The NENO Award

The NENO Award

A few days ago I was honored with this very cool award from Loree at Stories and Scribbles. She has a beautiful blog, just full of all the good things -- great posts, cool pictures, lots of friends, the kind of blog you can visit and always find something extremely interesting to read and enjoy. I am so honored and humbled by this beautiful award! Thank you, Loree!

The NENO Award is given to "those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging, and to help others seek the reasons why we all love blogging." That's a very cool statement and one of the very best, if not THE best reason for blogging -- to encourage friendships through blogging.

I enjoy reading a large variety of excellent blogs, but picked these five to receive the NENO Award: *drum roll, please!*

French Leave

Rural Revolution

Starlight Blog

Vice and Verses

Wicked, Wild, Words

Each blogger above exhibits a refreshing openness, a strong point of view, and work of the highest quality. The posts, the poems, the essays, the photographs -- all are utterly top notch and a joy to read. Congratulations! You've earned this award [and I hope many others in the future] through your outstanding talent and warm friendship.

Please visit these fine blogs and see what all the fuss is about. You won't be disappointed!

And winners, should you chose to accept this award, here are the rules that go with it:

· Upload the image in your post
· Mention the person that gives you the award with their blog link
· Nominate your 5 blogs of choice with blog name and link
· Leave comment on the recipients' posts to let them know

Thank you blogging friends for brightening my days with your work. I look forward to more delightful hours exploring your blogs! Best wishes for your continued success!

Congratulations!

Buried Treasure: A Canine Star is Born

Here is the absolutely best television advertisement for ANY product I have ever seen. The Gate created and produced. The music was composed by Darren Solomon, recorded in house at Big Foote Music, New York, and sung by Rosi Golan. It's a short film with top-notch production values, two adorable canine stars, a sweet song, and a compelling little story. It's simply a gem! Though it is usually shown on the cable business shows, it is beginning to take on a life of its own, despite the commercial aspects, and is getting quite a buzz now on YouTube and around the blogosphere. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful day!

Writer's Challenge, #9

...writer's challenge #9...

Writers, your challenge is to write a story, poem, play, article, report, micro-blog -- something -- anything -- about this picture. You may write your piece to any length, as long as it doesn't exceed 50 words. The shorter the better, of course. If you want to write a Twitter length story, give it a whirl but don't exceed 140 characters.

Try your hand at micro/flash work and feel free to post as many tiny pieces as you'd like in the Comment section below. Your work is yours, you own the copyright -- we're just making a spot available for you to share your creativity with the Sunflower Ranch visitors. You can experiment here and tweet them or post them or even use them as seeds for longer, more involved work.

Let's have some fun and start the weekend with a new little activity to spark your imagination. May you be inspired to make your writing soar and produce some wonderful work! Check out last week's Writer's Challenge and add your interpretation of the photo there as well.

Your comments are always welcome, too!

Tomatoes On Holiday

Having a wonderful time, wish you were here...

Why, what a very cultivated kind of youth
this kind of youth must be!
Then a sentimental passion of a vegetable fashion
must excite your languid spleen,
An attachment a la Plato for a bashful young potato,
or a not-too-French French bean!
Though the Philistines may jostle, you will rank
as an apostle in the high æsthetic band,
If you walk down Piccadilly with a poppy
or a lily in your mediæval hand.
And ev'ryone will say,
As you walk your flow'ry way,
"If he's content with a vegetable love
which would certainly not suit me,
Why, what a most particularly pure
young man this pure young man must be!"

~from Patience by WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, 1881

We do love our vegetables here at the Ranch! And try to cater to their every wish and comfort. As you can see, these two are relaxing on their own lawn chairs. They are not drinking Coronas today but they are drinking in the sunshine.

These beautiful tomatoes were given to us a few weeks ago by Joyce, our cousin with the greenest thumb in the Puget Sound area! She has a gorgeous sweeping lawn with wide beds of perennials, annuals, and raised beds of vegetables and herbs. She had several tomato plants that she didn't have room for and was very happy to clean out the space in her greenhouse and send them home with us.

I let them become acclimatized to being outdoors in the sunshine and rain for a few days, then transplanted them to larger pots, which she said would be large enough to hold them as they matured and produced fruit. One trick she suggested was to tear off the lowest leaves and put the rootball deep into the pot, possibly burying the stem a few extra inches deeper than normally. I did it and it seems to have worked! The plants are thriving. Good, fresh top soil/potting soil with generous amounts of Miracle Grow and daily watering helped, too.

I put two of the pots on a pair of old plastic lawn chairs out in the middle of a sunny spot in the back yard. It's probably deer height, but some people have said the deer won't bother tomatoes. I just don't know what to expect once the fruit begins to set on. I put the others on the back porch. I don't think deer will climb stairs, so if they do demolish the other two, they won't be as anxious to gobble these. Both tomato areas have a solid Southern exposure.


Originally I had planned to line the small walkway by the front door with the pots of tomatoes, but decided against it when I realized they had only an Eastern exposure and would not have direct sunlight for most of the day, and they would be exposed on the ground to the whims of every creature that trotted through the property.

The tomato varieties include Early Girl and Stupice, which are both perfect for our cool, mountain/marine climate. I will update their progress as the summer progresses. I haven't grown tomatoes for probably ten years and never in containers before, so this is going to be a fun and I hope delicious adventure! Now all we need is good "tomato weather" and we'll be feasting on fresh tomatoes for weeks!

Thanks bunches, Cousin!

Wow, What a Surprise!

What a very nice surprise!

When I sent out the Vespa Blogger Friendship Award in early May, I heard back from most of the recipients and several passed the award on to their blogging friends. I didn't hear from one or two and figured they were on vacation or had other pressing issues or were unable for another reason to participate at that time. [I am fully aware that life intervenes and our blogs are not the reason we get up in the morning!] Giving an award is a time consuming activity -- researching, linking, writing the award blog and then notifying each recipient -- in short, it requires a time commitment on the part of the giver that a lot of bloggers just don't have available.

I hadn't heard from Milli Thornton, and thought she fell into one of the above categories but would get back to me when she had time. Well, after a few weeks went by, and she hadn't posted anything new on either of her blogs, I figured something momentous in her life was happening. I just hoped all was well and she wasn't in any distress.

Then one day, about a week ago, I heard from her. She was back and fine and raring to go and had just updated all her blogs and she also had a lot of new things planned. One of which was to accept the Vespa Blogger Friendship Award and a feature about my giving it to her!

So, imagine my surprise when she wrote a few days ago, asking me to send her some of my thoughts on blogging and a recent photo. I sent both, even though I look like the wreck of the Hesperus, as Mom used to say. LOL

Read her very nice award acceptance note here, and read my notes from our email conversation on blogging here. Thanks for checking them out and a great big THANK YOU to my dear friend Milli for spotlighting the Vespa Blogger Friendship Award and Sunflower Ranch! She's a wonderful blogging friend and it's been my pleasure to share the award with her! While you're visiting her blogs, be sure to check out the contents and focus of each blog. You'll find a wonderful community of writers, some great writing tips and a lot of enthusiastic encouragement.

What more could a person ask for in a friend?

Thank you bunches, Milli!

Bad Day at Hallmark

...a case of writer's block...

Have you ever wondered what happens when greeting card writers have a bad day? Take a closer look at these women. They look like a lot of writers do when things just aren't going well. These ditties are absolutely terrible -- but I hope they bring a smile to your busy day!

1.
My tire was thumping.
I thought it was flat
When I looked at the tire...
I noticed your cat.
Sorry!

2.
Heard your wife left you,
How upset you must be.
But don't fret about it...
She moved in with me.

3.
Congratulations on your new bundle of joy.
Did you ever find out who the father was?

4.
I've always wanted to have
someone to hold,
someone to love.
After having met you ...
I've changed my mind.

5.
I'm so miserable without you
it's almost like you're here.

6.
Congratulations on your promotion.
Before you go ...
Would you like to take this knife out of my back?
You'll probably need it again.

7.
Happy birthday! You look great for your age.
Almost Lifelike!

8.
When we were together,
you always said you'd die for me.
Now that we've broken up,
I think it's time you kept your promise.

9.
We have been friends for a very long time ...
let's say we stop?

These "groaners" are pretty tasteless, but they were the best of the lot. If you feel like writing your own not-so-nice greeting card verse, be my guest in the comment section below. Go ahead, you know you want to -- just do it! Give it a whirl, but keep it clean. Get it off your chest, and you'll feel a lot better and in the process tickle a few funnybones -- and, yes, probably cause more than a few eyes to roll...

Thanks for visiting and sharpening those claws, er, I mean pencils and writing your own vicious ditty.

Have fun!

For more information and cool cards to send to your friends: Hallmark Cards, American Greetings, 123Greetings, e-cards, Black Dog postcards

Silver Liquid Drops

...silver liquid drops...

"Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby..."

~Langston Hughes from April Rain Song

It rained today, the First Day of Summer. Though the sun was out, ugly sharp-edged rain-laden clouds stalked our area all day. Sometimes the lightning would flash, the thunder would rumble and the sun would come out while it rained! The sun makes these drops shine like ropes of silver. Langston Hughes' sweet poem April Rain Song describes it perfectly -- except we would have to change the title to Summer Rain Song, just temporarily, in honor of today.

It rains so much here in the Pacific Northwest that you think we'd take it for granted. But we recently went through a period of NO rain and when it returned after almost 30 days, while the sun was out and shining brightly, we all just marveled, and got a little wet and rejoiced that our gardens and lawns had abundant natural water to cleanse and nourish.

But that was yesterday. Today was a little extra special -- several small thunderstorms rolled through on gusty winds, the sun bravely peeked out between them and the rain pelted hard when it felt like it. All in all, a mixed-up start to the summer. Perhaps an omen. Perhaps a farewell to spring's capriciousness.

Click here for a huge-sized copy of the photo. You may use it for non-commercial purposes only. For more info on Langston Hughes, click here.

Enjoy!

Rotten Reviews: Mark Twain

"A hundred years from now it is very likely that 'The Jumping Frog' alone will be remembered." ~Harry Thurston Peck, The Bookman, 1901

Review of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain:
"A gross trifling with every fine feeling ... Mr. Clemens has no reliable sense of propriety." ~Springfield Republican, 1884

It's funny now almost a hundred years after Mark Twain's death that he is remembered as a preeminent American humorist. There have been countless movie versions of his novels and stories, several film biographies, at least one award-winning one-man play [Mark Twain Tonight], an important comedy prize [The Mark Twain Prize] and books that have been in print continually since their original publication. Now, of course, his work is also available online.

The two quotes above simply do not take his overwhelming popularity into account. He was popular during his lifetime and remains so today. If you're not familiar with Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens, start with his biography and famous quotes on a multitude of subjects.

He talked about the weather a lot, too, one of my favorite subjects. "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," has been commonly misattributed to Mark Twain. [I grew up in Western Washington and always heard it this way, "The mildest winter I ever spent was a summer on Puget Sound." But one line he did say and it is as true now as when he first uttered it is: "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it."

My all-time favorite Mark Twain quote is particularly applicable today: "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

Mark Twain was a nineteenth century early adapter in that he used a typewriter. Here's what he had to say about typewriters:

Please do not even divulge the fact that I own a machine. I have entirely stopped using the Type-Writer, for the reason that I never could write a letter with it to anybody without receiving a request by return mail that I would not only describe the machine but state what progress I had made in the use of it, etc., etc. I don't like to write letters, and so I don't want people to know that I own this curiosity-breeding little joker.
- Letter, 3/19/1875

...I will now claim -- until dispossessed -- that I was the first person in the world to apply the typewriter to literature...The early machine was full of caprices, full of defects -- devilish ones. It had as many immoralities as the machine of today has virtues. After a year or two I found that it was degrading my character, so I thought I would give it to Howells...He took it home to Boston, and my morals began to improve, but his have never recovered.
- "The First Writing Machines"

He also used and promoted a new hand-held writing instrument, the fountain pen. The manufacturer still sells the pen Mark Twain loved and used. Check it out here.

From the Mark Twain House and Museum website, "As his literature provides insight into the past, the events of his personal life further demonstrate his role as an eyewitness to history. During his lifetime, Mark Twain watched a young United States evolve from a nation torn apart by internal conflicts to one of international power. He experienced the country's vast growth and change -- from westward expansion to industrialization, the end of slavery, advancements in technology, big government and foreign wars. And along the way, he often had something to say about the changes happening in America." Read more here.

I hope you'll spend some time with one of America's most entertaining writers. For the previous Rotten Review, click here. Thanks!

Enjoy!

Writer's Challenge, #8

Click here to enlarge.

Writers, your challenge is to write a story, poem, play, article, report, micro-blog -- something -- anything -- about this picture. You may write your piece to any length, as long as it doesn't exceed 50 words. The shorter the better, of course. If you want to write a Twitter length story, give it a whirl but don't exceed 140 characters.

Try your hand at micro/flash work and feel free to post as many tiny pieces as you'd like in the Comment section below. Your work is yours, you own the copyright -- we're just making a spot available for you to share your creativity with the Sunflower Ranch visitors. You can experiment here and tweet them or post them or even use them as seeds for longer, more involved work.

Let's have some fun and start the weekend with a new little activity to spark your imagination. May you be inspired to make your writing soar and produce some wonderful work! Check out last week's Writer's Challenge and add your interpretation of the photo there as well.

Your comments are always welcome, too!

Cheap & Easy Birdbath

free-standing birdbath

I just wanted to pass on to you a cheap and easy birdbath that the birds just love. Why spend a lot of bucks for a cement birdbath that may need extensive repairs after a freeze cracks the bowl? And why have one that's too heavy for you to move when you want to groom the area or relocate the bath? [Yeah, more like relocate your shoulder when you try to lift it.]

Here's how to make a lightweight, movable birdbath:

1. Use a flat-topped metal plant stand.
2. Place a heavy-duty recycled plastic plant saucer on top.
3. Anchor the saucer with several rocks of different sizes.

It's low to the ground and doesn't tip over easily. But it is very easy to move. If the paint on the stand shows any signs of rust use Rustoleum spray paint to repair it. If the saucer should crack or break, replace with another. The damaged one goes right into the recycled bin.

The birds have room to bathe or stand on the rocks to drink or cling to the rim to drink. I've had robins, juncos, chickadees, goldfinches, Stellar's jays, flickers, starlings and crows taking turns drinking and bathing. We always have two baths together and sometimes the birds will bathe in one and hop over the other and bathe or drink. They perform this little trick endlessly until they've become waterlogged and have to fly over to a low branch on one of the fir trees and shake off all the water and continue their grooming. [Of course, during this little show, we're convulsed with fits of laughter.]

The crows have been a problem with someone feeding them but not providing water so they come over here, from blocks away to wash their food in our birdbaths!!

However, this birdbath is very easy to clean.

1. Dump the dirty water.
2. Spray water to loosen any film on the bottom.
3. Add a drop of dish washing detergent if terribly soiled.
4. Rub with an all-surface scratch-resistant sponge/scrubber.
5. Rinse thoroughly.
6. Replace the rocks.
7. Fill with fresh cool water.
8. Sit back and watch the birds have fun.

To keep the birdbath sparkling and disease free, refill at least once a day and scrub as needed. Your birds will love you! [And keep the insects under control, as well as providing concerts all day.]

I bought the components at Walmart last year but you can cobble the parts together from any of your favorite suppliers or from what you have around the house. You can go to Lowes, WalMart, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, RiteAid, True Value and any of your local stores and poke around their seasonal garden items. [I haven't found very good bargains online, but you might try your favorite auction site. I also recommend hunting locally to find the best bargains.] Drop in to your local thrift store and search for something weatherproof and sturdy that you can use to create your own unique but movable and inexpensive birdbath. Here's a fun project for a birdbath using plastic buckets, decoupage, and a plant saucer. Check it out!

Now, get busy! Your feathered friends need water and the little effort you expend to bring it to them will be paid back a thousandfold. Watch when the parents bring the fledgelings to the bath the first time. It's really sweet! Thanks for visiting today and

have fun with your birdbath!

Happy Tag! What Makes You Happy?

You have been tagged with the Happy Tag!!

Here's how it works:

1. Name and link back to the person who tagged you.

2. List 6 "unimportant" things that make you happy. (Well they're not really unimportant, right?)

Six things that make me happy in no particular order are:

1) Lunch with a dear friend!

2) A sunny day!

3) Writing!

4) Seaside/waterfront/beach walk!

5) Watching baseball!

6) Flowers & nature!

I tag: YOU!

In the comment section below, list six things that make you happy. Let's share a little happiness with each other today!

Have a Happy Day!

Books and Stuff for Writers

a few paperback books

Writers, remember one of the first rules of learning how to write is to read? Read in your genre, read books in fields you know nothing about, read books that will help you become a better writer, read the dictionary, read the back of cereal boxes? "Read," they hollered, "just read!!"

I'm a sucker for a good book, so I happily took their advice. I read everything I could. I collected the odd and the hard-to-find, the common and the popular, and everything in between. Whole rooms at the original Sunflower Ranch were stuffed with my books. Then we made the big move and suddenly, I didn't have enough room for my collections of obscure mysteries or vintage magazines. I was out of room at the new Ranch before we even got completely moved! Out of desperation, I'm slowly selling off these books -- those that I've read, that were given to me, or that I found at a terrific price for gifts but never gave. I am offering you a wonderful deal: buy any four books, get FREE shipping! No strings, no limits, just whatever strikes your fancy, pick out four books [or more] and I'll ship them to you at no additional cost. That beats all the major online bookstores by leaps.

The only catch -- I'm selling these online right now to US buyers only through Online Auction and you need to become a member -- but there is no charge to become a buyer -- zip, zero, zilch, nada. I accept credit cards through Google Checkout, money orders, personal checks, Revolution Money Exchange, and if the total price is over $20 I'll even accept PayPal or as we fondly call it "PreyPal," since every time you turn around they've added or raised their fees. I'm not out to make a ton of money -- obviously! -- I just want to see that books of interest find the person who will read and learn and love them as much as I have.

So where can you see the current offerings available? Click here to go to the Sunflower Ranch store. Search for books and you'll find reference, research, all kinds of fiction with an emphasis on mysteries, philosophy, humor, self-help, and more. I also offer other items for writers, including pocket journals, notepads, and writing instruments, all with discounted shipping for multiple purchases. The stock changes frequently, so you're likely to find almost anything. Help me out by buying some great collectible books so I can list more! LOL

Thanks for visiting today. I shall be eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to share my books with you!

Good luck with your reading and writing!

Writer's Challenge, #7

Click here to enlarge.

Writers, your challenge is to write a story, poem, play, article, report, micro-blog -- something -- anything -- about this picture. You may write your piece to any length, as long as it doesn't exceed 50 words. The shorter the better, of course. If you want to write a Twitter length story, give it a whirl but don't exceed 140 characters.

Try your hand at micro/flash work and feel free to post as many tiny pieces as you'd like in the Comment section below. Your work is yours, you own the copyright -- we're just making a spot available for you to share your creativity with the Sunflower Ranch visitors. You can experiment here and tweet them or post them or even use them as seeds for longer, more involved work.

Let's have some fun and start the weekend with a new little activity to spark your imagination. May you be inspired to make your writing soar and produce some wonderful work! Check out last week's Writer's Challenge and add your interpretation of the photo there as well.

Your comments are always welcome, too!

Eiffel Tower Lightning Award

This evening a massive storm blew up from south central Washington and livened up the dinner hour. The sky rocked with thunder and the clouds flashed that unmistakably brilliant blue-white lightning back and forth like a tennis match on steroids. Yes, it was quite a show. Throw in a little wind, several quick and sporadic downpours, a blast of dazzling sunshine and a faint rainbow etched against another wave of black rain-laden clouds, and wow, what an evening!

But it was finished by 8:30pm, a half hour before sunset and a long twilight. Golden rays filtered through the fir trees, an evening dampness settled in, and everything seemed to return to normal again. Birds popped out from their hiding places to sing a little and entertain us with their antics in the bird baths. A dog woofed in the distance -- probably at the deer emerging to see whose garden they could invade and quietly trample overnight. All in all the storm had passed with nothing scary or tragically dramatic. Just an old fashioned "thunder-boomer" and it was gone.

So, in honor of this spectacular, but safe storm, I hereby bestow upon it the Sunflower Ranch Eiffel Tower Lightning Award of Excellence. This is only the second time I have done this. Click here to read the initial award presentation.

May all the storms in your life be as exciting -- but harmless! The next time you're in a storm, follow these tips for lightning safety.

Thanks for visiting today!

In A Foresaken Field...

...acres of daisies...

Daisies

Over the shoulders and slopes of the dune
I saw the white daisies go down to the sea,
A host in the sunshine, an army in June,
The people God sends us to set our heart free.

The bobolinks rallied them up from the dell,
The orioles whistled them out of the wood;
And all of their singing was, "Earth, it is well!"
And all of their dancing was, "Life, thou art good!"

~"More Songs From Vagabondia" by Bliss Carman and Richard Hovey

Every day when we go home from the gym I always wish I had the camera with me to grab a few shots of the daisies that carpet an enormous empty field near the Town Center. Sunday, I finally remembered to bring it.

Just along the western edge of town, this field is at least ten acres, probably more, with nothing on it except what I call wasteflowers. The ground closest to the road is filled with purple clover, foxglove, tall stalks of brownish grass, and these lovely daisies. These flowers stretch all along the road and back beyond, deep into the field. What once may have been a pasture or a field of hay, corn or pumpkins has been empty for years. Scotch broom infests the center like a solid wall of dark green and school bus yellow barbed-wire. It is marching toward the road, eating up all the slightly better soil now occupied by the daisies and the other wasteflowers. The farm fence came down years ago, and the for sale sign last fall when the banks started failing. There doesn't seem to be any activity in the field, except for these flowers and the birds that live among them. I did see one shredded tire and a few ant hills on my short walk into the field, but I did not discover a deer sleeping in a flattened nest of the tall grasses, or a hidden coyote's den, or a cottontail rabbit nibbling the daisies. But I was prepared to do so.

Here's another shot of the field, to show the clover. It's a small picture and I'm not sure you can see the bumble bees working the sweet purple clover. But they were and working industriously, as expected.

more wasteflowers

I found the poem by William Bliss Carman, who died eighty years ago today. Read more of his work here. He was Canada's "unofficial Poet Laureate" and immensely popular in the United States as well. It's easy to see why -- very uplifting work! And the cheerful tone just seems to fit the subject so well. Daisies always make me smile. I hope they bring you a little happiness, too. And happy hunting for the wasteflowers near your home. They are humble, but they are oh, so beautiful, and like the poets above said,

"Life, thou art good!"

Click here for a huge-sized copy of the daisies and here for a huge copy of the mixed flowers. You may use them for non-commercial purposes only. Enjoy!

When You Are Old

Mt. Jefferson & Mt. Hood

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

~William Butler Yeats

Many thanks to my friend David Roberts for permission to use this photograph of Mt. Jefferson with Mt. Hood in the background. He captured this shot of two of the classically beautiful mountains of the Cascade Range on a recent trip to Bend, Oregon, where he spent a pleasant mini-vacation with friends. Look for more of David's photos here at the Sunflower Ranch blog.

Thanks for visiting today!

Writer's Challenge, #6

Click here to enlarge.

Writers, your challenge is to write a story, poem, play, article, report, micro-blog -- something -- anything -- about this picture. You may write your piece to any length, as long as it doesn't exceed 50 words. The shorter the better, of course. If you want to write a Twitter length story, give it a whirl but don't exceed 140 characters.

Try your hand at micro/flash work and feel free to post as many tiny pieces as you'd like in the Comment section below. Your work is yours, you own the copyright -- we're just making a spot available for you to share your creativity with the Sunflower Ranch visitors. You can experiment here and tweet them or post them or even use them as seeds for longer, more involved work.

Let's have some fun and start the weekend with a new little activity to spark your imagination. May you be inspired to make your writing soar and produce some wonderful work! Check out last week's Writer's Challenge and add your interpretation of the photo there as well.

Your comments are always welcome, too!

Let's Get Physical

Eat More Fruit

...Let me hear your body talk...

I heard something recently, that due to the worries of our society being turned upside down, the job losses, the evaporation of savings, the foreclosures, the government take-overs and all the rest, people are stressing more and scrambling to find security and comfort by taking better care of themselves.

Depression, anxiety, chronic illness, and communicable diseases are skyrocketing as we descend into the Brave New World. Everyone must start now to make up for the loss of quality medical care that we know is coming when the government imposes rationed health care. This will be particularly bad for the most vulnerable of our society -- children and the elderly.

Here's what hubby and I have been doing for the last several years or so, but now we're being even more diligent about it. We're being very careful about our diet [eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, cutting back on desserts, eliminating most deep fried foods and red meat, and drinking plenty of water.] We exercise more [gym workouts everyday] and try to get more sleep. It's impossible to stop a genetic based disease from manifesting, but taking good care of yourself will help you fight it and prevent the everyday germs and the serious influenzas that are always lurking ready to attack you.

We've recently cut out excessive caffeine [very hard for me, since I'm addicted to coffee]. We don't smoke or drink [interferes with our heart medications] and we really try hard not to let the stress get to us. If that means spending another half hour on the treadmill to zone out, so be it. But it seems to be working, at least a little, even if it seems like life has become a bit more routine than we like.

What are you doing for yourself? Are you eating more fruits and vegetables like our girl above suggests? Do you eat oatmeal every day? Are you cutting down on adult beverages? sugar? fats? nicotine? Do you take the stairs instead of the elevator? Wear your seatbelt?

Try the No-Beef Challenge. It's difficult to do if you're a red meat eater and live with other meat eaters -- but try to do the best you can for one month. It's a great and painless way to lower your cholesterol. All you have to do is not eat beef for 30 days. If you have a partner willing to support you in this exercise, it's even easier. Substitute beef with fish, poultry, or tofu. Check out the Food Pyramid for more tips. Get easy to fix but healthy recipes here. Cook together -- it's fun!

Let us know the one thing you're doing for yourself to remain as healthy as possible. Start today if you've been putting it off, so you'll be strong and able to take whatever life dishes out!

Good luck and good health!

What Color Are You?

Reflections by Caroline Ashton

I have to admit, I'm kind of a sucker for silly little surveys about color. I usually always read about color at home decorating and hardware store sites like Better Homes and Gardens, Lowes, and HGTV.com. And I also admit to subscribing to a ton of great decorating magazines where, you guessed it, the first article I usually read is the latest one having to do with color. Yes, I love design and the nuances of furniture placement, but to my simple way of thinking -- it's the color in the design that draws me into it sooner than the style or placement of the other design elements. If a room is in one of my unfavorite colors, I don't care if it's furnished in precious French antiques or the hottest new pieces just off the designer's drawing board, I still won't like it. So what is it about color? It's emotional. Pure and simple. It can tug at your heart or turn your stomach. If you live in it, work in it, wear it, or drive it, tugging at your heart is definitely better than the other response.

So I was a bit surprised when I took this quiz and the result was other than I had expected. My living room is dominated by the painting above and the room is furnished in the tones you see there -- all sunny, green, and airy. These colors go throughout the house. [But with other colors for contrast, too, and definitely lived in!] I drive a black car and on sunny days, I'll drive my old red convertible. My closet has every color in it, but I feel best in blues and greens, sometimes shades of red, sometimes all black. True, for the gym I have my old T-shirts in nearly every color you can imagine -- but even with them added in, I don't have too many items in "My" color! [Not a shoe, not a purse, not a plump couch pillow, not even a hat from my extensive hat collection. Nada.]

Here's what I got when I took the test:

Sunflower Ranch, You Are Purple

You are spiritual and creative. Others may be mystified by your thinking, but you enjoy thinking outside of the box.

Purple!!!??? I went through a purple phase many years ago. Some shades were great -- but too many of the lighter ones or the muted ones made me look positively anemic! I gave up purple. But I know it's popular again. Recently, it was even touted as "the New Black," but that's so common now a 64 count box of crayons could be called "the New Black" if a fashion maven declared it. In the last year or so I've seen chocolate, orange, and avocado also pushed as "the New Black" but where are they now? Relegated to the trash heap of color has-beens?

I am ambivalent about purple. I might be a purple, but I don't always feel like one. Deep down, I mean. No emotional pull there. I don't think I could live in a purple house, drive a purple car or wear all purple. But I know some people can and do and love it! On the other hand I love purple flowers, purple fruit, purple gemstones, a purple dawn or sunset. For ancient Emperors, it's a basic requirement. But me? I just don't know!

What color are you? Take the quiz, click on the link [it will open in a new window] and find out. Answer the questions [just 3, so it's easy] and in the comment section below tell us how you scored and if you think it fits you. In the meantime, I think I'll dig up my purple clothes from the back of the closet and see how they look! I might even spring for something new in a flattering shade. LOL

More information: Quizzes at PimpSurveys.com

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