Dave Predicts a Cold Winter.. I Predict A Few Cold Nights.. Shall We Set A Wager?...

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."
~ George Bernard Shaw

"Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing." ~ Jim Rohn

"Family: A unit composed not only of children, but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold." ~ Ogden Nash

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Project Life Tuesday~

The City Says Merry Christmas... with wreaths on lamp-posts

~ The Bigger the House.. The bigger the decorations..

~poinsettias brighten even the gloomiest corners..

and fancy decorations~ fill the store windows..

It's beginning to look a whole lot like Christmas!!

~ My World~

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{this is a time of year when we desperately miss our

loved ones.. and my list of missing loved ones has grown

by leaps and bounds this year...}


~ Bobby's Last Dance ~


Looking at his hands
praying no one noticed
how they trembled.
He was feeling his age.
Life catching up with him.
Needing a left handed smoke.
He had peeked out back
Every one was in attendance.
Nosy bunch. His sisters kids.
Bull dogs he had called them.
The Girls weren't too bad,
he almost liked one of them.
But those four boys. Bull dogs.
Even he had been bitten.
Fighters every single one.
Better left alone.
Made him proud to be kin.
They would argue over his gift.
Him making monkey faces
as they fought to get his dishrags
with his hard earned money
hidden away on the inside.
She always wrapped them for him
laughing together like old times
as they chose her prettiest paper.
He loved her like no one else.
"Oh my sweet sister!" he smiled
thinking about their life. Twins.
Her husband was a wonderful man.
Their love for each other pure.
He had never found the dream
love they shared. He had tried.
God knows he had tried.
"Hurry up!" his Partner called.
"We need you to Dance."
Strut Miss Lucy. A children's game.
Every year they played silly games
But he liked getting the prizes.
With a wink and a nod at himself
He slipped his silly putty
back inside his front pocket.
"I can't wait" He yelled.
He knew he owned that game.
He danced through the house
down the walkway and across the yard.
Then Bowing to his partner
he stepped out into the joy
of Bobby's Last dance.

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
10-27-2008

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~ Christmas Supper ~

rich
cherry
flaky crusts

fiery ovens
birds await stuffing
potato salad bowls

delicious aromas drift
captivating waiting tasters

forgotten tree lights sparkle nearby
ignored~ the feeding frenzy begins.

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
12-11-2008

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It has been December for a whole week already.. my tree is up.. colorful lights twinkling in the corner of my Living room and shining through the window to invite friends and family in for the Christmas season... I am not in the Holiday spirit.. I haven't a clue as to what to buy for gifts.. everyone has what they need and most of what they want.. If I buy a green shirt.. they will have wanted a blue hoodie.. I have been shopping twice and the second time we didn't even buy any gifts.. I don't like the crowds and the rush that goes along with Christmas shopping... I do try to get into the spirit but some how it seems to elude me more and more year after year.. I can only hope that between now and Christmas day I will catch the spirit from some of the children or Grand-children.. it's not that I don't want to have a Merry Christmas.. maybe a big box of chocolate covered cherries would help.. Thanks stopping by my blog today.. I welcome both comments and followers.. Have a wonderful day.

Patsy

A Trip to the Beach...

"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach."
~ Anne Spencer

"To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me." ~ Isaac Newton

"Words today are like the shells and rope of seaweed which a child brings home glistening from the beach and which in an hour have lost their luster."

~ Cyril Connolly

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Dave started it!!.. he asked me if I would like to sneak away with him... I wanted to know where before I decided.. I mean who would want to sneak away to work or to the pie factory.. you know what I mean.. Finally he decide that for this sneak he would choose the beach..

~ I was just about to say YES!.. when Cooper asked from behind the door.."where y'all sneaking off too?" as soon as he heard the word beach he put in that him and Mary and of course maybe his friend Erin.. would all join us in our sneak.. they were quick to add that they wouldn't be really hanging with us or nothing..

~ Emily opened the door about then with a... "when ain't you hanging with them and up the butt or whatever you said.." at which point Cooper informed Emily that we were all going to the beach.. needless to say we weren't going without her and Luke and Kirsten.. I think about then is when Dave decided to call David and Jennifer.. I was getting ready to say I didn't like the ocean...or had a previous appointment..

~ but Dave pulled no punches when he gave me that sad puppy dog... wet eyed look and said.. " Ahh come on Baby.. It will be like old times.. we use to have so much fun with all the kids at the beach!"..and I was suckered...

~ I don't know for sure how old I was when I first saw the ocean.. I remember being around four or five.. running and squealing from the waves to dry my eyes on Mama's long dark hair.. maybe we didn't go before then but I think we did..

~I have always loved the beach.. I love the hot sand and the salty air... I love the waves and the crabs and the tide pools.. but most of all I love the people watching... I love what they wear or in some cases what they don't wear.. I love the wild hair styles.. I even love the wild children that run and squeal.. back and forth between the ankle wetting waves and the parent in dark shades.. laying greasy in the sun.. my own children never did that.. they were too busy making us the biggest and best castle on the whole wide world of beaches.. and finding a perfect shell and of course we couldn't leave without drawing some pictures for the next people to enjoy.. But this trip all our kids were grown.. I was worried.. what if they didn't like sandwiches and chips and cheap drinks any more.. I hadn't planned a fancy picnic.. what if they really were bored with me and Dave?

~ I worried for nothing at all.. the people there were dressed just as wildly as ever before.. there were screaming kids in all shapes and sizes running back and forth waving plastic shovels and sucking on juice boxes.. the sand was hotter than I ever remember it being and there was no shortage of greasy bodies stretched out in the sun.. The children all piled their shoes in a pile and off they went to wet their feet and ride skim boards..

~ Dave and I set out to find this particular sand dune as part of my newest hobby.. and as soon as we returned everyone flopped down on the sand and and decided to eat.. I had my usual beach lunch menu of.. "make your own" sandwiches and soda or water with chips and pickles and cookies for desert..

After some more swimming.... skimming.... and walks along the beach we headed for the lighthouse.. Emily and I stayed on the ground today..( both of us having had recent asthma attacks).. Kirstin made her very first climb up the tower.. showing no fear at the top as she pranced out onto the balcony.. David says it was his first climb too though I thought he had been up there before.. he did go out onto the balcony but was not thrilled about it.. he told me when he came down that he had discovered that he is definitely afraid of heights.. Finally we finished the day by visiting the nature center where we were able to see this loggerhead up close as Cooper

held her..

As we strolled out onto the pier where we used to buy ice cream before the long trip home.. Jennifer reminded us of the past years and the pictures we would make there.. every trip the same set.. Dave and his Kids.. me and my kids.. and just the kids..So... On the pier.. way out over the water.. wind in our hair.. and so for old time sakes we made the same pictures that we always did.. and a few new ones too..

I have to say that the day was great! The sun was hot and the air was salty and as usual the people were worth watching.. My children were funny and Cooper even attracted his own audience as he fed a sea gull Cheetos's from his hand..

~ Hmmmm.. it has been a long time since I was in the mountains.. in fact I wonder if mine or Dave's children have ever been to the mountains??.. Maybe Dave would like for me and him to sneak off again soon?.. Thanks for stopping by My World!! Have a great Night!!

Patsy

My World... Some Days I want to Run Away!

"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." ~Eddie Rickenbacker

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music."

~ John Milton

"There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent."
~ Michel de Montaigne

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Yesterday in My World was not a very good day.. The pollen is trying it's dead level best to kill me.. filing my throat and lungs with yucky stuff and causing me to have to suck on an inhaler way more than I like to.. Not that I ever like to.... but you get the idea..

I had dreamed all sorts of awful things the night before and woke up yesterday morning in an all around foul mood to start off a day that also came with a headache and a arm that was hurting.. Dave and I had raked and pulled weeds and did general yard work the afternoon before so I knew why my muscles ached.. I made the coffee strong hoping that would help and set about doing the same old same old things we always do.. and then things got worse..

We were feeding the animals and I had done my part of the feeding and was dragging a contrary water hose that snaked around and grabbed everything in it's path and tangled up on every tree root and snag it could find.. I had already called it a few choice words when I heard Dave say..

" OH NO! Oh NO You Don't!" and I turned just in time to see one of my ring neck doves fluttering towards a tree across the yard.. I am ashamed to say I yelled at Dave... I knew it wasn't his fault.. It wasn't any one's fault... But I think I had had all I could take and just went crazy for a few minutes.. Romeo..( he's a male Dove!) never looked back but did land in a tree not too far away.. about that time Juliet..(what can I say.. I'm a sucker for Lovers!) began to flap and beat herself against the cage calling out in the most mournful and sad song I have ever in my whole life heard.. afraid she would hurt herself I opened the cage and set her free as well.. then I cried...
I cried because Romeo escaped.. I cried because I could hear Juliet crying.. I cried because he left her.. I cried because I had a bad dream.. I cried and cried and cried.. I hated the whole world.. I loved my birds... I wanted to be at the beach or the mountains or anywhere but watching my bird do his best to fly away on his rarely used wings... Dave did everything he could to follow Romeo and honestly he would only fly a little way at the time but never let Dave catch him.. Juliet would fly and then come back to the chicken area of the yard and cry some more.. Dave disappeared and in a few minutes came back with Cooper at his side.. Cooper kept telling me that they wouldn't leave but I wasn't hearing that.. I reminded them that these birds were born in a cage and had never had to look for food... I told them that Doves mate for life... and what would one do without the other?... I was afraid a cat would get them or a snake or a man with a gun.. I cried the whole time we fed the animals and even after that I would go look to see if they had came back and I would cry again.. I did see both Birds in the chicken garden eating food that had fell on the ground and I put them more on top of the cage.. I filled a dish with good clean water and set out for them too.. and I sat there in the dark while Dave worked and Cooper slept the night away.. and listened to them coo...somewhere in the distance and I cried a little more...

Early this morning when I got up Juliet was sitting on the lowest tree limb next to the porch.. as soon as I went into the greenhouse room where all the other birds live she started cooing at me.. I held out my arm and she bowed and bobbed on the limb.. I decided to do a little alone time yard work and as soon as I grabbed some coffee I went outside.. She sang a sad song and sat above me on the tree.. Dave soon came out and joined me as she cooed and followed me from place to place in the bucket garden.. I pulled lemon basil and she flew to the ground to taste the fallen seeds.. Dave hurried to get some birdseed for her and she almost ate from his hand.. she finally ate a few bites while sitting on an antique tea cart and looking at me as if to say.."Why am I out here in the wild world?" Dave decided then that he was on a mission to recapture my Doves.. he followed Juliet .. as she followed me.. around from place to place all day.. he would be so close that he could almost touch her and away she would fly.. cooing as she went and from a tree on the edge of the yard Romeo would coo back to her.. It was almost as if they were playing a silly game with Dave.. But Dave was determined and just before he left for work he recaptured who we believe to be Juliet.. I went out a while ago to check on her and she was sitting up on her perch looking at me as if she was happy to be back in her safe little cage.. she wasn't calling out to Romeo while I was out there but I did hear them cooing back and forth when I was folding laundry earlier.. I am happy to have her back even though I am the one who set her free.. I am still hoping that Romeo will decide to come near enough that one of us can return him safely to the cage as well... as long as we can hear him singing I will know he is still nearby.. he will be able to eat and drink and rest on top of his cage if he wants too.. and I will hope.. for both Juliet and myself that we will catch him..

I worked in the yard most of today.. we accomplished a lot of things that we needed to get done.. I planted some flower seeds and more hot pepper seed than we could ever use.. Dave unclogged a pond pump and cleaned a frog waterspout between moments of trying to capture the escaped doves.. Dave and David cut a lot of grass and we rearranged things out by the pool... Cooper came out to help with the egg gathering and feeding.. he crowed at the roosters and they crowed at him.. he visited with the big dogs and scratched the hogs fat behind while she grunted something that sounded like thanks at him.. I guess one could say that everything was almost back to normal in our little world.. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Night..

Patsy

What is new in MY World!

"Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech." - Martin Fraquhar Tupper

"I am never afraid of what I know." - Anna Sewell

"Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about." - Oscar Wilde

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Have you seen birds in your neck of the woods already? Every morning I wake to the sounds of my own birds.. for the last few mornings I have listened as not only my own finches.. who are nesting.. sing... but also a number of yard birds singing a good morning as well..

I love birds.. I do have a few caged birds besides the chickens.. I have finches and dove.. and cockatoos.. I speak to them and they sing to me..

for several mornings now I have had early bird guests at the feeders just outside of my glassed in greenhouse-room-porch... they sing and chatter from their side of the glass.. My birds sing and chatter back.. one bird.. Lewis.. will stretch and show his beautiful wings to the wall of glass.. I think he might be saying that they are too near to his home..

If you look very close at the above photo you can just barely see a white dove sitting there.. she is rather hard to pick out.. every time I aimed at her with the camera she ducked down into the nest.. her mate was way over in the chicken yard gathering bits of fuzz and fluff.. they darted back and forth most of today.. flitting around.. avoiding me and the camera but stopping on top of the caged Dove every once in a while to coo back and forth with them..

Red birds and sparrows and house wrens.. some on the feeder and others ruffling around on the ground below.. the red birds tend to wait on the tree until there are a few of them and then they all swoop in together and take control of the feeders..

I was thinking that it was a little early for the spring birds to be back.. maybe they know more about the weather than I do?.. maybe they came back early to get the best birdhouse or nesting spot?.. But for what ever reason my yard has been filled with birdsong for more than a week..

I will set out saucers of water and clean and refill all the feeders.. I want my feathered friends to feel welcome when they visit here in My World! Have a great night!

Patsy

My World...

“I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” ~ Aldous Huxley

"I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it."
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them." ~ Abraham Lincoln

For many years people have gathered on our town circle.. town meetings.... May pole dances... the civil rights marches many years ago..... festivals... the filming of news stories... and of course a gazillion parades have all been held here.. the center of our town.. this photo was made about an hour before the Christmas Parade last month.. Families were walking around greeting friends.. and staking out a good spot.. the radio station was letting anyone sing on the radio for a t-shirt.. I didn't sing but Emily pulled together a group of back up singers and got herself a t-shirt for their rendition of Blue Christmas.. The book store served Wassail and hot chocolate... It was great to be with family and friends and even strangers for a while.. we danced with the High School bands and stomped with the little girls doing their steps... we smiled at friends and maybe even a few enemies..

I have worked and played here.. I have walked here while waiting to be in court.. The circle.. The center of My town.... Welcome to My World! Have a good night!

Patsy