World's Oldest Blogger

And no, it is not I or Merle. We're spring chickens in comparison.

I was catching up with friend Tammy (see blogroll) yesterday. Incidentally, Tammy has changed the name of her blog from Kentucky Gal to Among Friends (of which she has many, including me). She has discovered a new blogger who puts me to shame.

Her name is Olive Riley, she lives near Sydney, Australia, and she's a 107 year old great-great granny. She's quite wonderful.

I googled her to find that her friend, Mike, who helps her with the blog (or blob as she calls it), had made a film about her a couple of years ago when she was only 105. It was shown on ABC.

Here's a link to a newspaper article about her which includes her first post.

She's already picked up an international following with her first three posts.

I'll be back later to talk about Elcie's preparations for high school. Can you believe she'll soon be 14?

Did You Know?

When you switch to the new Blogger, your email address disappears and you show up in the email copy of the comments as "soandso@anonymous blogger" (or something like that) instead of "soandso@your email.com". That's fine if you don't want me to have your email address but I have most of yours already.

In order to reply, I have to find your email address, erase the "anonymous" in the "reply" part of the email, and copy and paste the email address in.

To fix it (if you want to).

Go into your Profile
It gives you options - check the show email address box
Save changes.

Your email address will never show up in the comments; only in the email copy.

I just fixed mine. Didn't know it needed fixing until a couple of friends mentioned it. Thanks to friend Emma at Fueled by Coffee for the heads up. It would never have occurred to me to look in the Profile.

It's around 10 on Sunday morning and it's raining with more expected. The girls are all lazing around except for Rochelle who is really lazing around. She's still asleep. So is Ray. Rebecca is about to make blueberry chocolate muffins (from a box). She tried blueberry yesterday and somehow ended up with far too much liquid. I suggested converting them to pancakes but we finally settled for adding a little self-rising flour. They turned out fine - just a little "wetter" than your usual muffin. I'm quite creative when if comes to salvaging cooking disasters. I've had lots of practice. This time around I made sure she understood the fractions.

Yesterday, she managed to use 3 wire whisks, one egg beater, and two bowls for one package of muffin mix. Today, I set out the utensils for her under pretext of "helping".

And me? I'm doing laundry including two pair of filthy shoes that somehow have to be in shape for school tomorrow. I bought a couple more pair of slipper socks for Elcie. Her feet are almost healed and I want to keep them that way until I can figure out a shoe that won't rub the tops of her toes raw.

My friend, Wandering Dave, has started his cross country journey. He traveled from here (Merced, CA) to Lodi (without getting stuck but did have a slight, no injury accident when another car sideswiped him), then to Auburn, and by now should be in Reno. (He is, I just checked). From there he'll head to the Pacific Northwest and then I think Alberta. I know he'd welcome comments on the blog which will lead you to his Forum, Podcast, etc. He and his son put a lot of time and effort into setting it up.

Yesterday was beautiful and some of our fruit trees have now joined the almonds in blooming (along with several magnolias). I never knew the magnolia grew this far north until I moved here. They're all over town. Our daffodils should be poking their heads up soon and spring will be here. I took Elcie and Rebecca shopping with me while Rochelle was at the park with friends and then to the cafe for a treat.

My online friend Diane and I were just reminiscing about barbecue. I'd fixed some for dinner last night and there's plenty left over for today. It got me to wondering about a hole in the wall place in Jonesboro, AR where I lived for several years in the 70's. It had the best barbecue I've ever tasted. We used to buy it by the pint (or quart sometimes) along with the buns and coleslaw to go with. We put the coleslaw on top of the "loose meat" pork barbecue. I don't know if anyone outside of Arkansas does that but it's good. It works on a Reuben, why not on barbecue? Diane and her sisters, Donna and Cecil, still live very close to there and I asked them if it was still around. It is and it's expanded to several locations. Good for them. I like to see a family business succeed in the midst of all the franchises. It's possible to drive from one end of the country to the other these days, never leave the freeway and never stop in a privately owned restaurant. I think we lost something that can never be replaced. Or maybe I'm getting old and cranky. I don't long for the days of the washboard, believe me, but I miss the Burma Shave signs. Anyone except me remember them? Four signs, always poetry of sorts, with Burma Shave on the final sign. The kids of my generation were easily amused on car trips and we loved them.

Train approaching
Whistle squealing
Pause, avoid that rundown feeling
Burma Shave

or

Spring Is Here
The Grass Has Riz
Where Last Year's Careless Drivers Is.
Burma Shave.

Aren't you glad those are the only two I still remember?

For any of you who don't know Diane, she writes a family blog full of cooking, pictures, and lots of love. She has to be one of the kindest, gentlest, people I've met online and I've met many wonderful people. She'll be a first time granny soon. Her sisters are great too and both are bloggers. I won't post all the links but if you get to Diane's blog, I'm pretty sure she has links to the others.

Arkansas had a series of tornados over the last couple of days. I know her family is okay and I hope so is everyone else. It's tornado alley there. I remember well, having been in one of them in 1973.

I think Rebecca may have forgotten the muffins. Perhaps I should either find her or check to see if smoke is billowing from the kitchen?

She arrived in the kitchen just as I was opening the oven door and was appalled that I thought she'd forget. Silly me. They still need about five more minutes but they smell wonderful. Nothing worse than an appalled Rebecca.

Carol is about the same but hasn't been readmitted to the hospital which means her fever is either gone or low enough to not be a worry. We weren't sure what would happen. Ray's doing okay, no more falls so far.

The muffins are safely out of the oven and look delicious.

Anyhow, I promised Elcie a game of cards. She's doing crossword puzzles while tapping her fingers on the table and saying "are you done yet". I guess I'm done, at least for now.

Thanks for all the comments and the love. It should be a quiet day if I can get away from Elcie and the card table. Perhaps I can get around to catching up with my friends.

Take care everyone.

Hump Day - 4 Days to Go!!

Of the girls being home from school, of course.

It hasn't been too bad. The weather has stayed decent and we've managed to be out of the house some of the time. They've managed to avoid drawing blood which is a plus.

Tim, Elcie, and I went to see Carol today and then to lunch. She was feeling a little better but very sleepy so we just stayed for a few minutes. It's much easier to make the trip with Tim on his day off - gives me company. Now, all the girls have gone at least once.

And I finally got a haircut and feel much more like my normal self, whatever that is. I'd begun to resemble a sheepdog.

Ray's feeling better. He's supposed to see a specialist in Modesto (the other side of Turlock about 45 miles from here) about the possible crushed discs. Surgery? We don't know yet but I hope not. More driving but I can combine a visit with Carol with the appointment or my friend can take him.

Not much else but I wanted to check in briefly.

Did you know there is a new 12 Step program for Email addicts? I'm watching ABC news and they swear it's true.

Do you feel powerless over email? I think they're including the "blackberry" and the report is aimed more at businesses than at we folk who chat back and forth. I googled it and here is a CNN online article along with a link to the 12 Steps.

It's not a problem for me. I love getting mail and answering. I don't think I'm obsessive but that could be "denial".

Thanks for the comments and your kindness. Take care and have a good weekend if I don't get back before then.

Sunday Morning (Updated)

The rain seems to have left for the time being and the days have been pleasant.

The girls are out of school for nine days, it's around 7:45 a.m., and they're still asleep.

Hope all of you in the "snow belt" are managing okay. My home county (Herkimer in New York) is snowbound as is my birth city of Syracuse. My adoptive mom and my brother both live in Albany and I've heard that area is covered up as well. I have one blogging friend in Herkimer County who will be spending her weekend shoveling.

The temperature in Australia is hovering over 100° (F) and one of my southern California friends tells me it's in the eighties there. Hasn't reached us yet and I think San Francisco has been cold and wet.

I haven't written much about Carol lately. She's been slipping ever since her week home and it became worse after the trip to the doctor here. I think the two unnecessary trips used up what little reserve energy she had. The care facility called me late Friday afternoon to tell me she was running a 105° fever (98.6 is normal in Fahrenheit) and they were sending her to the hospital.

I'm too tired mentally and physically to even rant about the utter stupidity of those two trips. They didn't change the eventual outcome but she would have had a little more time of feeling reasonably well. Instead, she was exhausted and in pain by the time she left (on both trips). On the other hand, she did get the one last visit home, had time to be with the girls (her grandkids) and they were able to see her outside the confines of a nursing home. I try to look at that visit as more of a plus than a minus overall.

I was going to make a trip Saturday but I was too sick to make the drive alone and I didn't want to ask Ray. He took a nasty fall earlier in the week (right on his face) and is now in a neck brace. He would have gone without hesitation but it would have been too much for him. I'll wake up a little and try it today after I've called the facility and/or hospital. Not that I expect to find out much with a phone call but I can try.

Anyhow, yesterday I wouldn't have trusted myself to drive, even on the back roads. Today seems to be better so far. I think it was just stress and depression catching up. My own energy level has slipped drastically lately.

Blogger keeps telling me "publishing may fail" and I keep saving this. Perhaps I'd better finish it up while I still have the net.

The girls are okay so far. They know what's going on although we don't dwell on it. We've all been doing what we always do. I won't take them to Turlock unless they specifically ask and I don't think they will. We had the week when Carol was home and almost herself for part of it. I'd rather they remember that. I could be wrong; I just don't know. I'll play it by ear for now.

Carol may pull out of this episode but if she does there will be another and another.

Anyhow, I'll be okay. I've bounced back in the past; I will again. I must.

Update Sunday afternoon: Since I wrote this I've seen Carol. She is doing better; her fever is down a little and she's out of the hospital although she may have to go back. I took Rochelle and Rebecca after all because it would have been too much for Ray with all three. It worked out. Carol was in good spirits and glad to see them.

I've been reading all your comments and even check on most of your blogs. Between the "iffiness" of the net lately and my own lack of energy I haven't gotten back to many of you with comments or replies but I am keeping up and thank you.

PI, I'm pretty sure Merle is Peter's sister-in-law. If I'm wrong, she can correct me. (Peter just did. They're brother and sister.) Thanks, Peter. I think I knew that once upon a time.

Take care everyone. I'll get back when I can.

Cats and Other Things

My friend Merle's (see hidden blogroll) post today (or possibly tomorrow - she's in Australia so today may be tomorrow - oh never mind) asked us to wish her friend Nick a Happy Birthday. Of course I did and discovered another wonderful blog to add to my list.Nic

Nick is Sometimes Saintly Nick. He lives in Louisville, KY with his cat Alex. He has obviously had years of experience dealing with the behavior, or lack thereof, of cats.

Here's what he said a couple of days ago. I can identify and add a few of my own.



In order to punish your cat for poor behavior, here are a list of items that the cat may write on a chalkboard. Fill in the blanks:

1. [xxx] is not food.
Dental floss, plants, Kleenex, toilet paper, human's homework, photographs, shoes, sweaters, socks, the couch, electrical cords/devices, phone cord, vases of flowers, my poop, electric wiring, the rubber fish toy my human drags around for me to play with; rubber bands; Mom's toe; the HUGE fly; used Q-tips; the other cat's vomited food.

2. I will not jump on the [xxx].
kitchen counter, table, stove, barbecue, my human's full bladder at 5:30 A.M., bed at night, TV, bed from the top of the wardrobe at night.

3. I will not sharpen my claws on the [xxx].
sofa, carpet, drapes, my human's leg, my human's boss's leg, the new speakers, wallpaper, window screen, car tires.

4. I will not pee/poop/barf a hairball on the [xxx].
floor, carpet, sofa, clean laundry, sleeping human, human's tax return, the tax auditor, TV, baby's mattress, kitchen counter, dining room table, big people's shoes, bathtub, my Dad's collection of (expensive) Nazi daggers, marble floor (acid vomit+marble=etched marble).

5. I will not climb the [xxx].
Screen, bulletin board, speaker, curtains, redwood trees, walls, lampposts.

6. I will not dunk [xxx] into my water dish.
Tissues, my toy mouse, the house plants, half-digested food

7. I will not hide [xxx].
Pens, curlers, or house keys under the carpet.

8. I recognize that the [xxx] has a right to exist.
Belt, fringe on the bathroom rug, fuzzy toilet seat, house plant, human's toes, baby, human, blue jays outside, teddy bear

9. [xxx] is not cat food.
Chocolate, bananas, pizza, any human food, tea

10. [xxx] is not a bed.
The stove, the pot (not hot) on the stove, sink, the crystal bowl from the people's wedding, piano strings, Mommy's sock drawer, the inside of the antique radio, the car, the electric organ, the computer keyboard.

11. [xxx] is not prey/a toy.
The paper coming from the printer; the newspaper; Mummy; open milk cartons; toilet paper; pantyhose; paper clips; human's toes; my human's penis (see "Robin Williams, Live at the Met"); Christmas tree ornaments; the produce ripening on the kitchen counter; Q-tips; Black Widow spiders; any food, whether wrapped in something or not; the sheets; the computer mouse; Mommy's snow white lace garter from her wedding with the beautiful tasty maribou feathers on it;

12. I will not try to climb into the [xxx].
Freezer, refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, garage.

Contact Granny (oops)

Angela and I have hit a small snag on the "contact granny" link. We've deleted it until we can figure out what Blogger (or gremlins) have done to us.

Most of you have my address. For those who don't and want it, it's ann.adams95340@gmail.com

Happy Valentine's Day. The girls, as usual, waited until the absolute last minute to tell me they needed goodies for each of their classes. I didn't know middle school did that.

I picked up six packages of cupcakes; mixed chocolate and vanilla, pink frosting with heart shaped sprinkles. 24 each - I hope it's enough.

Ray has a doctor's appointment today and my friend Dave's going away party is at noon. I'll miss him. Tuesday mornings were always something to look forward to. My friend Janet has begun joining us lately and maybe the two of us will continue the "tradition".

I'll try to get back later. Jim is home for a couple of days and I took a picture of him and Tim together. He's bought a motorcycle for traveling from Yuma to central CA. One more thing for mommy to worry about. I don't think we ever stop fretting about our kids.

Take care everyone.

Where'd the blogroll go? Update

So, the blogroll has officially been moved!

In the sidebar there is a link to Ann's Friends - right below the picture of the girls.

We decided to move it so that we could put links to the different labels in the sidebar without completely overwhelming the readers of the blog.

Angela

===

Would my friends from all over please send a huge virtual hug to my friend Angela? I have no idea now many hours she put in. I'm afraid to ask. We now have a hidden blogroll, labels and the girls' picture on the sidebar, and a refreshing new look to the blog.

Wow.

Ann

Labels

I've been thinking about going back to September 2005 and adding labels to my posts. One at a time.

Now I've discovered a new way.

From Zoey via Val and Susie, here's the secret. Click on the Zoey link.

Now my only problem is figuring out what to label them. Most of my posts are about a little bit of everything. Oh well, I'll figure it out. One huge category called miscellaneous perhaps?

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I was going to try for something fancy but my brain isn't up to it this morning.

Update. Hey, it works!! I just labeled all my recipe posts. If I can do it, anyone can.

Recipe Time Again

It's raining here, chilly and drizzly. I woke up early for a Saturday and I've been trying to catch up a little with my blogging friends.

Children just got up and are asking for oatmeal so this will be short. I promised as soon as I finished my coffee, we'd do it.

Which brings me to comfort food and this post from Controlled Chaos. She lives in Michigan, it was -4° (F) when she wrote it, and she had four kids home from school because of the weather.

Note: The link didn't highlight for some reason but it's there. Click on "this post".

So, she cooked. One of the recipes is for broccoli cheese pockets, the other for a yummy pasta dish.

My coffee cup is almost empty, I've put off the oatmeal as long as possible, and then I'm taking my friend grocery shopping.

Have a nice weekend, whereever you are. Merle and the rest of my friends in Oz, please send a little of your "warm" this way.

Word Verification?

For any of you who haven't cussed at it, it's that illegible code in the comment box. I'd get rid of it but it's useful in filtering the dreaded spam. It also comes in audio which seems to be even worse.

My settings tell me it's enabled but with the new blogger evidently the contributers (Me, Angela, Tim, Jen, and Alice) aren't required to use it and can't see it. So, please let me know if you have to enter the code to comment.

Also, I love the colors I have now. Before we lock them in place, please let me know if everything is visible and if the size of the font in the post is large enough.

I'm using Firefox and sometimes colors show up differently on IE or even another monitor. As long as I get to keep my purple, I'm flexible with everything else. I had this problem in the first few months after I started the blog and everyone was too polite to tell me they couldn't read it.

This time I'm asking first.

It's still a work in progress but Angela is doing a beautiful job. We'll have a new banner with a pic of the girls up in the next few days. Snapshot this time instead of their school pics. Much more normal (for them) looking.

Take care everyone.

Hi, Angela here! *Updated*

I'm currently in the process of updating the blogroll - but since Granny has A LOT of friends it's taking me a while (darn new blogger templates!). However, if you are linked and it doesn't work, let us know so that it can be fixed.

Thanks!

Update: It's now just after 11pm, and I've finished the blogroll. However, if your name is wrong I deeply apologize - let us know!

And may I just comment on the fact that blogger's spellcheck doesn't know the word blogroll? Weren't they one of the inventors of the concept?

It Doesn't Matter How Elcie's Hair Starts Out

This is what it looks like at the end of the day.

Remember my missing camera? The straw that almost broke the camel's back around here?

The picture was taken with it about 20 minutes ago.

I'll never know exactly what happened but somehow it was traced by my friendly neighborhood detective squad (kids) back to a guy who paid $20 for it. We went over, discovered he was more inexperienced than dishonest, gave him the $20 and took my camera home.

He had no idea what he bought. Pushed a button, took a couple of pictures, and then couldn't figure out what to do with them. They were still on the camera. I told him owning a computer and the software would have been helpful; otherwise, it was next to useless for him.

Considering everything that's going on, the missing camera shouldn't have bothered me so much but it did. I'm terrible at remembering to develop film, I'm no great shakes at photography, and it was perfect for what I wanted to do which was to take pictures and see them immediately. I didn't even mind buying my own camera back. If the guy thinks I'm a sucker, he might be right but I don't care. A new one would have cost at least 6 times that with the memory card and lithium battery.

Anyhow, that's Elcie of course with her laptop (provided by the school district). She just finished copying her Language Arts homework to the computer using the voice recognition software. She has it down pat. She'd already written it out and just wanted the practice.

I think we're almost all over whatever the latest bug was that's making the rounds. Still some sniffles but we can live with that. We still don't have the heavy rain we expected; just drizzles from time to time. The girls are back on the bus; at least until the weather decides what it wants to do. Two miles in a downpour (with colds) is a little much.

Tim and I went to lunch at the best Italian restaurant in town. It's the only Italian restaurant in town as a matter of fact. Very good. Then I took him apartment hunting. He's been living with Jim and family. It now looks like Jim's National Guard service on the border will go on for some time so Melissa and gang will probably be moving to Yuma in July. Tim's getting an early start on checking out available places.

And not much else going on.

A couple of people had problems commenting unless they went with "anonymous". I emailed a friend and here's what she said:

In the new Blogger under Settings/Comments you can answer the question "Who Can Comment?" in three ways:

Anyone -- This allows commentors to choose their Google identity, an "other" identity, or "Annonymous". This option should tell you how you are signed in.

Only Registered Users -- which requires people to have a Google account even if they don't have a blog. You will notice that if you click on some people's names you go to a profile that says nothing about them)

Members of This Blog -- This is an option would be far less confusing if it said "other authors of this blog."

I can't find an option that prevents anonymous comments and still allows people comment without a Google account. Maybe some of your other readers know.

I'm set up for "anonymous" here but still it would be nice to know who you are. If the above doesn't help, let me know or maybe some of our other visitors can chime in.

Take care everyone.

New and Improved?

Welcome to the new improved Blogger or so they tell me.

And a big hug and thank you to super smart friend Angela who answered my panic stricken email when I wasn't allowed to access my blog without converting it.

Now we'll see if it works.

Carol's doctor appointment here turned out to be a mixup after all but no harm done except that the drive was hard on her. She couldn't sit up in the examining room and took a nap here before my friend who had picked her up in Turlock drove her back.

We won't have to do it again and one more doctor agreed with what the others had been saying.

Now it's Ray's turn for appointments. Nine o'clock this morning for an Xray and noon (almost there now) for an EEG. Two different times and two different places.

Frozen pizza for dinner tonight (although I may at least thaw and warm it first).

The girls have been trying to come down with something for most of last and this week. Elcie missed school yesterday. I sent her today but keep waiting for the phone to ring asking me to bring her home. Our pediatrician told my friend there are at least five varieties of the crud making the rounds in addition to scarlet fever. Their office is jammed.

And it's raining off and on and probably will be until at least next Tuesday. Nothing compared to what my friends in the east and mid-west are experiencing but I still could have done without it. Why can't we train it to rain on the farms which need it and not on the roads?

Rebecca is back on the bus, at least for now depending on her conduct and what the weather is like.

Thanks to all for the comments and I apologize for not getting back to many of you. The net has been working when it feels like it, I've had problems accessing comment boxes, and just catching up when I can.

And now blogger won't save this as a draft. I'm going to copy it and stash it somewhere.

Take care everyone.

Any Knitters Out There?

A friend from Houston found this wonderful story in the Houston Chronicle today. Thanks, Worried American. I told you I'd probably steal it.

Here's an excerpt:

WASHINGTON — They started out just wanting to join a club, to gather in the cafeteria before school a morning a week, talk to their friends and learn to knit.

But for 80 third-graders at Westwood Elementary School in Friendswood, the knitting club has become so much more.

About 325 baby hats made at the school — and a quarter-million others donated by knitters and crocheters around the country — make a stop in Washington today en route to expectant mothers in Bangladesh and Malawi who may be able to increase their babies' chance of survival simply by covering their heads for warmth.

And 8-year-old Elizabeth Warwick is on her way to the White House, carrying a message from her classmates in Friendswood to the president of the United States: Learn to knit. Send yarn. Give more money to developing countries so little babies can stop dying.

What a simple idea. 8 and 9 year old kids learn to knit which in turn helps their language skills, their math, and their ability to follow directions. The wee caps are sent to children to improve their survival chances. It costs nothing except the price of the yarn and shipping.

We often wonder as parents or caretakers what we can teach our children about helping the less fortunate. Seems to me this is a good start.

In other news. This week is finally over. I need to replace all 4 tires at some point but my neighbor who works for a tire company gave me a usable tire which will get me through for a while. I'll stay off the freeway, I already combine trips as much as possible, and maybe I can get through a month with no extraordinary expense. The ordinary is bad enough.

Tim and I visited Carol yesterday. She'd had a bad day emotionally earlier in the week and I couldn't get in that day because of the tire. By the afternoon, some of her friends from her church had visited and she was feeling better.

I took her some of the snacks she enjoys and a couple of "message" t-shirts. She's doing okay, considering. She has the medical appointment in town next week. We'll keep that appointment just to find out what's going on and then if she feels like spending the night with us she can.

Rebecca and Rochelle have tentatively decided they prefer walking to riding the last bus in the afternoon. Today they came in at least 30 minutes earlier than they would have on the bus. I think I agree with them. They can still ride the morning bus of course but will walk from their middle school home which will eliminate both the afternoon buses since their transfer point is further from here (I checked) than their school.

They take a shortcut through the Mall, get a free drink of water at one of the fast food places, and a free sample of candy at See's. They already have the routine down to a science. It wasn't much of a punishment for Rebecca, was it.

Rebecca has improved so much this year. So far her only problems revolving around school (other than that one day of hookey) have been on or around that bus. Her other two drivers haven't complained. That doesn't mean I blame the driver. It means I know Rebecca's limits and I think too much time on buses at the end of the school day exceeded them. He does seem to be a little more strict than her other drivers but it's his bus after all. Perhaps he has to be because of the mix of kids on his bus. In any event, it often took an hour for the final bus to drop them off and then another ten or fifteen minutes to walk the rest of the way home.

I ended her grounding today and allowed the two of them to go to Rollerland for the once-a-month school special. Elcie and I went shopping at the Dollar store and then over to Barnes & Noble to annoy her Uncle Tim for a while. She bought valentine gifts for me, Ray, and her mom with her $ store money. Then she talked me out of a book at B&N. I laughed because I knew she'd do that. She selected an abridged version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. With my discount, it worked out to a little over $3.00 which wasn't bad. I don't know where her interest in Dracula, haunted houses, etc. comes from but at least she's reading.

B&N has started a Middle and High School reading club one night a month. They already have a club on Saturdays for the younger kids. Elcie seems interested. I'm not sure about the other two. They may be a little young - we'll see.

She had a raspberry drink called Bohemian Raspberry with a cookie. I had to explain the play on words - she's a little young for Queen although she's heard some of their music without knowing it. I know she's sung "We are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You" in elementary school.

It's okay. She doesn't understand the play on words with Cherry Garcia either. I had to explain it. Sometimes I feel so old.

Speaking of explaining, I shouldn't assume that everyone is familiar with Cherry Garcia. It's an ice cream produced by a company called Ben & Jerry's. All their flavors have odd names but Cherry Garcia after the leader of the Grateful Dead, the late Jerry Garcia, is probably their best known. Very good, a little out of my price range except for very special occasions.

Thanks to all of you for the comments. My internet has behaved for 3 days in a row. I may catch up eventually.

Please have a good thought and/or prayer for the people of Florida. I have blogging friends there as I'm sure many of you do and I keep checking back online to see if they've posted. I've survived one tornado, I never want to see another. Words can't describe the devastation and central Florida's was tragic with extensive destruction and loss of life.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend.