her jim jams all day and snuggled with the kits.
They seemed to enjoy it and so did she. Notice Benny lying on her legs in the photo.
Today she is much better and so are the monsters.
We decided a trip to Toys R Us was in order.

Actually, it has acquired a different name. Sometimes when someone gets their words in a muddle, the result is better than the original.
This was a case in point.
Philip meant to say Toys R Us but it came out more like 'Arse Our Toys'.
This caused much amusement in our 12 year old and it has been quoted as Arse Our Toys all day.
At Arse Our Toys she picked out a construction kit. It was a stable block. She is horse mad and has quite a few plastic horses at our house.
Splashed across the front of the box were the words "Two Horses Included".
Brill.
It had been about $100 but was in the clearance at $60.
Lauren has been saving her money so this was perfect.

She couldn't wait to get home and said kit was duly unwrapped as soon as she fell in the door.
Oh calamity.
There weren't two horses in the box.
There wasn't even one horse or the hint of a recent visit by a horse.
OK back to the store ........was my idea. Philip and Donna made excuses and implied it wasn't the stores fault and it wouldn't be any use.
That be buggered. It says two horses included and so there should be two bloody horses. What good would a stable block kit be without any horses. Arse Our Toys weren't to know that she has a dozen horses at home.
I checked the receipt. It stated very plainly that it was for a stable and TWO HORSES.
This child would have her horses.

Back we went. Philip chose not to come in the shop with me. Wonder why?
I knew I wouldn't be rude or belligerent. I don't think it is necessary.
It was the last stable block they had so they couldn't exchange it. I suggested that maybe they could give Lauren a couple of horses from off the shelf.
The girl called the manager over who checked that it did say quite specifically that the horses were included. She then disappeared and came back with a selection of them for Lauren to choose from.
Brill.
She told us she would need to put it through the till in a complicated way, voiding this and that. I told her whatever worked was fine with us.
She then gave us back........the stable kit.............the two horses..........and ..........and ........$21. 34.
I was a bit surprised at this but we thanked her and made our way out of the store.
I said to Donna "What has she given me this money back for?"
Quoth Donna, "I don't know........just keep walking".

So, thank you Arse Our Toys. We will do business with you again........maybe not just yet though.

Something of theme going on here.

2011-08-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we went to 6 Flags Great America.
In case anyone isn't aware........this is a theme park.
The theme being 'white knuckle rides'.
I have been to a lot of theme parks and where Disney and Universal are fab because they are very beautiful, 6 Flags is more for your serious roller coaster fans.

Disney is very pretty and has some fabulous rides but they are very, very spaced apart and you find yourself doing more walking than riding.
They have a couple of big coasters and then a lot of kids stuff and a lot of themed stuff and even more 'getting your money off you' stuff.
We found that we would be walking all day and maybe doing 4 or 5 rides.

6 Flags is almost all BIG coasters and they are all next to each other.
There are a few kids rides and a couple of shows but it is about the coasters. Donna and Lauren loved this.
There are coasters where you lie down as if you are flying - Superman ride. There are a couple where are hanging underneath. There are dark rides, backwards rides and even one where you are actually standing up.

I used to love coasters but since I have had this dodgy ear I have been unable to ride them.
The last time I did I got vertigo and could barely stand.
So, now I get my fun watching them have fun. That works for me.

Wednesday wasn't much fun for Philip.
He phoned me on his way home, as he usually does, to give me a heads up as to what time he will get in.
He wasn't a happy bunny.
He said he was running late and would phone me when he has finished cleaning the car.
Hmmmmmmmm.
He and a couple of mates car pool to work as it is such a long drive.
It was Philip's turn to drive.
As they had got onto the freeway his mate in the back, without any warning to anyone, upchucked.
He hurled all over himself, the back seat and the floor.
When asked why he hadn't mentioned he felt like blowing chunks.........he said he hadn't known until it happened.
They had to stop at a services to try their best the clean it up and lessen the smell.
Off they went again.
He did it again.
They had to find somewhere to stop........again.
Rinse and repeat.
Off they went again.
He did it for the third time. Personally I think I would have made him walk the 70 miles home by now.
When Philip got home he tried to clean the car yet again but it wasn't good enough.
Well, to be honest it wasn't good enough for me. I am very sensitive to puke and I told him that no way would I be able to travel in the car until it had been cleaned properly.
So, today he is having the car professionally cleaned.
We are hoping that we are now done with Malodorous Women, The Vomit Comet and The Upchuck Kid.
PS.
No I didn't send Gary to photograph the Malodorous Woman. I took that photo but I zoomed in so I took it from quite a way away.

State Fair.

2011-08-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we went to a church festival so that Lauren could see her favourite band.
5 Card Studs.
They are not only good, but also a lot of fun.
Before each song the lead singer, says in his sexiest voice...."This one is for the ladies".
He says this about every song.
We bought 5 Card Stud T. Shirts and we shall be going to see them again the Friday after next, when we shall proudly sport our T. Shirts.
I hope they don't think we are groupies.

Saturday it was off to State Fair.
This is huge.
The running joke is that you can get most anything fried or on a stick.
They outdid themselves this time.
There was chocolate covered bacon on a stick, deep fried Mac & Cheese, deep fried Oreo biscuits, deep fried pickles, bacon cheeseburger in a krispy kreme doughnut, deep fried beer ( I think they must freeze it and then coat it in batter) and the one I thought most heart stopping - literally - Deep Fried Butter !!!!
This IS Wisconsin you know!

I thought the dog on the motorbike was so lovely.
She was so laid back. Just had to take a picture of her.

Lauren had a pork chop on a stick.
Donna had a steak.
Philip had lots.
I had a Blooming Onion. Oh it was delish.
I look forward to it all year but then I can only eat about a quarter of it. The others shared it though so it didn't go to waste.

Then to the fairground part.
Donna and Lauren went on a roller coaster - fine.
They then went on a whizzy round thing. I don't know what it is called ...........I know what it should be called and I will let you in on that in a mo.
They got whizzed up and down, round and round...........then as the ride came to a standstill.....the boy sitting opposite them started pulling funny faces.
Donna said she wondered what he was doing. She didn't wonder for long.
He threw up. Projectile.......all over himself and his mates either side.
The guy or 'Carnie', who was in charge of the ride was furious and started yelling at this kid.
Of course the boy couldn't help it but can you imagine having to clear up after him. It was about 95F.
I wouldn't have been thrilled at the prospect of that clean up.
Can you imagine having those kids in the car with you going home?
The smell was enough to make me want to hurl so we quickly moved on. Donna was just so relieved that he hadn't thrown up during the ride as he would have covered everyone in it.
I wonder if he had been eating deep fried butter.
Henceforth said ride shall be known as 'The Vomit Comet.'

Somethings once seen.............

2011-08-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

River Rhythms.
It was good band tonight although the bloke above wasn't playing.
This Bono look a like had Donna in quite a flap.
Poor Gary, who has a tra la posh, all singing all dancing camera, was sent to take pictures of him.
Donna told Gary that he should take a little walk and whilst walking sneak some photos of this poor chap.
Dear old Gary duly complied. He set off with his wondrous camera, complete with bells and whistles, and snuck.
He snuckled whilst we chuckled.
1, At the cheek she had to send him off.
2, At the way he meekly went.
3, At the guilty look on his face and he snuck (like this word) through the crowd.
He wouldn't get a job as a spy but he did complete his mission.

We all enjoyed the evening.
The band were pretty good and Donna then got the hots for one of the guitarists.
Gary got some piccies of him for her too.
Good old Gary.

There always has to be a fly in the ointment though.
In fact there were probably more than a few flies around this particular "ointment".
The woman below sat quite a way in front of us.

But the aroma lingered on.
Oh it was disgusting. Every now and then the sweet summer breeze came laden with the stench from the gates of hell themselves.
What we couldn't understand was the fact that she was part of a group of people who looked like they were family.
Children and grandchildren all at the table together enjoying the exotic perfume she excreted.....to coin a phrase.
Couldn't they smell it?
Were they so used to it that they had become desensitised? Hard to believe.
There were times when she was cuddling a very young baby...........oh it shouldn't be allowed.
The only good thing to come out of this is I get the chance to use a word I have been itching to use for years.
Malodorous. She was a most malodorous woman.

That goes back to when I worked at a certain establishment in Ashford.
One girl in the class was very, very stinky.
At a staff meeting one day someone put forward a question.
"What should we do about the 'malodorous child'?
I have loved that word ever since.

Three generations.

2011-08-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

We are having a lovely time.
The weather is very hot. We'd thought about going to the Bristol Renaissance Faire at the weekend, but it is always extremely hot there.
It must sit in a very sheltered spot which magnifies the heat. I always feel so sorry for the people who work there as they wear the most amazing costumes but must really be melting under it all.
Take a peek.

http://www.renfair.com/bristol/

So, on Sunday after an enormous brekkie, we decided to play some crazy golf.
This too was very hot, but there are trees dotted about that you can shelter under whilst waiting for a party member to attempt their eighth shot at a par 3 hole.
We all had a touch of that.
I am always pants and came last, as usual, but I really don't care. I think Lauren won, Donna was second and Philip third.

Lauren and Donna went for a dip in a neighbour's pool when we got home. Donna didn't stay in it long as the kids were all thumping her with the pool noodles.
She has had a couple of nights out karaoke ing with her mates.
On Sunday she took my phone with her, which was just as well, as Lauren had inadvertently locked the screen door and she couldn't get in.
She phoned from outside at about 3.45 am..........we did laugh. She did this last time too but that time she had lost her key.
I said that maybe that is something she will do every visit so it is good that it is now over with.
Wednesday is River Rhythm's and then State Fair starts for around 10 days so that will keep us busy.

Mad as trousers? I hope so.

2011-07-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Brilliant.
I was fortunate to read on a friend's blog that our current Prince in Waiting had given a speech.
A particularly amazing speech, where as my friend said, he goes from speaking reasonably to being 'away with the fairies' and then back to reason again.
My friend, perfectly reasonably is concerned about this Prince becoming the monarch at some time and the prospect of having a king who is as 'mad as trousers'.
Personally, I love the idea.
Oh how our lives could be enriched if we had a king who was downright potty.
It has happened before..........I hope it happens again.
Oh the fun, the press, the antics.
Oh our current monarch is lovely but dull............don't you think it would be fun to have one who was totally off his trolley?
The speech is here.

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech_by_hrh_the_prince_of_wales_titled_islam_and_the_env_252516346.html

I am anticipating a lot of fun .....but then I am just Thickie Sue, Thickie Banks, Thickie.

Boo boo

2011-07-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

I have an owie.

I find it incredibly easy to get an owie these days.
A year or so ago I really hurt my back just by taking the washing out of the machine and putting it in the dryer.
It just went......'ping'.
I was in a bad way for weeks. It was absolute agony.
I finished up at the physiotherapist who made it worse than ever.
Didn't go back.

Anyway, this owie was waiting in ambush as I scooped out the kittens' litter box.
Not my most favourite occupation.
I intend to try to convince Lauren it is a fun thing to do while she is here.
I shall tell her to think of it as a "Lucky Dip".........with the promise of "A prize every time".
It might work.
Well, I had just finished scooping and retrieving all my prizes, I then had to pull the box of litter towards me so I could top up the litter tray..........I hope you are all still with me.........riveting isn't it?...........Then it happened.
You know that feeling when you crick your neck/shoulder and you get a burning sensation which really hurts but lasts for just a few minutes? Yes you do.
Well, it was a bit like that only it didn't go away.
It got worse.
I did this on Friday but having been brought up on the "Don't make a fuss" side of town, I tried to ignore it.
It wasn't going to be ignored and made that perfectly plain.
Sleeping has been difficult. I found that putting a pillow alongside me and resting my arm on it helped a little bit but on Saturday night I got virtually no sleep.
Last night I popped some pills at bedtime and got a little bit more sleep so I think I shall do that again tonight.
Of course all this happens when I have Donna and Lauren coming tomorrow.
Hopefully it will gradually get better, just as my back did when I refused the ministrations of the physio and her torture devices.
It makes me mad when these things happen so easily though.
I would love to spin a tale of how I hurt my arm/shoulder whilst abseiling down the North Side of Macey's. That would not only sound more heroic but at least I would have only myself to blame and could honestly say I wouldn't do it again.

Hmmmmmmmmm.......might give me more clout when trying to convince Lauren that scooping poopie is a fun thing to do on holiday.
Maybe I could get the neighbourhood kids involved.

"Step right up. Get your scooper here. Everyone's a winner".

It could work you know.

Phew!!!!!!

2011-07-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well the weather man didn't lie.
It has been very hot all week.
I went to the mall on Thursday.
The walk to the bus stop was volcanic. So, very, very hot. What was I wearing? Jeans and a t.shirt.
Jeans. JEANS !!!!
As I stood melting at the bus stop I perused the passers by. I say passers by but what I really mean is 'the getters out of a car'.
I think I am the only 'passer by' as I am the only one in Milwaukee who ever walks anywhere.
Everyone was wearing shorts and flip flops.
Why am I never comfortable with myself wearing shorts? This is Wisconsin. The average person is built like the Queen Mary.
From the back their shorts look like puppies fighting in a sack.
I am 5ft 1in (I know but that 1in is very important to me)......I weigh around 8stone 10 lbs.
Hmmmmmmmmm......I wonder why Americans don't have 'stones'. It makes more sense to me.
If someone is said to weigh 20 stone, then I can get a good idea of the size of them.
Over here, if they say someone weighs 280 lbs.....it doesn't mean a thing. I can't get a visual image.
So, anyway, I weigh about 122 lbs......and while I am at it......why LBS ? How can that be short for pounds?
Ooops.....I veer from the point yet again.
As I said, why do I not feel comfortable wearing shorts? It must be poor body image.
Back to the bus stop.
Having waited longer than I would have liked for the aforementioned bus and wilting by the minute, I was not looking forward to the return journey by which time the temperature would have risen further.
I decided my only course of action was to do a trawl of the mall....oooh I like that ....trawl the mall.....in search of a pair of reasonable (cheap) shorts.
Which is exactly what I did.
It occurred to me whilst I hunted through the racks that the size I take varies from a 4 to a 6.
Bearing in mind my friend, who is not really above average for a Wisconsinite, takes between a size 22 and a size 24................what the %$#@ am I worrying about?
I bought my shorts. Not terribly short ones, I will admit.
They are rather modest shorts, but shorts none the less.
I spent ages checking myself in the mirror........does my bum look big in these?
Anyway, I nipped into the Ladies before making my way to the bus stop, and changed into my new sexy ( ish......oh alright, bit frumpy ) shorts.
I got on the bus in them.
I then walked home from the bus stop in them.
Aren't I the trolloppe.

Hot !!!!!!!!!

2011-07-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

We don't do weather in moderation here in Wisconsin.
In the winter we have temperatures that fall to minus 40C and in the summer it can be bloody hot.
Right now........it is too bloody hot.
We are not going to River Rhythms tonight due to the heat.
Our friendly, neighbourhood weatherman says it will be around 98F today, but because it comes with high humidity, the heat index will be around 111F or 43C...in old money.
Plus, he said it would not cool off during the evening.
I have only been outside to the dustbin and it is unbelievable.
It was hot when we got married in Las Vegas........I think it was about 114F but it is so dry there that it didn't feel all that bad.
We seem to have got this weather until about Monday when it should cool down to the 80s.
I do hope our air conditioning copes. I know a lot of people are having problems. Ours was a bit iffy over the weekend but Philip changed the filter and it seems to be ok now.
Milwaukee is being very good though. They are keeping air conditioned buildings...libraries etc...open longer hours, for people who don't have air conditioning at home.
Also, the swimming pools have extended their hours too.
I don't like it this hot.

The picture above is of Six Flags Great America.....a theme park not far from us.
It used to be just rides but a couple of years back they added the water park.
Donna wants to go there while she is over. Hopefully we will although I bet it is expensive now.......it always was pricey.
I can't go on the big rides anymore because of my dodgy ear.
The last time I tried it made me feel very dizzy & sick.
Which was pants as I enjoy them.

It arrived.

2011-07-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

My American passport has arrived!!
How exciting......well except for the picture of The Gorgon they put in it instead of the beautiful picture of me.
It is tra la posh.
I mean ......REALLY......tra la posh.
Every page carries a picture and information about American history.
I am really impressed.
I wasn't expecting anything like this.
My British passport expires next year I think.
I wonder if they new British ones are posh now.
The Brits have a ton of history they could call upon to brighten up the passport.

Do other countries do this I wonder?
I mean, you never really get to look at other countries' passports do you?
Does the Scottish one have bagpipes, kilts and wild haggises......(is it haggises or haggi?) running riot all over their pages?
Now the Irish could make brill ones...........The little people, banshees, shamrocks, shillelagh, pints of guinness and Delaney's Donkey..........how fab is that?
What about the Welsh?
They could have passports that start playing music as soon as you open them.......you know, like some birthday cards do.
Think of the fun every time a Welsh person got to security and there was a blast of "There'll be a welcome in the hillside".
Perhaps you could choose which songs it played.
You could have Tom Jones singing "Green, green grass of home"........if you were sad enough.
Or, maybe even.......and I like this one............you could have the music from Ivor The Engine.
I may have to take out a patent on this idea.
It could be worth lots of dosh.

As promised, thanks to Gary, a picture of the person you would least expect to see at a jazz/blues/swing concert in the park.
The sad thing, I think, is that he is quite a young man.
He had a young family.........and he looks about 98.
I am sure he was enjoying himself in his own sweet way, but it was rather hard to tell.

Jitterbug

2011-07-14T10:16:00.001-07:00

I don't understand Jazz.
We went to River Rhythms last night and it was pretty busy.
"Oh", quoth I, "Must be a good band tonight".
I had neglected to check who was on as I was just so happy to be going again. We haven't been for a couple of weeks due to the invasion of the Summer Festers.
I failed to take in that the crowd were mostly of a more mature persuasion.

The band were not exactly jazz........more of a mixture of rhythm & blues, jazz & a little bit of swing.
They could have done with a lot more of the swing.
The music was often depressing. One song being called........"It's Cheaper to Keep Her"......which referred to a husband tiring of his wife and kids and wanting to bugger off but being told it would cost him much more that way and he should stay and put up with it.
Apparently, an old grandad had passed on this little gem.
One wonders how the wife and kids felt about all this but their feelings were not adequately explored, meaning not worth mentioning at all apparently.
Also, as the guys playing in the band (all super musicians I am sure) looked like they were probably all grandads themselves, with a couple of great grandads thrown in,.........I wonder just what century the original grandad, who shared his wit and wisdom, was born in.
As I said, before I wandered completely off the point, I don't understand jazz.
The jazz songs go on for ever.
Rarely, there is one I recognise but, the jazz musicians seem to delight in stretching each song out to breaking point.
They seem to add endless twiddly bits and nonsense words (Gary thought they were speaking in tongues), which results in a song that lasts about 20 minutes and the audience having lost the will to live after the 15th verse.
They have false endings too.
The poor guy who does the announcements was waiting in the wings to come on and do his half time bit, when they had about 4 different false endings to a song. They would stop.........go quiet for what seemed like 30 minutes (seconds probably) and then just as he went to step on the stage.......they would start up again.
It was quite funny to watch......he was in and out like a fiddler's elbow.

They were into the name dropping big time too.
"Oh when I played with Scabby Knees Duncan and Scratch My Own Arse Harrison back in 1911"....................blah, blah, blah.

BUT, never let it be said that I don't try to look on the bright side.....I often fail, but I do try.
There were some bloody good dancers.
It would have been far better if the band had played some more of the swing stuff, because when they did, the dancers got up.
I love watching people who can dance do their thing.
I think the dance they were doing is called The Jitterbug.....I could be wrong.......probably am.
Anyway, it was very lively and wore me out just to watch.
I wish I could do it. I would go to lessons if I had someone to go with but to be honest I doubt I would have enough puff now.
Watching the dancing saved the evening for me..........oh that and a really good odd person that Gary took a picture of for me.
I am waiting for him to send it and then I will put it on here.
It takes all sorts and Milwaukee, like Folkestone, has it share of all sorts.

Bits & Bobs

2011-07-11T09:08:00.001-07:00

Everywhere you look there are kittens.
They get in everything.
Here is Rascal (who else), who some how managed to get up into my shelves.
A couple of dragons bit the dust but were uninjured.
I knew it would happen at some time and it did - I caught little Benny snuggled into Bubba's belly, both his feet outstretched, making the squeezy movements with his toes and I could hear him trying to suckle.
Dear old Bubba just sat there and let him. If Benny had tried that on one of the girls they would have had a fit.

Merv has had a good morning.
There was a loud noise outside and when I looked I saw that my neighbours across the street had the tree men outside.
We had just had a major storm so I don't know if a tree was damaged but they had started removing the branches as they prepared to take down the tree.
And there, standing watch, making sure they were doing it properly was our very own Sidewalk Supervisor - Merv.
Bless him.

Two weeks now until Donna and Lauren arrive. Once more it has come around very quickly and I am looking forward to seeing them.
If the kittens are still here then I shall put Lauren in charge of them.

First Fourth.

2011-07-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

This year was our first 4th July celebration since we became pucker yanks.
Hard to believe really.
We had a quiet'ish weekend...........apart from discovering that we have probably both got ringworm .
We weeded the garden. Tidied the garage. Cut the grass. Got ringworm ointment.
Same as everyone else I suppose.

So, Monday it was off to the park in the evening for the fireworks.
The ones over the lake are really the best but getting parked down there and having to be there hours before hand, sort of takes some of the fun out of it.
We find our local park put on a very good display and we don't have any of the hassle.
Arming ourselves with our foldy up chairs we set off, pausing only to buy an ice cream, we found our perfect spot.
As it got dark the fireflies came out and put on their own display for us.
These were the first ones we had seen this summer.
I love fireflies.
The first time I saw them I got so excited because I hadn't realised they are real.
I thought they were creatures made up for cartoons etc.
I did feel daft.

They are like little fairies whose bottoms keep flashing........................"Ooooh Matron!"
Then the fireworks proper started.
Then the idiots with fireworks started too.
I think the Brits have been brought up to show due respect to fireworks. From childhood there are ads on TV in the run up to Guy Fawkes Night, showing the need for safety where fireworks are concerned.
I don't think anyone ever told Americans that fireworks can be dangerous.
Just a little way in front of us a middle aged couple ( not young idiots) had brought some fireworks with them.
Now, fireworks are actually illegal in Wisconsin. The shops still sell them and people still set them off but they are illegal.
Anyway, this couple decide to let their fireworks off.........in the middle of the park, where people are all sitting with their families. Not only set them off but throw them.
I couldn't believe it. These things were hitting the ground with a bang and then shooting a fireball out which went in whichever direction the firework had landed.
Like rockets going sideways.
Then the idiots next to me had roman candle sort of things that they were encouraging their ...mmm ...maybe 4 year old to hold.
"Point it away from your body"......said his mother.
How caring.

On the way out we passed a house with a great crowd outside, lighting fireworks on the pavement.
The people were standing almost on top of the things. One toddler was standing next to a firework as it started shooting stars & flames .............amazing.
I couldn't get away quick enough before someone was seriously hurt.
But, maybe I was just brought up to be fearful of fireworks.....they were all probably fine.
I hope they were.

We got home and had a celebratory drink. Philip has a glass of his posh whisky and I had a tipple of brandy.
Cheers!

Waiting

2011-07-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here is Tootsie showing off her extra toes.
It looks like she has mittens on.
We would like this one to stay. Philip, particularly would like her to stay.

They seem to have bonded. She was giving him a damn good wash in this picture.

If it isn't then I need to be able to put some cream or something on it. Poor little Benny.
We are thinking the kits are part of some sinister collective.
Like the Borg.
Whenever one learns to do something new, like scale a barricade that had previously contained them for instance............they immediately all know how to do it.
It is spooky.

This week has been hot.........thank goodness for air conditioning, otherwise I would never be able to sleep.
I did my stint at the cat rescue centre on Tuesday and saw a kitty find a new home. That is always good to see.
I hope our kittens find good homes.

We didn't do River Rhythms because Summerfest has started and that will be on until next weekend.
Parking downtown will be a nightmare, plus the bands this week and next are not to our taste.
Reggae ...if that is how you spell it............just not our cup of tea.

Donna and Lauren should arrive here on July 26th. That seems to have come around really quickly. They are here for a month. Usually it is just Lauren who comes but it will be fun having them both this time.
Donna has made quite a few friends here now so with me as a resident baby sitter, she is able to go out and about. Something she isn't able to do much at home.
Oh and she won't have to shovel snow this trip.

A full week.

2011-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

I shall start with Wednesday.
Brother were playing at River Rhythms and the forecast wasn't good.
We seem to have had more rain than is usual and Wednesday wasn't any different.
But, it was Brother !!!! As Philip had said " she will go even if there is a tornado"
So, we went and it stayed dry.
Brother were brill as usual and a good time was had by all. Even Philip seemed to enjoy it this time, in between playing games on his phone........oh did I mention his new phone?

Thursday it was back to the Tooth Fairy who after taking another x ray has decided to let things alone for another 3 weeks.
He showed me the x rays and even I could see that the bone was filling in the gap....gradually.
So, the plan at this stage is to finish the root canal next time and then, if necessary, do the nasty surgery bit after that.
Friday was a bit pants because I was meant to go swimming with June but the pool was too blooming cold again. She is getting so mad about this.
She says we will try again on Monday. I am not hopeful. I think this is a cost cutting exercise.

After bringing them home we went to the post office to send off for my new passport.
My new AMERICAN passport.
I had filled in all the paperwork, got photos (which were gruesome to say the least - I have one left which I think I will use to keep the mice off the mushrooms), I had my certificate of citizenship .......what I didn't have was an appointment.
We didn't know you had to have an appointment. So, I made one for Wednesday but just as we got in the car they called us back and a very kind lady said as it wasn't busy she would do it then.
Brill.
I shot back in, she stapled my picture in ( I may ceremoniously burn the other one instead of frightening the mice.....what have they ever done to me?), I then had to swear again that it was all correct and she said it would take about 4 weeks.
How sweet of her to do that for me?
So, another little job done and it was on to our own cat's vet's.
A week ago they had insisted Bubba needed special food because he still has the trots and the recent exams showed nothing.
They said it could be a food allergy. We were caught off guard when we were charged $54 for a bag of dry food and another $52 for 24 small cans.
We shouldn't have bought it but it sort of took us by surprise and we did.........silly sods.
Anyway, not only did he hate it, but it also made him 10 times worse.
So, today we took the 23 remaining cans back and got a refund. Unfortunately we couldn't take back the bag of food as it had been opened.
Our vet is now treating him for inflammatory bowel disease. He has tablets to take and we should know in a week if they are working or not.
The next bit was classic though.
They told us that the other vet has started doing acupuncture .....yes really........and if these tablets didn't work then we might want to think about doing that.
Of course, the other vet would need to do a "Chinese consultation and examination" to see what was needed.
Oh for heavens sake.
"Acupuncture on a cat".....my arse. Chinese consultation...........my arse.
I can't even imagine how much they would want for that. Poor Bubba........let's stick needles in him now.

New Yanks.

2011-06-17T14:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a very full, slightly surreal sort of day.
We were due at the courthouse at 8am for our swearing in ceremony and taking the oath.
8am.
Sigh...........8am........downtown on a weekday.
So, I was up at 5am to sort out kittens and get myself suited and booted for the occasion.
I don't like getting up this early, but we would have to leave by 7am because we weren't sure of the traffic/parking situation.
Philip checked the address on our notifications and then played around with his new gadget to get it checked out on the map.
Oh didn't I tell you about the new gadget?
He has an iphone........whatever that is. I have a regular phone.
They came the day before amid much excitement from one of us. The one which isn't me.
I don't like phones. Actually that is a lie. I like phones that are just for phoning people but I can't stand the blooming things that have all the bells and whistles.
I know I am in the minority in this but then I usually am.
Anyway, having decided he knew exactly where it was and that there was ample parking in a car park right there........we set off.
We arrived, parked and found the entrance to the courthouse.
Having presented our paperwork to the security man we were rather dismayed to be told we were totally in the wrong building, wrong block, wrong street and quite a distance from the Federal Courthouse which was where we were supposed to be.
The nice man gave us directions and, now in panic mode as the ample time we had allowed was dwindling rapidly, we set off again.
I am not saying that someone was too wrapped up in his new gadget to actually pay proper attention to the address and map................but it was a distinct possibility.
What would happen if we were late?
Would we be deported? Who knew.
Eventually we found the building. A huge, imposing building with lots of cars parked around it and no car park.
We then found a meter in a street a little way away and ran to the courthouse........actually I hobbled.
I had put on a posh frock and some shoes I only ever wear if I am not going to be walking anywhere much. My better half had assured me we wouldn't be walking as the car park was in the other building.........but then it wasn't.
Those shoes hurt big time.
Not a good start so far.
We arrived in the correct building with a minute or two to spare only to be confronted with a long line of people waiting for the same thing.
We didn't actually get into the court for almost an hour.
There were lighter moments. A lady in front of us dashed off to the loo and when she returned she had a tail of toilet paper hanging out of the back of her trousers.
I had a little angel on one shoulder saying..."oh poor lady, you must tell her", and a little devil on the other saying "no don't this is bloody hilarious".
I waited a minute or two as she was in a group of people and I knew it would embarrass her if I told her. Just as I thought one of the guys spotted it and let her know. Oh she must have felt so silly.
Before we got into the courthouse we were handed our new citizens pack. This contained various booklets and documents, a letter from the president and an American flag.
Then we had to give up our Green Cards. This was the hardest thing to do. It felt quite unnerving to hand that over. Philip felt the same way. It must be because we fought so long and hard to get them that it was hard to part with them. It was like taking away your safety net.
Once in the court we were instructed to stand (77 of us) for the judge to enter.
I whispered to Philip that we might get Judge Judy. He poo pooed me.....of course.
His face must have been a picture when the door opened and the closest impression of Judge Judy came in. She was about the same height, she had the same hair and was about the same age. "Oh it is Judge Judy" quoth I. I think he could have murdered me.
She was lovely. She told us about being American Citizens and how we should embrace the country but keep our own traditions alive.
We then took the Oath of Allegiance.
On the way out we received our certificates of citizenship.

We made our way down in the lift (suppose I should say elevator now) and I was the only one who was waving my flag.
I waved it like crazy.........Philip, I think, was pretending he was with someone else, but the security guys loved it. They congratulated me and wished us luck.
We now have to get US passports (yuk more passport photos) and new social security cards etc.
Quite an adventure.
Almost forgot...........after all of this ceremony etc, we got back into the car and Philip discovered his trousers had been undone all the way through.
They must have him marked down as some sort of perv now.

Then in the afternoon it was all back to normality with a trip to the vet's with the kittens.
One has snotters. Poor Benny had been snuffling and snorting. He was obviously congested.
Of course the others would get it too. The vet gave us antibiotics for them all. Another 10 days of jollop.
Every time we think we are over all the hurdles with these little guys ....they get something else.
The vet was generally pleased with their progress though. They have put on weight and she said they smell a lot sweeter than when they first came in.
They were very glad to get home and had lots of cuddles.
Then in the evening we went out for a picnic with Gary.
A full day really.

Cedarburg.

2011-06-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

This isn't Cedarburg......these are a couple of the pictures Gary took on Wednesday evening when we had our picnic by the lake.
I like this first one because you can see the Milwaukee skyline.

It was a lovely evening and we really, really must go back and do that again.
So peaceful sitting by the lake, drinking wine and eating our picnic.
Brilliant.
Philip was on call all the weekend so we couldn't go far.
Saturday we bimbled about shopping etc.
Sunday we decided on a little trip to Cedarburg.
Cedarburg is a small town, with old houses. It has lots of little shops and a fab winery.

http://cedarcreekwinery.com/history.asp

You can take tours of the winery and there are lots of shops in there that sell lots of lovely sparkly things.
Instead of earrings...which I usually buy....this time I bought a pair of sparkly sandals.
They were only $10.
I think it is quite refreshing to find these specialty shops that are also reasonably priced.
We also walked along the main street, stopping at various stores. The stores are often in big old houses that have rooms crammed with all sorts of nonsense.
Some have Christmas decorations too.......oh bliss.
The weather was lovely and as we walked we talked about times and treats gone by.
I mentioned the time we found peanut butter cookie dough ice cream. We only found it once when we first came over here almost 14 years ago. We had never seen it since.
We stopped in the old fashioned sweet shop and almost bought one of their flavoured ice creams but decided to continue along for a bit.
We came to a shop called The Ice Cream Factory. This would do.
We were gob smacked when there, in all it's delicious glory, was .......Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
Oh it was wonderful. .....and how strange to find like that after we had just been talking about it.
Time then to go home and feed the monsters.

I think Tootsie is showing off her seven toes in this one.

They have discovered the window.
I can only have them open like this when I am home as they climb the window screen and I am frightened they will hurt themselves.
I decided to lie on the bed in that bedroom and watch a Carry On film with them.
They all piled on me......two under my chin, a couple on my arm and one on my belly.
The purring almost drowned out the sound of the movie but it was like therapy.

Country & Western......pants.

2011-06-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is Tootsie's favourite hiding place. Strange kitty.

Last night was the first River Rhythms of the year........supposedly.
The last few days have been very hot.....98F and there was threats of thunderstorms for yesterday afternoon & evening.
We kept a close watch on the weather situation as there is no point sitting in a park in a major thunderstorm.
Philip was home as he had an appointment with a urologist as a follow up to his kidney stone adventure.
Armed with the stone in a jar, he set off in the morning to the hospital. Firstly though, he had to drop Bubba off at the animal hospital as he was having his ultra sound to determine why his liver didn't show up on the x-ray.
Philip's appointment seemed to go well, he has various things he has to do and they are going to analyse the stone to see what caused it.
The general opinion though is that it is probably due to genetics as both his brothers had kidney stones.
He also had a prostate exam which he was not happy about ( he wasn't expecting that!). I will let him tell you himself about that .......if he wants to.
Suffice to say I wasn't too sympathetic about it as the things women have to go through make the prostate exam fade into insignificance.
Men!!!
He picked Bubba up on his way back and the results of the ultra sound were normal. No idea why his liver didn't show on the x ray but they then wanted to do an endoscopy and take biopsies from every which way.
They said it could be inflammatory bowel disease or cancer.
They seemed a bit put out when Philip said we would try treatment for inflammatory bowel disease first before we start on all the other invasive stuff.
I have just spoken to our vet who agrees and Bubba will soon be on a special diet.
I really hope this works as I dread to think how much the other stuff will cost. It isn't that we wouldn't pay it for him but I don't like to think of him going through all that only to be told that he has cancer and nothing can be done.
Keep your fingers crossed for him please.

On then to River Rhythms.
Or not.
The storms looked like they would hit later so we set off.
As we got into Downtown we noticed more and more people about. They couldn't all be going to River Rhythms as the first couple are generally a little quiet until everyone realises they are on again.
The crowds grew greater the nearer we got. Something was afoot.
But what? I hadn't heard of anything.
I had my 25 cents ready for the parking meter but Philip doubted we would find one amongst the heaving throng.
He was right. Pants. We would have to go to the parking lot and pay $5. We hate having to do that.
HA.
And HA again.
We got to the parking lot................the fee for tonight...........$30.
WHAT!! We tried all the other lots.........they were all the same.
There was no way we could find a parking space and no way we were paying $30.
Philip dropped me off at the River Rhythms park so I could go and tell Gary, who gets there before us. I told him we couldn't park so we couldn't do River Rhythms. He had no idea why all these people had descended on Milwaukee either.
I then spoke to one of the organisers. He told me......there was a Taylor Swift concert on.
Who?
Apparently it is some country & western singer. Obviously popular with the people of Milwaukee......even more popular with the owners of the car parks.
Philip picked us up, but rather than go home, he found a lovely park on the lakefront which had picnic tables. It was beautiful. A lovely evening. A flotilla of small boats out on the lake. We had our picnic, had a good chat with Gary and then took him home. I really enjoyed it and fully intend on going there for a picnic again.
So, all was not lost. Poxy Taylor Swift may have buggered up River Rhythms for us (and for many others I suspect) but our evening was still a success.
Gary took some photos for me and I will put a couple up when he sends them.
The storms held off until about 11pm........but wow.........they were very fierce and seemed to go on for hours.

Glorious weekend.

2011-06-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Navy Band Horizon

River Rhythms starts this Wednesday.
We have had a glorious weekend. Sunny and warm, around 85 F.
It looks as if it will continue so Wednesday should be a go. We will meet Gary over there and wonder how another year has flown by so quickly.
The above band will be the first one of the season. We haven't seen them before but their website looks promising.

Take a peek.
http://www1.netc.navy.mil/nstc/navyband/horizon.html

I enjoy River Rhythms because they do try to have a good variety of music.
The only ones I am not so fond of are the Reggae bands.
There are two lined up for this year. I find them rather boring. I can never tell where one song ends and another begins.

Brother (the Aussie blokes in leather kilts......"Nurse the screens"), are back again on June 22nd.

Brother last year.

Philip will be reading his Kindle and muttering while they are on.
Or he may take the opportunity of having a snooze like he did last year.

I won't be snoozing.........oooooh Matron!!

Looking up

2011-06-04T20:48:00.001-07:00

A better day today.
The kittens are now playing again.
This is good.
Kittens who do not play are not well.
I will admit it is hard work.
It takes me over an hour to get them sorted out in the morning.
Then I have to check on them/feed them/ wash them/ cuddle them ...all day.
Bottoms don't wash themselves you know.
Trouble is they have no momma.
Momma would clean them, wash them after they have pooped, wash their faces and cuddle them while they sleep.
So, I need to be momma.

It is tiring but rewarding.
Especially with this lot.
They so want people company............I have never known kittens like it.
Today I sat with them for ages. They all want to cuddle.
They will be brilliant cats.
We still have to get over a couple of health issues but it is looking brighter than before.

On another note.
We had to take Bubba to the vet's today. He has been poorly for a while. Trots.
He has had blood tests which didn't reveal anything.
So today he had x rays.......hmmm.......bit worrying.
His liver didn't show up at all.
The vet couldn't understand it.
So, he has to have an ultra sound on Wednesday. Poor Bubba is 13 years old.
I have a bad feeling about it all but I am hoping it will all turn out fine and maybe he will just have to have a special diet.
Bubba is such a sweetheart. He is the only one who has been desperate to meet the kittens.
It would have been lovely to see him with them all but they are not allowed to mingle with our kits.
Please be ok Bubba.

Dodgy Day

2011-06-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

A dodgy day yesterday.
The kittens were not very well at all.
They had the trots & colitis (blood in the poop), sticky eyes & sneezes.
Their meds were dropped off in the afternoon and I gave them all their jollop and eye ointment.
They still loved me.
They miss momma cat, big time. They just want to all clamber on your lap and snuggle.

When I gave them their dinner I noticed the littlest one, Rosko, the ginger one at the back with his head up, wasn't interested in eating.
Oh this is not good. Kittens should be ravenous at all times.
I tried to tempt him to eat but he wasn't having any of it.
So, we bought some kitten milk. I fed him with a syringe as he wouldn't lap it.
They all then went to sleep and we were very worried.
I thought he might not wake up.

We gave them their last feed of the evening and Rosko came charging out of the bed, dived into his food dish and scoffed his grub.
What a relief !!
They all ate well this morning and they have started to play again. They didn't play yesterday.
So, I am tentatively hopeful that this medication works and that they will continue to thrive.
I gave them a lecture about now they are getting over the trots it is time to stop "thinking outside the box".

I have to say they are the most people friendly kittens I have every met. Whoever adopts them will have wonderful cats.

Famous Five

2011-06-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

The little monsters are causing some concern.

They are really too young to be without a mummsy and they are a bit poorly.
They have had the trots and this morning they were throwing up.
They are too small to take much of this.
The manager of the shelter is picking up some meds today and she will drop them off later.
She said that should soon sort them out.
I do hope so.
They are such funny little things, probably the friendliest kittens I have met.
They all want to be on your lap and want to snuggle in for a snooze.
They don't care what I do to , bottom washing, face washing, eye drops, clipping claws.......they still come back for more and love me.

Hopefully the meds will sort it all out quickly and I won't have to worry so much about them.
They are all now named.

Treacle.............naughty, funny girl.
Tippie Toes.......7 toes on each front foot, sweet little girl.
Bootsie..............also 7 toes and a boy.
Benny................extra toes and a bit of a thicky.
Rosko................very sweet, very much a baby boy.

The Fabulous Five

2011-05-31T17:25:00.001-07:00

Look at these little monsters.
This is our first batch of foster kittens.
Five of the little blighters and only 5 weeks old.
I don't know what happened to their mummsy only that I will be their mummsy for a few weeks.
We picked them up this afternoon.
They were very smelly, very vocal and very hungry when we got them home.
Now they have been fed they are sleeping all in a heap. It is so cute.
They are being kept away from our own cats. I think I am going to have some fun playing with this little lot of hooligans.
They have to stay in the cage for about a week ........then they can come out and create havoc.
Bliss.

It has come at a good time really as Philip and I have been a bit down lately with various health issues etc.
Then over the weekend the air conditioning decided to stop working. Yesterday was our hottest day so far this year. Typical.
Temps near 90 degrees.
So, we had to call the man and $185 later it seems to be working.
We are now going to indulge in kitten therapy.
Bubba seems to be the only one interested in what is going on behind the closed door.
He always has liked kittens though.
Lily doesn't. Nothing maternal about our Princess Lilibet.
Heh heh.......think of the photos I can bore you with now.

Sidney

2011-05-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, so far so good.

Sidney the stone seems to have made an appearance.
Sidney has left the kidney........so to speak.

Philip is not in the intense pain that he was but now is a bit achey and tired.
Hopefully that was all of Sidney and he is over the worst.
He does still have the other two stones but the doctor said they may just stay where they are or they could move any time.
We hope they don't move for quite a while yet.

Meanwhile I have been working on my Christmas card for this year.
Last year was The Snow Dragon.
This year I plan on it being the one above..........the Ice Dragon.
I have quite a bit of work to do on it yet but I am happy with most of it.
I shall never be happy with all of it.........artists are never happy with their work...........to me nothing I have ever done is really finished and there is always that temptation to just add a dab here and a line there.
I am pleased with the way you can see the landscape through his wings though.

Hopefully I will be happy enough with it to say "Enough!" and walk away.
Then it will be as finished as it ever will be.

I hope everyone has had a pleasant Memorial Day.

I have to go back to the Tooth Fairy on Wednesday..........oh joy!

Now what??????

2011-05-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Donald & Daisy.

We had something of an adventure today.
Philip woke me at 5am in a lot of pain.
Initially, we thought it might be a reaction to the steroids he was put on yesterday when he had to go to the hospital regarding his breathing/chest problems.
I soon realised it wasn't.
He was in agony. So much so that he was rolling around the floor, screaming, swearing & moaning (and swearing again....there was a fair amount of swearing).
I had a pretty good idea what it was and had to call the ambulance.
You don't do that lightly over here as it is a very costly business.
I am dreading the bills that will come in but we had very little choice.

The ambulance men stretchered him out and I accompanied him to the E.R.
They were very good there. They started him on pain killing injections as he was in a terrible state.
A C.T. scan confirmed what I had suspected (I had seen someone like this before) ....Philip has kidney stones.
3 to be precise.
One of which is on the move and causing all the pain.
At one point it looked like they would keep him in as they couldn't get the pain under control.
They were having to inject him every 10 minutes.

The doctor said that if we could control it with strong painkillers then Philip could go home and wait for things to pass.........literally.
So, eventually we came home armed with pain pills, nausea pills and pills to try to move things along a bit quicker.
It didn't start well when having taken the pills he immediately threw them up again.
But, after taking the nausea pill first and waiting a bit, the others stayed down and so far, so good.
If it gets too much for him then we have to go back.
They say it can take 7 - 10 days to pass. Let us hope it goes quickly.

Well, we won't be doing much for Memorial Day Weekend.
I am just glad that Philip is ok and that he is home.
Let's hope he can stay here.

The ducks, Donald & Daisy, now visit every morning and evening.
I have started to put a dish of water out for them now.
I think I might end up putting a paddling pool out soon.

Back to dentist..........

2011-05-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I must admit that our hummingbird feeder is not quite so successful as the one pictured.
Not nearly as successful.
Not very successful at all. Oh well, alright.........we haven't seen one hummingbird flocking to it yet.
The bluebird was back though, but he eats seeds not the hummingbird nectar.
I will not give up on it yet though.

I am also trying not to give up on this poxy tooth.
I had to go back to the specialist on Tuesday.
It really is no better and was beginning to feel worse. The whole of the side of my face hurt, including my ear and up to my eye.
I was midway through the fourth course of antibiotics but they were obviously having no effect.
He prodded an poked (again) and decided that the infection is in the jaw bone.
So,................wait for it...............antibiotics course number 5.
These are extra potent which basically means they will have extra potent side effects.
I am growing weary of it all.
But, I will not lose faith.
It shall be alright.
It shall be.

On a much brighter note.
I was at the animal shelter yesterday and found out that an application had been put in for a kitty I had grown very fond of.

Hilary.
She has been at the shelter for over a year but constantly hides under her bed. Once you take her out of the cage she is a sweetheart, wanting tummy rubs and being super affectionate.
I was so pleased to hear someone wanted her.
Then, even better, the lady who was adopting her came in to pick her up while I was there.
She is a lovely lady. She was so excited to being taking her home and I was so excited to have met her and to see Hilary go home.......Oh I was near to tears.
Makes it all worthwhile doesn't it?

Hello Bluey

2011-05-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

Saturday we bought a hummingbird feeder.
When we lived in Illinois for a year we had hummingbirds who came regularly to our balcony.
They were so beautiful, like tiny metallic, shiny bees.
They seemed unconcerned about me being out on the balcony and would hover around me.
I thought that Milwaukee was too far north for hummingbirds.
I was wrong.
No, that blue bird isn't a hummingbird, but my friend June put out a hummingbird feeder and she now has them visit every day.
I was so envious.
We put out our hummingbird feeder, complete with hummingbird nectar, over the weekend.
The weather has been awful, cold, windy and raining so I wasn't expecting any delicate little hummingbirds.
I also wasn't expecting this beautiful blue bird that showed up yesterday to the regular bird feeder. After researching a bit I have found out he is an Indigo Bunting.
I have also found out we were very lucky to get him as they are very rare around here.
I took some photos but he was actually much brighter than this. I had to photograph him through the window screen which blurs things a bit.

This was the actual bright blue that he was.
Gorgeous.

At the same time we had this guy on the finch feeder.
He is an American Goldfinch and as bright yellow as a canary.
We get quite a lot of these and other finches but the blue bird is a welcome first.
The weather today is sunny and a bit warmer so I hoping the hummingbirds find the feeder soon.
I shall buzz off now and watch for the little hummies.

Rattle. rattle

2011-05-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

It was my second trip to the toof specialist yesterday.
I was not looking forward to it.
Toof still hurt.

Well, he didn't seem concerned, but then the tooth wasn't hurting him.
He spent a long time twiddling away in the roots with pins. I half expected him to triumphantly produce a winkle at some point.
He was most interested in our recent citizenship test. His assistant, Diane, was more interested in the recent Royal Wedding and the state of the hats.
She was intrigued by the princesses wearing the teletubby headgear.
She said she was very impressed by the organisation of the day and the good feeling amongst the crowd.
The march down the Mall with all those thousands of people behind a thin line of policeman bowled her over. She said that wouldn't have been so dignified over here.
She said that the British should be proud. How nice of her to say that.

Anyway, back to the question at hand........or should I say mouth.
There was one root that had been giving me all the trouble and he thinks he got all the nasties out of it this time.
I bloody hope so.
Another hour and half in the chair. It gets kinda old.

To try to ensure success this time he has given me.........wait for it............another course (2 weeks this time ) of antibiotics but in case that isn't enough he has given me steroids too.
Just what I needed.......more pills.
Oh, I really won't mind .........if it all works.

I have to go back in another 3 weeks and if it is all healed and ticketty boo, he will finish it off.
I do hope it is.

Philip had to go to the quack's today because his chest has been playing him up again. Now he has got two lots of stuff to take.
Right old pair aren't we.

Wednesday I was at the animal shelter again. Our friend Nick has adopted a little dog from there after I sent him pictures of it.
She is lovely. Ellie May. We were meant to go over and see her tonight but we are both not feeling up to scratch so we will go next week.
Well, at least I have done some good for Ellie and Nick. I am so pleased for them.

Another chance.

2011-05-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Another chance to wear the ole fascinator?
I hope so.
Apparently the swearing in ceremony can be quite posh.
It is held at the courthouse downtown. There does seem to be differences due to location but I am hoping that Milwaukee's do will be a posh do and I can wear the posh frock & fascinator again.
I don't get that many opportunities to wear them.

We are also considering having a bit of a do ourselves. We thought we might "grill out" as they say over here.
We would do the American thing and have hamburgers, hot dogs (or brats as they are known in Milwaukee). Oh and perhaps apple pie & ice cream.
I expect I could find a little veggie burger for me.

I am back to the dentist on Thursday.
Dreading it.
I can honestly say that despite, 3 different courses of antibiotics, one visit to the dentist and one to the specialist...........the tooth feels no better than before we started.
I am totally ticked off with it.
I am beginning to doubt if it can be treated.
I have another hour and a half appointment for Thursday. That should be fun.

We had Gary over to dinner yesterday.
On TV was a documentary entitled
"Hill Billy Hand Fishing". !!!!!!!!!!
We decided unanimously that we didn't want to see that.

Philly Bob & Sue Ellen

2011-05-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well we did it.
We are now American Citizens.

It was totally nerve wracking. I had been revising for the test questions for weeks.
At times it seemed the more I studied the worse I got.
Last night my brain seemed to implode and I couldn't even get the easier ones right.

This morning I noticed on the top of the attendance letter that it said they needed copies as well as originals of all the required documents.
Plus, my nail tech told me yesterday that if you pass your interview then you can get apply for an American passport while you are there.
So, after calming down from my hissy fit at needing more copies of everything, we flew round to Walgreens for more passport photos.
Philip then went and made copies of all the remaining documents.
We arrived early and I sat there worrying about the questions/answers until I zoned into a mental fluff of blah.

I shouldn't have worried (I can say that but I don't think there has ever been a time when I haven't worried), when the time came I remembered all the questions I was asked.
Eventually I was congratulated and handed a piece of paper that stated I had been accepted as an American Citizen.
Philip was called in shortly after I came out. He too was successful.
There will be a swearing in ceremony at the court house in about a month's time.

I couldn't apply for my passport then but will be able to do so after the swearing in.
I will need to do that fairly quickly in case I have to nip over to England at short notice.

Phew!!!!
It is such a relief. We shall have to celebrate with some friends after the ceremony.
Tonight we will have a meal out and a bottle of bubbly.

Maverick

2011-05-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

It will be my second day at the Animal Rescue place today.
Above is a portrait I have just finished of Maverick.
He has been at the shelter a long time. He is absolutely gorgeous but unfortunately for him, he is around 10 years old so gets passed over in favour of the younger cats.
So, I decided he needs as much help as he can get and made him my first model.
The idea is that I shall put the portrait on his cage. Anyone who does take him can have it for free.
This worked for a dog once when I was at the Humane Society so I thought I would give it a try for Maverick.
He does deserve a home and although I know it won't be easy to find him one......I can still hope.

I am still taking antibiotics for my tooth but I am getting a little disheartened.
I seem to have a couple of good days......and then I start to believe it is on the mend......but then I will have a really bad day (like yesterday) when my whole jaw, side of my face & ear hurt.
That makes me miserable.
I really don't know how this is going to work out. I go back to the dentist on Thursday next week.

We have our citizenship test/interview on Thursday this week.
I am starting to really stress about it.
The more I practice the test questions ......the worse I get.
What with that and my tooth.......pants!!!!

Teefs again.......

2011-04-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

I had to phone the dentist today.
I have another couple of weeks before I go back for the next part of the root canal, but yesterday the blooming thing started hurting again.....big time.
I spoke to the receptionist who then got the dentist (the nice one) he said there must be some more infection there and he phoned the chemist with another prescription for me.
So, I am back on the antibiotics again.

Tuesday I did my first stint in the animal rescue place.
It was fab.
I managed NOT to bring home any kitties so that is a bit of a first too.
I am going to do some portraits of the cats in there and with any luck it will promote my pet portrait mallarky.
They will let me display them and then if any are sold they can have a percentage.
Early days yet but you never know.

I am getting a little nervous about the citizenship test next week.
Philip doesn't say much but he did dream last night that he was in a 3 day queue trying to get in, so it must be on his mind.
I shall have to think about what I am going to wear.
Would a cowboy hat be appropriate do you think?

Miffed

2011-04-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am more than a bit miffed.
Donna phoned her father last night to check on arrangements for being picked up at the airport etc. today.
Towards the end of the conversation she asked about Glenn as we have been trying to contact him for over a week.
Glenn isn't the best in the world at picking the blooming phone up so we had tried ...home phone and mobile phone......without success.
Her father then told her that Glenn has been in hospital since last Tuesday.
He has diverticulitis, which is basically what he had all the surgeries for last year.
He is unlikely to be out before this Tuesday.
Bearing in mind how quickly hospitals chuck you out these days, I think he must be pretty rough to have been kept in this long.
Infection and antibiotics were mentioned and I can only assume that these must have been given intravenously for them to keep him in.
But why hadn't we been told?
Donna and I were both very upset.
Had she been at home she would have known what was going on and she would have kept me informed. Instead of which no one knew.
Glenn has probably been in there all this time with no visitors.........except his father maybe.

Donna is going to find out more as soon as she gets back and then let me know.
I am wondering what the long term plan is for him as he can't keep going back into hospital every few months.
I am trying very hard not to be angry as that is a waste of time. Anger doesn't achieve anything and is destructive. I will not allow that to happen.
I shall just have to rely on Donna telling me what is going on.

They went back this morning. I got up to see them go at 4am.
They are currently en route and expect to land around 10pm UK time.
I am already missing them. I have tidied the house and put a lot of Lauren's "stuff" away.
I liked it when it was messy.
They plan to come back at the end of July for a month this time.
So I just have to look forward to that and hope that Glenn's health improves.

Bubba is having more tests on his blood. If they prove negative for a thyroid problem (treatable with medication) then he will have x rays to see what is going on.
Poor big, ole, soppy Bubba.

Teefs & Fings.

2011-04-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

We had to cancel Bubba's teeth cleaning.
He still has the trots and we really need to know what is going on with him.
The antibiotics didn't cure it so the vet needed a blood test.
This is so easy to say..........
Anyway, we took him Thursday but he was so dehydrated they couldn't get any blood.
So, they stuck a needle in him and gave him fluids.
Back he went today for the blood test which they managed to get this time.
Cats are funny creatures though.
The ramifications of his trip to the vet's has impacted all the other three cats.
Bubba came back smelling "vetty"......he smelled of the antiseptic they used.
So, all three other kitties will have nothing to do with him.
Lily is not only hissing at him but hissing at anyone who has had contact with him.
Looby Loo and Lollipop have retreated under the bed and will not come out.
Silly buggers.
Poor Bubba. He is like Billy No Mates.

The others are still looking for a vacant lap when they have the chance.

I went to the orthodontist yesterday re root canal problems.
The dentist I saw last week was horrid. She was very abrupt and unhelpful, so I was very nervous in case this one was the same or worse.
He was lovely. LOVELY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He made me feel comfortable right from the start. He, and his assistant, were chatty and fun.
When I told him I was nervous........he said "Yes so am I. We can be nervous together".
He spent time talking to me, explaining what he was going to do and also cracking jokes.
He was interested in where I was from, why I was in Milwaukee and very interested in the citizenship test questions.
Neither he nor his assistant got any of the ones I asked them right.
OK, so I was in the chair for 2 hours and root canals are not a favourite form of entertainment, but, he made it so much more bearable by being kind and human.
He told me it would be painful and sore when my face woke up but said it should only feel bruised. Anything worse than that and he said I should ring him.
Amazing.
It was exactly as he said it should be and today I still can't open my mouth much but that is maybe not such a bad thing :)
It has to be left to heal now for 3 weeks then I go back and he will finish it off.
This time, although I will not be looking forward to it, at least I will feel more confident in the dentist.
They should all be like him. He told me himself that he knows having your teeth messed about with isn't anyone's idea of fun so he makes it his business to lessen the anxiety with humour.
Good job too.

Shivering gnomes

2011-04-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

I took this photo this morning........April 18th.

Those poor gnomes.
They must have been dead chuffed that Lauren put them out in the sunshine.
This morning we woke up to 2 - 3 inches of snow and still snowing.
I should have rushed out there with little woolly jackets for them.
Amazing.
Last week we had temperatures in the 80s.
This is why I don't buy plants until mid May.
We have gone from heating to air conditioning and back to heating again in a few days.

I applied for another job today.
I don't know that I stand a chance but it doesn't hurt to try.

I went to the dentist (specialist) on Thursday about my root canalled, crowned tooth that has been a bother lately.
There was talk of re doing it, which is what I had expected.
Instead, the "specialist" dentist sneered at my x rays and announced I should have the tooth taken out and an implant put in.
I have to admit I didn't like her from the start. She was of a nationality that seems to be very forthright and had very poor 'bedside manner'.......so to speak.
When I voiced my reluctance to go this route she said she could not guarantee that any further root canal procedure would work. She may not be able to do it.
I had already decided that whatever was going to be done would not be done by her.
She said I should have this implant which would take 9 months of messing about.
She then said "Well, what is the matter? Can't you afford it?"
So, I asked how much it would cost.
She sent in one of the office workers who arrived with a print out of costs.
She threw numbers at me...........insurance will pay this....won't pay that....etc. until I said "look just tell me what it would end up costing ME in total."
"$6550 "..........she said.
"Absolutely NOT"....said I.
How bloody ridiculous.
Dentist (specialist) then returned still mumbling how it might not work but then they couldn't guarantee that an implant would work either.
I was determined not to have her messing around in my gob so I am to see another guy on Thursday.
The theory is that he will re do the root canal.
Of course, after all that she said, I am now worried that it won't work.
If it doesn't and I have to have the tooth taken out then that will be that. No way can I afford the stupid implant.
If I had $6550 to spare I would be going on amazing holidays, not having a dodgy tooth implant.

Bubba is a bit poorly and I am worried about him.
He will not be having his teeth cleaned on Thursday. Instead he will be having some blood tests done.

They're here..........again....and it is brill.

2011-04-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Nothing much changes.....well except Lauren keeps getting taller and switching kitties.
It was Lily's turn for a cuddle this time.
It is wonderful having them here again. I am going to be mega sad when they leave.

I attended my "Mad Cat Woman" meeting.
There were about 12 of us there and right behind me sat 3 teenage girls.
They drove me nuts. Considering I have spent most of my working life with kids this age, I was a bit dismayed that they got on my nerves so.
It was the incessant, silly chatter..........I wanted to turn round and tell them to shut up.
Anyway, also behind me was and older lady who, during a break after we had filled in forms, asked me if I had a cat.
We then started chatting. She has one cat which she got from this rescue place. I told her it was time she had another one then.
The girls behind me turned out to be too young and would need a parent to come along and sign things for them.......phew !!
I was then asked when I could start and I told them it would be better for me after my company had left. So, I am starting on Tuesday April 26th, the day after they leave.
Then my new mate, Connie, was asked when she would like to be there and she said Tuesday too.
Brill.
So, I have already made a new friend. I am so looking forward to this.

I was very sad for a few days after quitting last Wednesday.
I will not go into details but suffice to say there is only so much anyone can put up with before they say enough!
I do put up with a lot. This often leads people to think they can do what they like and I will always put up with it. Trouble is when I reach that point of no return......it is literally that.........no return.
Everyone has a breaking point. I just take a little longer to reach it than most.

Donna has been out and about gallavanting a few times.
I am so pleased to see her enjoy herself as she doesn't go out much at home.
I tell her to make the most of a live in babysitter while she can.

Lauren has been in the garden putting my ornaments (yes gnomes etc) out for me.
She has just come in to say it is all done.
I must go and make all the right oooh and ahhhhh noises now.

Gob trouble continues..

2011-04-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Lollipop's mum is coming back tomorrow.

Well the gob problem continues.
I phoned the dentist on Monday as I had finished the antibiotics and there was no improvement with the tooth pain at all.
The receptionist was very kind, took my details and then phoned me back a little while later.
The dentist had phoned through another prescription to the pharmacy.
Brill.
I collected my new pills, shuddered a bit at the possible side effects (these are powerful antibiotics) but started taking them as the tooth needs to stop its shenanigens now.

As I said that was on Monday.
We are now at Thursday with still no improvement in the tooth.
I think the pills should have started to work by now.....even just a teeny improvement would be good.
But no. Nothing.
This leads me to believe it isn't an infection. The root of the tooth must be damaged, cracked or something.
The appointment with the specialist isn't until April 21st which seems like a lifetime away when your gob hurts.
I thought the antibiotics would take the pain away and I would be fine until I saw him.
Seems I thought wrong.

On another note.
Donna & Lauren should be arriving here tomorrow for two weeks.
I am very excited. It will be lovely having them here again.

We had a letter yesterday informing us of our Citizenship interview which will be on May 5th.
I shall be a nervous wreck by then.
Included was a list of more stuff they want us to bring.
I need to do a bit more studying too.

On Sunday I am going to a meeting for prospective volunteers at our local cat rescue place.
It is just an informal gathering to provide info on what is entailed.
I hope it is good and that they will like me.
If they don't then there is another one not too far away and I will apply there.
Oh yes...........and I quit my job today.

Stress head me.

2011-04-01T10:07:00.001-07:00

This is a Lily shaped lump in the bed. It most have been one of her "I am not getting up till the afternoon" days. Alright for some.

Been a bit of a boring week...........mostly.
I received a letter from the citizenship people.
I knew it couldn't be good before I opened it as there wasn't one for Philip.
Not routine then.
Having supplied every sort of detail, id, fingerprints, photos, birth certificate, marriage certificate, previous marriage certificate, previous divorce certificate, green card, passport....etc....the letter said that at my interview they would also need to see my state id.
Sigh...........
I don't have a state id as this is usually your driving license which I don't have because I don't drive over here.
You can get a state id at the driving license place known as the DMV.
So, yesterday Philip came home a bit early and it was off to the DMV......they don't open Saturdays.

I got a new sparkly bowl as one of my birthday pressies.
Bubba is just testing it out for me.

The DMV is interesting. For any Brits who watch the Simpsons, it is where Marge's twin sisters work.
On Thursdays it is open until 5.30pm.
We arrived at 4.45pm only to be greeted by a queue that was not only out of the door, but stretched into the car park.
Were we even going to get in the door before 5.30pm?

We took our place and shuffled slowly forward, pausing only to glare at the person in front of us phoning her friend (who was about 10 people behind us) and suggesting she push in to join her.
We also did a bit of glaring at the friend just to reinforce the fact that no way was she getting past us. It worked. She stayed where she was.

I was beginning to wonder if I would be seen at all. I thought that if we were actually inside the door at 5.30pm we should be alright but my Mr Sunnysides thought that at 5.30pm they would just stop and throw everyone out. Fortunately he was wrong.

After filling in more paperwork I was sent the photographing area. To be honest as it was now after 5.30pm and with still so many people to see, I thought the people working there would be really miserable.
This time I was wrong. The guy taking the photos was a joy. When we have had green card & citizenship photos taken they are very strict. Hair back, no earrings and absolutely no smiling.
This guy joked and told me to smile if I wanted. I did. The photo looks almost human. And that makes a GREAT change.

I was given a number and told to wait again. Eventually when it was called we had to pay our money and give more information. I shall soon start running out of information to give.
Then they surprised me by saying the id card would be mailed to me. I don't understand that.
Everyone else seemed to be given theirs after they had paid etc.
Oh well, she said it would take about 10 days.
This just means I have 10 more days to stress about whether it will turn up or not.

A decision.

2011-03-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

I think I have made a decision.
Oh I know ......it does take me a time.
This week is my fourth (I think) without any work.
I had been doing only one day a week for some time. Then it was reduced to one day every couple of weeks.
I sort of knew I would need to find something else.
Now I haven't had any days for all this time then I really must.
I am limited in as much as I don't drive over here and, at the moment, buying a car just for me is out of the question.
I have been scouring the paper for weeks now. I have also been searching online......but no luck.
I did have that one interview for teaching English to foreigners but it seems I am not qualified enough to teach my native tongue and besides that.......the pay was crappity crap crap.

So, today I had a bit of a brain fart.
When we first came over here I wasn't allowed a work permit. So, what did I do?
I volunteered.
I worked voluntarily at the Humane Society and also at The Milwaukee Theatre.
I enjoyed it.
I made new friends, which I really needed coming to a totally new country and having left a busy full time job I had been in for years.

I am going to volunteer again. I had to leave the last two as we moved too far away for me to get to them on the buses.
But, there are a couple of places near here that need volunteers so I am going to apply after Donna and Lauren go home next month.
My thoughts are.........it is often who you know rather than what you know with jobs.
Volunteering will give me the opportunity to meet new people and who knows, maybe have a chance of a paying job that way.
I certainly can't continue as I am so it is worth a try. With luck I might make some good contacts.

The picture above is Golly. He is the first cat we had over here obtained from the Humane Society when I was volunteering.
Bubba also came from there.
There is a Wolf Sanctuary not far from here that needs volunteers.
With my past record of bringing animals home...........probably better if I don't apply there.

Harry Potter woz ere.

2011-03-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

Wands that I made from big chopsticks.

Saturday was the much anticipated Harry Potter themed dinner party.
All the usual suspects were there, they just looked a little different.

Philip had decided to be Snape. He was dressed all in black and I had a black wig which worked rather well, so all we had to buy was the cloak.
I went as Bellatrix which, to be honest, was my second choice.
I have a brilliant Hermione wig and I really wanted to be her.
But, it would have cost me a lot of money to get the clothes...........school uniform (which they don't have over here so I wouldn't be able to pick one up in the charity shop) etc.
I did happen to have a spooky sort of Halloween dress and a mad black wig so Bellatrix seemed the obvious choice.
I also bought a cloak and false eyelashes.
I can't believe I used to wear false eyelashes all the time years ago.
They were a bugger to put on and a bigger bugger to get off.
I have to admit I looked dreadful in a black wig. I shall never ever dye my hair that colour.

Nick & Julio arrived and we discovered we had another Snape.
Philip was better at the accent though :)
Julio made a fab Harry Potter. Gary, we decided, came as an 'extra'.
I think he would have made a decent Dobby.

They all liked their wands, which were waved about willy nilly. They also liked the bookmarks I bought them.
We had Harry Potter movies running continuously and spent the evening watching, chatting and asking the Americans questions from the citizenship test.
Gary was really good at them. Nick & Julio........not so much.

It was decided that next year the theme would be ............Super Heroes.
This sounds like fun.
You can either come as a recognised one.....like Superman, Spiderman etc. Or make up your own.
Gary suggested that Philip could come as The Spleen (from the movie Mystery Men I think).
I have a good idea why.

Sunday, as it was my birthday, we went out for brunch.
This is a bit posher than breakfast or lunch.
It was very nice, plenty for me but I suspect it wouldn't have been enough for some of the "Buffet Professionals" we get around here.

I got lots of cards and lovely pressies from Philip.
Then just to make sure I wasn't getting too carried away with my own importance.......Bubba had a case of the trots and I had to spend ages cleaning poo out of his tail. He is long haired too.
I could have done without that really.

Blow the snow.

2011-03-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

Been a varied week.
Wednesday I went to the dentist to sort out my gob.
As expected, it turns out I have an infection on a root of a tooth.
This tooth already has had a root canal and is crowned.
So, he said I would need antibiotics and then an appointment with a specialist to sort out what was wrong with the tooth.
No way do I want this tooth taken out as I have already invested a load of money it, plus, I hate having teeth out anyway.
I told him I was a bit miffed as we are having a dinner party on Saturday and the antibiotics would mean I couldn't drink.
He thought some were not as bad as others and disappeared for a bit.
He came back with a prescription for, as he put it, "wine friendly antibiotics".
Bless him.
I am not looking forward to seeing the specialist though. I hate teeth.

Thursday Philip had to go to the quack's to sort out why he is so poorly.
It seems he has some sort of inflammation in the sockets where your ribs join to your sternum.
He also has some stomach acid problems.
He has got steroids and acid reducers. He is feeling a bit better already.

Today we had to have our biometrics taken. Rather exciting in a way.
I got quite stressy about this. I know it was silly but officialdom has this effect on me.
We got there early and had to go through a screening, just like you would at security in an airport.
We filled out yet more forms and handed over our green cards and documents.
The man was a lovely.
He chatted about his trip to England in the 80s, all the while he was doing my fingerprints.
Apparently, they toured the countryside staying in bed & breakfasts.
His strongest memory was of hating kippers. I told him I don't like kippers and actually don't know anyone who does.
He told me he had asked many English people and that he could find no one who liked kippers.
He then said he wondered who was eating them then.
Does anyone still eat kippers?
Philip says his mum liked them and I remember my mum did too.
Survey.......who likes kippers?

We then had our photos taken, again. I think I look worse every time.
I would look better if I was allowed to smile.
They gave us a pack of stuff and a cd telling us what to expect next and how to prepare.
The next step is the interview and test. I am still studying for that.
I don't know what they ask at the interview.
The final part is the swearing in ceremony. I wasn't aware of this.
I told Philip I don't know the words and he went into fits of laughter. Fancy me not knowing the words.
So, I challenged him to say them.
He said "I pledge allegiance to the United States of America................ermmmmm......don't know the rest".
I knew that much, for heavens sake, and he had laughed at me.

I wonder if people taking British Citizenship have to go through so much rigmarole.

It has been snowing again for much of the day and it is extremely cold.
Spring needs to hurry itself up as I shall be glad when I have had enough of this.

Gob Trouble..

2011-03-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Always something.
This week is a bit fraught.
Tomorrow Philip's stepfather goes into hospital for an operation on his heart.
He has waited a while for this and it should make a huge difference to him.
He actually has it done on Thursday and should come home on Friday.
We will all be thinking about him even though we know he will be fine.

Friday Philip and I have to go to the INS office to have our 'biometrics' taken.
Fingerprints, photos etc. This is for our citizenship thingy.

Saturday we have our Harry Potter Dinner Party.

So, of course I have got gob trouble. I don't really know what the problem is but the gum under a tooth that has had a root canal and is crowned , has suddenly become very tender.
It is right at the back at the bottom. It doesn't hurt to eat but my whole jaw that side feels odd.
It doesn't hurt all the time, just feels strange. It does hurt like buggery if you press the gum.
I am thinking I might have a abscess or something brewing there.
Just what I need this week, what with having my photo taken and having a dinner party.
If I have to have antibiotics I won't be able to drink either.
And great fun will be had by all.

Philip has made a doctor's appointment for Thursday.
He has had chest congestion for weeks and now has a pain too.
Poor Philip.

Sounds like we will be a right couple of bundles of fun by the weekend.

Warming up

2011-03-18T09:44:00.001-07:00

I have been having a bit of a sort out.
The weather has improved and it is most springlike. The temperature yesterday was a whopping 65F.
65F....65F........as my mum would have said "Cooo....never have there been such times - not since old Leatherbum died."
My mum must have been a little bit coy because an old friend of mine told me his mum used to say "Old Leatherarse".
My mum wouldn't say arse.
Actually, now I think about it, she did.
I remember, if she felt unwelcome anywhere she would say "I am not going round there. I am not putting my arse where my head's not wanted."

Now why did I start talking about that? Who knows.

Anyway, in the course of my sorting out, I found some old photos. I love it when I find photos I haven't seen for a while.
Back in the day, I used to do a bit of make up & stuff.
Oh we did used to have fun.
We didn't care what anyone thought either. We would go off to London on the tube, dressed as various aliens. Funny thing was .......no one seemed to take much notice.

Would I do it now?
Course I bloody would.

But, I don't have the opportunity any more.
Above is a photo of our Klingon Wedding. Please note the dead flowers. I think they add a finishing touch.

We have loads more photos tucked away in boxes at the back of the basement. My brother has asked me to send him some of the family ones as he is creating a family tree.
While Donna is here in April I will ask Philip to get them out. That will make him laugh.
Donna and I can have a sort through them.

So, beware all my old chums. There will be more embarrassing moments on Facebook.

Oh bugger. The blooming weather man just told us not to get carried away with all this warmth as statistically we get another 6 - 10 inches of snow before the end of April.
Pah......statistics .........rubbish..........I hope.

A bit of a do.........

2011-03-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well it is that time of year again.
We have had many themes. A couple of years ago it was a pirates party.
Last year it was the Susie Awards party.
This year the theme is Harry Potter.

I have been out and about searching for items to complete the look.
I have found a Harry Potter tablecloth, napkins and plates...........all at very reasonable prices.
I don't have money to waste on expensive items that will probably be used only once.
I decided it would be nice to give everyone their own wand to take home.
I had found bookmarks and plan to give everyone one of those.....but I wanted to give wands too.

I looked in the party supply shops........phew.
Cheap and nasty looking, plastic Harry Potter wands were upwards of $15 each.
I couldn't do that.
So, I looked in toy shops with much the same results.
I looked online and on ebay. Nope........all way too expensive to buy one for everyone.

Then I happened to be in World Market which as the name implies, sells all sorts of crap...I mean stuff.
I found in the oriental section, some extra long bamboo chopsticks. $2 for a pack of two.
Brill. I scooped up enough packs for everyone.
At home I painted magic symbols on them in black and gold. I painted gold handles. Still not quite good enough for me though.
So, on my next expedition I found golden tassels at $1 for two.
Brill.
I wound sparkly pipe cleaners around the handles and attached the tassels.
They look brill.....well I think so. I will take photos later.

Philip and I have got our costumes sorted. We didn't buy anything except a couple of capes (from ebay....whatever did we do before ebay?).
I won't tell you which characters we will be. I will wait until the night and take photos.
All this hocus pocus is taking place on March 26th.

I just have to work out what I am serving for dinner...........eye of newt and toe of frog springs to mind.

Oh no exams.....

2011-03-12T17:12:00.000-08:00

In case I haven't mentioned it, and I honestly can't remember if I have, Philip and I have applied for American Citizenship.
We actually plan on having dual citizenship.
But, citizenship will be good for us. It gives us way more rights than we have now as Green Card Holders or Residents.
We had to fill in and send another bushel of paperwork, plus photos and copies of everything.
We now have a date for our biometrics to be taken.
This means fingerprints & more photos.
We have had our fingerprints taken so many times, but what if they have changed?
I am ok with this so far.
It is the interview and the test that worries me.
I am not sure what they will be looking for in the interview but I have been doing a few practice tests that are available from the US Immigration website.
Ooooh.......they be hard.
Well, not all of them. Apparently there are 100 questions they could ask but they will ask only 20 of them.
Trouble is you don't know which 20 so you have to know them all.
Some of them are really easy but some of them have stumped my American chums.
In fact one said she would never pass and be given citizenship even though she was born and brought up here.
E.g.
Who was president during World War 1 ?
and
What does the judicial branch do?
and
Who is the speaker of the house of representatives?
and
How many justices are in the Supreme Court?

My former pupil Robert springs to mind. Will they let me get away with.....
"Well, I wasn't far out was I ma'am."

This is a bit of a worry and I will study. Trouble is I don't seem to remember things as well as I used to.

In case you are wondering......no the snow hasn't gone yet. A English mate of mine talked about how he had been doing some gardening and mowing his lawn..........sigh..........no chance of doing that here.
I would actually like to be able to do a bit of gardening.
Our clocks go forward tonight, which seems a trifle early to me.
It will seem strange with it staying light until around 7pm with snow on the ground. I am sure it isn't usually this early.
Roll on Summer........I want to go to River Rhythms, drink my wine and listen to music.