Two of our friends decided not to fly to Oklahoma to visit friends and family. Instead, they chose to drive and see a bit of the Western United States. And from Washington state to the state of Oklahoma there is A LOT of country to see. Almost 2100 miles worth of country! They will be crossing several mountain ranges, the high desert portions of several states, and the western edge of the Great Plains.
We received their first postcard [shown at the top] which they picked up in Oregon and mailed from Boise, Idaho. This postcard's description reads, "Signature Series, Oregon. Clockwise from left: Mt. Hood, Historic Timberline Lodge, Crater Lake National Park, Waves crashing on the Oregon Coast, Mt. Bachelor, Multnomah Falls."
They included this handwritten message, "Hi! We are in Boise, Idaho, this eve, at a Comfort Inn. Had a good day -- good weather. Saw some deer & elk in Oregon. Take care."
We enjoyed receiving their note and hope they are having a pleasant journey through scenic America! Looks like a lot of fun, and can't wait to hear from them again with all the highlights!
The Writer's Challenge 2010 features three pre-chosen themes each week. Your entry will be considered for re-publication online in the first Sunflower Ranch Anthology.
You are challenged to write up to 200 words on one of the three theme words we offer each week. You may write on all three subjects -- but not in the same piece. Please only submit one piece per theme word. Make each poem, short story, essay, or mini-drama a separate reply below in the comment section and remember to keep all your work to 200 words or less. *A note about language appropriateness: no vulgarities, obscenities, or anything offensive, please. Your work should be for general audiences.*
Each week you will have a new group of three words to choose from. At the end of the year, I would like to choose the "best of the best" and publish them in an online anthology at the Sunflower Ranch website.
You are encouraged to write each week. All the challenges will remain online here at the blog and you can add a new poem at any time. Use the search feature on the right to find the series by putting Writer's Challenge 2010 in the search box. Feel free to add your work to any challenge throughout the year. After we reach the last challenge, you will have about a month to add your final submissions. If your work is chosen for the anthology, you will be contacted through your blog at that time. If you don't have a blog, include your Twitter name or email address so we can reach you. For email, use this format: youremailname at serviceprovider dot com. [That should keep the autobots from sending you spam.]
If you have any questions or need any clarification of the challenges, please put them in the comment section below and I will do my best to explain it. Remember, no deadlines, write as many pieces as you wish, and oh, primarily, have some fun with these! Click here for last week's Challenge.
Here are your words for this week: key, kind, knot
It's true, I love the movies. I have a lot of favorites -- from many different eras, genres, and nations. Some of my favorites are in the DVD slide show on the right column.
But I don't have enough room for all of them -- I don't even know all of them!
I think I could say, so little time, so many movies, and it would be very true.
What I'm asking from you is simple. Just answer the question -- what is your favorite film?
You don't have to be scholarly and you don't have to list only your all-time favorite -- just list one and say why you love it.
I love the movies on so many different levels, sometimes it's all I can do is just say that one is in my top ten. But of course, my top ten might actually be closer to my top one hundred. I might like a film today for the script and the same film in a week from now for the cinematography. The next time I see it I might be enamored with the director's technique.
So, today, what film is on your mind? Why do you like it so much? Let's have some fun with this!
"May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer."
~Old Irish Blessing
Have a blessed day!
More info: This photo, facing East toward Mt. Rainier, was taken between heavy rain and hail showers Saturday. The rainbow didn't last long before another squall rolled through. My sister snapped it from her second story bath.
This impressive bronze statue stands near the gateway to the state capitol buildings in Olympia, Washington. For more information about the statue, click here and here. For more information about the Goddess Nike, click here, and for her cultural impact over the centuries, click here.
A stroll through the Olympia Historical District brought many delightful views of early 20th Century craftsman homes. The majority of these small houses were built in the 1910 to 1930s era. These "worker cottages" were surrounded by postage stamp yards full of mature scrubs, bushes, and decorative trees. Many designs were duplexes, with each half of the dwelling decorated differently. The front gardens ranged from unkempt to pristine and often these homes shared a walkway. The Historical district is not your typical cookie-cutter neighborhood! However, there were also a handful of duplexes with perfectly matched doors, porches, curb design and landscaping.
Therefore it was refreshing to find the East-facing garden above. As you can see from the photo, the level stone work was tightly sealed and swept free of gravel. The flower beds, wide and heaped with water retaining mulch, are weed-free. These beds can accommodate a lovely variety of seasonal plantings. The tulips are blooming now, but perhaps next month they will be replaced by petunias or zinnias or a small forest of sunflowers? Then in a few months, as the season changes, chrysanthemums and over-wintering pots of kale or grasses and carved pumpkins could highlight the Autumn? As the holidays approached, why not install a fully lighted Christmas Tree, carefully anchored to withstand the harsh winter weather?
What a perfect little space for coffee in the morning or an evening barbecue or a level place for small children to ride their little toys? And no weeding and mowing!
I'm inspired by its simplicity and beauty and I hope you are too!
The Writer's Challenge 2010 features three pre-chosen themes each week. Your entry will be considered for re-publication online in the first Sunflower Ranch Anthology.
You are challenged to write up to 200 words on one of the three theme words we offer each week. You may write on all three subjects -- but not in the same piece. Please only submit one piece per theme word. Make each poem, short story, essay, or mini-drama a separate reply below in the comment section and remember to keep all your work to 200 words or less. *A note about language appropriateness: no vulgarities, obscenities, or anything offensive, please. Your work should be for general audiences.*
Each week you will have a new group of three words to choose from. At the end of the year, I would like to choose the "best of the best" and publish them in an online anthology at the Sunflower Ranch website.
You are encouraged to write each week. All the challenges will remain online here at the blog and you can add a new poem at any time. Use the search feature on the right to find the series by putting Writer's Challenge 2010 in the search box. Feel free to add your work to any challenge throughout the year. After we reach the last challenge, you will have about a month to add your final submissions. If your work is chosen for the anthology, you will be contacted through your blog at that time. If you don't have a blog, include your Twitter name or email address so we can reach you. For email, use this format: youremailname at serviceprovider dot com. [That should keep the autobots from sending you spam.]
If you have any questions or need any clarification of the challenges, please put them in the comment section below and I will do my best to explain it. Remember, no deadlines, write as many pieces as you wish, and oh, primarily, have some fun with these! Click here for last week's Challenge.
I was part of a carload of citizens who drove 40 miles Thursday morning to the Olympia Tea Party. We represented exactly the kind of people who attend the Tea Parties. One of us was a conservative Republican, one was a Libertarian, one was an independent conservative, and one was a Liberal Democrat. All of us were concerned about the direction our country has been taking. We are all opposed to the increased level of taxation not only on the federal level but within our state as well. The liberal was alarmed about the corporate welfare, the two conservatives were distressed at the level of unfunded entitlements and the libertarian was mostly worried about the loss of our rights. All four friends were interested in knowing how we could reduce taxes, still provide for the underclass, reduce the deficit, and regain our Constitutional rights. It was a tall order to be sure, but we wanted to get into the spirit of the Tea Party and see what we could do to help bring that about.
We arrived about an hour before the scheduled start and had plenty of time for visiting with other Tea Partiers. All races, ages and walks of life were represented including pre-schoolers, school-age children, working folks, stay-at-home parents, the employed, and retired folks. A squad of uniformed students from the Washington Youth Academy attended as well.
This year's Tea Party was much smaller than last year's gathering. Perhaps that was due in part to the expanded number of Tea Parties within Western Washington. Fewer people were forced to travel long distances to attend a party. This year's Tea Party had a longer program to accommodate latecomers. People felt free to drift in at almost any point in the proceedings to listen to the speaker or the music.
Tea Party Charlie was the host and he introduced many speakers, including a constitutional lawyer, several radio hosts, a businessman, a biker, and a number of independent conservative activists. Their speeches were inspiring and made us consider our grave situation from their perspective. We sang the National Anthem, enjoyed bagpiper Robert McPherson and saluted the armed forces. It was a peaceful gathering, except for the LaRouchies spewing their peculiar ideology an hour before the speeches began. They were asked politely to move their counter demonstration across the square and they did. Case closed.
We left early to beat the traffic and make our afternoon appointments. As we drove home, we discussed the day's events and agreed it was an experience unlike any other.
One evening recently around dusk, we discovered the little cutie above. It spent a quiet few moments eating grass and minding its own business, until I snapped the photo and it hopped under the car. I'm guessing this bunny is an Eastern Cottontail, which was first introduced into Washington state in the 1920s, and has become our common suburban and rural bunny.
I sent the photo to a friend of mine and he shared this with me, about his dog Ranger and their neighborhood bunny:
"I laughed [at the picture] because several years ago some little kids Easter bunny got loose in the neighborhood and took up residence. Ranger discovered him one time and thereafter was a dog possessed! We would head out on our walk each evening and he would head straight up the street to 'rabbit territory'. As we got closer, his whole demeanor would change. He'd start to pace forward excitedly, look around intently and when he picked up the scent, look out! When he actually saw the bunny his terrier instinct would drive him mad. A while ago I spoke to a fellow whose backyard was the bunny's stomping grounds. He said a few years ago he'd found the poor little fellow expired under a scrub. He lived a good, long life and had a pretty easy time of it for a wild rabbit. The neighbors adopted him, putting out water and carrots for him to forage on and the topography was conducive to him having lots of hiding places to ditch predators. Ranger certainly had his share of frustrations trying to catch him."
I'm hoping this bunny stays around for a while before the coyotes or eagles snatch it up for dinner. Hopefully I can get better photos for next time. Oh, and, yes, hubby did put some carrots out...
The Writer's Challenge 2010 features three pre-chosen themes each week. Your entry will be considered for re-publication online in the first Sunflower Ranch Anthology.
You are challenged to write up to 200 words on one of the three theme words we offer each week. You may write on all three subjects -- but not in the same piece. Please only submit one piece per theme word. Make each poem, short story, essay, or mini-drama a separate reply below in the comment section and remember to keep all your work to 200 words or less. *A note about language appropriateness: no vulgarities, obscenities, or anything offensive, please. Your work should be for general audiences.*
Each week you will have a new group of three words to choose from. At the end of the year, I would like to choose the "best of the best" and publish them in an online anthology at the Sunflower Ranch website.
You are encouraged to write each week. All the challenges will remain online here at the blog and you can add a new poem at any time. Use the search feature on the right to find the series by putting Writer's Challenge 2010 in the search box. Feel free to add your work to any challenge throughout the year. After we reach the last challenge, you will have about a month to add your final submissions. If your work is chosen for the anthology, you will be contacted through your blog at that time. If you don't have a blog, include your Twitter name or email address so we can reach you. For email, use this format: youremailname at serviceprovider dot com. [That should keep the autobots from sending you spam.]
If you have any questions or need any clarification of the challenges, please put them in the comment section below and I will do my best to explain it. Remember, no deadlines, write as many pieces as you wish, and oh, primarily, have some fun with these! Click here for last week's Challenge.
Here are your words for this week: ice, idol, infect
I love short, silly, online polls and ROLFquiz fits the bill with hundreds of quizzes! I would like to share one with you today. First, let me say, the automobile shown above is my new car, a Kia Forte Koup SX, which I bought last December. It earns great gas mileage, is loaded with features, and was so reasonably priced, I might even say it was cheap. [Nothing cheap about its performance or features, though!] The most important thing, however, is how much fun I have driving it. The little car with the funny name turns heads, keeps up with traffic effortlessly, and is a dream to drive -- in short it's a winner!
I took the test "Which Car suits your Personality?" just to see if this coupe was on the list and if it would come up as my perfect car. It wasn't.
According to the quiz, my "ideal" car is the Audi S8, which costs more than four times my Kia! A friend in the automobile business told me that this Kia model was designed by a former Audi designer. Interesting! I had hoped if the coupe wasn't my "ideal" car, that a BMW convertible would have been. [My Kia was purchased to replace my older convertible. I traded a snazzy red car with a bigger engine for improved safety, the latest electronic gadgets, and much better mileage. Convenience over cool, I guess. LOL}
Take the test and see what car you should be driving. If you don't drive, take it anyway. Your personality will be evaluated and matched to a car. Very easy! Here's the quiz: "Which Car suits your Personality?" Have fun! I look forward to seeing your results in the comment section.
The Writer's Challenge 2010 features three pre-chosen themes each week. Your entry will be considered for re-publication online in the first Sunflower Ranch Anthology.
You are challenged to write up to 200 words on one of the three theme words we offer each week. You may write on all three subjects -- but not in the same piece. Please only submit one piece per theme word. Make each poem, short story, essay, or mini-drama a separate reply below in the comment section and remember to keep all your work to 200 words or less. *A note about language appropriateness: no vulgarities, obscenities, or anything offensive, please. Your work should be for general audiences.*
Each week you will have a new group of three words to choose from. At the end of the year, I would like to choose the "best of the best" and publish them in an online anthology at the Sunflower Ranch website.
You are encouraged to write each week. All the challenges will remain online here at the blog and you can add a new poem at any time. Use the search feature on the right to find the series by putting Writer's Challenge 2010 in the search box. Feel free to add your work to any challenge throughout the year. After we reach the last challenge, you will have about a month to add your final submissions. If your work is chosen for the anthology, you will be contacted through your blog at that time. If you don't have a blog, include your Twitter name or email address so we can reach you. For email, use this format: youremailname at serviceprovider dot com. [That should keep the autobots from sending you spam.]
If you have any questions or need any clarification of the challenges, please put them in the comment section below and I will do my best to explain it. Remember, no deadlines, write as many pieces as you wish, and oh, primarily, have some fun with these! Click here for last week's Challenge.
Here are your words for this week: heat, help, hold
The little bird above is officially called a Dark-eyed Junco of the "Oregon" race. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it is just referred to as an Oregon Junco. They are everywhere in the forested areas of Western Washington. Not as frequently found in the inner city areas they are also more and more found in the suburbs, small towns, and rural areas. They are the "country sparrows," as opposed to other types of small, ubiquitous and extremely cheeky backyard birds. Click here for more information about the many races of Dark-eyed Juncos, including the Oregon Junco. Click on this page and select "Oregon race" to hear its song. Click here for a gorgeous painting of this little fellow. And read this page to see what early 20th Century ornithologists had to say about the Oregon Juncos.
Here at the ranch, the only experience we have had of these little cuties has been positive, until recently. They splash about in the bird baths, eat weed seeds and insects, nest under the back porch and in the woodlot -- and they buzz the front porch and sing to us from the railings and hanging plants and sometimes from the back of the patio furniture. Awfully cute and sweet.
Until now, that is. It's nesting season and we have a pair of birds anxious to keep all other birds away from their possible home site -- which unfortunately might be one of our cars!!!As you can see in this photo, the red car [my old convertible] is on the left and the black coupe is on the right. You can see on the mirror of the black car there are colored cloths rubber-banded to the mirror. All three of our cars have the mirrors covered with stretchy socks or rags and towels.
Why, you ask? Because the birds have been attacking the mirrors!! The covering didn't really help, so we set up an old makeup mirror on the hood of the red car.
This move took a while to attract their attention. The birds still visit the black car and find the shiny paint job just too irresistible. They look into the windows and run back and forth, they hang on the license plate and peck at the chrome, they cling to the satellite radio antenna and chirp sweetly.
It took a few days, but the makeup mirror is popular with the pair. We uncovered the driver's side mirror and now these little bird-brains run from the makeup mirror across the rag top, hop down to the left edge of the car, run into the driver's mirror, peck and flutter like crazy, then hop/fly over to the makeup mirror and attack it, wings flapping, beak flashing and pecking at it!!! This behavior will go on between the two as long as the sun is shining during the day. When a sudden shower of hail or rain or a heavy rain shower rolls through, they disappear to their hiding place and wait out the storm. As soon as the sun reappears or the clouds lighten up and the rain stops, they take turns back at their "station." The intense wing flapping, chirping and frantic running back and forth continues. What a show!
I found a video of an Oregon Junco behaving the same way on another car. My pictures were sort of illustrative of the situation, but this video will give you a great closeup of this bizarre behavior. Enjoy and be glad you aren't also being attacked by these determined little creatures.
Spring is a time of renewal. We deep clean our homes, polish our cars, spruce up our gardens and go through "stuff" accumulated from the past year that we no longer need. Our material possessions get a thorough going over and rejuvenation. We do the same in our spiritual lives, too, with our own religious traditions. Spring is just the time to get going on the "new and improved" physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our own personal world. So why not do the same with a blog? After all, short of a diary or stream-of-consciousness autobiography, a person can't get much more personal in public than they can on a blog.
I decided to run this blog through its very own "Spring renewal."
Here's what I changed. I removed the widget and RSS feed to the Sunflower Ranch store. I've decided to take off at least a couple of years from online selling. Why not remove the dead link to the old store? In its place, I put a compact Mahjong game for you play. I then switched the visitor widget from the bottom of the page to the right sidebar. I liked the old visitor world map, but found a more compact globe design I like better.
For years, I've followed the concept of positive thinking and have enjoyed using affirmations and other positive statements. I'm always trying to do my best along those lines and need the boost I get from them. I found a neat widget from Wellsphere, "Wellevation" with "bits of motivation," that I hope will give you a positive thinking lift every time you visit Sunflower Ranch.
I also upgraded my Amazon widget from one of mixed books and dvds to two slideshows -- one devoted to books and one just for movies. Most of them are among my favorites [some currently, others forever!] but all are recommended for you to check out.
Speaking of movies, I made a widget for a very cool website, Free Movies Online. These are absolutely free to watch because they are public domain or have lost their copyright protection through negligence or some other legal reason. You can watch episodes of classic TV shows and hard to find movies right from your computer. The fare ranges from big name movie stars to the most obscure performers you can imagine. As far as content goes, nothing is rated, but so far, we haven't stumbled upon anything that would be considered sexually explicit. The pre-code Hollywood movies of the early sound era to mid-1934 might be a little more racy [comparable to the mid-1960s mainstream movies] but they would in no way today earn an R rating. Most films and TV shows on this site would be rated "G" or "PG-13" if rated at all. [Let me know if you find something offensive.] Sit down with your children and watch some cool old John Wayne cowboy movies and show them what their grandparents and great-grandparents enjoyed watching on TV or in the theatres on Saturday mornings. It might make them value their gadget-rich world even more. [Well, we can hope...LOL]
So I hope you take a moment to explore some of the new offerings you'll find here at Sunflower Ranch. As always, I appreciate your support and your comments, which, as you will remember, I had to change a few days ago to "moderated" in response to comment spam. [I don't want links to Asian porn on Sunflower Ranch! LOL]
It is the hour to rend thy chains, The blossom time of souls. ~Katharine Lee Bates
If Easter says anything to us today, it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb, but it will rise! ~Clarence W. Hall
The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances. ~Robert Flatt
The art above is from the Rider Waite Tarot deck. According to Facade.com, "it is the most widely recognized Tarot deck, and the first deck published in the 20th century. It was created by members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and is especially suited to questions of a mystical nature." This card is drenched in esoteric and mystical meanings. As seen in the upright position, it means, "Beginnings, most probably of journeys which may be possibly mental, physical or spiritual. The beginning of a new life-cycle. Energy, force, happiness and optimism. The overturning of the status quo or existing states by unexpected happenings. Innocence, naivety, and spontaneity. Important decisions to be made," according to this site. Click here for more tarot cards and their meanings.
For an excellent starter point for understanding the Tarot, check out this page, and of course explore the sites referenced above. There is a lot to learn online about the Fool and the rest of the Tarot. If you're so inclined, try a free reading at Facade and you can even choose your own Tarot deck. Ask your question and in a flash you will have your Tarot answer. It's fun!
This site will give you an historical list of the top 100 April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time! You'll find out about super talented sports figures [who never existed] numerous scientific hoaxes, whole nations in the grip of practical jokers, and many quirky tricks played out by businesses, newspapers, radio stations, and even armies!
This joke is one of the best from Aha Jokes. Who are the biggest "Fools" of them all? Can you imagine working at this outfit. It has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics:
29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have bankrupted at least two businesses
3 have been arrested for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are current defendants in lawsuits
In 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk driving.
Yes, you guessed it! It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws designed to keep the rest of us in line.
Glad you stopped by! You'll find a bit of everything here -- frequent posts of life at the Ranch, once in a while an original short story, some poetry, the latest information about our store, interesting links to a great variety of blogs, what we're into right now in the books, music and movie department, and more. We also have a cool online Sudoku game, daily financial advice, daily literary quote, a new piece of art each day, and as we find cool things to add -- more. So kick back with a steaming mug of espresso, a plate of just-out-of-the-oven cookies and spend some time at Sunflower Ranch, nestled in the quiet, forested shadow of Mt. Rainier. Enjoy your visit! You'll always be welcome! Be sure to leave a comment and let us know you've been here. And you're invited to become a Sunflower Ranch Follower, too! You can also email Sunflower Ranch. Thanks for visiting today!
