Times are a chainging

I've got a new look!
I think I hate it but I'll keep playing with it. See what you've done to me with all your talk of painting "girlfriend" !!

Hodgepodge

I know I admitted to being technically challenged, but I ask you, "can the Flu travel across cyber?"
I know one of my co-bloggers had it last week ( cos I read the blog. Hope you are feeling much better by the way :-)) and yesterday it starts playing funny buggers with me.
I mean to say I've heard of computer viruses but for feck sake do they include flu symptoms, the common cold, etc? Is the cold a virus? All I know is that as of yesterday I will be very wary of reading anything typed by anyone who is feeling under the weather.
Weekend was fun with the Sailor and Turnip Guy ( now to be known as Veggie Guy, he has extended his line to include aubergines and zucchini...the size of these puppies defies nature!)round for dinner and drinks. Sailor is going home in October for good, can't even think about that right now.
Veggie guy and I went riding on Sunday. Took the two boys for a ride along the road then back to the ranch and a wee spin up the hill. My old guy (horse) had a beautiful lope which only happens on a 0 - 45 degree slope. Put him on the flat and we have a walk, jog, trot,extended trot, EXPLOSION...ah well I didn't train him...know the man who did though. You'd think that a "Trainer" would be able to manage to teach a horse a simple jog - lope transition?
Obviously not. And people pay for this?????????? Amazing...LOL Thank goodness I did not.
I'll have him doing canter departs in a few days, no worries. The horse that is, not the "trainer". I've just never taken the time to work with him. It's now top of my "to do" list which at the moment could quite happily be transferred onto a roll of TP or two.
All three "sweet" kids off school this week, LUCKY ME.
WT disgusted with Alex11. He is a lurker. She has just informed me that he is not a patch on Alex1 (who was a bit Fish ADD and swam around like a lunatic for the whole week of his little life) I have told her he s one smart fish, conserving energy,if Alex11 croaks then I'm done with aquatic pets. She has come up with a "Fish Walking" invention. Wee wheels on his bowl with a string tied on to pull him around. She is drafting her invention right now. Be sure to keep your eyes open for the latest Fish product coming soon to a store near you! What a kid.
Scoot is running true to form and I am now proficient in every lyric to every song from The Wizard of Oz.
Girlfriend came over yesterday having had a crisis whilst painting her house ( the spray machine thing jammed up) which she informs me is now yellow. Only had to take one look at her yellow speckled shirt,face,hair,neck to confirm that one!
I'm going to click my heels together three times and see where I end up, I'll keep you informed.

Wally Fish and Oz

The Wonderful World of Wally, a store to be reckoned with. The kids wanted to go somewhere today, the zoo was mentioned. In the car and off to Walmart where they got to look at the fishes for half an hour. Cheap day out! ended up buying another friggin fish though, named Alex11, Alex1 only lasted five days bless his wee fishy soul. Well what do expect, it is Wally World for Christ's sake. Do fish have souls? Fish can BE Soles' but do they possess one? There's one for all you Theologists out there.
Scoots last day of summer school today so I'll be off to see the wizard as I follow the yellow brick road to somewhere over the rainbow for the next 3 weeks. Ah if I only had a brain then I could come out and be more optimistic as it stands though the kids will probably be harking ding dong the witch is dead by the end of this too bluddy long summer.It's a killer.

People, people who need people, are the luckiest people...

When i started this blogging lark I had no idea that I'd be travelin through at 500mph! The thing is, when you try to write here every day and then log on, only to realise 9 friggin days have been and gone in a whilrlwind of activity and you, the Whirling Dervish, in the midst of the cyclone are still feeling the centrifugal force it's a wee bit disconcerting!
The growing pains of popularity methinks. Yes dear readers we have had an incredible influx of friends hanging out over the last week. Happy times and some sad, infuriating times and some supportive oh hell I could go on all day. It's been a roller coaster. One can only pray that any advice asked for was the best I could give and any unwelcome advice given I can blow off, pah there it goes.
Waaah, I have teenagers, it's official!
Scoot and The Child Iseult had a birthday on Monday. All scoot wanted was The Wizard of Oz DVD having watched the movie a few weeks ago with HG and Songster. The Child Iseult was granted a new fangled cell phone and they got a Wii.
When will all this new technology end? I'm friggin sinking here! challenged is an understatement. I have no incentive to "keep up with the times" but find myself becoming "Edina" literally!( (If you haven't watched AB FAB then do)
"Sweetie, sweetie, help mommy sweetie" and that's just asking Scoot to turn on the bluddy TV!
Of course the girls and the sex bomb think it's hilarious...ah well maybe I'll award myself the monthly award for July.
In fact I think I damn well deserve it! So there you go I am the July recipient.
Got to report the Shyster was going for the Triple Crown and may yet achieve that status, three in a row, three in a row...I'm thinking though that given the current Olympic Fever, The Shyster could well be a gold medalist for the USA. Lets face it, years of training and daily dedication to perfecting the "Art", a wake of less competent competitors still tryng to figure out where they went wrong and the ambition folks yep the ambition to be the best Shyster in the world. LOL
Anyway back to direct line thoughts, this lateral stuff makes me a tad nutty, or should I say nuttier. Aha, speaking of nuts! Yet another omission by "so called friends"...smiling here.
Bearing in mind I AM a foreigner, when we moved in here a few years ago, the previous owners had left quite a few big planters in the front and back yards. Spring came and off I trotted to Wally World to buy some plants. Got my plants and commenced digging away only to find tons of peanuts in their husks in every pot. Hmmm never seen anything like this before. Now me being me (not wanting to look like a total idiot by asking anyone) came up with the notion that it had something to do with drainage. Yes that must be it, these Americans use nuts as I would use rocks. I have been putting nuts in my potting soil for years! I sh#$#t you not...squirrels looking down on me "There is a Squirrel God, she's here,she's here"
No-one told me, serves me right for not asking and so another lesson learned.

Want to wind up this mornings ranting and raving on a serious note.
I have a newish, lovely girlfriend who went through hell this past weekend as did her significant other. We love you both, we are right here for you, you are in our thoughts and prayers. There is a reason for everything and I have found, it can take years to understand why bad things happen to good people. Hang in there kids, love and support each other.
I found strength in an unlikely source, unlikely given that I am not of that ilk. It has helped me on many many occasions so I pass it on to
Mother Teresa " I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that HE didn't trust me so much"

Passenger Safety

Speaking of road-kill, thinking about it at least, I was curious as to how birds manage to "Get a little blood on the tyres"?
Wee critters I understand, what with the eyes caught in the headlights thingy but birds? They have wings for christ sakes,fly fly fly little birdie. Some obviously can't or won't ascend into the blue yonder.
Daft or fat if you ask me.
Not being an avian expert I cannot attest to this but it would explain the following:- Bird brained and plump as a chicken. Of course chickens can't fly so you would expect a few to be hit by incoming...
Last year in Colorado we are driving along (our designated animal loving driver at the helm)when suddenly and I mean "emergency stop" suddenly, we find ourselves whip lashed with breastbones thumped into the seat belts ( cheap rental so crappy airbags remained intact).
"WTF WAS THAT?" scream the passengers (me loudest since I was riding up front and had seen nothing to warrant such aggressive STOPPING!).
"Oh sorry" says she as she flips a U-Turn 007 would have been proud of.
"There's something been hit on the road, I just want to check it out"
Back to look, only to find what could potentially have been a very small oil stain
"Oh" says she, "It's dead" on the verge of tears.
"Dead? Dead? of course it's friggin DEAD! It's embedded,probably has been there for a year!" also on the verge of tears.
Wee repentant voice "Sorry guys"
"It's ok" as we nursed our necks and chests.
And the moral is?
Road Kill can be VERY dangerous to the health of passengers, when spotted on the other side of the road, by an animal loving driver.

Gimlets get you through

"What will I do when you are far away?"...
HG commenced moving out tonight.The sex bomb and I feeling quite maudlin about loosing our grown up kid, it was a pleasure having him here. Won't miss the 2x dog shit in the yard but hey what's a wee bit shit amongst friends? lol
He has definitely prepared us for The Child Iseult commencing her teens and quite surprisingly the sex bomb was the worrier! I on the other hand managed to be very calm and pragmatic when he was still out after 10 p.m.!
Onwards and upwards we all go Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Love and our best wishes go with him, he's one of the good guys. They are harder to find every day, but he and the Wandering Cowboy fit the bill for me and my wee sex bomb and my Turnip Guy and the Sailor, oh heck, there's loads of them out there!
I've kinda given up on the vacation diary, it all seems another lifetime ago already and every time I talk to my mum I feel sad so I'll maybe pick it up later, we'll see.
Mastering the Art of French cooking is going well, who knew chicken and carrots could take 5 hours to cook? It's better than a diet! So feckin hungry that by the time the food gets to me I'm, over it, comatose or had too many Gimlets to give a damn!
Awww bless his heart he really is quite dedicated in a manic, gimleted ( new invented word) kind of way.
Nighty night my lovies
P.S. the sex bomb has just informed me that in his opinion "My Blog" for him, equates to me reading Spike Milligan's "Hitler, My part in his downfall"
In other words you MUST be Gimlited to find it funny. Sober it just ain't happening. He's a lovely man...Pftttttttt

R.I.P.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died today August 3rd 2008.
Also please take a moment to think about the 140 lives lost today on India.