IE 7 gone...

I had to restore my computer to an earlier time tonight, as everytime I tried to open a new page, it would freeze up. TOTALLY! I would have to end task, and then turn everything off and back on again. THen it would kick me off, then when I reconnected, it would freeze trying to open IE7. SO until I get my 'puter fixed, I am back on the old IE. ANd Have given up on Blogger Beta for the time being. I know it was IE7 because the same thing happens when I try it on my laptop. It freezes, and it is really slow anyway!

I get so stressed out when I cant go where I want to go to. ANd when I keep getting booted off line I SCREAM!

So for the time being so much for improvements.... PAAAHHHH!!!

Tim

I received a letter from Tim yesterday and he was talking about the work that they are doing with Dept of Natural Resources. He says that he is getting used to the saw, that at first he was worn out using it because it is so big, but he caught on quick, and found that if he left the saw to do the work, it was a lot easier. They are way up in the Hoh Rain forest, thinning trees and cleaning up roads and windfall.
Tim says he feels really funny about cutting down trees in a National forest, but the DNR tells him that it needs to be done to protect the forests. They practice replenishment thinning, in that they take out only those that are diseased or too close to each other. They have to leave 12 trees in 100 feet, and the thirteenth they can take down as long as it is as big as his helmet. (at least I think that is what he said) He said that some of those trees are so big that if they were stumps, he could lay down and stretch and still not hang over the edge, and he is 6'5 with LOOONG arms too. SO those trees have to be awesome. He is loving his work there.

He is also starting to get the classes and treatment that he has requested , so he feels so much better about things now. I sure hope this works! Being a mother is sure the shits sometimes!

Donna came home for the first time in several months! Has not been home since the floors were finished. And naturally, I had not cleaned house, so she did not get to see it in it's best light. But it still was fine. She was impressed! New floors and carpets really do help make a house look nice!

I have to crawl under the house tomorrow, if I can anyway. I have a rat as big as a horse living and gnawing under my utility room. That sucker is LOUD! SO I bought some stuff guaranteed to kill them, that I have to nail in place on their run, and away from the pets. Then I guess I have to put up with the stink of decaying rat bodies until they are fully returned to the elements. YUCK!!

I Know, If I would quit feeding the birds and squirrels, the rats would go away, but I LIKE to watch the wildlife. I was even fine with the RATS until they started chewing and making noise, then I said ENOUGH!! You would think with a house full of cats that they would not want to live anywhere around here, but they are not threatened enough I guess. HMMMMM Maybe I should throw Lint and Loki under the house, close up the crawl space entry and not feed them. That should take care of the problem huh? HMMMMMMm Here Kitty, kitty...

Beta Blogger...yes or no?

How many of you with blogger have switched over? I am afraid to after hearing Joanie talk about the problems she was having. I dont want to lose my haloscan comments, as they are easy and you dont have to sign in to use them. I have been VERY fortunate with no S*A*ing in three years! I decided tonight to try to use Beta by making a NEW Blog. Uh-uh! Wont let you unless you have a totally different email too. JEEZ!!! All I wanted was to see how easy it was to use, and if I really wanted to switch my regular blog over. ANy input appreciated here. I did however upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 and after fighting with Google over which toolbar I was gonna use, I think I am going to like it. When I run adaware I usually have upwards of 30 critical objects to delete, today I only had 9 so IE7 is catching quite a few of them.

I wish I knew someone that could come tell me which programs I can safely delete, and which ones are tied to something else. My C drive is running out of memory, it has 15 GB and only a few MB left to use! I need to repartition the drive because D has 65GB and I only use it to store work on. I thought when I bought it that they were two different drives, but obviously not. I hate being IT challenged!!

Let 'er BLOW...

The wind blew in from the South  which is highly unusual.  Normally we get our wind from the West or the North.  This Southern wind means that the Low pressure system has gone ashore below the Olympic Mountains and is moving up the Sound.  This can be a bad thing for us.  The Olympics keep the weather off of us here on Whidbey Island, by splitting the systems that hit the Southern face of the Mountains.  It sends the winds around the Eastern edge and Around the Northern Edge.  Sometimes they meet in the middle.  This is what has happened today.  The Winds from the South are fierce, but it is the winds that will soon hit from the West that will bring us the danger.  When they come around the Western side and then turn and head East into the Strait, they meet the resistance of the mountains on both sides of the strait, and the wind gets funneled through the gap between US and Canada, and increases in wind speed.  Tatoosh Island on the North Western edge of the US clocked winds of 91 MPH.  That is about 30 miles as the crow flies from my front door.  

Yep, we got hammered!  We lost our power about 230 AM on Tuesday night,, and left is in the dark.  I could hear trees and branches breaking all around me, but nothing hit the house.  The alders in the back were bent way over in the force of these winds.  I am afraid of the dark, and my night light went out too.  I grabbed one of the 25 flashlights I had beside my bed and headed in to get the candles and the lanterns.  I peeked out the front door and it was BLACK out there.  I could see the lights of Port Townsend peeking around the edge of the big white monster they built across the street, so I knew it wasn’t EVERY one.

I got the candle lit (a big apothecary candle from Yankee Candle) and put it on the bathroom sink to give me light.  Then I pulled the covers over my head and tried to sleep.  The wind was whacking pretty loudly, and it made it hard to sleep.  I kept hearing garbage cans rolling down the road.  (Garbage day was Wednesday, so all the cans were out early. )  

When I got up the power was back on, so I jumped up and made a pot of coffee, and then it went out again.  I sat at my desk and looked out the front window, and read the latest Gourmet Magazine.  All the leaves are now off the Maple tree, and the Robins have found the tiny crab apples left on that tree, They were clinging with their little feet all hooked around the branches of the tree.  They would grab a tiny apple berry in their beak, and then try to swallow it all while trying to stay up right on the tree.  The back feeders are all empty, the wind has blown all seed onto the ground, so the rats and squirrels can find it easier.  The doves are happy too, as they like to ground feed.  

I had to get out the Coleman stove and lantern, and cooked my breakfast and lunch sitting at the dining room table.  There is just something about cooking on the camp stove that makes it taste so much better.  We did not lose our pump, so water was no problem.  I built a fire in the woodstove, and turned my chair around so that it faced the fire, and tried to relax.  The Phone kept ringing.  People checking up on each other.  I have a cordless phone everywhere but in my bedroom where I have an old fashioned Princess style phone beside my bed.  

I moved into the bedroom, layed on my stomach and propped my self up on my elbows, and was doing crossword puzzles.  Then it hit me, That this is not the fun that I remembered it to be.  We used to all gather around the fireplace with lanterns and play games, Cootie, Parcheesi, Scrabble, War, Books, etc. and roast hotdogs and marshmallows.  It was exciting!  We were camping in the livingroom.  I carried this tradition on with me and when we lost power when my kids were still home, We would camp in the livingroom too.  It is not the same when you live alone.  It is boring.  It is lonely, and when you are in dire straights, or feel that you might be, you want someone there with you.  At least I do.  So at 845 I glanced over at the lantern because it was sputtering, and then I noticed that my clock was flashing…HUH?  So I got up and turned on the lights…VOILA!!  Power.  I called Phyllis and said “Please tell me the power JUST came back on…”  Nope says she, it had come on about an hour before!  ARRRGHH!!

I got up, went around and turned on the needed lights, caught the last 15 minutes of JERICO, and came in to check email.  I had used my laptop until the battery had gone out, but I still had over 68 spam mail.  

I have rambled on long enough, But I just wanted to tell everyone that yes, we are fine.  Whidbey was the worst hit, but we are fine.  I guess it made national news because a long lost cousin called.  LOLOL  What  a way to get back in touch with family!  LOL

More storms coming,  so cross your fingers that this will dump tons of snow on us!  Now THAT is fun!!!

Somebody has a BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy BIRTHDAY dear CritterChick!
Happy Birthday to you!

I was gonna put a pretty birthday cake on here, but my memory is full, or something in my RAM, and it wont let me. :( Send Carl Please!!

Everybody slip over and wish Leslie a WONDERFUL Happy Birthday!

And they still are dumping...

Last night I went to bed thinking that today would be rainy, and windy, but it was just grey and drippy. Typical NW weather. Bob came over and finally finished the flower bed, so Now I can get these bulbs in the ground before they all rot.

Tonight the rain started, and it is raining, and raining, and raining, and the rivers are starting to flood again. The wind is s'posed to start about 4AM and go all day Monday, up to 65 MPH. Then MORE rain! And then MORE wind! The ground is saturated now, and with the winds, the trees will start to blow down. Our typical Douglas fir trees and Cedar trees, do not have a deep root system, they are very shallow rooted for being as tall as they are, and they all have a symbiotic relationship with one another...In other words, they all keep each other upright. When one goes down, another one will and another until all along the road, you have downed trees and downed wires. Why they do not bury these wires I have no clue, but they just spent tons of money replacing all the poles along hiway 20 in Oak Harbor. The poles will be fairly deep, but they have been known to blow over in these winds too.

When the wires go down, the lights go off, and if it is a strong storm, there will be downed trees everywhere, so it may be DAYS before power is restored again. We all live with our camping supplies in a closet, and water jugs all filled and ready. We will be fine, just terribly inconvenienced! They have really been touting this storm, and asking us to prepare for it so it will probably fizzle!

there is 1-3 feet of snow expected in the mountains down to 3000 feet, so all the cross state roads will be closed off and on. Then the next system is warm, so it will melt all that snow, and send the water into the rivers to flood again.

this ladies and Gentlemen is what makes the Pacific NW so beautiful and green. BUT it also makes the dumb shits that come up and cut the trees down and build their mansions on the lovely little river banks cry and moan about not having flood insurance.

I like living on my island! I am up high enough that a tidal wave should not ever get to me, and the water all runs down hill, so I wont flood, and the trees are all leaning away from the house so I am safe and secure. For the time being!

Tim called me Friday night and told me to stay home again, as the Hoh river was washing out some of the road that I would be driving on. So I did, and It probab;y wont be for a few more weeks until I can afford to drive over again. As he said, "Well Mom, you know where I Am and I have 3 hots and a cot and I am not going anywhere for a while." Yep! He's right.

I built a fire in the wood stove today, to take the chill off the house, and dry it out some. I usually have Sadie sitting on the top of my chair when I am crocheting, but all three cats and Sadie, were all stretched out and as close to the fire as they dared get. They are so funny!All with in a 3X3 area rug. Can't lay on that cold floor ya know.

If you don't hear from us in awhile, do not worry! We are fine, and may be without power for a few days. We may not, depends on the Fates I guess.

Ya'll have a great week!!!

why do widows live in FLorida?

THey grow on trees there!!!!



I think I just may move to FLorida....my palm tree died!

Change of pace....

smile

I just thought I would post something fun for a change. The rain has let up for a day or two gathering strength for round 3 on Friday. SO since the sun actually shined warm on the deck, I am in a fairly good mood.

(I think I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) )

I got this in an email from my friend Barb, and I thought why not. Most have seen it already, but I think it is cute. Rusty needs it, Donna needs it, and Brenda needs it.

uh, Lord?...What's a cubit?

I am telling you! We have had a few days of rain! I don't mean just a drizzle, it has dumped on us. The Eastern 1/2 of the state is still dry, but everything West of the Cascades is soaked and then some.

I woke up this morning after a terrible night sleep, and the sky was gray. I had been up at 400 and the moon was bright, and the stars were out. Not any more. It started raining again, and dumped water on more water. Then the sun came out and it was beautiful. The humidity was a very high 93 % and the temp was in the high 50's low 60's. Then the temp dropped like a rock when the sky cleared up, and it got chilly!

On the way in to the playhouse tonight, it started clouding up, and then as we were in having our meeting, it started hailing! BIG hail stones, then it rained like We hadn't seen in years! So hard and all while the hail fell too. Then we watched the water rise, up over the curbs in the parking lot, down the sidewalk and headed towards the basement steps where the lobby is. We grabbed kitchen towels and any kind of material we could find, and stuffed them under the door to keep it out of the lobby! Then it started thundering and lightning, and it was right over our head! We had all the weather in one day!

As I left the playhouse, and walked across the parking strip to get to my car, I stepped in a big hole all filled with hail and water, lost my shoes in the muck and fell right down on my knees. I am in the parking lot with just my socks on, trying to see how badly I am hurt, and cant find my shoes. I finally dug into the hole, and down into the mud and found them. I drove home with my shoes and socks off, and the heater on full blast on my feet. I started getting some feeling back in my frozen feet about half way home.

Coming around the OLF Field almost home, and ran smack into FOG! So yep, we had everything! Not all of the rivers have crested yet, and it is really serious flooding! Some of these rivers have never been seen this high. But then we have never seen this much rain either.

Sadie was up against the house as close as she could get and was staying dry. She was sure glad to see her mommie finally get home too!

Now on to the election returns. Just does not seem like elections without Wanda, does it? Maybe 2008...

Glub, Glub!

Washington State has been slammed with a very wet weather system. Coming straight in from Hawaii, and called the pineapple express. It is actually 4 or 5 systems all in a string, and loaded with tropical moisture. Last week when our weather was unseasonably COLD, this week it is unseasonably wet and warm.

We have had almost 7 inches of rain in 4 days. This is more than we usually have all month in November. We really needed the rain, but we need less of it, more often. Our ground dries out if it does not get rain daily, and then the rain when it does come just runs right off and into the streams and rivers, taking the topsoil with it.

right now our state is in a State of Emergency, and all of the Western side rivers are flooding in a 10 year flood rate. SOme of them are higher than they have ever been. Urban flooding is getting worse and worse every year, as more and more un settled land is built upon, and paved. THis leaves no where for the run off to go except into the streets and into the basements.

In the Mountains, we usually end up with tone of snow this time of the year, which piles up and saves all the water for the spring runoff into the reservoirs. Right now, we are losing all of this potential snow pack into the rivers and right out to sea again.

My backyard would support a flock of ducks. The birds are all hanging into the wisteria vines and the pussy willow bush, just to keep from drowning! THey run into the feeder grab a sunflower seed and run back to the bushes.

THe squirrels have found the suet feeders hanging on the deck, and they have robbed it down to the bare wire basket. The woodpeckers are still using the ones hanging off the eaves, but it wont be long until the squirrels find those too.

I am glad that I stayed home this weekend, as the rivers are all at flood stage, and I most likely would have been stranded. THe highway 101 around Crescent Lake in the Olympic National Park had a rock slide and was blocked for a day. No way around it.
THen 101 down south by Shelton had a mudslide and now it too is blocked, with a 50 mile detour around it. I will go next weekend, by then the rivers will all be full, and the roads all blocked, and another storm blowing in. Im serious!

The things Mothers do for their young!

It actually has stopped raining at this moment, but there is more expected tonight and tomorrow. Then it will clear up and the temp will drop and the snow level will drop in the passes, and we will start the cycle all over again.

As a side note, DOes anybody know what the logic is for still changing from daylight savings time back to standard? Why was it started in the first place? Let's get e referendum out there to keep it all the same now. The whole world is on a 24 hr day, and there is no need for it. It just screws up my sleep patterns, and for that alone we need to stop the MADNESS!

EVERYBODY GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!!!!!!

Rainy day...

I have done absolutely NOTHING today! I have sat at the window all day, watching the rain pelt the leaves off of the ALders. I have watched the wind blow, I have smelled the fresh air as it blows in off the sea, and I have drank a whole pot of coffee. Oh and I wrote a long email to A friend. That is the sum of my day.

THese November fall days are usually dark and stormy, and today is no exception. I was planning on catching the Ferry over to the Penninsula and going to see Tim today, but there were wind advisories out for the Strait, so I talked to him last night and told him I would not make it. I could just see getting over there and getting stuck because the ferry was not running for the return trip. It happens!

So instead, since I had no plans other than that I decided it was a rainy day and a great day to sit and watch it rain. SO I did. It rained and rained, and the 40 acre wood got wetter and wetter...

Frost on the Pumpkin...

Usually Halloween in Washington State, at least in the Puget Sound region, is a wet drizzly night. You wear your costumes, and then cover them all up with sweatshirts and coats and mittens. When we were little, we lived out in the country, so Dad would drive us in to Navy Housing in Oak Harbor, and we would go through Victory Homes and fill our pillow cases with all the candy.

Mom and Dad would stay at a friends house while we walked all over the housing area, then walk across the street to the regular civilian houses. Oak Harbor was really small back then, and we could trick or treat for several hours and walk back to the house where mom and Dad were waiting for us.

there was no checking our candy to make sure it was safe, we knew it was. There was no throwing out the homemade cookies and popcorn balls and apples because no one thought of hiding razor blades or ex-lax in them.

We wore old clothes and usually dressed like hobos, or pirates or a princess. Sometimes Mom would cut holes in an old sheet and we would be a ghost. We always wore our costumes to school, and after school we would hurry home, eat dinner fast and then go to the church for a Halloween party and then the trick or treating would begin.

Hardly any time were we rained out totally, and only a very few times was it cold enough to freeze.

This year it Froze. It froze hard! The past two nights the temps have been way below freezing, down in the low 20's F. The newscasters were talking about having to really bundle the kids up good so they would not get frostbite. It is COLD!

the nights are clear, and the stars are twinkling brightly. Yesterday morning at 630 I was up and looked out the front door in time to see the sun rise and shine it's purple/pink/mauve light onto the Olympic Mountains. It was gorgeous! The same this morning, only there was a low fog on the sound, so the fog was turning pink. The frost on the car was pink from the reflection, and the birds were all huddled on the telephone lines trying to get as much warmth out of the rays as they could.

Soon the sun had cleared the alder trees out back and the frost started dripping off the poles on the deck, and the branches of the peach tree were clear. The frosty morning was waking up. I LOVE it!!!

Fall...

adak baby

This is a picture that I took 14 years ago when I was stationed on Adak Island in the Aleutians. The Eagle pictured here is an immature eagle, probably about 2-3 years old. Eagles are to Adak, like crows are to the Mainland. EVERYWHERE. They sit on Dumpsters out side the commissary, and wait for the garbage to be thrown out. They beg. They will swoop down and steal your hamburger out of your hands! Pesky critters they are, and thriving on the island. You can tell when the salmon are running, because they sit along the banks of the streams, creeks and lakes, and pick out their breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are fascinating to watch, and I got tons of eagle pictures while I was there, just not too many in a picturesque setting.

Last night I went to bed and the wind was blowing like crazy setting off the windchimes. It increased during the night, and by day break this morning it was bending the alders over. The sun was brightly shining in the bedroom window at 730! OOOO I like that! But by the time I got up, fixed and drank a pot of coffee and was ready to head outside, the dark clouds blew in with a ferocity, and then it started to rain, then sleet, and finally hailed!

Sadie and I decided that we would sit inside and watch it hail, and finish up some of the projects I had on the agenda for this weekend. I put up 10 jars of Applesauce, and baked a double batch of Oatmeal Scotchies cookies, with choc chips too. Then I stuck the picnic shoulder in the oven and cleaned up the kitchen.

Fall makes me want to be a homebody! I want to bake, I want to cook substantial meals, I want to have a fire in the wood stove, I want to prepare for winter. I should have been born in a previous century, as I LOVE to camp and read by lamp light. Not good for your eyes though.

This afternoon Suzie had three of her babies to the feeders. She was trying to get the suet feeder and everytime she tried, one of the babies would jump on her and try to get to her titties. She has weaned them, but I think this one must be a boy. You know how males are fixated to boobs! I took all the apple peelings and cores out to the feeders and they LOVE it! There was a lot, so I put most of them into the compost garden, and followed them with the tomato stalks, after I got all the green ones off for chutney!

Tonight's dinner is baby red potatoes roasted with the picnic shoulder, gravy and cornbread, with a side dollop of cranberry applesauce. Any takers?

YAWN.....

fall

Our first real storm of the fall blew through this week. Monday and Tuesday were dark and wet, and today was windy and wet. These are the types of days that I LOVE. I love the wind, I love the rain, I love watching the birds at the feeders, I LOVE listening to the wind chimes in the storms. I sit on my bed with my elbow on the windowsill, watching the critters at the feeders. ANd smelling the fresh wind and rain. The smell of the first fresh wind and rain of the fall is so intoxicating. It makes you sleepy. it relaxes you.

It also gives you wheezy lungs! I sleep with my head hanging out the window every night of the year, and I woke up this morning with a heavy weight on my chest. What woke me up first though was the noise I was making as I was breathing. Not snoring, just wheezing. I sat up and coughed up green cottage cheesey stuff, so I figures it was time for a Zyrtec. Have not had to take any in several months, but I did today. Man they work great, but they just flat ass knock me OUT! I slept most of today, and I will most of tonight too. I just know it.

The autumn leaves have been turning brighter colors than usual this year, brighter reds, oranges, yellows. It is like they are saying "enjoy the colors while you can, because Mama Nature is gonna dump on you this winter". We shall see.

I do know that we are in a cycle of really good weather. Last winter was record snows in the mountains, and this early spring we had tons of rain, and this summer it was the driest on record, and they are predicting drier and warmer winter for us.

I personally would love to see a lot of snow fallowed by a week of cold crisp clear weather, then more snow, then more clear weather. Then rain, to clear it all off and then start all over again. But Mama does not listen to me at all.

The grey squirrels are hitting the feeders several times a day now, and the woodpeckers and chickadees have gone through 3 suet blocks in a few days! I even have two Stellar Jays that are appearing at the feeders, and they are rare up this far on the island. THey are all over the south end though.

It feels good to not have to go anywhere for a few days. I can just hunker in, turn up the electric blanket and hibernate. I LOVE fall.

An Apple a day...

Tomorrow, among the other things that I should be doing, I need to make applesauce. My dear darling most beloved daughter LOVES her Mom's applesauce, and I am out. SO I mentioned getting apples, and Judy my new friend from the light booth, brought me in two bags of them. They are really small apples, but My bloodsugar was crashing last night and I needed to grab something quick, so I grabbed one of those red apples and bit into it! It was the SWEETEST, JUICIEST, CRUNCHIEST apple! SO I had two, and a glass of milk. Brought the glucose back to the staying alive levels.

There are green ones in there too, so I will have to see how they cook up. I make spicy applesauce with cloves, and cinnamon, and whole cranberries. YUMMY. I do not puree the apples either, just leave them really chunky. Basically I peel, core and slice them all at one time with the magic little machine I have, then dump them into the pot, cover with water until they are tender and then drain and stir really well with the sugar and spices.

I Love to can! I don't know why, it must be that feeling of pure accomplishment that comes with putting something in a jar and on the shelf and having it sit there for the rest of the year. I made a ton of pickles one year, and had to give them all away when I moved!

Today was another jewel in our crown of gorgeous days stuck in the middle of autumn!
It was not hot, just warmish, and the fog lifted about noon so the grass dried out enough to run the lawn mower over it so Sadie has a place to pee. Tomorrow if it doesn't rain, I need to get the rest of the back yard done, and save the apples for a rainy day chore.

Know anybody close that has an over abundance of apples? I'm looking!

Another one in the bag...

We struck OUR TOWN tonight. Easy set to strike! We only had the five back flats and 3 side flats to remove. We had minimal scenery and props, so I vaccumed the balcony where Me and Judy spent our time with the show, and straightened it up for the next show, and then I cleared off the bulletin board and boogied. My back was in such pain again. I seriously think it was from that nasty old chair I had to sit on for 6 shows.

Last night I almost had a heart attack because Fil who was playing the Stage Manager, jumped a few pages in the 2nd act and started right in on the soda fountain scene, meanwhile everyone else was cued in for the breakfast scene. SOme how he pulled it out and we went right on as if nothing had happened. THen He skipped the most important part of the play, in the 3rd act where he is expalining how the dead people are waiting for something eternal. Just jumped right over it, and into the next scene. We made it though. THestage helpers put the soda fountain in the wrong place totally out of the light I aimed on it. SO I am putzing through the light board finding lights that put the two actors in good light. I did it, but it was an obvious goof!

THat is one of the things that is fun about COmmunity THeater, We are all volunteers, and no one gets paid any money. So we have to learn to laugh at the boo-boos.

We closed it down with a great show tonight, only one or two minor goofs, and a great audience. That is what makes it all worth while, the audience! Last night I swear the 37 or so people that did not go to the last home football game of the season all fell asleep during the show. THey were DEAD DULL!

I am going to sleep in tomorrow. I am wound up right now, and probably will not go to bed until 3 or 4. I have to try and figure out what is wrong that my computer does not recognize my dvr drive! I need to copy 20 cd's full of cast pictures and I can not get it to copy at all. Says the F drive is not accessible!! arrrghhh. Like I said before, I know just enough about computers to know that I dont know enough! I am sure it is a simple fix. I think I will just bite the bullet and call the Computer Clinic and have John come out and take off what I dont need, and re partition my hard drive, and install a new modem and optimize it. THen I can save money for the next two or three yearil I have enough to by a new one!

Next show is FOREVER PLAID, in June, so I will have a few months off. Have to read quite a few plays for the season committee for next year. SO I will be here and there, and if you need me, I am at dreamer (at) galaxynet (dot) com and of course posting on here when I can.

HAve a great Sunday everyone.

Raining cats and dogs...

cd

One of the things that most people think about when talking about Washington state is the rain. We have Rain forests, where the rain falls equal more than 150" a year. We never use umbrellas, They just get blown inside out in the wind. We always know exactly where our sunglasses are, because when the sun DOES break through, it is blinding.

We have been so very fortunate, (or not) to have just gone through the driest summer on record. We had very little rain from May through Sept. However it is now October, and man do we have RAIN! It has not stopped in a week! It has rained and rained. We need it though. Our reservoirs are very low. We also need the snow pack in the mountains to keep those reservoirs and lakes full during the next dry spell.

I was very worried about the critters being able to get enough water, as there are no creeks, puddles or lakes around here, just the sound, and it is salt water. SO all summer long, I have kept the birdbaths full. I have tow of them with a board between the two for the squirrels to perch on. Now the bird baths are overflowing, so I guess I need not worry any more.

this morning I heard the very distinctive EEK, EEK, chu chu chu EEK, coming from the alders, which means that the grey squirrels were heading down from the canopy. They are a very social animal, unlike Lola, the Douglas Squirrels, who are very territorial. The grey ones made their way in a train like fashion, down the trees, along the fence top and up into the feeders. 2 young ones and an older one. The young ones are skitterish yet, but the older one knows that when the door knob turns, it means Sadie is loose, so she yells, and runs, and the little ones run up a tree and hide. Sadie was sitting in the window just quivering at them. Tough!

the rain has not curtailed the critters, in fact if anything, they have increased. Maybe they know something we don't. Maybe We ought to take heed and store up for the coming winter. Sposed to be warm and wet, but the way these guys are scarfing it all down, I'm putting my money on COLD and dry! Well maybe...

Technology...

I bought a new printer last month. An HP photosmart 3150, and it is an all in one, scanner, copier, printer. It really is nice, the printing is crisp and the photos are really sharp. BUT the stupid thing SUCKS down a color cartridge in 1 day!! I printed out 36 pictures 3X5 and it is almost 3/4 gone! It was brand new yesterday! My Photoshop 1000 was great too, but I could print forever with one cartridge. COst me 59.00 a shot but It would last. THese are teeny tiny little things, and only cost 21.00 but if it only prints 36-40 pictures, it aint worth it! My other one had over 20,000 pages through it, and the rollers were getting worn out. I had to push the paper into it to get it going. Still works though, may go back to it.

I notice that blogger is really pushing its new version of beta blogger. Has anyone out there tried it? I read it all, and they said if you convert, you cant go back, and I am not sure it will take haloscan. I like my haloscan, I like Blogger, and if they would just get the one they have to work correctly all the time, and take jpeg files like FTP, then it would be perfect! ah well. Let me know what you think if you have tried it.

I stayed in bed until almost noon today. I went to bed early last night, and could not sleep, so I laid there and read, laying on my stomach. My back did not hurt as long as I did not move. I finally fell asleep around 330 AM. Bob said he came in at 845 and Sadie and I were both snoring so loud, that he didnt want to wake us up. Turd did not even make a pot of coffee for me either!

He finally has his stove in and working, but now he is trying to figure out how to build the fires for the different jobs he needs it to do. Cook, heat soup, warm the house, bake biscuits, use the wok, etc. So since he is working with this new toy, I will probably not see him for the rest of the winter. He is worse than Rube Goldberg! comes in handy at times though.

Well the trash is at the road, for the first time in three weeks, (I keep forgetting), the floors are swept, the rugs are vaccumed, The kitchen is fairly clean, SO tomorrow I can do fun stuff. I took on the responsibility of making the kids program scrapbook, so I have to put Alladin in it, then I will be done until Christmas. I still have SHerry's scrapbook to do, but it is really hard when you dont know the people. I will leave her lots of room to put in her own journaling.

I need to go see Tim, probably the weekend of the 28-29! He is on bedrest right now as He got bit by a nasty spider, and his knee is all messed up. Poor baby!

Simpler Times...

In doing the play OUR TOWN, we thought we could put it on fast and cheap, as there is very limited scenery, and all the props are imaginary. The story itself is a plain and simple story of life in a gentler time, life in a small town in upstate New Hampshire, in 1901.





It starts out with a man called THE STAGE MANAGER, walking on stage and telling us to use our imagination and see the town as it is laid out, with the drug store over here, and the bank and post office over here, and the jail and the library over here. Then he takes us down stage, and asks us to imagine the Gibbs’ house and garden with Julia Gibbs’ heliotropes giving off their strong aroma. And then Editor Webb’s house with his wife’s garden just like Julia’s but with sunflowers instead.

The factory whistle blows, and the school bell rings and the kids all run to school before the 2nd bell. The Train whistle blows to let us know that the train is on time. The milkman comes through carrying his imaginary milk bottles, and leading his imaginary horse, 17 yr old Bessie, who wants to keep stopping at the Carter’s, even though they quit taking milk.

The Town Constable does his early morning walk through town, and his late night walk to assure all is well, the Newsboy delivers his imaginary papers, and the Doc delivers twins across the imaginary tracks to an imaginary family in Polish town.




THE costumes are real, the people are real, and before the 1st act is even underway, your mind has taken you there, and the props are all real, the French toast is real, and you can smell the heliotropes and Lilacs blooming. Life was simpler then, There was no Television, no electricity, no telephones, very very few fords, and lots and lots of LIFE!

I sit in the light booth every night running the light cues, while Judy runs all of the Sound cues. We bring that town to life. So much so in fact, that I really put myself right into the story. I start thinking back to when Life was so much simpler for me. Back when I played outside every day, rain or shine. We would play red light green light, until way after dark; we would play Simon Says, Red Rover, Red Rover send Sally right Over, and we would ride our bikes until the tires wore out!



We came in for Supper every night, and sometimes we could go back out to play, but mostly we would play games or listen to the radio until 8:00 which was bedtime. I am not going to tell you that we woke up every morning to a home cooked breakfast, not with our Mother! We would get our own cereal and get our selves off to the bus stop, where we would wait for the school bus to stop and load both high school and grade school children in for the ride into town.

The second act is all about falling in love and marrying, and during one scene Julia and Doc Gibbs are talking and Doc remembers his wedding day, when he saw Julia for the very first time in his life. Julia said it was awful for her too. Mrs. Webb, then tells about crying while thinking about Emily getting married and what she did not know yet, and how innocent they all were, and how awful it was to put our daughters through this ritual.



Imagine, not knowing what was going to happen on your wedding night, and imagine not even KNOWING your husband! Times really have changed, as now days, most couples have actually LIVED together for a few years before they married.




When I first came to Oak Harbor, the population was under 3000, and now it is closer to 45000! We had Parks, and schools and Churches and the Farmers co-op, and a bus station, and three cafes, and an ice cream parlor. We had a jewelry store, and a pawn shop, and two groceries and not much else. Today we have the typical electronic Menu up and down the high way, with both a K-mart and a Wal-mat, a Home- Depot and 4 big box grocery stores. Not to mention all the strip malls and businesses, and car lots! Times really have changed, and not always for the better.

I liked living in a small town where everyone knew everyone, and looked out for each other. There was not much in the way of crime, a few drunks and the local bad boys, that’s it.

The play ends in the Cemetery where life is chronicled on the tombstones, and the Dead all help each other cope with the newness of being no longer alive, and watching their loved ones grieve over them. They have no emotions, and look at the stars and wonder at the beauty of them. No more sorrow, no more joy, just stars. And memories.

You all need to see it!

stuff and such...

WHEEE! WHat a week this is....I have lights to finish, bios to write, lobby wall to decorate, lawn to mow, bulbs to plant,(if Bob ever comes back to finish the bed), a floor to clean, a poster to compose, letters to write, bills to pay, laundry to do, a Day long Dr.s appt. and a son that I should visit.

When can I breathe? The lights are taking more time than I thought they would, as I keep trying different effects to acheive the look on stage that I need. THere is no scenery or props, so all of the DRAMA needs to be done with the lights. I need to go in 2 hours early today to try and get them ready for tonight. We have our first audience, FAMILY night, which is the free show for all the family members of the cast. And we open on Friday night. (BIG SIGH)

One of the bad things about an Off season show is that where you would usually have 6 weeks on stage to finalize everything, we have 7 days! We will make it though, and then I will relax and get through Christmas, and the holidays, and staagain in March when We audition for FOREVER PLAID!

I have been so busy, that I have not had time to watch all the shows that I am recording with my DVR. Cool gadget, but when do I fit it in? I suppose I could watch it between 2 AM and 6 AM huh?

I have also been so pre-occupied that I have totally forgotten to write to my son! I promised him I would write him 2 times a week. and I have not! (not that I am getting many letters either though) I need to go visit him, but I cant until the show closes on Oct 21. So maybe on the last weekend of the month I can take a day and go over.

THe weather has been GORGEOUS this week. COLD at night, and foggy in the morning then up into the high 60's low 70's during the day. S'Posed to stay this way for another week or so. A real Indian Summer! I still need to get over the top and buy a case or two of apples for apple sauce.

So if I am absent for a few days, me time to get things done around here and I will be back blog walking real soon.