Drought? Really?

Delightful Orchid

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/delightful-orchid-by-m-donna/

You have all heard that the Pacific Northwest is always wet and rainy! Well, not this year! May and June had lower than average rain and July is going that way also. I can't say we have had a lot of hot weather BUT it hasn't rained much. Now we are getting the warm weather. which I love. But I know the forest and brush fires will probably be bad. I can remember one summer when our kids were around five or six when my husband was away fighting forest fires most of the summer and into early fall. I would hardly get his dirty, smelly, smoky clothes clean before he would get called out again. We weren't making tons of money with the USFS but when he fought fire he got hazard pay and overtime so it always helped us out financially! But it was hard on me and the kids. We didn't have a chance that summer to cut wood so we had to have a load delivered and they dumped it in the carport. I couldn't get my car out of the garage until the wood was gone so the kids and I had to get it stacked in the woodshed. That was during the same period of summer when I was doing most of the canning. But I was young and had tons of energy and the kids, even though they were small were a big help. They were good kids. After we moved up here the kids all picked berries when they were younger and then the boys hayed and ran peapicker machines. Our daughter babysat and took a bus to work at a restaurant when she was old enough. I guess we were not good parents because they worked but they sure turned out to be hard working, responsible adults that we are very proud of.

We didn't do anything special on the 4th of July this year. I didn't think my knee was up to having the kids over so we sat around outside and read. Then went to DQ for some ice cream and fries! Not very exciting but we are old so it was fine....

I am not enjoying this summer as much as usual because my right knee is so bad. I abused it for so many years running every day, etc. Then crashing during a motocross really did it in and I had to have surgery and wore a cast for a month or more. Then several years later they had to do another surgery but it has never been the same and has really gotten bad this summer for some reason. I am hoping that wearing my brace and trying to take care of it, it will get better by itself. It always has before...

Well, our "president" is overseas embarrassing us again. I hope the world doesn't judge us by him. Most of us don't believe or "think" like him. Enough said. 

It doesn't seem like as many themes are bring submitted this summer. I imagine all the younger people are having a life and not working on them. But this old lady is still working away. Have even learned a few new things on my Photoshop program. There is so much to do but at my age, it is not an easy program to learn. And it infuriates me when I do something and then can't remember exactly what brush I used or exactly how I did it. I try to write it down but sometimes I forget to do that!

Apparently there is going to be some big changes for Themes. I don't know how that is going to affect me and my themes. One thing I do know is they are apparently going to do away with the preview of how it will look on your screen. So stay tuned and watch out for changes. I hope it doesn't change the themes themselves but it may. I will just have to wait and see.

The orchid one of our neighbors gave me at Christmas is doing so well. I love flowers but do not have a green thumb so I am amazed my orchid is doing so well. I Googled how to water it and I watched 2 You Tube videos that an expert orchid grower had put on and have followed his instructions and apparently he knew what he was talking about because mine is doing well! So it is time for me to go take care of mine!

Have a wonderful week end and hopefully I will be back.

Summer Time and the Living is Easy!

Lone Wolf Theme

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/lone-wolf-theme/

Waiting for UPS to pick up a package so thought I would write some on the blog. My life is not that interesting anymore that I have a lot to write about...but...that is OK. 

Cool out today but we have actually had some lovely warm weather. Some considered it hot but to me it was lovely warm! Forest fires have already started in the west and I think we will probably have more every year. Our summers are much warmer and dryer than in the past. May was the driest May we have had in many, many years. 

I think I wrote in my last post that my laptop had problems but I got it up and running fine. Well, last week my desktop decided it wouldn't work. And I could not figure out how to get it to restart. So I had to call my IT expert, my grandson! He stopped and picked it up on his way home from work. He thought it may be time for a new one. He built it years ago, but has replaced different parts over the years. The last thing was the electronic hard drive, anyway I think that is what it was. It made my computer work so much faster. But he found nothing wrong with it except I had too many programs trying to sync. So, he did some work on what programs to start, etc. And replace a fan that was getting a bit worn. So I really lucked out. I was dreading having to totally get Windows 10 and everything set up on a new computer. I have everything so personalized like using Classic Shell to make Win 10 look and work like Windows 7, etc. 

I hope everyone had a nice Fathers Day and got to reach out to your Dad.. I certainly thought about mine. We spent the day before with all the kids and some of the grand kids and great grand kids. When your family gets extended like ours is into a 4th generation, it gets hard to fix it so everyone can get in touch or spend time with their Dad's. Luckily all of ours are close by so it isn't quite as difficult. Our oldest son barbecued and the weather was beautiful so we got to spend it all outside. 

It doesn't feel like I am going on 80! I honestly don't feel that old. And I normally have tons of energy and get everything done I need to. I am lucky that my husband loves to be outside so he does all of the outside work, mowing the lawns and even mows the field so I am very spoiled. Being old isn't bad if you don't feel old, I guess. So I try to stay as healthy as I can. I wanted to start walking again this summer but with my one knee I now realize that isn't going to work out. I hurt it racing in a motocross years ago and had to have surgery on it twice. The first  surgeon didn't  do a very good job, so a few years later they did the microscopic surgery and it got better but from years of misuse it is not the same. The microscopic was so  much easier on me than the "cut you open" type. But I have a lovely scar!

June only has one more week and then it will be July. The days start getting shorter today by 4 seconds! 

I hope you all are well and having an enjoyable summer. Till later!

Freedom Reigns

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/freedom-reigns-by-m-donna/

Addiction!

Poppies Rain Shower

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/poppies-rain-shower-by-madonna/

June is here and I finally decided I am addicted! To making themes. I honestly wish I could step back and go at least a week and not make one! It ain't gonna happen. I am also addicted to listening to politics! I wish I could step back and not turn anything on for a week. I am sure the United States would not fall apart but then again.....it might...and I would miss it!

God Bless the USA

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/god-bless-usa/

That is why I made the above theme. We need his blessings.

Have you ever had a computer not start? Was fine when you shut it off or restarted it? But just won't start up. A blue circle just kept going round and round and round.  Well, my laptop did just that last week and I thought I was gonna have to call my IT grandson, but thought I would try to figure it out myself so got on the desktop and got googling! I printed out several different pages with ideas and started working on it. It is a Dell so I started out with that info. The first five or six things didn't work but I finally got a screen up and tried all 3 different things and still nothing so had to do the last one and it was pretty drastic but it worked! I didn't know if I would end up with Windows 7 because that is what was in it when I purchased it, but Windows 10 came up and I installed all the programs I had in it, plus the Classic Shell and got everything working and looking like Windows 7. So far so good. It seems to be working just fine. So I was pretty pleased with myself.

My cell phone was running out of space so I decided it was time to update and get a new one. I really dislike setting up a new phone but got most of it done. I was able to find a case like the one for my old one. I liked it so well and got so many compliments on it I was happy with Amazon! Again! But I have ordered 2 different screen protectors and had to return both of them. The tempered glass one was super easy to install but it made it much harder to tap the screen. And the film one was impossible. I had used that brand before but it had really changed and was returned. I have 2 more coming and will see how that goes. These install with a wet application so should be easier to get on but we shall see. I really hate putting any screen protector on but...you pay so much for tablets and cells you have to protect them.

Our May was the driest warmest one in history but June has been chilly so far. I heard that the lower 48 states had all had the warmest May so global warming or weather change is a fact! But I am ready for some real summer weather. 

I hope everyone has a great June and will try to write some more later.

Sun Over Mountain Top

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sun-over-mountain-top/

May Half Time!

Summer Sensation

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/summer-sensation-by-donna/

May is half over and we have had warmer weather than usual. Very nice!

Been working on lots of themes and having fun doing so. I love working with flowers and butterflies in Photoshop. BUT I wish I had an actual green thumb. I do not like working in flower beds or gardens. I never have. We used to always have a big garden when the kids were at home but I can't say I enjoyed it or was very good at it. We were at our son's house one Sunday a week or so ago and their flower beds are just beautiful. Our daughter-in-law loves working in her flower beds and you can definitely tell it. Ours...not so much. 

Last Thursday morning started out like a regular morning, I rode my exercise bike and did the cleaning. Sat down at the computer and worked, but when I went to get up to start coffee and call my husband in, I got real dizzy. Got to the kitchen and was even dizzier so sat in a chair and buzzed my hubby in. Well I ended up sliding to the floor and all of a sudden everything kind of blacked out and I was freezing cold, shaking, shivering, etc. I used to get low blood sugar so my husband checked that and couldn't get any blood out of my fingers! And my blood pressure was OK, but he couldn't get me to the car so he called 911. I was pretty much totally out of it by the time they got here and don't remember much after that for a bit. They put a warmed blanket over me and I remember saying that felt so good. They took all kinds of tests, etc. and guess they figured out I was dehydrated. Anyway that is what they said. I really don't think I was, but...

It took me a couple days to start feeling normal. but seem fine now. I am trying to drink more water even if I don't think that is what was wrong...

I had to order a new keyboard. I decided on one that has illuminated keys because usually before I go to bed I come in and submit the last theme for the day and this way I won't have to turn the light on. The keyboard I am using is solar powered but it doesn't get enough light where I have it. I hope I like the new one. Thanks for Amazon. I hate shopping in the stores so the UPS and mail are kept pretty busy.

I hope everyone either called or got to see your Mom's on Sunday. Or if she is no longer with you, at least thought of her. I had a very nice Mother's Day and since my Mom isn't with us anymore, I certainly thought of her. We were at our daughter's house for the afternoon. She had way too much food, but we got to bring some home! Shrimp cocktail, cold salmon, chips, two different trail mixes from Trader Joe's. She makes these really good little "sandwiches" that are slices of tiny sourdough bread, with a slice of mozzarella cheese, basil leaf and a vinaigrette glaze. Then we had taco pizza, which we didn't need after all the goodies. Our oldest son had to work but our youngest son and a grandson stopped in to help us eat some of the food.  It was a beautiful day so we got to be outside.

This coming Saturday we get to see our oldest great grandson play lacrosse. Most of his games are miles away and we just don't go but this one will be close so we will. Hopefully it won't be raining. I actually bought a pair of rubber boots last year to go to his games. The fields were so wet at one of his spring games last year that my shoes got wet and muddy. But I hope I don't have to wear them Saturday.

Our rhubarb has grown so much this year! It is just huge. Our daughter took a big box of it to her office and they want more, so we have to cut more for her to take next week. I have made 3 rhubarb pies this year already. I use my Grandma Joe's recipe. It is so good and so easy to make. It is a one crust pie so if you don't like to make the crust you can use a boughten one. 

***********************

Grandma Joe's Rhubarb Pie

Fill crust with chopped rhubarb

Mix;

2 EGGS

1  1/2 CUP SUGAR

3 T FLOUR

3 T MILK

PINCH OF SALT

Pour over the rhubarb

Bake 90 minutes at 350°

******************************************

I bought one of those silicone things to cover the outside of the crusts and it works really well.

You either like rhubarb or you don't and luckily we do. I used to make a really good rhubarb jam but I don't have the recipe anymore. We used to sell our rhubarb to a business that makes mead.  He was trying to get his own rhubarb patch that would supply him with enough. 

Well it is time to finish this up and I hope everyone is having a great spring and looking forward to summer. 

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ruby-throated-hummngbird/

Time Changes!

Cherry Blossoms

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cherry-blossoms-donna/

I know I say it every time I write on this blog but I can't believe it has been almost a month since I posted anything!

We are finally getting some warm sunshine. How I love it! But it is supposed to be cloudy and showers by Friday so back to Northwest Washington. I got to hang laundry out today for the first time this year. 

Speaking of laundry...it is funny but back in the "old days" 61 years ago when we were first married (and farther back than that) you did your laundry on Mondays! Then when you got it off the line, you had to sprinkle all the items that needed ironing! And back then almost everything was ironed, handkerchiefs, pillow cases, kitchen towels, etc. So you sprinkled them to get them slightly damp, rolled up tight and put into a bag until the next morning. Tuesday was ironing day! Wednesday you did the mending, fixing tears, rips, darning socks, etc. (Which reminds me, our oldest great grandson was here Sunday (size 14 shoes when he is 13!) and he had holes in the heels of his socks so I told him how I used to darn socks) If we didn't have a wooden darning egg (which the husband usually made from wood) or we could use a light bulb. Then we took matching thread and repaired the hole in the sock. We couldn't afford to buy new socks every month just because it had a hole in it like people do now. I can't remember what Thursday was for. I know I baked 4 loaves of sour dough bread every Thursday!  Friday was cleaning and baking day. Saturday was the day all the farmers would go into town, say hello to all your neighbors and do the weekly shopping. Sunday we always had a big family dinner and whoever popped in was always welcome at the table. How times have changed! Now if I want something I usually get on Amazon and order it! 

Sunday I was visiting with a granddaughter-in-law about work, etc. and I told her my dream when I was young was to fall in love, get married and have children. That was my goal in life! I thought about joining the Waves when I was 14  (I think because my favorite Uncle was in the Navy) and even sent off for information on it. Then I shot that down and thought about being a beautician. I had started cutting my own hair when I was 13 and still do. Some of my girlfriends would ask me to cut their hair and I enjoyed it, so thought about that. BUT met my Sweetheart when I was just 16 and that was pretty much it! 

The times we live in now is so changed and everything is so expensive that I don't think most couples could make it on one paycheck. Well, they probably could if they didn't do all they do, buy all the stuff they do and cut back some. But no one wants to live that way anymore. Women all want a career now and I guess that is good. But I am glad we got to raise our kids when we did. And I am glad I got to be a stay at home Mom. I wouldn't change one thing about my life and that is a good thing!

But now I can do what I want when I want...or mostly! I love that I can spend hours a day working on designs...and look forward to when my husband comes in from the shop or yards and we can sit down and have a glass of wine before dinner.

And now it is time to get that laundry off the line and submit a couple themes and shut down for the day.

Just a bunch of mind wondering!

Have a great week end. 

Spring at the Foot of the Mountains

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/spring-at-the-the-mountains/

April Fool!

Spring Melody

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/spring-medley-donna/

April will be here soon...too soon. Our 61st wedding anniversary is next week also. To many of you that will probably sound like a very long time and it is. But it has been a very good 61 years. 

It certainly doesn't feel like spring out here...very cold and windy and rainy. Not my favorite weather.

I re-did my blog for Easter as you can see. But Easter is on April Fools Day. That doesn't sound like 2 holidays that would go together, does it? Our weather forecast doesn't sound like a very good day for an Easter egg hunt.

I have been going through thousands of my theme and wallpaper files. I have so many made and I know they will not all get submitted because I doubt if I have that much time left to do so. Firefox doesn't have footers anymore. (The small space along the bottom of the FF page) so I went through and deleted all of the footers. I am a very organized person but I have lots of different files so had to go through spring, summer, fall, winter, holidays, etc. Plus I have some stored in the Cloud so had to go through those also. I know I shouldn't take any time making any new ones but I find things I want to work with every day so keep making them.

Dreams...do you dream? My husband never used to dream but he does now. I have always dreamed but I dream a lot more now. So we are beginning to think that you must start dreaming more when you are elderly. (Elderly sounds so much better than old!) We both dream about family members that are no longer with us. Which is sad but in other ways not. But strange.

I just read a wonderful book that I got through the library. I had to ask them to order it as an eBook, which they did. It is by Kristin Hannah. It is the 2nd book I have read by her. the first one I read was "Nightingale". One of my grand daughter's recommended it because she and her friends had read it and loved it. This last one is called "The Great Alone". It was a wonderful book. There were places in it I had a hard time reading and took me back to the time we took care of my Mother in her last months. But I would always go back and read some more. My husband actually read it and liked it, too. I would recommend it to anyone that is a reader. Super book. I am going to put some of her other books On Hold at the library so I can download them when they are available. They must be very popular because there is a number of people that have them on hold.

I get most of my books from Amazon free. I subscribed to two email letters that I get every day. One is Book Bub and one is Freebooksy. You put in the genre of books you would be interested in and they send you an email everyday with books that are free or the price has been reduced. If you are a reader I would suggest trying it out. You may not want to get an email every day, but...if you like to read it is a pretty good deal.

What do you think of Facebook and what they have let happen?  Personally I am not a Facebook fan and that is why "MaDonna" doesn't have a Facebook account. From what I have seen of it...most of the people only show beautiful family photos and how well they are doing or they are having wonderful vacations, etc. It can get a lot of kids in trouble, too. I admit it is a good way of finding out where and what your family is doing, but that is about all. I do Twitter once in awhile, but not a big fan of that either. It takes a lot of time to keep up with all that social media. My sister is on every social media site there is, I think. But she is an actress, acting coach, professional speaker, etc. so she uses it as an advertising extension.

Time to fix lunch so I will sign off for now. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. We get to spend time with grand kids and great grand kids so that will be fun. I can't believe how fast they grow. Our oldest great grandson is taller than his great grandparents...scary. When he was born I didn't think I would probably be around when he was a teenager...and I am!

 Sunset on the Dunes
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sunset-on-the-dunes/

March

Florals Purple Butterfly

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/florals-purple-butterflies/

I can't believe it has been a month since I wrote on my blog. It seems like last week. We are having a beautiful sunshiny day today and supposed to be that way tomorrow and then back to rain. We actually hit 70° over the week end. We got to spend the whole afternoon on the deck and just soaked up sunshine.

I just looked out the window and see my 82 year old husband on a big ladder getting ready to cut the top out of a tree. I wish I hadn't seen him! He is supposed to tell me when he is doing something like that BUT he never does!

I have had so much fun this past week working on some special designs. Making wallpapers to match. Desktop Nexus still doesn't have their website fixed yet so none of the older wallpapers show. I have sent a few wallpapers to people that have asked for them so they can match up a theme. I keep all of my wallpapers and themes in a file but since there is around 20,000 it takes me awhile to find them. Especially if I have changed the name of it when I submit it but not on the file.

Well, I had my 79the birthday last month but I can't say I feel any older. I am still doing push ups and riding my exercise bike 5 days a week. I admit I don't do as many pushups or ride the bike quite as fast or hard as I used to. But since my back is better I have started up doing the floor exercises I used to do but not as many of those either. 

I hope you have updated your Firefox to 59. That update just came out this past week. I try to keep my extensions and Firefox updated because of security, etc. So if you haven't checked lately it might be a good idea to check.

I would like to submit more themes than I am because I have so many but I don't want to hog up the site too much. 

I am finding it hard to keep up with the news, too. It seems like there is something new and astonishing every hour or so. So I keep very busy. But I am the kind of person that can't sit for very long without doing something. When we were taking care of my Mom at the last, she said to me, "You don't stay sitting very long, do you?" And if I am sitting, my feet are moving and sometimes my hands. My husband tells me I move my feet all night long. I need to make some phone calls and I end up with not enough time. We don't go to bed till after Steven Colbert so it is midnight by the time we get to bed.

Well, I am going to get back to work and I wish you all a Happy Saint Patrick's Day.