Cool Down

Fractal Color Shine

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fractal-color-shine/ 

This is a bit different from what I usually showcase, but I kinda like it. I put the cyan font color to bring that color onto your screen.

 

We have definitely had a cool down here. The east side is burning up and I feel so sad for the many people that have lost their homes to the forest fires. The town of Pateros has really been damaged. We used to ride our motorcycles over there and stay every summer. We would sit along the banks of the Columbia River and cool down because it was always so warm over there. One time it was over 100° in Pateros and we decided to go for an evening ride and my husbands bike wouldn't start. So I was pushing him and his bike down the street so he could bump start it. Here I was with my jacket and helmet on, pushing this heavy bike and him! But he got it started and off we went. Anyway, back to the fires. Lots of people aren't going to have power or water for a month! But perhaps they are the lucky ones because they didn't lose their homes. 

 

Most of the businesses in towns like Winthrop, (which is my very favorite place to go) depend on the summer visitors for their livelihood. So they will be hurting financially.

 

They cut the hay in the big field across from us so we have seen  the eagles and hawks soaring above us. The field mice have no place to hide so the eagles, hawks and ravens have lots of free food.

 

They are harvesting raspberries and blueberries in our area right now. And the weather has been helpful this year to our berry farmers. I am so glad this county still has so much agriculture land. It is a battle to keep it because the developers would love to build houses on nice level farm land. This is one of the things I feel so strongly about is protecting the farm lands in the U.S. And it upsets me when I hear they allow foreigners to purchase up these huge farms, like they just did in Idaho. A Chinese company just bougtht thousands of acres of good farmland to grow alfalfa to send back to China. This is just so wrong. Just like a Japanese developer purchased over 500 acres from a cattle rancher right next to us. Of course they want to develop it into houses, but so far we have fought them off. I only hope and pray we can continue to fight them off. 

 

Gonna get back to work. 

Burning UP!

Summer Explosion

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/summer-explosion/ 

The weather here has been extremely hot. It sounds like it is going to change, but we are just not used to it. I don't have to work outside in the heat so it doesn't bother me but I feel for our sons and all who have to work out in it. I really feel sorry for the firefighters that are working so hard in 100° weather. My husband used to be gone weeks on end fighting forest fires during his 33 years in the Forest Service. Our kids  have told me they remember the smoky smell when he came home. Back then they didn't have portable showers for the fire fighters like they do on some fires now. His fire fighting boots would smell smoky till they were worn out. The money was good, but I was left home with 3 little ones and we all missed him. I had to get his dirty clothes washed and dried right away because he had to be ready to go on the next fire. One time I didn't even get them washed before he got that call! I can't remember if he took the dirty ones or not.

But the eastside of Washington is burning up. So many of the trees are dead because of pine beetle infestation. So they actually look brown and burnt and are tinder dry, just ready for that lightning strike or whatever. 

It sounds like the midwest is colder than usual, the polar express or whatever they call it. It didn't use to be this way. When I lived in Iowa the summers were very hot. Our air conditioning was to open the window at night to sleep, put a damp towel over you and hope for a cool breeze. But yet there are people that deny their is climate change!

It only took by grandson 2 days to get my computer cleaned out, the new solid state hard drive in and back to me! And it is definitely faster and I don't get "Not Responding" anymore. So that was definitely the problem. 

I am not doing near as much design work as I was, though. I have so many made already I just don't need to but I miss it! Mozilla has changed the way they choose their Featured designs and I think they must be picked by a machine or something because I have noticed when one of mine is featured it is one that is really not very good...and yes I do make many that are not very good! As do others, so they aren't choosing them by which ones are really extra good, so that makes me wonder about how they are chosen.

Now to Brand Thunder...something is screwed up on their site, too. You can't submit designs anymore. They told me weeks ago they were working on it, but I check once a week and it is still not working.

Time on my hands!

Fieflies in the Forest

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireflies-in-the-forest/ 

Wow, but I have extra time on my hand this week. My desktop computer that I use for designing was getting tired and my grandson said it needed a new hard drive, which he hadn't replaced the last time he upgraded it for me to Windows 7 (which I totally love). So we got a solid state hard drive from Amazon, my very favorite shopping place. He picked up my computer Sunday and is working on it. I only hope I got everything backed up so I don't lose anything. And I totally dread having to install all my progarams again but it has to be done. So anyway, I do have time on my hands so am actually getting some stuff done that needed to be done but didn't really want to do. You know how that is! If you don't want to do it, it is much easier to put off and then when you are doing it, you think,"Well, that wasn't so bad after all!"

The Persona theme I put at the top of the blog was one of my first ones ever and was actually one of my most used at one time. It reminds me of catching fireflies when I was a little girl in Iowa, except we called them lightning bugs. Fireflies sounds more exotic, I guesss.

I hope everyone had a great 4th. We did. Our oldest son had to work, but our daughter and youngest son came over and we sat on the patio, roasted hot dogs in the pit and had a really good time. The weather was great and it didn't cloud up until later afternoon. At the last minute I had decided to make baked beans. I don't have a recipe, just throw brown sugar, molasses, smoke, lots of onions and dry mustard. So tasting is the only way to tell if you got enough of something. I used a different brand of beans this time and I could not get them to taste right. They just seemed real blah! So, more stuff got thrown in and since I made a smaller batch I didn't know what size dish to bake them in. I actually had them in 3 different sizes before I found one that was just right. I threw them in the oven and figured I would just bake them a long time! Which I did. When we decided to eat I opened the oven and they were really, really thick. And I mean really thick! But none of us could believe how good they were. They were actually the best I had ever made and my son cleaned the spoon and I think he would have cleaned up the dish if he could have! I had to soak the dish & spoons for 48 hours but it was worth it. Our daughter makes the best macaroni salad in the world. She uses some special spice ingredient from Penzeys that I have never heard of, but it sure does make the salad really, really good. She makes a huge batch and left some here and sent her brother home with some, plus she had more at home. 

One of our grandsons (my go to computer grandson)  and some buddies hiked up to the top of a mountain and camped out so they could watch the fireworks all over the County. They got rained on a bit, but guess it was pretty specatacular.

Our one and only great grand daughter turned 2 yesterday and we went to her birthday party Sunday night. I think she was the belle of the ball, too. She was so excited over her birthday cake and showed it to everyone. It had layers of different rainbow colors. And sooo good! I don't make cakes anymore unless for something special. So enjoy it when someone else does, plus I don't have to clean up the cooking mess.

Enough for now, but will probably get back on soon since I can't design! Have a great day....week!

Hope you like my summer blog design. I updated it the morning of the 4th.

Glories of Green

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/glories-of-green/ 

Redwood Forest Mist is the design I am using right now. I was really happy with the way it turned out.

Redwood Forest Mist

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/redwood-forest-mist/ 

Celebrate Freedom

Eagle of Freedom

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/eagle-of-freedom/

Well, the next big holiday for us in the USA is Independence Day, so thought I would update my blog to celebrate our freedom. It is too bad all the countries can't celebrate freedom. It seems to me that the world is in more turmoil now than ever. People seem to want to push their beliefs and standards on others. Everyone should be allowed to choose what they want to believe in and have the freedom to do what they want. I am not going to push my beliefs on anyone, so don't worry.

Eagle of Freedom Wallpaper

http://animals.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/690709/ 

Have a good week. Be back soon.

Happy Fathers Day

Time to wish our Dad's a Happy Father's Day. I had the time today to write so thought I would tell you a bit about my Dad. 
   
He was an outdoor guy, hunted, fished, farmed, logged, worked in a ship yard, rode dirt bikes, road bikes, camped and loved his family. He could fix anything and make anything. He built tractors, etc.

 He wasn't a huggy type of guy because he wasn't raised that way. He never told me he loved me but I never doubted it for one minute.

I was the oldest child and worshipped him. I remember him playing cowboys and indians with me and my brother when we were little. 

He smoked from the time he was 15. It was a curse he fought his whole life. And in the end, partially why he died. He did quit toward the end but then took up cigars! 

I always wanted my Dad to be proud of me and I worked at it. My husband and I, Dad, my brother, our sons, and a bunch of different friends would go dirt biking at Gold Bar, WA a lot on Sundays. I remember when my Mom told me that Dad said I was a really good dirt biker! I think that was one of the proudest moments of my life. Isn't that silly, but it was?

Towards the end of Dad's life he had a lot of health problems. He had open heart surgery and while he was in the hospital with that, they had to do an emergency prostate surgery. A few years after that he had a spot on his lungs which they watched but when it started to get bigger they operated on him to remove it. They thought they got it all, but Dad just couldn't stand not feeling well and never got back to normal. One morning in February, 1999 our phone rang around 5:00 or so in the morning. My husband always answers the phone if it rings in the night or early morning because it is usually something not good. I could tell by the way he talked something was bad and I figured it was Dad. It was the Marysville police saying my Dad had committed suicide. My poor Mom, I have tears in my eyes now, remembering it. She had loved my Dad since she was in high school and they had been married 62 years. We were half way to Marysville when my husband told me that Dad wasn't dead but wasn't expected to make it. He had shot himself with 2 guns and one had misfired. We went to Mom's to pick her up and she was very calm, but totally rattled. She was trying to find Dad's paperwork regarding end of life and had papers all over the floor. We got her to the hospital and waited and waited. A surgeon came in and said they would try to operate and save him, but he would be blind, etc. My Mom and I both jumped up and told him "No!", my Dad would never have done what he did if he had wanted to live. With 2 guns! My God, he wanted to make sure he didn't make it! 

Anyway, they did what they could to make him comfortable and we kept going in to see him. We knew it wasn't going to be long because his oxygen level kept going down. Close to the end and the last time I went in, I kissed him, told him I loved him, I understood why he did it and forgave him. It wasn't long after that he got what he wanted. His pain had ended. And ours began. 

Mom did really well for 3 years. She kept their place up and had a big lawn to mow, plus her garden, sewing and crafts. I remember her telling me one day she was mowing, and she got really mad at Dad. She looked up at the sky and yelled, "Dammit, you are supposed to be here doing this!" That was the anger part of grief we go through when we lose someone.

I still miss my Dad. I know my husband misses him. They were really close. When we were dating sometimes we never got out on the date because he and Dad would sit and talk! They went on hunting trips together for years. 

Happy Fathers Day, Dad. I love you and miss you. Take care of Mom. I know you are together.

Checking in!

Patriotic USA

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

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Can you believe that the 4th of July will be here in less than a month? I can't. The only good thing about it is that it is closer until The Sons of Anarchy DVD comes out in August! 

I have been working away, making way too many designs, more than I can even submit.

I have gotten some really nice emails lately. One was from Steph. She told me that I had inspired her to go back to school for graphic arts. That made me feel like the hours I put in is actually worth something! I don't make any money doing this but if I can inspire at least one person to continue schooling it is doing some good at least. Another gal told me that my designs made her daily work on the computer much more enjoyable so that is a good thing, too!

One lady, Steph read my last post regarding the Stacy Martian that has been using my designs to make Facebook Covers sent me the link where all of this person's "designs" are. I can't believe that this website has absolutely no way to contact their site. I have searched and searched and found nothing. Plus I have no way of contacting her since I don't do FB. I do not want to be on FB since I think it just causes a lot of problems. My sister and sister-in-law want me to join so we can keep in touch. I will keep in touch with email! 

Speaking of my sister, I just got an email from her and she was out walking her little dog and three big dogs attacked her and her dog. They tried to tear her poor little doggie in half, so he had go have surgery, but will hopefully be all right. My sister got bit on her neck/shoulder and leg. She was talking on the phone to her husband at the time so he heard the whole thing! I can't imagine what he must have been thinking. It is over now and hopefully the 3 big dogs will be held accountable. Personally I am not fond of big dogs. 

Well, I am going to get out and enjoy the sunshine for a bit and have my coffee.

Hope all is well with everyone. Have a great Father's Day. I may get on later this week.

Piercing Ears

I just took my earings out to clean and got to thinking back to when I pierced them. We lived on the farm in Iowa that was on a dirt road that I previously talked about. I was 12 years old and my cousin had just gotten her ears pierced. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world but my folks said I couldn't get mine pierced. So, wanting something badly enough I decided to do it myself. I got a cork, some alchohol, matches and a good sized sewing needle, I went upstairs to my room and commenced to pierce my ears. I dabbed the ear with alchohol, dipped the needle in it, heated up the needle, put the cork behind my ear and pierced the left one first. Everything went really well. It didn't hurt too bad and I got the earring in easily. I didn't have a post earring so put in one I could change the dangle on! The right ear was a little more difficult and I couldn't get the earring in. I worked on it for a long time and finally decided I had to go downstairs and let my parents know what I had done. At first they were a little angry but my Dad stepped up and said he would try to get the earring in for me. By then my ear was pretty darn sore but I bit my lip and let him put the earring in! I was so proud! 

Well, when I went so school all the girls thought it was pretty cool and wanted theirs pierced. So, I started taking my cork, alchohol, matches and needle to school and I charged 1 pair of earrings for every girl's ears I pierced! (Back then earrings were like .29¢ at the dime stores) I don't know how many I did before we moved and never got in trouble with parents or school officials. Can you imagine any one doing that now? I would probably be hauled off to jail or juvie! 

We moved to WA when I was 16 and no one had their ears pierced out here. I did my sisters, sister-in-law's and a few women's later because by then it was beginning to be popular. And I pierced our daughter's when she was old enough and wanted them pierced.

It is funny how times have changed!

Just thinking!