Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday-noon

Karma's recovering from a week of daily company. She's spent most of her time since yesterday passed out on the warm porch catching up on her lost beauty sleep--LOL!
[Karma was friendlier to Ruby, though, than anyone I've seen in the last four years. Maybe because Ruby is an born animal lover...plus moves more slowly like me? LOLOL!]
****
Well, greetings! I feel like I've been gone longer than a week...and yet it feels like my time with Ruby flew by so fast we were shocked when it was over. :(
Having my first "company" coming in many years was motivation to at least finish cleaning my desk, right? I found strange antique items like these floppy discs. Shows you how long it's been since I went through everything--ROFL!
I did get the desk and file cabinet finished, inside and out--tada!
I cleared off the art table (and the craft table-forgot picture) because Ruby was bringing along a Chinese brush painting kit she'd bought a while back. Cool!
Cleaned the porch...
...and even quick made little popsicle stick markers for the herb pots.
I had my Mother's Day roses hanging to dry in the hall closet for so long I'd almost forgotten they were there.
When cleaning the top of the hutch...well, here's the old bouquet from a couple years ago.
These seven roses were still good. The red ones get very dusty looking after a while and you just can't blow the dust off them for some reason. These still looked gorgeous!
A couple of the new ones fell apart, but here is the new dried bouquet...
...with some new and some older roses.
Now they are up on the desk hutch looking pretty.
I was so excited to see Ruby that I could hardly sleep the night before she arrived! Here she is sitting in my chair checking out her new phone. I believe this was on Wednesday. She sure doesn't look 70, does she!!
Dagan and Leah had put Ruby on their Sprint family plan, too, a couple years ago so that she and I can gab all we want--hehe! Ruby also qualified recently for the free smart phone. I was the guinea pig (just love mine), so we ordered another free phone for Ruby same as mine so that it was here when she came up. Since they are identical phones, if Ruby has any questions, Leah said we could make a video for Ruby and email it to her--using my phone as the example. Clever! ;)
****
Leah spent all Tuesday evening switching phones for Ruby and teaching her how to use her phone, just like she did with me. Patient woman, that Leah! :):)
****
The splendid days just flew by!! Ruby arrived late Monday afternoon (big hugs!!) and we just hung out and caught up. [She stayed at a motel up the road from me. Sadly, not much room in my little place.] It seemed hard to believe she was actually right here and we could look into each other's eyes! Being in someone's presence is soooo different than emails, letters, and talking on the phone. Ruby is like family to me and always has been. The best loved family folk--if you know what I mean. ;) The whole week was marvelous!!
****
Tuesday Dagan & Leah came over after work and that was "geek night" as Leah put it--LOL! (Phone stuff.) Wednesday Ruby and I just talked and drank coffee and managed to fit in a couple of movies. Thursday we spent the day watching Chinese Brush Painting DVDs...and gabbing, of course. All week we'd be just shocked at what time it was whenever we noticed the clock--LOL! Ruby got practice with her phone, too. She called me every night when she got to her room and I called her every morning. :):)
****
On Friday I had us all set up on the craft table to practice CBP and show Ruby all my goodies!
Ruby showed up with roses!! I put them in the middle of the craft table first, but we couldn't see each other because we're both so short! (Ruby's 4'11" and I'm about 5'1".)
I have to move flowers out of Karma's reach anyways, so I put them up by the TV. Karma's too fat to jump that high--LOL!
They may look white at first glance...
...but they have a baby's cheek blush to them. (I just took these last two close-ups this morning--just gorgeous, aren't they?)
Ruby and I watched the instruction video...painted...went back to watch the DVD...then back to painting...etc...etc...on Friday. Basically were practicing the different strokes for bamboo leaves, orchid grass, and chrysanthemum petals. At least Ruby got some of the basics, not that I know that much. I haven't had mine out for probably 3-4 years!! We had fun playing about! :)
Suddenly it was Saturday!!
****
We painted a little during the day and then went over to Dagan and Leah's for dinner. Ruby got to see where they live and meet Sammy and Annie.
Dagan and Leah made cheeseburgers on the grill, corn on the cob, and homemade blueberry ice cream for dessert!! The corn and the blueberries were from a local farmers market. Everything was absolutely delicious!
****
This was after dinner. I thought it was funny that we were all four messing with our phones at the same time so I took a picture of Dagan and Leah. I didn't realize (duh!) that my phone can take videos and I took a short video of us...but haven't figured out how to get it onto my computer yet--ROFL!
Leah took a picture of Ruby and I. The cards on the table were for this bar fight card game that a couple friends of theirs invented and published. (Do you say published for a card game?) I don't think us two old ladies look like we're ready for a bar fight...but I won--ROFL!
Leah put some games on Ruby's phone for her. Here I am showing her how to play...well, either YahtzMe (like Yhatzee) or Jewels (like Bejeweled). We even played a couple 2-player YahtzMe games together on Dagan's new tablet.
Here she's learning how to play Jewels on her phone. Addictive, these games! ;)
Saturday night we left Dagan and Leah's, Ruby dropped me off at my place, we said our goodbyes, and the week was gone! Just like that! Poof!! It was glorious, though!
****
Actually the timing couldn't have been more perfect. We didn't do the painting and visiting until the end of the week, so by the time I was getting in worse shape it was time for Ruby to leave. Not that she would have cared if I was hobbling about. But, poor Ruby! She's used to being out and about and more active--so she was getting creaky from sitting around here for days with shut-in me. And I am the opposite with the fibro--the more I move around the more pain I'm in. So we were both pretty creaky by Saturday--LOL! ;)
****
It was a superb week with an totally awesome woman! I'd do the happy dance but I am taking it easy because I have to be out and about tomorrow--to the dentist's for a teeth cleaning--LOL! Caroline is coming Wednesday instead of Tuesday this time. Feeling a touch bereft.
****
I am soooo far behind on the blogs I follow that I plan to do catch-up reading as I am able and just start now from today with comments. I know. I know. I probably follow too many blogs--but I do like them all. Even if I don't always comment, I do usually read each and every one of them. I hope no one takes offense if I don't comment on the last week's posts. Doesn't mean I won't read them eventually. Sorry.
****
It is good to be back, but I do miss my Ruby. :):)
Hope there is a really good week ahead for us all!!
****
"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
Winnie the Pooh

23 comments:

Serena Lewis said...

It sounds like you had an awesome time! I loved all the pics! You and Ruby look so happy! Those dried roses are beautiful and you will no doubt do the same with the lovely roses from Ruby?

It's great that you and Ruby have the same phone and that Dagan and Leah put her on their Sprint family plan. Very sweet of them.

Don't worry about trying to catch up with everyone's blogs...we understand.

I'm so glad you got to spend some time with your dear friend. Have a fabulous week, Rita, and rest up now.

Love and hugs,
Serena xo

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful photos and Wow! Busy! You are! Love the dried roses ~ neat how you hung them ~ looks like a very happy family ~ thanks for sharing ~ namaste, CArol (A Creative Harbor and Share the Creative Journey)

Kat Sloma said...

Sounds like a wonderful time! I love, love, love that pic of the sky... so beautiful!

Rita said...

Serena--Ruby and I laugh and laugh--so enjoy each other's company! Yes, I am going to dry her roses, too--youbetcha! ;)
Hope you have a super week!! :)

Carol--Oh, you are so welcome! Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Have a great week! :)

Kat--I'm in love with the sky here, too. So glad you are back in the US and finding your wonderful photographic eye was not left in Italy. ;) Have a fun week with your camera! :)

DJan said...

Welcome back! After such a wonderful week, you need some time to decompress. And such a lovely post, Rita. I am amazed at how much you did... Your pictures are simply awesome!

Dee Ready said...

Rita, that photo you took of the blushing roses is so lovely. What a talented woman you are to post all these photographs with your text.

I'm just in the process of learning how to scan and insert ONE photo per posting. I still haven't figured out how to retrieve photographs from the camera.

I surely admire all your technological skill. With blog and camera. And your keen curiosity about so many things.

Take care of yourself now that the visit is over and you have such good memories.

Deanna said...

You and Karma were missed. It sounds like you and Ruby had a wonderful week. Isn't it amazing how technology takes over sometimes? I keep telling myself that all of the new stuff is keeping my mind active!

You and Ruby look great!

Toriz said...

Welcome back! :)

I've noticed cats seem to like slow moving people more than fast moving. I think where we humans are so much bigger than them we're like preditors and cats - especially the more nervous ones like Karma - are afraid of the big, scary, fast moving humans sometimes? Not that I blame her/them... I find humans scary sometimes too! ;)

Well done on getting all that clearing out done. Funny how company coming tends to motivate people to get things like cleaning and clearing out done. #LOL!

Floppy disks... I think I remember those! LOL!

Hope Ruby likes her new phone. :)

YAY! People who are shorter than me! (I'm an inch taller than you).

I think most phones do videos these days... Mine does, but I can't get videos off my phone because they wont e-mail (too big) and I can't do it the other way because I can't get the software to install on my laptop (disk drive issues).

Published sounds right for a card game to me... Anything involving printing is classede as being publishable, I think.

Glad you had such a great week.

Don't worry about the blog posts. I figure if it's something important enough that you "need" to comment you'll find a way to let people know what you think. And if it's something you really need to know, people will find a way to tell you. Enter e-mail! ;)

Love the quote!

Dee Ready said...

Rita, thank you for commenting on my blog posting today. And thanks for your response to my "linking."

As a new blogger, I didn't know how to link. A friend explained to me this past weekend and now I've done it!!!!! Wee! and Wow!

AliceKay said...

Karma looks content out there on her porch again. :)

I'm so glad you had such a nice time with your friend, Ruby. That's a great picture of the two of you. You look very happy. :)

The roses she brought you were beautiful. I love roses of any color. The ones you received for Mother's Day dried nicely, and I'm sure these will too, when the time comes.

I don't have a cell phone (only a tracfone for traveling) so am a bit envious of everyone who does. If we had cell service where I lived, I'd probably have one, but we don't, so I don't. There are so many things that can be done with them now. It was nice of Dagan and Leah to include Ruby in their plan. (those two are great kids) :)

Thanks for sharing your week and your pictures with us. That quote says it all.

P.S. The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that was centered in Virginia this afternoon was felt all the way up here in northeastern Pennsylvania. Strange sensation!

akartisan said...

just dropped by to see how you are doing - haven't been keeping up lately. Glad you had a chance to visit face to face with your friend. It's always better that way.

I read thru the posts about the garbage and the flowers and agree whole heartedly on that one.

Glad you're doing well.
Sue

Rita said...

Djan--Thanks! Now that the dentist is behind me I can really decompress--LOL!! ;)

Dee--I know how to get the pictures off my camera (you need a little cord and Leah showed me that when they gave me their old camera), but I haven't learned how to scan the old photos, like you do. My ancient printer that I bought "as is" 10 years ago never did have a working scanner. I now have a new printer, but I have never tried the scanner. Never having had a scanner, it just doesn't even occur to me--LOL! Plus I'd have to find the boxes of pictures in storage--ROFL! ;)
And I was just told by a kind blogger how to do the links a few months ago! Links are awesome! Even tho I have been blogging for a few years I don't really know much. Blogging is one thing Dagan and Leah know nothing about and have no interest in, so I don't ask them blog questions. They do enough for me already. ;)
I think you are doing just great with your new blog and I look forward to your stories!! :):)

Deanna--Oh, that is so nice of you to say that we were missed!! :)
That's the excuse I have for playing the games--especially "Memory" (like the old Concentration game--keeps my brain cells snapping--LOL! I do love my new phone! Even if I don't know even half what it can do. ;)

Tori--Thanks!! Glad to be back!
Yes, Maybe it's the size of them. My small dogs were always more afraid of being stepped on, too--LOL!
I used to be 5' 1 3/4", but I have shrunk a little over the years so that I'm closer to 5' 1" now. Remember that song--"Short People"--LOL!
I don't think I pressed the button when I did the video. It wasn't anywhere to be found. Figures--ROFL!! :):)

AliceKay--Ha! Around 90 today and Karma's been outside all day except when I dragged her butt inside while I went to the dentist. She's been sleeping for three days--LOLOL!
Ruby and I had such a great time! We laugh and giggle and gab--yup! We were sooo happy! :)
I will dry Ruby's roses, for sure!
I know! Leah suggested putting Ruby on their family plan! They are the best kids!!
Earthquake!!!!????? I guess I should watch the news once in a while!! My goodness! I best google this! They had a small one near Alexandria in Minnesota a little while back, too! Nuts!!

Sue--Face to face is wonderful! I want to see those crinkles beside her eyes and watch them sparkle! :)
Glad you got a chance to read Flowers and Garbage and that it rang true with you, too.
Hope you're having a good week and glad you stopped by! :):)

Stephanie said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I really appreciate it after the wonderful but tiring sounds week that you had. I made mini apple pies tonight. Just going in the oven in a few minutes. I'll work on getting more photos up.

I love those baby cheek pink roses you have there. I want to just reach out and touch them...

Happy day to you!

Desiree said...

The progress is looking great on your organization! :D grea to see pics of leah and dagan as I had not sen them before! :D

and yay, so glad you had great times with Ruby and she indeed DOES NOT look her age! :D

and I too am soooo behind on blogs! I too follow too many, lol but love em all! and google makes it soo much easier tho to read them! glad i finally started using that google reader!

:D

Parsley said...

Stopping in to say hello and thank you for your kind comments about Rosie.

Toriz said...

My Nan has shrunk a lot. She used to be about 5 3", but now she's definately a lot shorter. I don't know how short, but I know she's shorter than me (and I'm 5 2"). She has to be down to about 4 11" by now! She is coming up for 84 though, so I guess she's had plenty of time to grow then start shrinking.

Her aunt or something was really short, and when my Dad's older brother was about 7 he asked why he was already a bit taller than her. She told him that when you're young you grow and grow, then when you're done growing you start shrinking. After thinking about this for a bit he said, "well, I'll be so sad when you shrink away!" (My Nan told me about it a few years back). So, I guess you're done growing and starting on the shrinking? ;)

Rita said...

Stephanie--You are baking up a storm! LOL!
Thanks! I think the roses are even prettier in person. :)

Desi--Dagan is tall like his dad, not short like me--hehe!
NO, Ruby doesn't look 70 years old! We figure it is the Scandinavian genes. I've been told I don't look 60, either (that's my natural hair color)--LOL!
I'm so used to using the blogger dashboard follower thing to read, but a few I follow aren't on blogger and I miss posts even tho I try to remember to look at the Google Reader. Just too many blogs, I guess--ROFL! Oh well. I don't want to give any up! ;)

Parsley--Yes, I hope Rosie will be fine after her surgery. We do so love our furbabies! :)

Tori--Sadly, I never made it to 5'2"--even tho I liked to round up because of the old song--LOL! The women in my family also do shrink down "width-wise" as we get older, too. If I start getting skinnier I will know my days are getting numbered--LOL! ;)

Celticspirit said...

Sounds like you had a super time! I love all the pictures....they tell a story in themselves. The herbs look great. Are you going to bring them in when it gets cold out?
The roses are beautiful.....the whitish ones and the dried ones. Very nice post. :)

Dee Ready said...

Rita, thanks so much for commenting on my blog posting today.

I think you are right and that my grandmother was not a happy woman. She tied her family--two sons and two daughters--to her apron strings and they never managed to extricate themselves.

They are all dead now but the two daughters lived with her all her life. One single and one married. Her younger daughter moved back home during WW II and her family remained there the rest of their lives.

Grandma's word was law.

Rita said...

Barb--We did have a grande time! :)
I do plan to bring the herbs inside when it gets cold, but have no idea where to put them--LOL! ;)

Dee--My guess is that she was very afraid of the world and other people--and, sadly, in her own warped way she was thinking she was protecting everybody with her warnings about the evils of others. It also kept the only people she probably did actually love and trust tied to her solitary self. What a sad and fearful way to live in a dark world. I'm glad you learned you could live differently. Those first five years and knowing your parent's love was a blessing you couldn't forget, but her children knew nothing else. Makes me sad for all of them. Real courage is breaking through your darkness and fears. You have true courage, lady! :):)

Donna @ The House on the Corner said...

Awww Rita!!! It sounds like you two had a wonderful time. What a blessing to have such a good friend.

The roses are beautiful - both bouquets!

Intense Guy said...

Poor, poor stressed out Karma... lost her sleep did she? She needs her wooden pillow.

It's funny how floppy discs are called antique items now... they are "obsoleter" than caveman clubs...

Those dried roses look fantastic!

Ruby doesn't look a day older than 29 to me... and those roses! Wow!

Dinner at Leah and Dagan's sounds more than yummy... I'm drooling here...

Nice to see you back (hope you post again soon!)

Rita said...

Donna--Ruby truly is a true blessing!
Thanks! Getting flowers was such a rarity in my life before Leah came along--LOL! They're all just gorgeous! I am so lucky. :)

Iggy--Karma got along pretty well with Ruby--better than anyone else has. I think because she didn't move around too fast most of the time. Ruby even combed her and Karma was able to snooze here and there while Ruby was here. Well, knowing Karma, how could she possibly stay awake all day every day for a week--ROFL!!
Floppies. Couldn't even give them away these days. ;)
That homemade ice cream was made with real cream and buttermilk--OMG!!
Hope you have a super weekend!