MAKIN' OUT LIKE A BANDIT 2

Other Christmas gift from mom. Again, we actually picked it out together. I think it's fantastic. However, I got the feeling that outside of BIL#1 (brother in law), nobody else in the family has any idea why I would pick out either piece.

I have always loved wolves and some of the ancient Welsh saw the heron as symbol of the Creator. When I saw this plate I got a definite impression of someone or something saying "pick me, pick me." So I did. It was up near the ceiling in the shop, in an out of the way cornor. The pictue doesn't really do it justice, but it was love at first sight.

MAKIN' OUT LIKE A BANDIT

Christmas gift from mom. Actually we picked it out together. The shot really doesn't do it justice. The colors are so much brighter in the flash shot but you lose most of the pattern. So take my word for it, the wolves have intensely  blue eyes and the effect is almost hypnotic. The shop where we got this had several different "spirit" animal type suncatchers, but this one spoke to me the most. the soaring eagle is a wonderful touch.

It isn't traditional stained glass, it's a painting on a glass oval. Trouble is, if I put it in a window like I'm supposed to I'll never get to see it. I think I'll try getting a plate holder and put it next to a lamp.

FROM THE OREGONIAN

Jack Ohman is the editorial cartoonist for the Portland Oregonian. I think he has razor soup for lunch at least once a week, if not oftener. I stumbled onto a website that has access to daily cartoon strips and editorial cartoons and took full advantage of the opportunity. This one definitely speaks for itself.

I know I'm posting like a madwoman today, but I kept getting error messages everytime I tried to add or post a picture yesterday, so I'm makiing up for lost time. LOL At least I didn't have to reinstall Javascript or something like that.

WHAT KIND OF REINDEER ARE YOU?

Found this link on a private journal so I won't leave a link here. I didn't realize I was so daring. Hmmm when little Jackie goes out to play, I guess shes really goes out to play. A love of chocolate and thinking reindeer bungie jumping sound pretty cool goes a long way.

                                  

                                   You Are Comet

A total daredevil, you're the reindeer with an edge!

Why You're Naughty: You almost gave Santa a heart attack when you took him sky diving

Why You're Nice: You always make sure the sleigh is going warp speed

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whichofsantasreindeerareyouquiz/

HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD DAY.

Whoo. Happy Christmas night. We had eleven people (mom, me, two sisters, two brothers in law, five kids) oh and six puppies around for Christmas. The Portland contingent brought down their boxer pups along with the three six foot plus nephews. The puppies are so cute. About six weeks old and all but one is spoken for. And that one doesn't have anything to worry about, push comes to shove. Good thing they have a really big yard.

My other sister and her family made it over for a couple of days, too. My brother in laws' mom lives all of two blocks away from us. Christmas Eve dinner with them. Christmas dinner with us. We are so well fed at the moment, it's embarassing.

We've been putting out bird seed and other goodies for the locals and the yard has been absolutely alive these past few days. It was fairly warm yesterday (in December, anything over 55 degrees is warm) and there was a real birdie carol sing yesterday afternoon. I was surprised to hear so many birds singing on a December afternoon. Come of our crocuses are peeking up, they'll be blooming by the end of January. The huckleberries are budding along with the elder and some of the azaleas. It's the waiting time right now.

Then mom and I went to the carol service at church last night. Beautiful church, lovely service, aching knees. From now on I either sit in the back or right up front where the floor is level. Ouch! It was nice though. There must have been over two dozen kids up front with the pastor listening to him tell the Christmas story.

Unfortunately, it started raining last night and it's been raining since then. It's been a very wet December and it looks like the last week of the year isn't going to change. Muddy, muddy, muddy. Going to be interesting for the folks going home over the next couple of days.

Tomorrow is also my sister's birthday. She wanted pumpkin cheesecake. She got pumpkin cheesecake. And pretty good pumpkind cheese cake it was, too. What we didn't finish went over to other mom's after Christmas dinner munchie sessions.

Ok, I'm ready for a cup a tea and a couple of celebratory MASH episodes. Hope everybody had a good, safe holiday.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

And a Happy New Year.

I found the central graphic on the web several years ago. I forget where. but the picture is called Polar Peace.

I BELIEVE

I found this in the Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook.  I was actually looking for something else but I got sidetracked. That happens. LOL  So with Christmas around the corner and the seasonal insanity increasing I pass this along.

At Christmas time I believe the things that children do.

 

I believe with

 

English children that holly placed in windows will protect our homes from evil.

 

Swiss children that the touch edelweiss will charm a person with love.

 

Italian children that La Befuna is not and ugly doll but a good fairy who will gladden the hearts of all.

 

Greek children that coins hidden in freshly baked loaves of bread will bring good luck to anyone who finds them.

 

German children that the sight of Christmas tree will lessen hostility among adults.

 

Dutch children that the horse Sleipner will fly through the sky and fill the earth with joy.

 

Swedish children that Jultomte will come and deliver gifts to the poor as well as to the rich.

 

Finnish children that parties held on St. Stephen’s day will erase sorrow.

 

Danish children that the music of a band playing from a church tower will strengthen humankind.

 

Bulgarian children that the sparks from a Christmas log will create warmth in human souls.

 

American children that sending Christmas cards will build friendships.

 

And I believe with all children that there will be peace on earth.

 

By Daniel Roselle

 

TONGUE IN CHEEK FUNDRAISER

A bit more than tongue in cheek actually.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/08/04/b1.cr.longtom.0804.p1.php?section=cityregion

Go to the local story for the background. They've managed to raise a hefty chunk of change for schools in the Junction City. A small community about twenty miles from where I live. Mom sent one to my uncle a couple of years ago, we got another one this year, he got a real kick out of the last one. After all some of the guys on the calendar are almost as old as he is. LOL

What's really funny are some of the locals' reaction to the calendar. It's definitley a satire of the beefcake calendars, it's meant in fun. Something we're really short of these days.

I will admit that the gentleman on the left end of the fence is dangerously close to revealing all his ummmmm assets. :-)

Anyone curious about the local Long Tome Grange or thinks the calendar might be fun for the next year go to the grange calendar website.

http://www.grangecalendar.com/

HOME STATE

Been feeling a bit down this week. Part of it stems from something very sad that happened here in Oregon just after Thanksgiving. You may have caught it in the news. A family of four traveled up to Seattle for the holiday came. Afterwards they headed back down I5, planning to head over to the coast from Grants Pass in southern Oregon. They never made it. The wife and daughters were found after about a week. The husband was found two days later. He tried to hike out and find help for his family, he didn’t make it. He managed to hike sixteen miles, on the ground. And ended up about a mile from his family at the bottom of a river canyon about a thousand feet lower down than he started. There was an excellent story in the Oregonian that brought it all together. You can follow this link to the story. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1165652726218920.xml&coll=7#continue

 

It'll probably take awhile to work through it, but I think it's worth it.

 

I’ve been following the boards. Turns out there are a lot of people out there who know next to nothing about good old Oregon. I'll be honest I know next to nothing about some of the other states except that Texas is very hot in the summer, Florida gets a lot of hurricanes, that sort of thing. I won't bore you with the entries on the boards. The good ones were good and you can imagine the worst ones.

 

Some of the entries were down right insulting either to us, the victims or both. So, being me, I tossed in my two cents worth.

 

First a topographic map of merry Oregon.

 

 

Anyway here's my two cents worth.

 

This seems like a good place to post some things about Oregon.

 

By size Oregon is the ninth largest state. If you folded Maine down towards the rest of New England you could probably put the the whole thing in Oregon and have room left over. We've got counties bigger than some states. Over 90,000 square miles most of it mountains or high plateau over four thousand feet above sea level.

 

But, by population we're number 28 with about 3,400,000 people and about one third of us live in the northern part of the Willamette Valley around Portland. There are fringes of fairly level ground along the coast, along the Columbia west of Portland; the Willamette Valley is the largest section of fairly flat ground in the state. That’s that little green triangle up at the top of the map. There isn't very much of it, is there? Then there's the freeway corridor heading for Idaho. As you can see there is almost none of that nice green color down in the southwestern corner of the state where the Kim family went missing.

 

Folks, the rest of the state is mountains or high plateau. We have the dubious distinction of having the hardest seaport to reach, Portland. The Columbia Bar is nicknamed the Graveyard of ships.And the name is well earned. And we have one of the most treacherous sections of the whole interstate highway system at Siskiyou Pass on the California border, at 4,000 plus feet and it loses over 2,000 feet of elevation in about seven miles on the Oregon side with some sections of nasty curves. Several of the highest peaks in the Siskiyous are over seven thousand feet. About the middle of that little green square I put in is where Grants Pass is and straight over is Gold Beach. As you can see, this part of the state is seriously rough country.

 

The southwest corner of the state has the south end of the coast range, the Siskiyous and the Klamaths. Once they'd traced the Kim's to Grants Pass, which way did the go? Head for the coast? Head for the wildlife refuge at Klamath Lake? Take a side trip to the Mount Ashland ski area? I'm just trying to say that this is one area in my home state that I would not want to get lost in. From what I've read it's hard enough to run SAR in any conditions on fairly flat ground. Trying to run one in this country would be a nightmare. Once you figure out they might have headed for Gold Beach on the coast then what? If it's say 40 miles to the coast and forty miles to the state line where in that 1600 square mile haystack is the needle you're trying to find. 

 

The mom and kids were found by a local who really knows the country and just happens to have a helicopter. Maybesomebody's guardian angel was pointing him in the right direction because he just had a feeling, but it took him at least three trips over two days and the fact that Mrs. Kim was waving a pink umbrella. I think he'd run into trouble on that road himself and got to wondering what if?  

 

I guess I'm trying to say is that living or traveling in Oregon is a little like porcupines making love. It can be beautiful, but sometimes you have to be careful.

 

Anyway, thanks for coming along for the ride.

THIS YEAR'S CHRISTMAS CARDS

These are the graphics I worked up this weekend for my Christmas cards. The central graphics were downloaded from the net over the years. Since I didn't make the pictures I'm only posting them on my journals.

I have a good friend who loves cardinals

Cardinals aren't usually found on the west coast. We have the beautiful deep blue Stellar's jays. I haven't seen any art work with them.

Even the animals get into the act.

And Santa has special gifts for the other children too. Even if they have four legs and wings.

The backgrounds were done with multple layers in Photoshop. But I had fun making them. And even some fun printing them. My old Epson printer does a good job but it does need a little coaxing.