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May 28, 2007
Memorial Day
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Posted by frani at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2007
I'm no Slum landlord..
It's one thing to suspect your resident woodchuck has babies but it's a whole other matter to see a baby. She and at least one baby were peeking out from under the porch yesterday while I was out back transplanting some wayward lilacs.
I can't evict a single mother...
..and I certainly can't kill them.
Woe is me
Posted by frani at 02:18 PM | Comments (1)
May 20, 2007
What Book Am I...Snort
Thanks to my Seattle Buddy.......BunnyBeth
by Barbara Kingsolver
You're The Poisonwood Bible!
Deeply rooted in a religious background, you have since become both
isolated and schizophrenic. You were naively sure that your actions would help people,
but of course they were resistant to your message and ultimately disaster ensued. Since
you can see so many sides of the same issue, you are both wise beyond your years and
tied to worthless perspectives. If you were a type of waffle, it would be
Belgian.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
Posted by frani at 06:51 PM | Comments (1)
May 16, 2007
o/'o/'o/'We went to the zoo zoo zoo o/'o/'o/'
I love going to the zoo. Actually I do feel bad for the animals sometimes but zoos have come a long way since my day of nasty metal uninspired cages. Seattle's Woodland Park zoo is very clean and the animals have decent space and "habitats" in which to live.
First Lon (my bro)came to get me at the hotel. We made a pit stop at Lowes for a few items them oooed and ahhhed over some Dewalt rechargable tools... most notably, the skillsaw.
Lon's many varieties of rhodies were in bloom at their home...my photos just don't do them justice, especially the size of some of them.
Then Charlotte and I left Lon to his painting and off we went to the zoo.
My favorites have always been the elephants...especially "babies"
We sat down to have a picnic lunch and immediately this huge peacock flew down from the tree next to us. Guess I didn't realize peacocks went up into trees like that. The orangutangs were snoozing under their burlap bags; very cute...every once in a while one in particular reached out from under to arrange his bag. Snort... I also saw and photographed a couple of pythons...proud of me?? TG they were behind glass. There were a couple of different aviaries to wander in..no poop on us, thank goodness.
We are going to have to go back though, we didn't finish going through the park and the "butterflies & blooms" exhibit won't open until May 25th. Something to look forward to...in the meantime see below for some more animals... ;-D
Lions...
..and Tigers(We saw the 9month old baby tigers but she was too wiggly for my photos to come out well)
...and bears
Oh My! (This snow leopard's tail was amazing)
Posted by frani at 11:06 AM | Comments (2)
May 11, 2007
Life in the not so fast lane
I still have my sports injuries but my bowling scores are improving - well sort of. I wonder if Wii bowling would help real bowling; probably not without that remote that helps you line up your shot. Yeah yeah, I know, and I'm still don't have a great aim. ...and we won't talk about pool either.
So yesterday I got out The Navigator 100! Other than riding around the neighborhood wearing flip flops and having my helmet on backwards, I managed not to hurt myself further than my dignity. I wondered why I had to adjust the chin strap on my helmet. sigh... Anyway my PIC ( partner in crime) and I took a few spins around the cemeterty then called it a day - home for some water and a couple of chocolate dipped strawberries. Hey, it was a tough ride - bet you didn't know there was an incline to our street. (Only my injuried left cheek complained.)
In other news this week - I went to the assessor's office to get some $$ knocked off our property tax assessment. Sure I got it reduced by $45K but did he really need to be so flippant.. oh yeah, your assessment was too high for that property - I almost wanted to defend my homestead! Funny how they just happened to come by yesterday with their camera to check up on our "addition" for which we took out the building permit last year. Coincidence? I don't know, she did seem surprised to see "me".
Time to check the weather in Seattle for packing...off again on Sunday.
Have a fine day all......
Posted by frani at 08:40 AM | Comments (2)
May 10, 2007
Are you mocking me?
It's easy to say you haven't seen the woodchuck lately when you aren't even home. BUT, I only saw her scurry into the woods once since last Friday...until today.
She was still out back but she went over by the old tree house in the woods. She can live there for all I care; at least it isn't under my porch. I swear she was mocking me though...she just sat tere watching me...as if waiting for me to turn my back so she could run across the lawn and under under my porch. Something else spooked her so she went full under the tree house though..maybe she'll stay there. I hope.
So in the meantime...
We spent a week in Cambridge Maryland. Ate crab, walked along the Choptank River, Sat and chatted with friends we see once a year at these conferences. Continuing with the private concerts, we were entertained by JR Taylor of Kool and the Gang fame. Yes, I knew two other songs besides "celebration". Good for me. Remember *I* was busy and missed the 70s and a good portion of the 80s.
After coming home from Maryland, I thought we ought to get a Wii so we would be able to play with the grandkiddies when they come to visit or bring our remotes to play with them in Stamford. They are pretty good bowlers. I, on the other hand, am not. I haven't pitched the remotes through the TV yet but I do have a "sports" injury or two. I'm on my way to throwing out my shoulder and possibly overdeveloping my left cheek..and I don't mean face. Maybe I need to learn to alternate which leg I step forward with.
For all this effort my high score remains 159. I did get 5 strikes in a row though...two bad they were in 2 different games.
Don't even talk to me about tennis...I have all I can do to bowl.
Have a fine day all
Posted by frani at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)