What did you do all week?

It snowed in Jonesborough this week. I was hoping to have lots of pictures to post. But it was not to be. All around us got lots of snow. We hardly got any.

So I thought about cooking something and showing the end result. Well, I made a nice pot roast yesterday or should I say, the crock pot made it. And I made chili. But everyone has seen pot roast and chili.

Finally, I thought about showing off the new shower curtain. It took me over a week to find the right material. But the material is still material, not a shower curtain.

So there's the knitting. OK, fine I didn't knit either. What exactly did I do all week? Heck if I know.

It's Friday, so I'm not going to worry about it. Have a good weekend.

Happy Birthday, Zel

My friend Zel (in red) celebrated her 70th birthday this evening with 20 plus friends. I was privileged to one of the invited guests.

Zel’s story is her own. I cannot tell it. But it’s enough for me to say that I stand in awe of someone who has lived the life she has and has maintained a love of her fellow man and knows with absolute certainty that she is a child of a loving God.

She did not want a big deal to be made over her birthday. She was slightly embarrassed at the attention we gave her tonight. (Not to mention that calling down for noise that the waitress gave all of us.) She says she has reached the point in her life that she doesn’t want things. Things to dust and things to care for and things to worry about are not what she is about. So we showered her with gift certificates and donations to causes she believes in and gives her heart to. She gives tirelessly to the Compassionate Friends organization. Having lost two sons, she walks the walk.

What a strange week it has been.

This week I lost a friend to the beast.

This week I honored and remembered what would have been my daddy’s 96th (Feb 21,1912) birthday. (Yes, Cheryl, I can do math.)

And I was privileged to celebrated my friend’s 70th birthday.

Life, death, precious memories, friends, having my daddy’s ears. What an extraordinary adventure life is.

My friend CY

My friend CY

Cheryl Thomason

We came to know each other through a breast cancer survivor board. The picture was taken last August. Some of the members of the group got together in upstate NY for what was called Pinkstock 07. From all reports they had a rocking good time. The little NY town might be back to normal by now.

Cy was diagnosed April 24, 2007. She died Tuesday night.

This blog isn't read by many. (I check the stats.) But to those who read it, get your mammogram or get your lady to get hers.

Do it for that lady in the twirling pink dress whose smile lit up the NY countryside. Do it for CY.

Can I interest you?

Tony went to a Key Club district meeting today. They say he's the first Lt. Gov. to come to Key Club events. They think it's great of him, but he just views it as his duty to the kids.

That left me at home this afternoon. Here's what I did.

Then I waited

Finally...

Care to join me? Mmmmm!!!

Fast Company did it again.

They made me think.

I received my March copy today. I always flip entirely through any magaizine I get, then sit down and read it when I have time. I guess I should change the "always" in the sentence above. I also received Sports Illustrated today and it's NOT the issue I look foward to every year. Swinsuits...hahaha.

Anyway, I never finished flipping through FC when I came upon the one page article titled Another Inconvenient Truth. The gist of the article was the overwhelming knee jeck reaction of companies to hop on the green bandwagon is largely bogus.

I'll admit I like my creature comforts, but I do care about mother Earth. I don't want to contribute to her demise. And I want to believe that corporate America cares, also. Yeah, yeah, what planet do I live on.

Read the article. But I just checked. They haven't uploaded March yet.

Oh, to go...

My friend David Joe is trying to make me crazy. He mentioned the Philly Auto show in his blog. I responded that he needed to be planning a trip to the Philly Flower Show. So what does he do? Sends me 2 full pages from the Inquirer (a real newspaper) about what to expect when you go.

Big sigh.

During the six years we lived in SE PA, we were able to go to the show once. That was enough to hook me. I'm not much of a gardener. I like to play in dirt and am usually astonded when something actually grows. But I can appreciate those who do it right.

I'm the one who's mother took back the snake plant she gave me for my college dorm room. Rescued it would be more like it. Seems even indestructible Sansevieria species (snake plants) don't like to be feed "whatever" liquid (use your imagination) is in the cup.

But I digress...the flower show. Let's see, it's 548 miles door to door. If I leave at 7 am I can be there by 3:30 pm. Only 18 more days.

Shower curtains, hats, scarves and buttons

This is the week to replace the shrunken shower curtain. But it's much more. By this time next week, I hope to have a new shower curtain, waste basket cover, toilet seat cover, valance AND a shower curtain. I found the pattern on Sat. and now need to get the material. Then my sewing machine will be working overtime.

I already replaced my shrunken hat with a new, washable one, along with a scarf. I don't like scarves that are long. It's just too much material around my neck. I'll knit the right size for others, but I make mine short. And to make sure it stays in place, I added a button.

The button on it and the hat are special. I went through all my buttons. My buttons stash consists of all the ones I've collected as well as all my mother's. Those two were definitely in her stash. I don't have a clue about age. I did find a few upholstered ones that I reconized as coming from the green sofa that I somersaulted off at 18 months. Broke my collarbone with that stunt.

The scarf and hat are really red with some multi-colored specks. I don't have a clue why they look TN Vol orange in the pictures. I've been knitting like crazy. If anyone needs a hat or scarf, just let me know. If you'r a Small Stuff reader, they would be free except for the two skeins of yarn. And I buy Lion Brand Homespun for 4 bucks a skein.

A real net surfing find

Net surfing can lead to some very interesting sites. I got an email this morning from Overstock.com proporting a great weekend sale. So I clicked on it , checked out some things and then saw this link on the left side.

Caskets

Ok, I'll bite.

Sure enough. You can buy a casket on Overstock.com.

They have 12 styles to choose from and prices ranging from$1499.99 to $2499.99.

I checked out the Solid Cherry Wood for $2499.99. Heck, why not go for the best. Now this is really a good deal. Their price is 50% off the regular price. I couldn't find a review for this item though, so I passed. I like to know what other people think about their purchases. You know...was it pretty, how much upkeep does it take, is it sized right, was it all they said it was?

I checked again. Nope there was no review. I guess I'll pass on that one. Let's see. Here's one with a review. Yeah that was what I wanted to know.

Now there are some things buyers need to know when buying these items on Overstock.com.

The main thing is to plan ahead:

They ship within 2 business days. So have that credit card ready.

Also, if you live in Idaho or Utah, you'll need to ship it to a friend in another state. They don't deliver to you guys.
And make sure that you don't need it delivered on a Sunday. They don't do that either.

According to the site there is a "sellout risk" so make sure you get your order in soon.
Now the good news...They have a "No Payments for 6 Months" options.

Oh, and I checked. They don't sell burial plots. For that you need to go to eBay.

As the song from Jay and the Americans goes..Only in America

.

Click to Give

There are ceertain sites I go to daily. I even have them bookmarked in a folder called Daily.

I have three newspaper sites
1. Johnson City (TN) Press
2. Greenville (SC) News
3. Anderson (SC) IndependentMail

I have one knitting site I visit: Ravelry

Now you might think I have alot of blog sites because I read a lot of blogs daily. But I use Bloglines to tell me when my favorite blogs have been updated. And that site is one of my home page tabs.

There is one other daily site.

Did you know that within a matter of seconds (about15) you can:

• Give 1.1 cups of food to the hurgry
• Help give free mammograms
• Help a child in need get healthcare
• Help a child in need attain literacy
• Help to protect 11.4 square feet of rainforest.
• Give the value of .6 bowls of food to rescued animals.

The site is Greater Good. com

Is it for real? Well, I cannot find anything that says it isn't. You know the internet. If there's something bogus out there usually someone will blow the whistle. The site proclaims that:

Each person's daily click on the Click To Give™ sites displays sponsor
advertising. One hundred percent (100%) of sponsor advertising is paid as a
royalty to charity through the non-profit, tax-exempt GreaterGood.org.

There are also opportunities to support the sponsors. I've looked at some of the stores and there's some neat stuff offered. They also accept monatery donations.

I look at it this way: if it is for real then it's about 15 seconds of my life to help those 6 causes listed above. If it's a scam, then all I lost was 15 seconds. And as long as I'm not eating something fattening in those 15 seconds as opposed to clinking the sites, then I haven't lost anything.

Anyone else out there a Click To Give™ er?

PS
Why do I read the newspapers? I check the obituaries. I am my mother's daugher. She used to bring the paper in, open it on the kitchen table, turn to the back of the first section and read the obituaries. I have become the electronic equivalent of my mother. Sigh!!

The bread recipe

Here's the recipe I used for the Cranberry Bread. I changed it some. I just wasn't sure about the chocolate. I left out the nuts because originally I was making it for Tony to take to work. He hasn't been there long enough for me to know about the other folk's allergies.

Chocolate Cranberry Nut Bread

Makes 1.5 pound loaf (16 slices)

2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons margarine or butter (I used butter)
3 cups bread flour (I always use King Arthur)
3/4 teaspons active dry yeast or bread machine yeast (I use 1 packet of Red Star)
1/2 cups chopped hazelnuts (I would use either walnuts or pecans next time)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cups miniture semisweet chocolate pieces

Taken from Better Homes and Gardens The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking...Recipes for 1 1/2 & 2 lb. Loaves
ISBN #0-20967-5

If you make the original recipe, send reports back. This particular book has lots of good recipes. Everything I've made from it has turned out great.

Blogging...What I've learned so far

Check your links. In yesterday's post I copied from someone's blog. I gave him credit and had a link to his site. What I negelected to do was check his Comments links. Thanks to my friend Diane, I have removed those links. It appeared that someone put a lot of very questionable links in his comments. So I've edited yesterday's post. And I apologize for my lack of diligence.

Now that that's taken care of...I'd like to welcome my friend David Joe Miller to the world of blogs. David Joe is the first storyteller I ever met. He and his lovely wife Robin moved to Philly and that gives us another reason to head up to one of our favorite areas of the country. We had a great dinner with him over Labor Day and then again when they came down for Christmas.

Stop in and encourage him. He's got a wicked sense of humor and I'm sure it will come out in the blog.

A long walk

I want to tell you about a remarkable journey which I feel part of if only a tiny bit.

In March of 2006 a gentleman walked into our little town. We had never heard of Jesse WhiteCrow, but soon he was part of us.

We had a great two or three days with him. I invited him to have lunch with the NSN staff. They didn't seem to see the storyteller I saw. He doesn't do it like others. People who do it outside the box are always suspect by those who live in the box.

I have followed Jesse's journey these last almost two years. When I read his last blog entry, I wanted to hop on the next flight and be there with him when he takes those last steps. That won't happen, but I'll be there with him.

If you would like to read about this remarkable journey, you can find the blog at http://www.whitecrowwalking.com/. Just click on the blog link. I'm trying to find the photos we tokk then.

I'm including his post about that time in March 2005 and his last post. Hope it whets your interest.

17 March 2006

Living In Pictures, Jonesborough TN
Black clouds move their chairs over this Norman Rockwell town, preparing to sit and give up a bit of rain. From the Cranberry Thistle Coffee Shop in downtown Jonesborough I sip their brew of beans as I have every morning for three days. They are very kind, trying to feed my pack as much coffee as they pour in me. I'll love the fresh beans on the trail. As I write, Nancy whisper's to locals about what the walker at the computer screen is doing after he passes through their town. My feet are wiser dogs now. They lie under the table and sleep while they can. They stretch, yawn, and then roll from one side to the other. Dogs know when the rain is coming. Words more than clouds of black hold me in this wicker chair. It is the first week of camp and I am in love more than this trail heart can bear. Trouble is that I am so over stimulated I don't know which pretty girl to carve out my heart for. Yesterday I walked these streets of photogenic facades feeling like I was home in Stockbridge Ma, or Great Barrington. I walked into The Lollipop Shop on Main to look at all the treats, and vintage reproduction children's peddle carts and trikes. Grabbing a handful of dark chocolate, I made for the register. My pack was back at the Franklin House, so this man didn't know my face or story. With a tender smile the older gentleman simple said, "No charge." With my feet under this desk I am still running way ahead of myself.

This town was not a notch on my compass. Coffee. The magic walking bean became my magnetic pull that made my inner needle wiggle. "OLDEST TOWN IN TENN." Thats how the sign read as I broke from intent to desire. On the right as I came into history I saw a library on the right. Many days had passed since I had last found a computer. A week? Tapping computer keys was another fix that I needed to fill.At the counter of the library I gave a quick introduction, never sure how I'll be recieved. It was not the laying out of words with thought. As a cowboy claps the dust across his pant legs with his leather gloves before entering a house from the trail, I have words that I clap against my sleaves to take the road from my shirt. Quickly, questions come to me from the ladies gathered at the back tables. There are many smiles. Smiles are good. At a computer screen that still reflected me pulling notes from my journal bag, I had two invitations for lunch from separate locals. The library ladies asked first so I was to become their guest of honor. Dona called reporters until they came with pens pulled from behind their ears. Dona called them all. Through a lunch of still warm fries, and barbeque chicken on a toasted roll I told stories that pulled half a dozen women away from the table, past the creeks, to where the moose still runs. We talked about snow. We talked about the change of a man, moving toward purpose.

Before lunch was over, Dona offered me a room at her bed and breakfast up the hill. I returned to the computer after press pictures flashed, and Dona gave me directions to The Franklin House, an 1840's house that she rebuilt with her husband Charles with sweat and love. An hour into being in Jonesborough and I had two separate offers to spend the night. Again Dona was first, so I became her guest.Bed and breakfasts are God's gift to the traveling man and woman that acke for grandmother's smells, a mother's attentive coil of deep towels by the bathroom sink, and meals that made you want to pray while you ate even though you just said grace. The Franklin House moved one night into another, and then slipped another under the door while I slept, or was it while I walked through these streets that made me want to collect all those I love in my eyes so they too could see this town too without the hurdles of my words. History came here to visit, then decided to stay. Jonesborough was a pretty girl winking at me, as her hand found mine under the table while her mother served me pie.Last night, Chuck, Dona and myself had to chew quickly though our dinner at the Dogwood Lane Resturant, which of course is a cruel sin when the mouth begs to linger over flavors the mind forgot existed. We had to get to a poetry reading, and talk at the town's visitor's center. George Ella Lyon, who was also staying at the Franklin House, was the award winning poet we were quickening to see.

01 February 2008

Walking Down
Although I climb now into Mount Rainer before again hooking toward the
western coast, I am winding down the walk to Cape Flattery on the Washington
N.W. coastal point. In approx. 5 weeks the walk will be over except for the last
ten to twenty miles to be shared. (Of course this date will be fine tuned as I
leave the land of extreme weather for the coast of rain so completion plans can
be made.) All are welcome from across America to come and walk this last day(or
as much as your comfortable walking) as I take the last steps to the sea. Some
have already made plans, and there are those that would love to be there but are
unable. I will be beyond thrilled to walk the last miles with those I have met
across this country of ours. Even if you are unable to make the distance to
northern Washington I will carry names, faces, memories of all of you that have
shared your lives and personal America with me. This has been the walk based on
a child's dream. This has been the walk of a lifetime. I will update dates and
information as possible.

(Taken from the children's book Paddle To The Sea)

For that instant he looked like his own paddle.
There was a song in his heart.

It crept to his lips.
But only the wind and the water could hear.
You little traveler, you made the journey, the long journey.
You know things I have yet to know you little traveler.
You are given a name , a true name in my father's lodge.
Good medicine little traveler.
You are truely a paddle person.

(As read by Chris in the Morning, KBHR radio, 'Northern Exposure' ep. The
Final Frontier / Paddle To The Sea) posted by WhiteCrowWalking @ 3:33 PM