There's No Place Like Blogland

Life's been pretty quiet while I'm cooped up here for two weeks next Monday. This is so insulting to me after not being able to go and do for weeks and months without end and now I could, if only my body would allow. Nevertheless, there have been joys sprinkled throughout. Most of them come from Blogland itself. What would I have done without all of you and, though I was often too tired to comment, I did visit and read a lot.

There is such beauty in every corner of this globe and in Blogdom there is no limit of time or space. We can visit in Istanbul one minute and in another be whisked off to Mexico. Incredible! One can explore any topic, any style, any story.

Incredible, too, when a fellow traveler in Blogland sends a gift. This one is from Karen. Isn't it beautiful? Does it not delightfully express our experience in this place? Hence the title of this post...

Arggghhh, here goes my blood pressure! This post is NOT finished, yet it's gone down the sluice. I tell you that there are days when I have the exact opposite feeling about Blogger that I do about Blogdom. Two separate entities entirely. What happened? I asked for a post date of 8/20/10 and it did not hold. Frustrating. (Edited to Add: Oh interesting! Look at the post date...hmmm, gremlins about. I should add just for the record that today is Thursday, August 19, 2010. My post says that it is August 20, 2010 just as I requested. This post should NOT have posted.)

Okay, I'll scrurry along and see what I can do.

My mother brought me this gift from her recent vacation. (We had no idea that she'd be going at the worst possible time...Nan in the nursing home and my not being able to visit her. Nan really struggled through her days. Thank God for John who stood in the gap for all of us even winding up at a "family meeting" alone on Nan's behalf.) Anyway, this tea pot is from the Czech Republic, it's porcelain with 24 karat gold overlay. I think it's beautiful and so it will be taken better care of than being atop my old books. It's far more ostentatious than I am used to, but I think it will be great fun to serve tea from this pot.

As you can see from my find a few weeks ago, these Golden Wheat cups from the 1940s, I am a simpler kind of gal. These were purchased with autumn in mind and the thought of having something autumnal to hang from the old window. I knew as I was purchasing them that a few bloggers have them, but it didn't take long to find one right away—Dot at Pickett's Place. Whenever I'm tempted to think about how rough it's been, I think of Dot right away. She packed up her entire home and went to live near her parents so that she could be close to care for them. Now she's packing up again and going back home. My mind spins to think of all that work! Not only that, but while she was at her new home, she cleaned up the yard, planted, pruned...oh my the work! She says that she tried to fall in love with the new house, but couldn't. Okay, she's leaving it a much better place for the next inhabitants that's for sure.

So here's to leaving Blogland a little brighter... Perhaps I need to remove my meltdown in the center... Nope. I'll let it stand. It's a teachable moment.

Have a great day...

Quite a Ride

My grands have been having some fun rides this summer. I'm so glad. They are just the right age to enjoy these delights and will be for a few years more. That my son and daughter-in-law fit these fun events into the budget makes everybody happy.

Both boys really enjoyed a trip up White Mountain on the *Cog Railroad* in July. My son said that he white-knuckled it all the way, much to his wife's amusement, and the boys, perfectly oblivious to their dad's discomfort, grinned all the way to the top.

These photos are of the most recent adventure...a little time spent with Thomas.

Ahhhh, this is the life!

And off they go on another adventure. Wish that Jake would at least hold onto the wheel.

While the boys are enjoying their rides, I'm on one of a completely different sort. Every time I think that this thing...oh, let's just call it what it is...Herpes Simplex Virus...is on its way out, I'm tricked. So thanks for asking about me. I'm still in the throes of it taking my medicines and being ultra careful to be socially responsible. John gets no kisses...linens are changed often...dishes are washed in bleach...they're always washed in bleach...I wash my hands a lot...I stay at home and grin groan.

My goal is to get a ride up the Cog Railroad in late September...wouldn't it be beautiful?  Edited to Add: Wait a minute! I remember typing "is there a ride you'd like to go on?" but it got lost in editing. I still want to know!

Didn't get the Umbrella Memo in Time

Isn't it great that so many of our blogging buddies have been on vacation this summer? I feel as if I have been along for the ride, which is a very efficient way for me to vacation these days.

Linds isn't spending much time in her rocking chair while she is on vacation in Switzerland. Thankfully, she's still reflecting and has shared at least one of her sister's tips for maintaining a healthy garden. Know how petunias seem to dissolve in the rain?

Oh yes! Now they are a mess after a night of rain. This is Linds' sister *Marge's tip* in a very poorly rendered Paint Shopped photo. I don't have much energy  yet for details.

I can see how cute that would be and how it might prevent a complete meltdown. Now if I can learn how to get the umbrella up over my own life, I'll be doing famously.

Have a pleasant day...

Edited to Add (8/18/2010): Until today, I've had to imagine what the umbrella was like, but now I've seen it and I see that it looks cute and it works! *Check* and see for yourself!

Rest

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It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. ~Psalm 127:2