Earring 0182 Spiral

The year is spiraling down as are these earrings. Very similar to the year is the sparkle that is between the spirals. The earrings remind me of life with its ups and downs. It's all what you make of it. My glass is half full most of the time.

Today I started sorting through family photos. I have piles of photos because some will go here and some will go there. My intention is to make a family slide show to present to my siblings and their families. Think it would be fun to do that and then my niece and nephews can see the roots they probably have never seen before.

Today's earrings have "diamonds" between the spaces of the spiral. Just like life.

Earring 0181 Ferris Wheel and Merry-Go-Round

Today's earrings kind of reminded me of a Ferris wheel. I can remember the first time that I road the Ferris wheel. I wasn't very old but I knew that I wanted to go up as high as I could to be closer to the stars. It was night and the Ferris wheel was all lit up. Even though I had four older brothers, it was my dad who took me on the Ferris wheel. As my luck would have it, our car stopped on the top and I was on top of the world. I never wanted the ride to end. And I always wanted my dad by my side. Kind of kitty corner (or as some people say, katty corner) from the Ferris wheel was the merry-go-round. It's funny because I can remember then riding the merry-go-round with my sister. Each of us on our own horse. Dad stood between us but held unto my sister. My sister must have only been about two or three years old at that time. She was pretty small. Isn't it amazing that you can recall those kinds of memories and the feelings you had are like it just happened. What a wonderful ride.

Started thinking more about the Ferris wheel, which was made for the "World's Columbian Exposition" in Chicago in 1890; celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovering America. The first cars were huge. They were 24 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 10 feet high. The passengers, 38 to 60 per car, were protected by glass and screen. Like train cars, these cars had a conductor; one to each car. The wheel had at least 21 cars from what I could tell. George Washington Gale Ferris created the masterpiece to "compete" against the magnificence of the Eiffel Tower. The original Ferris wheel ended up in St. Louis. Can you imagine moving that much equipment in 1904.

Parick Mehan wrote a great article on the Ferris wheel and I've summed up some of it in the above paragraph. To read the article, you can find it at http://www.hydeparkhistory.org/newsletter.html. It's well worth reading because it goes into the details.

I can remember my first ride on a double Ferris wheel too but that memory doesn't bring any feelings like my first ride. The reason I remember it was because it was a "double" Ferris wheel.

For additional information about Ferris wheels, I liked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferris_wheel the best.

 

 

Earring 180 - Say it isn't so - summer is ending.

It's not ending. We have so much summer left to enjoy. Just because it's Labor Day weekend does not mean that summer is over. For some people, summer is just beginning. We will have nice hot/warm days and cool nights. That's a good summer to me. Fall is right around the corner (yes, I'm still looking around the corner) but that should last about two months. Fall is my favorite time of the year. But then again, I like winter because it brings the eagles. If it didn't get slippery on sidewalks and roadways, I would love winter. Been so busy learning a new job and helping on the old job with little bits and pieces that summer did get away from me. It's not that big of a deal to me because I would rather take off Fridays or Friday afternoons in the fall, winter, and spring than to take time off during the summer. Enough of this.

Today's earrings - one of many silver hoops with no two alike...

We're having a thunderstorm right now. Maybe I should take a quick nap ;)

Earrings 0179 - Hot Pink and Hot Pants and Desert

Today's earrings are definitely from an era I remember well - hot pink and hot pants; such a 70s thing. I can remember when hot pants came out. Can still see my dad's disgust at my friends wearing them. Dad was pretty laid back but he did not like women "exposing" themselves. Mom would make snide about the girls who would wear them. However, she felt hot pants were better than mini skirts!

According to http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-pink.html, the color pink means unconditional love and nurturing. For some reason I think hot pink means the total opposite. What do you think?

Love the color pink but don't wear it too often anymore. It seems like the older I get, my colors are getting a little paler. Still wear pink but you can't see it a mile away anymore.

These really are pink and not fake pink like my hands were the other day. Only now my hand looks like there's glitter on them. LOL+


Here's the simple desert I made last night. Tastes pretty good if you like cheesecake. I make a homemade the crust in the microwave (hate using the microwave but sometimes I break down and use it); mix together softened cream cheese, 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and a juice of a lemon (sometimes I use lemon or lime juice out of a bottle). Put that on the crust after it cools for a few minutes. Then I topped it off with a little bit of orange marmalade. Finished it off by taking some of the crust of the side of the small rectangle glass dish I used and crumbled it on top.

What is better yet, is to make it in a pie tin and top the cream cheese with pie filling such as blueberry or cherry. One of our family favorites.

 

Pie crust recipe: 1 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c oil, 1 tsp salt and 2 T ice water (can use milk). Mix together, pat in container, microwave for about five minutes or until before it browns.

Earring 0178 - Yes, I am my mother's child

How many times have you heard the phrase "I am my mother's child." I tried finding where that phrase originated.

1. According to SparkNotes (http://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/lit/the-scarlet-letter/chapter-8/), it is a line in the Scarlet Letter.
2. In 2012, Courtney Spears (I do not know which Courtney Spears this is) wrote a wonderful poem "I Am My Mother's Child http://www.madisonandcathedral.com/mothers-child-courtney-spears/ 
3. Another poem entitled "I am my mother's child" was written by Gloria Gatica http://allpoetry.com/poem/10590707-I-am-my-mothers-daughter-by-Gloria-Gatica - this one hit home.

That last poem was about a woman comparing herself to her mother who had passed. Maybe that is when women realized how much they are like their mothers. I'm proud to have been like my mother and have a lot of her traits and values. My eyes are similar to hers, as was my hair. My compulsive behavior is similar to hers but my compulsions are different (alphabetizing my spices, putting my fabrics in order by color).

It wasn't until after my mom died that I started turning into her. Who would have ever thought I would become my mother???? Not me and I'm certain of that! But lo and behold, I am my mother's child. Can't say that I'm the new and improved version of my mom but just a chip off the old block.
Bet you any money that my mom was like her mom too.

The reason I thought about this today was because of my earrings. Mom loved pearls and I am growing to love them more and more. Mom was my pearl.

To my sister-in-law, Donna was a pearl and I can see your mom in you too and that is a good thing.

Today's earrings

Finishing this off with another link for an article written by Vi-an Nguyen entitled "100 Inspiring Quotes about Moms for 100 Years of Mother's Days http://parade.condenast.com/288611/viannguyen/100-inspiring-quotes-about-moms-for-100-years-of-mothers-day/

Mom, I miss you. Not a day goes by that I don't think about you. Thank you for helping me become who I am. Thank you for being who you were. By the way Mom, can you see my fabric? I'm getting more and more like you but at the same time working on not getting the fearful traits you had. The last 30 years without you has been a long time. I miss your shoulder, your ear that was always willing to listen to the same old story, and I miss you stoking my hair when I have a headache. Life is not the same without you.

Earring 0177 - Go figure...wrapped wire earring

Couldn't believe it this morning when the earrings I chose to wear were wrapped wire earrings. They didn't have a jewel or rock in them but they are beautiful and simply elegant.

The bead and wrapping are in front of the ears with a long back so the earrings don't fall out while talking on the phone. These are all silver. Simple but makes a statement.

Today when I got home, I was hungry for a cookie. I don't keep sweets in my home because I would eat them if they were there. Every once in a while, I make Weight Watcher's 3-2-1 cake (dry angel food cake mix mixed with another kind of dry cake mix [like chocolate or lemon or...]. You take 3 tablespoons of the dry cake mix, 2 tablespoons of water, and nuke in a mug for 1 minute. At first, I ate it a lot but the novelty wore off and now I have it once in a while like every couple of weeks. The cake mixes last a long time. So back to my cookie. All I wanted was one cookie. I didn't make it but found some pretty good quick and easy recipes for microwave cookies.

Microwave chocolate chip cookies – no egg!!!

http://eugeniekitchen.com/microwave-chocolate-chip-cooki/

No bake cookies – simple!!

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/gi8vy4ka/no-bake-cookies-for-microwave.html

 

Sugar cookies

http://cooks.ndtv.com/recipe/show/microwave-cookies-98931

Chocolate chip cookie in a mug

http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2013/05/1-minute-chocolate-chip-cookie-in-a-mug.html

Another chocolate chip cookie – this one has no milk in it, which I never have on hand – think I like this one and it looks the best. This site has a lot of ads on it but it's well worth looking at even if it just to look at how delicious the cookie is.

http://prudentbaby.com/2012/04/entertaining-food/one-minuteone-cookie-how-to-make-a-single-microwave-chocolate-chip-cookie-in-a-minute/

Earring 0176 - Braided Silver

These earrings look like they were braided or twisted. They were pretty nice and felt a little rich-looking. Of course, that piqued my interest and I was hoping to find a website that demonstrated making earrings like these. Didn't find that but I found something pretty fabulous. https://plus.google.com/photos/+IzzyGumbo/albums/5817933785771765857?banner=pwa

Izzy Gumbo is an earring designer and she has many how-to videos on handmade wrapped wire jewelry. http://perfectlytwistedjewelry.blogspot.com/2012/11/learning-to-weave-wire.html Maybe some year I will take this up as a hobby; have to finish the projects that I've started. Speaking about projects, hard to believe but it's almost time for me to pick up crocheting afghans again. Have one more to finish before I can send three of them off to my son and family. It's just too darn hot to have a warm, cuddly, heavy afghan on me right now!

Today's earring

Gee, my hand sure looks pink but it's not that color. And the earrings are silver, not reddish. Hmmm...

Earring 0175 - Carpet Earrings (The focus is going to be on my kombucha!)

Let's get the earrings of the day out of the way. Usually one day during the weekend I will wear a pair of earrings that aren't ever going to be worn by me again. Well, this was one of those days. What surprised me the most was that Donna had three pairs of these earrings. Maybe she wore four of the earrings as buttons on a shirt or sweater or something. Well, maybe she liked them. Below the earrings are some photos of my kombucha making.

Really enjoy making and drinking my kombucha.

The first photo is my kombucha brewing cabinet. One jar is going to be my "cooking" with kombucha batch. About every eight days, I will be bottling or removing the kombucha I want to drink for the week. Finally got a pattern down. Guess I like the drink before it turns too vinegary and eight days seems just right with a nice pleasing taste. I would be utterly amazed if the alcohol content could even be measurable but what is nice is that the sugar content is very low and you can't taste sweetness. The second photo is the top shelf of my fridge showing my flavored bottle kombucha and my jars of kombucha. The flavored bottles go through a second fermentation after I add fruit. My favorite fruit is raisins. The champagne grape kombucha was pretty good but the raisins were the best. The second-to-last batch I bottled was made with organic blueberries. Today, I bottled some more with raisins and also made some in the quart containers to see if I like that. The bottled kombucha takes a couple of weeks or so before it's really good. Well worth the wait if I can wait. The third photo is a glass of champagne grape kombucha. Very good tasting. In the background are the roses I dried from the flowers my son and his wife sent me for Mother's Day.

Earrings 0174 - It's the berry, cranberries that is.

Today's road trip took us through some of Wisconsin's beautiful countryside in the cranberry area. This is located pretty much in Central Wisconsin (where we were - cranberry bogs are also in Northern Wisconsin). Didn't realize that Wisconsin is the largest producer of cranberries. They sure grow a lot of them. This website has great information on cranberries such as how they grow and how they are harvested. http://www.wisconsincentral.net/LandTOC/Land/CranberryFarming.html I know we were close to this grower before but not today.

Something else that Wisconsin grows in this area are potatoes. Amazingly, Wisconsin is the third largest potato growing state in the United States. There are fields and fields of potatoes growing in the same part of Wisconsin as the cranberry bogs. http://wisconsinpotatoes.com/about-wpvga/

Other vegetables grown in this area include tomatoes, radishes, and sweet corn. I can't forget peas and I think beans too. The soil must be pretty good to have fields of these vegies!

One of the things my brother and I talked about was our dad and his bee hives. Dad had bee hives on his family's farm. I can vividly remember him putting on his face covering and his big gloves. He wouldn't let us get close. However, my brother said he was able to go with dad until they found out he was allergic to bee stings. Then we talked about that. I can remember my brother's face after he was stung badly by bumble bees. My brother had a little garden of his own and somehow he was stung by many bees. I can remember how scared I was. At that time, I was probably about 3 or 4 years old. It's something you never forget.

One of the things I forgot to say about the honey was that it was delicious. Never did I think that the honey we ate as kids was the honey that my dad had harvested. To this day, I love honey especially if it it's in the honeycomb! The added bonus is you can chew the wax, which I did as a child and sometimes as an adult.

Today's earrings

These are definitely keepers!

Earring 0173 - Squirrels fly but so does time

Wow, it's already Friday again. Can't believe that my days and weeks go by as fast as they do. It all goes so fast that I can barely keep up. It just seems like I woke up and it was Monday and vroom, it's Friday night. Can't imagine what time will be like in ten years from now if it keeps going by me as it does. Almost like a science fiction movie or book when I think about it. Finished reading an article on time entitled "7 Theories on Time That Would Make Doc Brown's Head Explode"

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19659_7-theories-time-that-would-make-doc-browns-head-explode.html#ixzz3BAbjsBQt

There's some language in the article I don't appreciate but the basics of the article are interested. The higher you are (not drug-wise), time is faster. Maybe that's why I should move to a first-floor apartment! One of the things I found funny was an experiment where you touch your nose and your toe at the exact same time. I touched my nose with my finger and my toe with the other foot. Guess which one you feel first...you feel them at the same time.

Today's earrings

Earring 0169 = Monday 8/18/2014

My sister told me that I missed a blog and I said "no" I did not. I got up Monday night around 11:30 p.m. when I remembered that I had forgotten to write my blog. So write it I did. Must not have saved or published it. Can't remember what I wrote at this point because I've been so busy at work.

Here is Monday's earrings, a couple days later...

I'm having a hard time even typing this tonight. Going to keep it simple just like the earrings.

Earring 0172 - New Viewer Taiwan

My heart skipped a beat today when I saw that someone from Taiwan viewed my blog. Considering I basically only watch Asian shows, I felt one step closer. Taiwanese jade is beautiful jade. This is an interesting article on the jade. For over 4000 years Taiwan and the Philippines had a connection with one another. It sounded like for a while, the jade discovered in Taiwan was from Vietnam but in reality was from Taiwan. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/11/20/2095026.htm

My nephew has a jade roller that he uses in massage therapy. Wonder if they make Taiwanese jade rollers. Will have to look into that.

The other thing that I thought about when thinking about Taiwan is tea. This is an interesting site about indigenous tea to Taiwan http://eco-cha.com/blogs/tea-culture/10378193-taiwan-mountain-tea-the-indigenous-plant Think later on that I will buy some of the oolong tea from the company associated with the blog. I can only imagine how good my kombucha would be with this tea. We have a local company that sells a lot of handpicked teas; maybe next week I'll pop in there to see what they have.

Taiwan is known as a beautiful country with breathtaking views. One of the things that I noticed when I was watching a bunch of YouTube videos is the rocks. My table not only needs a piece of jade on it but also a rock from Taiwan.

Today's earring

Earring 0171 Biker Momma Earrings

Used to have a motorcycle and loved riding it. Better yet though was being a passenger. There's so much you have to pay attention to because you don't have the luxury of an enclosure to protect you. Glad I made the trips I did with the bike even though the longest ride was just under 150 miles one way.

These earrings would have been perfect for the motorcycle. Wonder if Donna ever road a motorcycle.

Haven't been on the back of a bike for over seven years now. Only a couple of weeks ago, I got rid of my gloves. Sure got my money's use out of them. Two years ago, I recycled my boots. Still have my boot jewelry though because it brings back memories and fits in my jewelry box.

This would be good weather for a bike ride along the river.

Earring 0170 - Good Day!

Found out today that my brand new calculator has a key that doesn't work if you are fast on the calculator. That could explain some of my problems that last few days. It's quite a relief to find this today and I had to show someone else so they could see my dilemma. Getting a replacement as fast as I can. Was hoping to get a different one because I'm a firm believer that when one is bad, the other ones are probably going to be the same (if they are in the same lot). You never know but I'd prefer going with a different model, not necessarily a different manufacturer. We'll see.

This was on The Weather Channel site yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope you have a few minutes so you can leave reality for a little bit of imagination....these places are real though. "50 Places Out of Fairy Tales" http://www.weather.com/travel/fairy-tale-places-photos-20140506

On Yahoo Food they're talking about a new sandwich that uses rice patties instead of bread. Sounds good to me. What I can't figure out why aren't more fast food places adding their other countries menus to test the waters in the U.S. Whenever I see a Asian McDonald's commercial, all I can think of is that I would rather have that then what we have. (Other than the ice cream cones that I like.)

Last night we had a cool thunderstorm. There was a lot of heat lighting. You couldn't see it other than flashes of light. It lasted quite a while. It's too bad that I'm so busy watching it because I love to sleep during thunderstorms. Nature's sedative for me.

Today's earrings stayed in my ears all day today even though they snagged on my jacket a couple of times. They are pretty because of the detail work.

Earring 0168 - Fun Day of Smokin

Finally got brave enough to try my indoor smoker that you use on a stove. Had it long enough but was afraid to use it because some of the reviews. A few reviews said that it gave off so much smoke that you should only use it outdoors. Well, I had absolutely no problems at all. Started out this morning putting a rub on my country-style ribs. Just threw together some seasonings and brown sugar. These were marinated for six hours. Watched a video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lMGhpGTwSA. I used some of the spices Kim used but didn't have most of them. It's because of Kim's video that I got brave enough to use the smoker.

While my ribs were marinating, I seasoned some chicken thighs and made those first. Learned that I need more sea salt on those than I had used. Tasted great and now have some extras in the freezer for the night I want to simple. The ribs were tender and tasted like a professional had smoked them. Really surprised myself on that. the only thing I would change next time is to use less pepper. If I want heat, I'll use jalapenos in the bbq sauce during the last ten minutes.

The chicken took an hour (made 12 thighs) and the ribs took 70 minutes. Next time, I will only cook the chicken 50 minutes. I'd like to try smoking them with orange marmalade  on them sometime. Love orange chicken so that may be the way to make it.

Wasn't sure the ribs were going to be tender so I followed Kim's directions on the tenderizer. I used a mallet tenderizer because I couldn't find my other tenderizer. Must be in some drawer! Like Kim suggested, I didn't put bbq sauce on all of my ribs and now have some in my freezer for the next time I make beans. They will make a good combination. I forgot to take a photo of my finished ribs. They looked as good as they tasted.

To top my ribs off, I had a little bit of orange yogurt left along with some blueberries and made a small smoothly. The rest of the blueberries went into my kombucha. The raisin kombucha is so good that I thought I would try the blueberries.

Today's earrings weren't earrings that I would typically wear. Someone else may like them but they aren't my style.

Earring 0167 - A Different Kind of Day Than Planned

Yesterday, I had high expectations of what today was going to be like. In my mind I wanted to go find a spot along the shore and sit and work on my quilt. Then the day changed. Got most of my cleaning done. Made a new batch of Kombucha; make this at least once a week because I feel better since I've been drinking it (not that I didn't feel good before, now I just feel better). Went to church, went grocery shopping, did laundry, and visited on the phone some. It was a well-spent day. Now I wonder what tomorrow will be like. I know that I want to do some stove-top smoking, which takes a couple of hours. Other than that, it's an open day with no obligations other than to live it.

Tonight I put a fan together. It's a oscillating fan that reminded me of my second oldest brother's fan from years ago. I have a fan at work but when it's on, I can't hear when others are talking to me from across the room. The fan is small but noisy. The new fan is quiet. It brought back memories of when my two oldest brothers lived together in a house. My sister and I were able to visit one week a year during the summer. It's probably all the longer our brothers could handle us. We'd go up there and clean, do dishes, make meals, etc. It gave us time away from our parents and time with our brothers. So what does this have to do with the fan...

My second oldest brother had an oscillating fan. It is very similar to the one that I have. It was so nice to take a nap while my brothers were away at work and have that fan blowing gently. Such a calm, serene feeling is what I get when I think of this memory. Even tonight while testing the fan (I had to assemble it and then unassembled/reassemble in order to make sure everything was tightened enough) I got that same calm, serene feeling. I would call it tranquility. Can you imagine how nice it will be to have this fan at work if this is how I feel just testing it. Hope it has the same effect.

Here's today's earring

 

I almost forgot about the book I was reading. It had to be returned yesterday. It was the book about the Hmong girl and American medicine. Actually it was more about how we misunderstand one another because when you're in a hurry, getting to the end is more important than what's in between. I did not finish the book and may get it another time because it was interesting. Learned about some of the Hmong practices an beliefs that I did not know. Counting my blessings because I'm in a place where people understand me and I understand them. With some health issues people have, I could imagine them feeling like those around them are foreign to them. So many lessons in patience and so little time.

Earring 0166 - It's Here...it's Friday!

Just finished watching a very good Korean drama on Dramafever called "What Happened in Bali" It was a pretty heavy-duty movie that typically I wouldn't watch. My preference is for romantic comedies. However, the actors in this drama are excellent and like a book, I couldn't put it down. Definitely give it a thumbs up. http://www.dramafever.com/drama/680/1/What_Happened_in_Bali/?ap=1

So to break my mood from the movie, had to get my fix of PSY's "Gangnam Style." Watched it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 Plus you can watch it performed in several different countries, many different singers/dancers, kids performing, etc. Now I can go on to watch something else. It's another form of lifting one's spirit. Couldn't get away from it. You have got to watch this video of babies doing "Gangnam Style" I think PSY would be happy with how it turned out... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvsgjlirljg

Ready for this weekend. Other than laundry, nothing is planned. Might work on my quilt some since I haven't touched it other than moving it from one spot to another. It's such an easy thing to throw in my car and go somewhere along the river to sit and work on. Always have my phone to listen to audio books too. All I'll need is a diet Coke and I'll be set.

My sister gave me some insight on one of my friends she saw yesterday. Will have to think about that some more. Maybe it's something that is right around the corner and I have to find the corner.

Here's today's earrings

They look similar to another pair of earrings I wore before but these are a little smaller.

Earring 0165 Another Good Day!

Got my new router and had it installed within minutes. Works great and my phone connected via Wi-Fi without any problems. As a friend and I were talking the other night, the minute a new piece of technology comes out, it begins being outdated and a replacement isn't too far behind. Guess I should really be happy that my router lasted for five years. It probably could have lasted longer if it wasn't for my smart phone that wasn't so smart on the old router.

Now I will be able to put photos in when I do the posts instead of uploading it the next day like I've been doing once in a while.

A friend of mine stopped in today at work while I was gone. He has a green thumb and enjoys growing his vegies and flowers. Here's what he brought me:

Love snapdragons and there are two of them in here. You can see the white one. The flower on the upper right-hand side is also a snapdragon. That snapdragon is called "Twinny Bronze Shades" featuring rose, orange, and pink coloring. So pretty!!! Receiving flowers always makes me feel special.


Did you get to see any shooting stars? Last night I was able to see a couple of stars and was grateful just to see those. Still too many clouds and now the peak is over. Pretty sure that I've already shared this but one year my sister and I watched the shower at this time of the year and at times counted 300 meteors an hour. It was wonderful. It also made me feel so small when the universe and beyond are so big.

My newest grand-niece is coming to town this week. Hoping to get to get to see her.

Here's the latest earrings...

Earring 0164 - Wow - 164 pairs of earrings

No two are alike yet - it may just be a color or size difference, but no two are alike. Kind of like my sister and I. We have similar personalities, our voices sound the same, but our sizes are different. Like earrings, one person will like this one and another will like the other one. People are the same too.

Looks like another night of rambling.

I got caught off guard today on something personal. Hate when that happens. I like to be prepared and have things in place. Then with my router not working, it's hard to talk on the phone to people. When one of my nephews called, I could comprehend what he was saying even though I couldn't hear the first couple of letters of each word. Kind of like the mixed up letters in the following sentences:

1. "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

2. "Cna yuo raed tihs? if yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid, too.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulatcly uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.



Azanmig hhu? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Qoestuin -
Can thsi be doen in ohter lnagugues? Snapsih, Fenrch, Iatilan, Gerek, Rissuan. Chenise, Jaapense, Herbew, Aaribc? "

1 and 2 are from https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090527150856AAsMoFh

http://scienceavenger.blogspot.com/2007/12/cambridge-word-scramble-study-its-fake.html:

"In a way this is a cheap magician's trick, because the only reason people can read the scrambled words is because they aren't very scrambled. Fixing the first and last letters means 2 and 3 letter words don't change at all, and 4 letter words just swap the middle letters. That's the bulk of our vocabulary. Try making a sentence with very long words, and our ability to read words "as a whole" mysteriously vanishes. To wit:

Bblaaesl pryleas pnmrrioefg sllaimy aeoulltsby dvrseee clbrpmaaoe tteenmrat.

is incomprehensible, because now every word is truly scrambled, with the first and last letters being an insignificant proportion of the total.:

I tried to read the sentence that start Bblasesl but couldn't even get past the first word.

Today's earrings

Earring 0163 - Earring Posted

My wireless router doesn't like the wireless it seems. However, my guest can access Internet via router so I don't know why I can't. Technology is something that I get into and I cannot believe that I can't figure out what is going on. My router is pretty old; think I got it almost 8 years ago. Getting my new router in a little over a week so I will try to remember to upload photos at noon instead of at home.  Kind of excited about getting a new router because my streaming will go much faster too.

This afternoon was a chance for me to take a little time off and enjoy my opened windows. Even though it is kind of warm in my apartment, the fresh air is so nice. Had the windows open all night too and it was great sleeping weather. Luckily someone else was doing laundry in our building so I couldn't do laundry and will wait until this weekend. Yes, there's a smile on my face.

It's such a beautiful day and I'm enjoying it so much. Didn't take any time off this summer because of changing jobs. Know what is coming and it's not that far away. Think I will take some Fridays off once I can and have enough vacation time in. In the past, three-day weekends were always so much better for me than to have to take a week at a time. I can do a nice road trip when I have three days off. When I have a week off, I don't go any further than I would during those 3 days.

Guess rambling on is my calling today and ending it now before I start up again.

Earring 0162 - Monday's Thoughts

Back in the 70s, when I was much younger, one of the t-shirts my ex had to have was "Whirled Peas" showing a picture of peas that had been blended. The back probably said something like that's the only way we are going to have world peace.

My prayers are for people to get along. It doesn't mean you have to agree on everything but just get along. I don't let fears get to me either because in the end, it's God's plan, not mine.

Back in the 60s, our school used to do practice if we were ever to be bombed by Cuba. At that time, it terrified me. I can still remember how it felt during that time period and it lasted for quite a few years. I cannot imagine how children feel who are in areas that are being bombed and torn apart because of conflicting values and beliefs. Makes me want to shelter them but I know there's too many for me to do so.

Why can't we just all get along?

Today's earrings

Earring 0161 - Now Includes Photos

Can't post an earring tonight. For some reason, my wireless router isn't working so I can't upload my photo. Yes, I could plug my phone into my computer and upload it but it's still the weekend and I don't feel like doing it. Tomorrow is a workday and I'll do it then.

Got my Kindle app working again on my phone. Most of my cell phone use is for reading. I don't spend much time on the phone chatting other than to my sister and sister-in-law. Even then, it's very low phone usage. Last week, I was able to listen to my audible books so that was nice. Usually I keep those for when I'm traveling. Love to listen to books while I'm traveling.

Other things I use my phone for are a cute game that I play once in a great while. It's called "Monument Valley." Think I've played three or four times in the last six months. Every now and then I access "Mobile Observatory" and on a weekend like this, I would be using it. However, our skies are so overcast that you won't be able to see meteors anyway so I won't be using the app. For the last several years, the sky hasn't given us much of a show for this fantastic, annual meteor shower. "Scanner Radio" is another good one that I like but now no one is broadcasting our city and I don't care much about things that are happening on the scanner 20 miles away. Liked it for emergency-type information.  "Radar Express - NOAA Weather" has nice radar weather maps that I like a lot. I like to watch radar weather maps to see storm paths. I used the Weather Channel (weather.com) on my computer all of the time to track the weather.

Tonight I'm making a light supper of mushrooms, zucchini, and spaghetti sauce topped with parmesan cheese. Wish I had some Asiago cheese but aren't going out to get it; maybe tomorrow I can have some with my leftovers. If my photo looks good, I'll post it too. Look at the word Asiago - fits in pretty good with my life style - go Asia - watch Korean drama. Enough silliness!

Must have done something wrong because I plugged in my cell into my computer and it's not uploading the photos. Oh baby, my supper looks delicious. Time to eat.

Earring 0160 - Çılbır Before and After Along with Spanish Eggs Before and After

This morning I took the time to make some breakfast and of course, I had eggs. Out of the four eggs I made, I ate one of the Çılbır and both of the Spanish eggs. There wasn't much egg left after poaching the egg. Because I didn't care for the taste of the Greek yogurt I used with my Çılbır, I only had a couple bites of one of the eggs. Pretty soon you are going to think this blog is about eggs - lol.

My Çılbır - Before

After

I think my Çılbır is as pretty as the photo that I posted from the site that featured how to make them. It sure looks good and the eggs were so fresh. Too bad I chose the yogurt that I did. Will be picking up Greek Gods plain yogurt to try it again sometime. Pretty happy with my picture. It might even make a good quilted applique wall hanging. Have to think about that and might make a small one to honor the egg.

Here's the Spanish eggs. I followed the suggestion of putting butter into the olive oil. Couldn't get the oil hot enough so the egg wasn't quite as good as I've had in the past.
Before

After

Ran out of fresh pepper to grind so I used my lemon pepper, which I flavored the egg better than I expected. May have started a new tradition for myself by using lemon pepper on my eggs instead of regular pepper. That's real butter on the toast. I don't eat anything but real butter because of the health benefits of the dairy verses chemical "stuff" the butter substitutes are made from.

Oh yea, here's today's earrings. Needless to say, I took them out before I went to church today. They're cute but not my style.

Earring 0159 - Satisfaction

Even though this week was rough at work for me, it ended up pretty darn good. I learned a lot and it's like a puzzle being put together...you start to see how it all fits. Still a long way off but at least I'm able to end the week with a good feeling. Pretty tired because of the extra brain power used so this is going to be short.

There are a lot of musicians playing in the area. Most of them are from the 60s and 70s. The good thing is that I had the opportunity to see them live before. It would be fun to see them again but don't think that is going to happen. Once I had a boss who knew bands from 50s to 70s so I was able to meet a couple of singers in person. Gave Frankie Ford and Dickey Lee both rides to the airport. Frankie Ford sang "Sea Cruise" and Dickey Lee  sang "Tell Laura I Love Her". One nice advantage of chauffeuring them was getting their autographs. Because of my boss, I have a few other autographs too.

That same boss started a silent auction fundraiser in our town. From that, I have several collectibles such as a signed copy of a scrip or something either by Wes Craven or the guy who played Freddy. I would have to look. Also, one of my favorite autographs is by Carl Sagan. When I was really young, I got an autographed picture of Patty Duke when she was starring in the "Patty Duke Show." Got to meet one of the Lassie's at our local carwash about that same year. That was pretty neat. Lassie was brought to town to be in our local parade. Never thought of getting a paw print.  I'll have to get my autographs out sometime and list all of them.

Today's earrings

Earring 0158 - Spanish-style? Eggs

Somewhere on Internet, I found the recipe for Spanish eggs. Whether these really were created in Spain is something I'm unsure of. You take olive oil and get it hot (some people add a little butter too). Meanwhile, carefully crack open an egg into a dish. When the oil is hot, add the egg. During the one minute cooking time, pour the hot oil over the egg. It's different to eat a crunchy white with the yolk not cooked all of the way. It's great and I highly recommend it. I've tried this with just butter but butter doesn't have high enough heat tolerance; the olive oil makes the difference. Sometime I will make it again and display a photo.

Today's earrings will be going to my sister.

We went for a nice ride out in the country. We laughed so hard over three things that happened today to the each of us. Can't share them with you but we laughed so hard it hurt.

Earring 0157 Mistakes and a Perfectionist

Learning a new job has lots of challenges and one of them is patience. Being a perfectionist, a new job presents even more challenges when you make a mistake. I have to remind myself that I'm not God, I'm not perfect, and I can learn by my mistakes, which I do. Just wish that I didn't make any but I've sure learned a lot by them this week. In a year from now, hopefully, I will be able to laugh at today's blog. It's frustrating when you know you're a good employee and smart enough to do the job. It's just a matter of time and learning.

Was surprised my sister didn't call me about yesterday's blog. One of the things I learned yesterday is that Japan has more flamenco dance academies than Spain. Can't remember where I read that yesterday. Here's an interesting site on flamenco in Japan. http://www.flamenco-world.com/magazine/about/japon/japon15062004-1.htm

Here is a clip on Japanese flamenco dancers. It's entitled "Sexy Japanese..." I wasn't sure what to expect and feel the person who posted it was just trying to get more view. He could have deleted the word "sexy" because it's not like the women are sexy, it's the dance that is emotional. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkHstMB43jg.

Today's earrings could have easily been worn by a flamenco dancer.

Earring 0156 - All Pumped UP

Had my first visitor from Spain to my blog. So I started looking up historical jewelry but it kept coming up to earrings made from coins from shipwrecks. That was pretty interesting in itself because I often wondered what happened to the coins on those ships. Found out that they get so corroded making them unsalvageable. Turned my thoughts to something else which my sister and I get to see...flamenco dancing. Our local art club/gallery brought in an authentic flamenco dancer. She was an older woman but knocked my socks off. There is no way that I could have kept up with her. She was amazing. So much emotion and strength within her movements.

As kids, we pretended we were flamenco dancers. Such good memories of that but mostly of seeing a live flamenco performance. This youtube video was one of the best videos that I watched. You can join in and dance on your feet or sit on a chair...it's hard not to get into the rhythm. By the way, when I think of flamenco dancers, I always envision them wearing earrings.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YJWZDncb3c

Today's earrings aren't even close to earrings a flamenco dancer would wear. Pretty sure later this week I will wear one that would make a flamenco dancer proud to dance.

Earring 0155 - Rain!!!

Yippy, skippy - it rained! There was some lightening last night and rain. Today, we've had a good rain on and off, with some thundering somewhere. Couldn't take a nap because I was working.

Short posting tonight because work was a little challenging today. Wish I knew more about my work than I know but it will come with time. Been having lessons in patience the last couple of days so this maybe be another patience lesson.

Today's earrings is one of them I got back from my sister. I really like it but it was a little to heavy for my liking and am glad its out of my ear.

By the way, I bought plain Greek yogurt to make my Greek poached egg dish. Now I just have to remember to bring my locally "grown" eggs from work.

Earring 0154 - Rainy Days, I Wish

We had a rain shower today. First one in some time. Amazing how the river was so high for so long. Now our trout creeks need water pretty bad. Was hoping for a nice long rain shower, possibly overnight and one where I could keep my windows open. Not going to happen.

One of the things that my sister and I have always liked was sleeping while it was raining. Not sure if she's a 100% for that anymore because she lived in city that had a tornado a couple of years ago. However, I will lay odds that if we were to have a rain shower and we could find someone to drive us, that we'd be the back seat of the vehicle with her on the driver's side and me on the passenger's side. Our windows would be down just enough so that the rain wouldn't come in. A little mist is okay. MMMMM, maybe I'll dream about riding in a car as a passenger on a rainy day. Can you tell that I'm a person who isn't very needy and easily satisfied?

 

My sister gave me a 23 silver hoops and a bunch of black earrings back. Guess she was overloaded on what I gave her. Today, I matched the hoops up so that I won't be spending 15 minutes trying to find mates. What surprised me was out of those 23 pairs of hoops, each pair was different. Wonder how Donna did that when she was out buying them. The differences weren't necessarily big differences but no two pair were alike.

Earring 0153 - Speaking about Looks

Looks at these gems...

 

 

 

They are so pretty. Their a shade of green that matched my blouse perfectly. Donna must not have liked green too much because there are only a few pairs of green earrings. It will be hard for me to wait to wear these again. I have so many earrings left to wear for the first time. My rule has been not to wear a pair a second time until I have worn all of the earrings. I haven't even wore a pair of my own earrings in the last 153 days. It will probably get harder for me when my choices are limited.

 

 

Been wanted to watch for the meteor shower. We're going to have a full moon during the shower's peak around August 11 so it's recommended that you start looking now. There's so much haze now that it probably will be difficult to see them. Maybe if we have a good rain shower things might change up a little. They said the best time to see them now is before dawn. Don't know about you but my best sleeping time is before dawn. At least we're able to see that pretty orange moon.

Earring 0152 - Judging by Looks

Very excited about something we are going to try at work...an earring exchange. I'm still going to donate the majority of earrings I have worn but some are going to go to work and we may do an earring exchange. One of my coworkers came up with this idea and it's right up my alley. Often I wear earrings and get tired of them or they aren't exactly what I wanted. We'll try this at work and I'll let you know if it's successful.

Today's earrings - love the way these look but the earrings are not that color. I placed the earrings on some turquoise-colored paper. The earrings are white and the metal is silver. Another case of not judging a person by their looks - you really don't know what they are like on the inside by how they look on the outside.