My photo
No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Part of Jenny's blog challenge

I am following the lead of Suzanne, who is, in turn, following the lead of her blogging friend and neighbor, Jenny. The challenge was to go to my photo page, choosing the sixth file in, and click on the sixth photo in the file, and write something about it! Thank goodness that the sixth picture was so wonderful a source for material!!!

This is a photo taken on the last day that Lynn, Lisa, Noah, Gabe and Manny were with us in Orange Park, after spending a week enjoying the liquid sunshine Tropical Storm Fay brought with it. Noah's first visit to my home and this is what he gets! I have assured Noah that the miserable weather at CHRISTmas last year more than makes up for the storm we had during his visit here, August, 2008.

Manny is such a sweet talker and he appears to be doing just that as he holds his mom's attention while she reclines on the loveseat. The partner photographs show Justin sitting alongside of Lisa, and Gabe, on the floor right in front of them.

Okay, this is enough already!

No, I am done lamenting about the abominable adoration of a child-molester---I am lamenting there is no sunshine again today! When there is nothing else to talk about, we can always discuss the weather, right? Weather matters here in Florida, at least for me it does, but I am not a farmer, or a fisherman, or a landscaper, or a framer, or a roofer. Let me think: who would consider three days of rain and gloomy skies to be a blessing? Fire fighters perhaps, since some areas are in high fire danger? Umbrella salesmen? Boots and rainwear purveyors? Certainly not the fellows attempting to seal and paint my building!
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On the "bright" side, my house smells awesome because Joanne is busy in the kitchen, frying bacon for her special baked bean recipe. Tomorrow is our monthly dinner, postponed from last week due to many having previous commitments. Our theme is "Picnic" for which I am making German potato salad with hot bacon dressing. As long as she is cooking bacon, she is going to make enough for me, too! Only one mess to clean up that way, and ooohhh, my---does it smell good in here! When Noah was here last August, he made bacon and it was the first time, I think, that smell was in my house! I told Mona I wanted a candle that smelled like bacon frying and she said that smell all the time would make her gag. Her claim was that it smells good at first but if it lingers, it just smells like hot fat! I am familiar with THAT smell!!!
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Years ago when I attended a Writer's Conference, one of the speakers in a class was an editor for one of the houses in New York. She reported that the worst invention ever was the "tool" on a computer called "Spell Check"! For an editor, it is a nightmare because writers will rely on hitting Spell Check for catching spelling errors, which it will, but it does not catch usage errors (as an example: knot, not) that will totally change the piece. (Piece, peace). It makes writers lazy and editors crazy! The reason this came to mind was it seems that my Spell Check is on the fritz, marking as "misspelled" words which are not. On this computer, the error is highlighted in yellow, and as one moves the cursor over the error, the correct word choices drop down for the writer to pick from. Lately, when it highlights something and I go to look at it, the word is actually correct the way it is. Hmmm, what is up with that? I hate to be argued with in the first place, and mostly, when I am NOT wrong. Really, who does?
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My sister, Kerry, gave me my laugh of the morning, writing me very early from Oshkosh. It seems she had enjoyed a lovely, quiet evening at home last night and was sleeping peacefully when someone in her apartment building saw fit to pull the fire alarm! She had to stand in the parking lot while firemen and police searched the building for a problem, fortunately having the presence of mind to grab a blanket on the way out the door. It is quite a bit colder in Oshkosh than in O. P., you know, about 20 degrees cooler there than where I live, and especially at 1:30 a.m.! I would have been upset, too! Less than 30 minutes later she was allowed back inside but then it was not possible for her to find sleep again. The thing which made me laugh is when she reported being very crabby this a.m., even her feet were crabby! Must be hard to get shoes on "crabby" feet!!!!