Pretty wonderful

One of the blogs in my reader is Humans of New York, HONY.  Why?  Well, I ♥ NYC, and the photographer is great.  Right after Hurricane Sandy, he started posting images related to the storm.  I'm going to display some of them in one post.  People are pretty amazing.

These two women came from the Netherlands to run in the marathon today. Instead of moping about the event being cancelled, they spent their time volunteering on Staten Island. Saw so many people in running gear today, helping New Yorkers remove debris from their houses. Makes sense— because nobody who signed up for a marathon is afraid of hard work.

Firefighters from FDNY Engine 228. When I was taking the photo, a bystander leaned in and whispered: “They aren’t even on the job. It’s their day off.”

“We ordered a bunch of pizzas for the firefighters. And when we came to pick them up, they refused to let us pay for them.”

In times of crisis, we realize the mass amount of manpower and infrastructure underlying those resources we take for granted. This truck was driven into Staten Island by FuelReliefFund.org, a charity that specializes in delivering fuel to disaster areas. A little less romantic than handing out food and blankets, but such important work. Their motto: “The next best thing to food, water, and shelter.”

“What’s your favorite thing about each other?”
 “He brings me tea in bed.”
 “The conversations we have at night.”

I discovered these four on a devastated street in New Dorp. They were cleaning debris out of a flooded house. The couple on the left is from Harlem. The couple on the right is from Ireland. They met this morning on the Staten Island Ferry, and decided to spend the day volunteering together. To complete the circle, they were all HONY fans. :)

In this week’s matchup, the Staten Island Hurricanes take on Hurricane Sandy. Staten Island favored by three touchdowns.

"Count Your Blessings" — Greenwich Village, Christmas 2011

Hurricane Sandy Relief — Staten Island, 2012

I was at a volunteer station in Staten Island this weekend when I recognized a man. I remembered taking his photo on Christmas Day last year, in Greenwich Village. The holiday-themed caption was: “Count Your Blessings.” How fitting that I’d discover him one year later, on the other side of the city, helping with hurricane relief.

This week HONY is doing a fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, the link is here, if you're interested.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life with me,

Halloween Trivia‏

* "Phasmophobia" is the fear of ghosts.
* A cup of candy corn has fewer calories than a cup of raisins.
* It's illegal to sell a haunted house in New York without informing the buyer.
* Eighty-two percent of children take part in Halloween festivities, as do sixty-seven percent of adults. * The first jack-o'-lanterns were made of turnips.

* "Samhainophobia" is the morbid fear of Halloween.
* Halloween is the biggest holiday of the year when it comes to candy sales--estimated at $1.93 billion. One quarter of all the candy sold each year is purchased between September 15 and November 10.
* The word witch comes from the Saxon word wicca, which means "wise one."
* Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green.

* In France, more than 30,000 werewolf cases were tried between 1520 and 1630.
* Dracula is the most filmed story of all time.
* The biggest pumpkin on record weighed 1,385 pounds. It was weighed in October 2003 at a pumpkin festival in Canby, Oregon.

* Trick-or-treating is an Irish tradition, based on a custom where wealthy landowners would give food to the poor on Halloween night, believing ghosts would look favorably on them for doing so and spare them from mischief.
* In Romanian, Dracula means "Son of the Devil."
* The Scots believed in "Samhanach," a goblin who came out only on Halloween and stole children.
* Halloween costume sales are estimated at $1.5 billion.
* Eighty percent of kids say their favorite Halloween candy is either chocolate or gum.
* Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables.

* Pennsylvania was the first colony to legalize witchcraft.
* There is a poisonous mushroom called a jack-o'-lantern. These mushrooms are a bright orange-yellow in color and on rainy nights they appears to glow in the dark.
* Fifty-one percent of all American adults believe in ghosts. Nine percent of Americans claim to have been in the presence of a ghost during their lifetime.
* Americans consume about 20 million pounds of candy corn each year.

* The Count Dracula Society was founded in 1962.
* In the 17th and 18th centuries, people in costumes and masks would go from house to house, singing and dancing to keep evil at bay. These people were known as "guisers."
* Americans spend about $50 million on Halloween greetings.
* According to studies, the smell of pumpkin pie is the most arousing to women, followed by lavender, cucumbers, baby powder and Good & Plenty candy.

* At one time, there were public trials and convictions of animals for witchcraft.
* In Lewis, Scotland, Halloween was once celebrated by designating one man to wade into the evening sea and offer a cup of ale to Shoney, a sea god.
* In the North of England, Halloween was called "nut-crack" and "snap-apple night."
* Ninety-nine percent of pumpkins sold in the U.S. are used to make jack-o'-lanterns.
* The first Frankenstein film was produced by Thomas Edison in 1910.
* The average U.S. household spends $44 on Halloween candy.

Be safe my friends.  (all images are here.)

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life with me,

Busy

pin

This has been a very busy week for me.

First off, I may have purchased some fabric.  I've been really good, this year about fabric purchases, but I seem to have fallen off the wagon.  Here's my latest, just this morning:

etsy

Can you blame me?  I love letters and text, not just on fabric, everywhere.

I put the finishing touches on three quilts that I got back from the long arm quilter.

Kites

Modern Rainbow Patchwork

Colorful Patchwork

The solid colors are the same in all three quilts.  They are in the shop, if you're interested.

Bob and I made two trips to San Diego for medical appointments, on Wednesday and Friday.  One for the hematologist and one for the G.I. doc, so he can get an infusion.  We can't do both in one day, even though they are less than a mile apart, because we never know how long each appointment will take.  Sometimes I go to the zoo, or just stroll around town, run errands and take photos.

On Thursday I had to cancel my Tai Chi class because we spent the day in the ER, at Loma Linda Murrieta.  Bob was close to fainting every time he tried to stand.  Plus he had a lot of pain in one knee.  The knee was the easy part, the ER doc was pretty sure it was bursitis, but couldn't do anything about it because of Bob's other medical conditions.  The near-fainting was due to too much potassium in his blood.  Too much potassium is caused by the kidneys not functioning properly.  And Bob's really don't work very well.  Of course, it's all because of diabetes.  {DON'T GET DIABETES!}  We were there all day.  The ER doc was careful and thorough, even calling Bob's other drs.

pin

To tell you to truth, I'm pretty tired today, but I just got an email from my LQS, local quilt store, that they are going out of business (they're going to spend more time with the grandkids), and everything is 40% off.  What is it they say, "No Rest For The Wicked".  I'm gonna be wicked and head to my LQS, just can't help myself.

pin

I just hope I didn't wear you out, reading this!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life with me,

Lumpy bed

No, we don't need a new mattress.  We actually got a new mattress set last year and we're very happy with it.  You may wonder why there're lumps in our bed.  The truth is, we've added them.

Bob and I were both experiencing horrible leg cramps during the night.  We tried upping our mineral intake, but that didn't seem to do the trick.  The cramps were bad, like the kind you got when you were a kid, and some one wisely told you they were growing pains.

I remembered reading a newspaper article about adding a bar of soap to your bed, between the bottom fitted sheet and the mattress pad, to stop leg cramps.  Since nothing else had worked, I told Bob we were going to give it a try.

Drum Roll, Please - It Worked

The bars of soap, I did two since we had plenty of soap and both of us were having the problem, have been below the sheets, for a month now, and I'm happy to report no leg cramps.  I've decided not to remove them, as a test; because who wants more leg cramps, not us!

This is the soap I used,

but I'm certain, any type of soap will do the trick if you want to try it.

 

Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,

Momma's got a brand new bag

I'm a pretty casual gal and I really needed a new purse.  Most of the bags in the stores that were "doable" had way too much hardware on them for my taste; I turned to etsy, and went the hand made route.  Of course there're tons of etsy shops that sell hand made purses.  This is the one I settled on:

It was made by a great gal in Ohio, creationsbyellyn, and it's reversible. 

These are the items that go in my purse, every day, and they fit in my new bag, perfectly.  I bought the small zip pouches a long time ago from JPATPURSES, also an etsy seller.

After I'd used my new bag for a week or so, I decided I probably wouldn't ever reverse it; I like having the pockets on the inside.  But, I want another one, just like this, but black on the outside; I thought that'd be better for the "winter" months.  I know we don't have much "winter" in SoCal, but I contacted creationsbyellyn, and ordered a 2nd bag with a print, this time paisley, on the inside and solid black on the outside.  It's winging it's way to me, as I type.  She's a wonderful etsy seller.  Stop by and visit her and see what else she has to offer.

Now, here's something funny, when my new bag came, I realized it was the same fabric, only black instead of brown, of one of the tablecloths I'd made!

Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,

Best laid plans

This was my plan for this week:

Sunday:  Scheduled to work at B&N.
Monday:  Finish HST Rainbow Quilt

Tuesday:  Finish back for HST Rainbow Quilt, teach Tai Chi, in the evening play cards with friends.
Wednesday:  Go do something fun, I'm thinking of the Zoo
Thursday:  Get my teeth cleaned, teach Tai Chi, play dominoes in the evening.
Friday:  Scheduled to work at B&N.
Saturday:  Scheduled to work at B&N.

This is what's actually happened, so far:

Sunday, worked at B&N.
Monday, started sewing, got called into work at B&N, some one was ill and needed to go home.  That some one stayed and filled me in on numerous things, while I'm encouraging her just to go and get some rest.
Tuesday, woke up with a horrid summer cold.  At first I thought it was allergies, because I have allergies 365/24/7; but I soon decided it was a cold.  Treated myself with OTC meds, Dayquil and Nightquil. Cancelled the Tai Chi class, stayed home from the card game.  Bob went and had a great time.
Wednesday, feeling better, but I'm hanging out in a T and sweats, and I'm gonna finish my HST Rainbow Quilt; and maybe the back, too.

As I said, Best laid plans.

Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,

what do you do?

Karen from Sew Many Ways posed a good question, today.

"When you get up in the morning, what do you do?...do you...


Shower, get ready, get dressed and then go into the house to start your day...or


Do you go out into the house in your pj's or comfy clothes, have a cup of tea or coffee, something to eat, start the craziness with the family etc..."

This is what I do:

I eat my breakfast and read the newspaper in my jammies, then I shower and get ready for my day.  I don't start any projects or cleaning, until I'm dressed. Be prepared is my motto.

How about you?  How does your morning start?

Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,

Bothered

Do you remember the top photo, from last week?  One of my neighbors, who I've been friends with for about 8 years, she also takes my Tai Chi class, told me that I didn't look anything like my wedding photo.  I replied, "Really?"  She said, "Not at all."  I've always thought that I pretty much looked about the same my entire life, except for the laugh lines and wrinkles.  I've run into old friends that I haven't seen in 25 years and they always recognized me.

My "friend's" comments shouldn't have bothered me, but they did.  This collage shows me over the past 66 years, what do you think?



Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,

Issues

 I've just removed two of my post.  They had photos in them, and after re-posting the photos two times, blogger is still not displaying them.  I'm sure this is temporary, and I hope it'll be fixed by tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,

Murrieta

You may have heard, we had a wicked storm last night.  Huge amounts of wind and rain.  I took some photos this morning while walking the dogs, before the next storm visited.  It's visiting, now!

This is the golf course, from Colony Drive at 7:45 this morning.

Below you can see the ducks enjoying an unplanned lake on the golf green.

Above is a dandelion, they're always facinating to me, with no parachutes.
Below is raindrops on a Cypress Geranium.

And last but not least the battered Jasmine in my front yard.

Thanks for stopping by, we enjoyed having you,