Monday, June 29, 2009
A Thousand Splendid Suns
This book was so good I can't even describe it. I'd heard it wasn't as good as The Kite Runner so I was expecting it to be along the same lines. But it was so very much better that I can't even remember that 1st book. My heart went so much into these characters that I found myself praying for them! Now a much stronger awareness of Afghan women.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Farewell To Hammy
Little Hammy died last night and I am very sad.
She was the best hamster that we have ever had.
There was Mimi, and Snowy, and Poppi-Luigie, three.
But Hammy was the best ham that could ever be.
We liked to watch her. She made us glad.
She was hardly ever bad.
She only bit our fingers twice.
She learned real quick - that's not too nice.
Little Ham was lots of fun.
She loved the snow, the rain, the sun.
She loved her wheel and her boy.
She gave us all a lot of joy.
She'd play with Harper all the day.
Did you ever see a hamster "stay"?
That's one thing that they liked to play.
And, yes, she did. Right there she'd stay
And only sometimes run away;
For Hide and Seek she liked to roam,
But wasn't long, she'd come back home.
We'll miss the noise she made at night.
She'd run upon her wheel till light.
And when she'd wiggle in her sleep
Letting out a tiny peep.
We'll miss sharing our salad greens
and apples, pears, and kidney beans.
We'll even miss her smelly cage,
And marvel at her ripe old age.
We buried her in the garden deep
But know the ground will not her keep.
She's playing now in heaven above
With all the hamsters, in God's love.
She was the best hamster that we have ever had.
There was Mimi, and Snowy, and Poppi-Luigie, three.
But Hammy was the best ham that could ever be.
We liked to watch her. She made us glad.
She was hardly ever bad.
She only bit our fingers twice.
She learned real quick - that's not too nice.
Little Ham was lots of fun.
She loved the snow, the rain, the sun.
She loved her wheel and her boy.
She gave us all a lot of joy.
She'd play with Harper all the day.
Did you ever see a hamster "stay"?
That's one thing that they liked to play.
And, yes, she did. Right there she'd stay
And only sometimes run away;
For Hide and Seek she liked to roam,
But wasn't long, she'd come back home.
We'll miss the noise she made at night.
She'd run upon her wheel till light.
And when she'd wiggle in her sleep
Letting out a tiny peep.
We'll miss sharing our salad greens
and apples, pears, and kidney beans.
We'll even miss her smelly cage,
And marvel at her ripe old age.
We buried her in the garden deep
But know the ground will not her keep.
She's playing now in heaven above
With all the hamsters, in God's love.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Dear Mister Beachy
My dear friends and especially you, Mr. Beachy,
I promise to write soon. And, Soon, I'll write you. I really do promise. Cross my heart!
I promise to write soon. And, Soon, I'll write you. I really do promise. Cross my heart!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Friday, January 02, 2009
The Flood of 2009
Well, I know it will be a great year. SIE and I drove to the Wildlife Refuge up near the farm and we got to see some sandhill cranes (my favorite besides the coyotes), a few great blue herons, a huge flock of black birds migrating somewhere, lots of swans, a couple Nutria and several ducks and grebes, and one train! It was SIE's first visit with me and he did real well. He decided I should use the binoculars and he would take photos. I love that digital camera!
I made pierogies from scratch - Yum! And Hapapapa made pork and sauerkraut. No formal meal, just nibbling all day. Kaliedoscope girl had to work.
So after a nice new year's day I was snuggled down falling asleep when the furnace clicked on sounding weird. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep well unless I checked on it. I found a bunch of water flooding the basement. The fire department came to my rescue and by the time they got here the water was above their boot tops and rising. They used two of their big pumps to fight the water, which was broiling in from city drain backups and saturated ground. One of the neighbors came by and told me this happened every year and we both can't believe that wasn't disclosed when I bought the house. The old owner told me the basement was "moist" and needed some work.....but he didn't say it "floods"!!!
The firemen said the water would be up to 6 ft. by morning and waited until they knew that Hapapapa was bringing over a rented sump pump (My hero). Then it was a matter of waking up every two hours to turn it on and check the water level. I think Mr. Beachy had been drinking because he got into his little kayak and circled the basement singing pirate songs, which sound funny sung with a Chinese accent.
The water started going down the drain in the morning and I was able to get some plumbers out to plan what we should do. They will begin some major back-up valve drain work on Monday. We have snow on the ground again and predictions of 7 days of rain starting Monday so I will be happy not to have the flood worry too much longer. By 2pm I was able to get the furnace on again (by myself! amazing!) And thanks to Kaliedoscope Girl's frequent comforting phone calls, I am able to relax.
I made pierogies from scratch - Yum! And Hapapapa made pork and sauerkraut. No formal meal, just nibbling all day. Kaliedoscope girl had to work.
So after a nice new year's day I was snuggled down falling asleep when the furnace clicked on sounding weird. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep well unless I checked on it. I found a bunch of water flooding the basement. The fire department came to my rescue and by the time they got here the water was above their boot tops and rising. They used two of their big pumps to fight the water, which was broiling in from city drain backups and saturated ground. One of the neighbors came by and told me this happened every year and we both can't believe that wasn't disclosed when I bought the house. The old owner told me the basement was "moist" and needed some work.....but he didn't say it "floods"!!!
The firemen said the water would be up to 6 ft. by morning and waited until they knew that Hapapapa was bringing over a rented sump pump (My hero). Then it was a matter of waking up every two hours to turn it on and check the water level. I think Mr. Beachy had been drinking because he got into his little kayak and circled the basement singing pirate songs, which sound funny sung with a Chinese accent.
The water started going down the drain in the morning and I was able to get some plumbers out to plan what we should do. They will begin some major back-up valve drain work on Monday. We have snow on the ground again and predictions of 7 days of rain starting Monday so I will be happy not to have the flood worry too much longer. By 2pm I was able to get the furnace on again (by myself! amazing!) And thanks to Kaliedoscope Girl's frequent comforting phone calls, I am able to relax.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Inanimate Companions
Every family has them. Items that are seemingly insignifigant, that could be replaced, but because of everyday use over time become our friends. An example: I started using a clear plastic measuring cup to rinse my contact lenses. I was 16. It went to college with me, and along on any trip I ever took for lots of years. I don't wear the lenses anymore, and the cup has a crack so it can't hold liquids. It still sits on the shelf with the dishes. I can't throw it away.
Another: There's one fork that I like to eat with that makes everything just taste better. It's history began before my wedding. These were the days you could do your weekly grocery shopping and pick a reward according to how much you spent - like a dish or a piece of silverware. When I got married my Dad gave me a full set of silverware that he had been saving for me. Over the years, bit by bit, pieces got lost. Several disappeared after a Drop Inn Center Pot Luck. One got lost under a bed for a long time. A spoon got run over and flattened by my car. (That happened the afternoon I let SIE eat a bowl of Cheerios while sitting on the hood of the jeep. Later that day as I drove down the road I saw the bowl riding on the hood and wondered how far I could get with it remaining on the hood. My fault! I forgot about the spoon! It fell out at the first stop sign and was as flat as the gravel of the road when I found it) One lonely fork remains. My favorite.
Another companion is "The French Glass". This is a glass our family found under the cushion of our new used car one summer day between 1977 and 1984. You know how most glasses have a life expectancy and break after a couple years? This one has never broken. It is the best glass for Coke or vanilla milkshakes or ice water. When this glass finally breaks it will be a significant omen.
My last example is the reason I'm writing this blog entry. One day long ago, I was walking with a baby in a stroller. I think it was kaliedoscope girl. We used to do a lot of strolling and "window shopping" when she was little in OTR. On this day I saw a tiny sterling silver rosary in a pawn shop window. The next day we went in and asked how much it cost. Ten dollars, a lot for me to spend. A couple days later we went back and bought it and everyday since then I've kept it in my pocket. At night I usually pop it on my next day clothes or on the sink. It's gone through the washer and lost beads. I've repaired the links many times. This week the rosary slipped as I was putting it on the sink and it went down the drain. I was torn - too tired to fish it out of the drain, but fearing this would be the demise of a dear companion.time. I couldn't deal with it. I rattled the drain plug to see if it had gotten hooked. Then thinking it might stay in the drain loop under the sink if I didn't run the water, I went to bed hoping I wouldn't forget. Such drama. The next day the plumbing operation was successful. The rosary has returned to my pocket. Phew!
I want to know - what objects are companions for you?
Another: There's one fork that I like to eat with that makes everything just taste better. It's history began before my wedding. These were the days you could do your weekly grocery shopping and pick a reward according to how much you spent - like a dish or a piece of silverware. When I got married my Dad gave me a full set of silverware that he had been saving for me. Over the years, bit by bit, pieces got lost. Several disappeared after a Drop Inn Center Pot Luck. One got lost under a bed for a long time. A spoon got run over and flattened by my car. (That happened the afternoon I let SIE eat a bowl of Cheerios while sitting on the hood of the jeep. Later that day as I drove down the road I saw the bowl riding on the hood and wondered how far I could get with it remaining on the hood. My fault! I forgot about the spoon! It fell out at the first stop sign and was as flat as the gravel of the road when I found it) One lonely fork remains. My favorite.
Another companion is "The French Glass". This is a glass our family found under the cushion of our new used car one summer day between 1977 and 1984. You know how most glasses have a life expectancy and break after a couple years? This one has never broken. It is the best glass for Coke or vanilla milkshakes or ice water. When this glass finally breaks it will be a significant omen.
My last example is the reason I'm writing this blog entry. One day long ago, I was walking with a baby in a stroller. I think it was kaliedoscope girl. We used to do a lot of strolling and "window shopping" when she was little in OTR. On this day I saw a tiny sterling silver rosary in a pawn shop window. The next day we went in and asked how much it cost. Ten dollars, a lot for me to spend. A couple days later we went back and bought it and everyday since then I've kept it in my pocket. At night I usually pop it on my next day clothes or on the sink. It's gone through the washer and lost beads. I've repaired the links many times. This week the rosary slipped as I was putting it on the sink and it went down the drain. I was torn - too tired to fish it out of the drain, but fearing this would be the demise of a dear companion.time. I couldn't deal with it. I rattled the drain plug to see if it had gotten hooked. Then thinking it might stay in the drain loop under the sink if I didn't run the water, I went to bed hoping I wouldn't forget. Such drama. The next day the plumbing operation was successful. The rosary has returned to my pocket. Phew!
I want to know - what objects are companions for you?
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Of Many Things
Birds
This past two weeks I had several new visitors to the bird feeder. One was a yellow rumped warbler. I don't know how they name these birds. This one has yellow on it's chin and sides, not on it's rump. Same with the red bellied sap sucker - it's head is red, not its bellie. One morning I woke up to find a huge flock of Bushtits ravenously eating everything in sight. I love bushtits. Never saw one until moving to the North West. They are teeny, chirpy, little gray birds. They're about 3 1/2 inches which is just a bit smaller than a chickadee. And they travel in packs. I can just imagine them snuggling together to keep warm during the snow. The Anna's hummingbirds stopped coming by the feeder after the last big ice storm. I'm afraid they all perished.
Pets
Death also came to the menagerie. One day I realized our large, white, mystery snail hadn't moved in a couple days. When I removed it from the tank.....ooo did he ever stink. A couple days later there was a great sea monkey massacre. The latest crop of sea monkeys was unbelievable. So many. One morning I looked at their jar and they were all gone. Except one. One little one. That little one is still swimming around. Very mysterious.
Puzzles
I usually don't buy puzzles from Goodwill because who knows if all the pieces are there. But a few weeks ago I felt compelled to get one. This small puzzle box had openned and sstarted spilling on the shelf. First I started trying to pick up the couple loose pieces to put back in the box. Then I fumbled and had to pick up some that spilled. Then I realized some of the pieces had fallen down to the next shelf and some had gotten stuck in the shelf connectors. Now I had to get them all. After all that I figured I would buy the puzzle to see how many pieces were lost.
This puzzle happened to be a personalized puzzle - someone had ordered a map puzzle with their house at the center of the puzzle. The map extended two miles north and south, and four miles east and west. It ended up being a map of Coos Bay which is over on the Coast. It took a while, but putting it together was fun, as in, mindless activity to do when you're feeling too sick to do anything else, even sleep. There were about 12 pieces missing out of 500. Now I want to order puzzles for all kind of places, like this new house, and the farm, and OTR. Too expensive to order more than one. Where would you want to be the center of your map?
This past two weeks I had several new visitors to the bird feeder. One was a yellow rumped warbler. I don't know how they name these birds. This one has yellow on it's chin and sides, not on it's rump. Same with the red bellied sap sucker - it's head is red, not its bellie. One morning I woke up to find a huge flock of Bushtits ravenously eating everything in sight. I love bushtits. Never saw one until moving to the North West. They are teeny, chirpy, little gray birds. They're about 3 1/2 inches which is just a bit smaller than a chickadee. And they travel in packs. I can just imagine them snuggling together to keep warm during the snow. The Anna's hummingbirds stopped coming by the feeder after the last big ice storm. I'm afraid they all perished.
Pets
Death also came to the menagerie. One day I realized our large, white, mystery snail hadn't moved in a couple days. When I removed it from the tank.....ooo did he ever stink. A couple days later there was a great sea monkey massacre. The latest crop of sea monkeys was unbelievable. So many. One morning I looked at their jar and they were all gone. Except one. One little one. That little one is still swimming around. Very mysterious.
Puzzles
I usually don't buy puzzles from Goodwill because who knows if all the pieces are there. But a few weeks ago I felt compelled to get one. This small puzzle box had openned and sstarted spilling on the shelf. First I started trying to pick up the couple loose pieces to put back in the box. Then I fumbled and had to pick up some that spilled. Then I realized some of the pieces had fallen down to the next shelf and some had gotten stuck in the shelf connectors. Now I had to get them all. After all that I figured I would buy the puzzle to see how many pieces were lost.
This puzzle happened to be a personalized puzzle - someone had ordered a map puzzle with their house at the center of the puzzle. The map extended two miles north and south, and four miles east and west. It ended up being a map of Coos Bay which is over on the Coast. It took a while, but putting it together was fun, as in, mindless activity to do when you're feeling too sick to do anything else, even sleep. There were about 12 pieces missing out of 500. Now I want to order puzzles for all kind of places, like this new house, and the farm, and OTR. Too expensive to order more than one. Where would you want to be the center of your map?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas Week
Started with the great unwrapping where everyone is four years old again and believes all these gifts were left by Santa. It was really fun. Then a great Christmas breakfast and off to see friends and family. (Back home and to bed for sick me - but getting better everyday) The temperature started to rise. 45 degrees on Saturday. Woke up Sunday morning with everything green and wet, just like Portland should be! A new year's coming.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
'Tis the Night before Christmas
It's still snowing here and I'm tired from a cold. Might be the bah-humbug-blues. Trying to decide if I should make another pot of coffee or just go curl up in bed. I dug my car out of the snow this afternoon. The ice packed on the cloth roof was hard to sweep off. I drove around the block hoping the last bits would blow off, but they're still there.The plan is to attend the children's Christmas Mass at 5:30 then to pack up any gifts Santa may have left here and take them over to SIE's tree. Spend the night there. Wake up when SIE does!....but right now I'm so tired I think Santa should wait a week or two before arriving.
But be of good cheer...Here's one of my favorite poems:On How To Be a Manger
Be empty
Be sturdy
Be soft inside
Be still
Be ready
poem by Barbara Steffanus Germiat
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all from the Beachys and me!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Hamster Dreams
This winter has been rough on Hammy. She's done a lot of sleeping and a couple times I've thought she might have died. If I clean her cage she is as grumpy as Mr. Beachy is on days his arthritis kicks in. A clean cage means she has to scrounge around for material and remake her bed. She also keeps a stash of nuts and seeds in one corner hidden under wood shavings. I can see it would be upsetting to dig all over looking for her stash and then find out I've dumped it. On those days I give her an apple slice and it makes up for her inconvenience.
Have you ever seen a dog sleeping and then start kicking or growling in his sleep? Hamsters do that too. I wonder what she dreams about. Her "growls" are just little chirps. Pretty cute.
This week I was sitting near her cage when all of a sudden there was a thump as she fell out of her nest and crashed on the cage floor. I got up to check and she was on her back with every limb flailing about. I thought she was having a seizure and surely it was the end of poor Hammy. I reached into the cage and grabbed her up and held her close. She was chirping, then gradually calmed down and opened her eyes really wide. We cuddled a while and she loved being held close and caressed. Last night she ran on her wheel for hours. Back to her old self after weeks of semi-hibernation.
Have you ever seen a dog sleeping and then start kicking or growling in his sleep? Hamsters do that too. I wonder what she dreams about. Her "growls" are just little chirps. Pretty cute.
This week I was sitting near her cage when all of a sudden there was a thump as she fell out of her nest and crashed on the cage floor. I got up to check and she was on her back with every limb flailing about. I thought she was having a seizure and surely it was the end of poor Hammy. I reached into the cage and grabbed her up and held her close. She was chirping, then gradually calmed down and opened her eyes really wide. We cuddled a while and she loved being held close and caressed. Last night she ran on her wheel for hours. Back to her old self after weeks of semi-hibernation.
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