Gold Panning!!

 I used to go gold panning.. so much fun.  But that was with my last husband, and many years ago. We would go 4 times a year, spring and fall... before kids got out of school and after they went back to school. The reason for that was because we liked the one particular place and if we went when school was out, it was crowded with people,  but when we went no one was there but us!! It was wonderful!

Here is a picture of me down at the river 'doing my thing'  lol

 

I didn't have a good camera way back then so sorry that it isn't very good,  but,  that is me gold-panning.  :)

We kept a box in the back of the camper that had our gold pans,  old sneakers to wear in the water, bug repellent, bandanna to tie back my hair, tweezers, and little skinny bottles with cork stoppers to drop the little specks of gold into.  Those things were always there just in case, at anytime we decided to do this.

Speaking of bug repellent.. there were some bees there that I loved!  There were some sweet-smelling plants out in the water and these bees loved it there. But when I sat down on the edge of the river, they came over to check me out. They would sit on my knees and it was like they just watched me pan,  even pretty dragonflies would do that.. they'd sit on the edge of my pan and watch.  Of course I would talk to them and the bees.  Some times the bees would sort of bumble up and down my legs, just checking me out!!  They never, ever stung me!! They were big fat ones but they weren't Bumble Bees.

When we pulled in somewhere, my husband would start setting up the camp site,  but I would grab my pan and stuff and run down to the river!!  I couldn't wait! lol  After awhile he would call out to me, 'coffee's ready'! I'd go back and he'd be sitting on the picnic table, the radio playing some cool music and sipping his coffee.  

At the place we wound up at most often there was a limb hanging from a tree right close to the picnic table.  When he would turn the music on, even if we were sitting right there, the birds would come and sit on that limb right by us and just sing and chirp with the music. I thought it was amazing! That's why it was my favorite spot to go to...  and because of the bees and dragonflies! lol

I am so hoping I can find a picture or two from back then to include on here.  We shall see.  I know I did have some stuck in a folder on my PC  somewhere.. besides the one at the top of here.

We would of course have our dog Duke with us. I'll post a picture of him too. He was big!  Once when he was gone on one of his adventures he came back stinking like horrible garbage and we wondered what he had gotten into!!  We started in the direction he came from to check it out, and he took off and showed us where he had been... an old, long-dead dear!  He had been nosing around in it..  wallowing in it, I think!!!

We had to get into the river,  all three of us, and get him cleaned off!!  Of course later on,  while I was floating around on a raft he thought it would be great fun to dump me off of it,  which he did!! LOL He slept inside the camper because I didn't want him getting into trouble during the night!

Well,  I have hunted and hunted for the pictures I wanted to show..  one of my dog ... but I can't find them!!!

I'm going to go for now..

   Hope you enjoyed this even without the pictures...

                          See you next time.............

My Young Days!!

 Good morning everyone!!

I haven't been feeling my best.. just tired and 'funky' LOL!  So,  I think I'll show some pictures of my younger self and say something about them.

Here is one when I was in grade school.  One of my followers on YouTube saw this picture and colorized it and sent the two back to me.  He did a good job I think. He hadn't seen it in color but he got the hair right .  The dress I had on was actually yellow.

This picture always looked... to me... like I was flirting  with someone but I didn't flirt then. I was extremely, extremely shy and bashful!!!  I had a friend in high school who told me that everyone thought I was 'stuck-up'! LOL

In this one I'm quite a few years older! And there's a young picture of my Dad.   I think we look like daughter and father, don't you? Well,  maybe not. (I wanted these side by side but it won't go that way!!) That was a really young picture of my Dad.. I called him daddy though. lol  Look at all that hair I've got!!! I had a sister-in-law about that time that talked me into getting it cut short!! I cried and cried afterwards!!   

I only knew my father for six years because that's how old I was when mama and daddy got divorced. I never saw him after that, and she never remarried and she worked all the time.. it was a lonely childhood.  That's why I played paperdolls, designing clothes for them and  making up stories with them,  read constantly and soon started writing, making up my own stories.  Never finished anything in ALL the years I've been writing until I started writing for all of you on YouTube!! LOL   

There is only two things I remember about my Dad..  one was when he rented bikes for us at the park and he taught me how to ride, and the other was taking me to a movie and we had ice cream. That's it.   I can still picture him exactly how he looked that day!!!

In this one I'm several years older again. I hope you can click on this and enlarge it.  I can.

Was living in Arizona..(My most favorite place I ever lived!!).. and I was out watering my cactus garden which I had planted.  We lived up a hill from the town and river, and closer to a range of low mountains.  We were in Lake Havasu. It was in it's earliest stages of being built and growing! Now it is a big city!

I gathered all those rocks (and plants, which was illegal!),  one by one as I took the 4 boys on rock-scouting walks in the desert surrounding us.  (They helped me collect them) I loved that desert better than anywhere I've ever lived!!  If one of them handed me a rock I would thank them and tell them how pretty it was, then if it was just a plain old rock, when they ran on ahead, I would drop it.  They never knew. lol   

One of them fell into a cactus once.. that wasn't fun!!! The youngest one was a toddler and I think it was him who fell into the cactus..  poor little guy!!!   

Do I talk too much when I get on here?? ....

          I'm going to go for this time...

                     I'll be back later on....

Another Beautiful Day!!

 Good Morning Everyone!!!

It's another one of those beautiful days we've been having here!!  Gets hot during the middle of the day but that's okay,  I'm inside and busy then.

Here is a picture of our fountain. I can sit on the patio and look at this or,  inside with the door open I can slightly hear it,  which is nice.

   

In the spring,  by the time they ever get this cleaned and filled and turned on I am getting quite anxious..  like,  hurry up!!   LOL   But,  they painted the inside and outside this year so it looks so new and fresh and clean!!

The birds LOVE playing in the spouts of water!  It's like they are having fun flying through it,  back and forth.  I love watching them.  Of course they also sit on the edge of that black center piece,  dipping their heads to the water to take drinks.

It is more comfortable to sit outside to enjoy them,  but I usually stand in my doorway for a while enjoying them.   Why??  Because of  PEOPLE!!   Kids either come out farther up the court and the only way they know how to play is if they are screaming!  Also, there is a guy about 4 or 5 apts.  up that loves to come out in the best part of the day (when I want to sit outside!!) and turn his radio on blasting loud as though he thinks all of us wants to hear it!!!  I just pick my stuff up and go back inside and SLAM  the door.  But he doesn't care!! lol

If it's not that, it's some other person has to come out from across the way, on the opposite side, and venture over to  "chat" (asking questions about my YouTube)  "Sigh" .....

And of course almost everyone has a small yapping dog,  which I can't stand, because, when they are out there all they want to do is bark!!

Here is a picture of the fountain when winter came early last year and it had frozen before they emptied it and turned it off.

I hope you are all able to enlarge the pictures I put on here so that you can really see them!

At least this is where I get to sit out on my patio once in a great while!!

Well,  I guess I'll go and do something 'useful'... 

         I don't know what......

                         but, I'll think of something.....

                                        See Ya' !!!

Coolest Screensaver!!!!

 You gotta' see this everyone!!  Hope you can enlarge it

This is the coolest screensaver I've ever used!!!!

I don't know who took this but I'm so glad you did!! I can't remember how long I've had this.. from wherever I got it..  but just found it again in my "stuff" and had to put it on my two big screens!  I wish you could all see it on them in real life!!! ..  GORGEOUS!!!  LOL

I've got a few others I want to use but I don't know when I'll ever be able to change this..  

I'm. In. Love. With. It.!!!!

Okay,  that's enough 'gushing'....  

             Sorry.  lol

Cool Dragon Cups!!

 Good morning all you wonderful people!!! 

Today I will show you some Dragon cups and what I am doing!

First...   this is a couple of Dragon cups which I have:

Aren't they cool??!!

Yesterday my daughter-in-law went to the pottery to paint.  I took a Dragon cup which I had purchased there and have been working on.  I think I finally got the dragon finished!   

The next time I go back there I will be painting the cup itself black,  as these two are.   Then I'll fire it. When I have it at home I will take a picture of the 'finished' cup and show it to you.  I probably should have waited to make this Blog until that was done so I would have it to show now but I'm too excited to wait!! LOL

Okay...   here is the cup I've been working on.....

When he gets fired he will be so pretty!!  Can't wait to get him finished and bring him back home!

They have some other cups with Dragons on them in various positions  which I plan on buying and painting. It will make for a really cool collection.  Maybe I can get rid of all my OTHER  collections of cups and just use these!   

I hope that won't cause me any pain!...  can't you just see a little dragon slipping up out of the coffee and nipping me on the tongue!!!... Ouch!!...  LOL

Eventually I think they will make a cool collection. When I next show you a picture of the finished cup,  I will take pictures of their other Dragon cups and show them to you in that Blog.

See you all....

                            NEXT  TIME!!!

                                                      

 Good morning all my Grandkids!

The weather is so beautiful today.. my patio doors are open..  sunshine but sort of cool fresh air!  Feeling good today!!  lol

 Well, the maintenance men are going to start taking out patio doors from the apartments and replacing them with new ones!!  

They seem to have started with the ones across the hall from me,  (I just looked out and talked with the lady across the hall :)  ) So now there is going to be a lot of noise going one.  No videos being made for awhile I would suppose.. maybe work one in late in the day.

When that section comes out here, my apartment will wind up full of flies and wasps!! They shall go wherever they want in all the rooms!!  There won't be anything I can do about it and I so wish this had started  AFTER I move in a a couple of months!!!!

Speaking of which,   I will be moving over to the 'in-law' apartment attached to my sons house in a couple of months or so.  It's going to be so much nicer!!

Here are some of the boxes I already have packed,  things I won't need out which can just sit there until the time comes,  whenever my sons through doing what all he wants to do in the apartment.

See that chest sitting on top of a couple of boxes?  I have all the small chests that were sitting on a shelf in one of the book cases packed within, so they are all together.

Don't have anything else of interest to show you or talk about today..  so..  I guess that's it. lol

It is so wonderful outside that maybe I will sit out on the patio and either write chapters in Dorkly's story or read a book....

Bye 

      for 

               today.....    :)

Cool Carvings Made By My Friend!!

 Good morning Everyone!!

Been busy and took me awhile to make another Blog!

Today my whole interest is about my friend in Germany, "BlackPanther77"  or by name: Sylwia.

In her spare time she makes small wood carvings,  which I admire so very much!  She's really good in my opinion!!!

She has sent me many pictures of her work over the years that I've known her,  which I have enjoyed so much!!

This is the first thing of hers that she sent to me,  several years ago.  I sat these old men on my small writing desk, and got my son to cut me this piece of old wood to set behind these two fishermen.

This is where they have lived ever since.

Can't you just imagine two old men, standing on a wharf in front of an old fishing shack,  one buddy just watching his friend fish, hands stuck deep into his pockets, puffing on that pipe?!  I just love these two guys!!  You know they are best friends,  and someone's grandpa's!!!  

I often watch them when I'm doing anything at that desk, and imagine conversations between them, hearing there casual, rough voices, mumbling around their pipes. They talk about their past life,  their kids, their grandkids.. but short sentences,  long pauses in between, just being content out there looking over the bay.   I actually make up these conversations for them in my head!!

Just recently Sylwia sent me a picture of her latest carving!!  I love it so much that I have been begging her to send it to me!!!  I will gladly, happily, joyfully pay the postage on it!!!!!!

Look at this:

  

Isn't this marvelous?!!!  I hope you can click on it and enlarge it!!! Just a face emerging out of this gnarly wood,  not totally 'out'  but partially hidden within.  I want this so badly!!!  

To me he is someone, maybe a Wizard, who has locked himself away in a mystical place, eyes closed, casting spell after spell to look after his people;   or an old mythical god keeping control over his world;   or maybe my own God in the heavens watching out for those of His kingdom.

Whatever this would represent,  it's beyond us,  mythical or heavenly.. broad in scope, yet hidden.

Can you imagine him suddenly,   or maybe slowly,  opening his eyes?  I imagine that scene often as he looks at me and speaks in a soft, low voice..  leaving me some bit of knowledge or wisdom.

I want him in my home so badly!!!

                 Please, Sylwia?!!