Tuesday-9:30am

I never got a shot of the new garage all finished. Had my chance yesterday when they called about my garage door opener. In order to program it they needed me to back my car out.

Here the maintanence man is testing it. So exciting!
And here's the garage with PitaPaseo parked inside.
It's a little narrower than my old one. Good thing I have a tiny car, eh?
Yesterday Haiying's order came, too! The seal is "the joy of still and quiet" or "the joy of quietness". I thought that was so appropriate for me in many ways. My life is very quiet and tremendously more "still" than it ever was--hehe! That inner calm, stillness, quiet, and peace is what I have aspired to all my life. I try to go to that peaceful place of calm and quiet when I paint, too.
Haiying enclosed this beautiful orchid card! Inside she has stamped the seal and written what it means. Got some more colors of paint, the little white and blue water pot (to add water a drop at a time to the ink/paint), and an ink stone. I wanted to have a clean, new ink stone before I ever buy colored ink sticks--should have a separate ink stone. :)

This is definitely not a traditional way of using Chinese watercolors. I have put them in my western porcelain palette.
I have been so listless, but hope to find some extra energy one day soon to do something creative. Not getting much sleep the past couple nights again. So, the past week and a half--just doing all the regular daily stuff you have to do is challenging enough for now. Having one noodle day after the other lately. This too shall pass. Always does. No matter how long it takes, right? hehehe!

Anyways, today Caroline comes to clean. I need to get dressed and gather the trash together. :):)

Monday-9am

Good Morning!

Sunny and 30 degrees in Fargo.

That doesn't stop Miss Karma from spending this morning on the porch. Made me clean the porch door glass, tho, after I took this shot thru the rain-spattered door--hehe!

Yesterday I read the second of the Princess Diary books that Caroline lent to me. Watched a horribly haunting movie called An American Crime--based on a true story from the mid-60s. They used the trial transcripts to write the movie. Was very well done, but is disturbing and you will be thinking about it for some time. Human beings can be as amazing in their evil as they can be in their goodness. This is a glimpse into very personal and shared evil.

Based on a shocking true story, director Tommy O'Haver's grisly drama centers on Indiana housewife and mother Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener), who imprisons and tortures a 16-year-old girl in the basement. When Gertrude takes in boarder Sylvia Likens (Ellen Page), she has no idea that her life will soon become a horrific nightmare. The supporting cast includes Bradley Whitford as the prosecuting attorney at the ensuing trial.

I even went online and looked up additional information. The movie made it simpler than it was, of course. And didn't even show it as bad as it actually was. Shudder! That poor girl! I wouldn't advise watching it if you think you'd have a hard time with human cruelty. Think Lord of The Flies with an adult orchestrator and a prisoner. The ending was very muddled. I think they meant to show her imagining she got away before she died--but they didn't make that very clear--to me, anyways. That is why I looked it up online. Anyways, it is a movie that will stick with you--in a shuddery way. You pray that in letting people know about things like this that they will be more likely to report suspicious behavior they see or things they hear.

So, I had to watch some funny shows after that--hehe! And finish reading the Princess Diary book.

I am tired. Still trying to catch up on my sleep. Won't watch any more disturbing movies later at night--not helping--hehe!

Anyways--have a great day!

Sunday-8:15am

Good Morning! So glad to be sleeping again!

It is so much easier to get close-ups with this camera as it has a setting for it. And I can even get a picture of Karma's golden eyes much easier without them looking like headlights--hehe! Karma was pretty tired when I took these pictures. When I don't sleep well, she doesn't get in her usual 20 hours either--hehe!

Sunny morning. 43 degrees. :)

Yesterday afternoon Leah and her brother-in-law, Chuck, came over to look at the shelving unit they use for their sales booth at ValleyCon. They want to add on to it this year--took part of it with them. Chuck used to be a carpenter for a contractor who built houses, so he and Leah are in charge of building things for their group for ValleyCon. :) I've never been to ValleyCon. It's an annual gamers convention weekend here in Fargo that is held around Halloween each year. They always have a booth there.

PitaPaseo didn't turn over the first time I turned the key--both times yesterday? But she did turn over the second time both times. Hummm? I think she'll be okay. She doesn't get out much, of course--hehe!

The lady came last night to pick up the cassettes, too. It is nice to be a part of http://freecycle.com/. I think I am going to offer a couple things soon. With the economy the way it is, I would think there will be a lot more people interested in free items--and sharing and trading goods & services. I bet there will be more and more websites similar to this one. There are already a lot of them! What a wonderful thing!

Oh, I had to chuckle. Those of you who know me know that I quit smoking in December of 1989, but that I have been occasionally smoking in my sleep/dreams since then--chuckle! For years I had been telling people in my dreams how I had cut way back on my smoking. I haven't remembered a dream about smoking for maybe a year or more--but just had one last night where somebody was saying to me (as I was puffing away) that they had thought I had quit? And I was telling them how I don't smoke at all for months at a time, but then I smoke for a short while. Cracks me up! All these years and I can't quite give up smoking in my dreams. Talk about an addict! Oh well, I am making progress, eh? Maybe by the time I'm in my 70's I'll have finally quit smoking in my sleep--ROFL!! Whatever works, eh? I haven't had a cigarette for going on 19 years--but I am still puffing away in my dreams once in a while--hehe! Sad, but true! Hehehe! Something to chuckle about today. Later!

Saturday-11am

Here's Karmawhen she was begging for the latest toy that was drying up on the lamp chain--hehe!

I grabbed one of the first toys Leah made...
...to get a close-up of the black plastic stuff she smoothes over the threads. Works really great!
And, since the can it came in had a cover that wasn't air tight, we poured it into a mason jar.
As long as it doesn't dry out--will last us a long time. They sell this stuff so that you can coat your own tool handles--like your own plier handles. Which is why Leah knew about it, of course--hehe! She windowshops through hardware stores like I do office supply stores--hehe!

I have been getting the FreeCycle email digests now. I saw that a lady wanted some blank cassette tapes so her son could use them to tape stuff for his grandmother who lives in another state. I had some to spare, so I emailed her and she will come this afternoon and pick them up. She said she gets off work at 4pm and I told her to call me for directions. She lives in South Fargo too. So this is my first time participating! Fun!!

And---I actually slept last night!! TaDa! Possibly could be past the worst of this bout of insomnia? I hope! I hope! Sun is peeking out this morning--45 degrees. Have a beautiful day! :)

Friday-9:45am

Here's the clamp or vise that Leah uses to construct the cat toys. On the table you can see the "bobbin" that holds the spool of thread and the wire cutters.

We've been using eye screws as the base for the toys--so Leah cuts off the sharp tip with the wire cutters.
Leah tried it both ways--with the clamp holding the tip end and the eye end of the screw. Eye end works best. Making cat toys is just different than making flies--hehe!
Then Leah wraps and adds feathers...
...one by one...

...until she has it the way she wants it. :)
I guess I didn't remember to get pictures of how she seals the thread. Leah bought some black liquid plastic and she coats the threads with that and lets it dry. That's why we have them hanging after they are done--to let the liquid plastic dry thoroughly.

This didn't show the process very well--but those red balls you see in the package are the handles of the long threaders. You push the threader down into the end of the bobbin...
...then just pull the threader out and voila! What a handy contraption! Holds the spool for you and everything--cool! We love these new little tools.

Since we were just coating the thread with the liquid plastic, all Leah needed to do to finish the thread off was clamp the end of the thread with this cool little tweaser clamp thingie to hold the end so she could glue it down. You can see above that she weighted down the little clamp with the small dangling scissors--just to hold the thread down flat while the glue dried.
Another really great little invention we had never seen before. I am sure we will come up with alternate uses for these little tools, too! hehe!
Then Leah hung them up to wait for the plastic to dry.

We will probably be making cat toys for a couple more Craft Nights. :) Leah only made two of them this week since the class went longer than she expected and she had to help me with the camera for quite a while, too. Last week she made three of them and re-did two old toys. We are going to remake the other shorter pole toys I have so that we will be able to interchange the toys on the end of the strings with a clip in this same manner--and so that we can attach new strings more easily when the cats bite through them. One of the cats at Leah's already bit through the string while she was on the phone--hehe! Cats do love strings, eh? As long as they just bite through them and don't try to eat them--no problem. :)

It feels so good to have the keys turned in and the garages switched. So wonderful to be having Craft Nights again with Leah! Now, if I can just sleep well again...hehe! I haven't been getting much sleep since last Friday. Been up late (2-4am) and tossing and turning. Been setting the alarm so that I don't start sleeping around the clock again--every day thinking the lack of sleep would get me to bed earlier. Hasn't. Yet. I am suffering an apparent relapse of the notorious insomnia. It always came and went (since I hit menopause)--eventually. I assume it will pass once again, of course. I am fighting to keep on days--hehe!

The problem is that the lack of sleep sets off all the fibro issues, etc...so I am pretty much zombie-ish here for a while. I will feel better again. Nothing new--I'm okay. Good days and bad, right? And with these fibro "flares" you can have good and bad weeks--or months--or even years, I guess. I have had times where the fibro manifested itself (big time!) in certain spots or areas of the body--for months! Depends on your activities the doctor told me--or sometimes for no apparent reason whatsoever. And it can kind of move--or shift focus to another area. Such a strange disease, eh?

So sometimes I am more limited than others. Sometimes I am in sharper pain or more exhausted to the bone than other times--which can make it harder to concentrate or more difficult to type or even do things like wash clothes or cook. Just life. But--in case you may be wondering why I can be doing a lot more projects for a while and then I can go for a long period of time without posting any projects I have been doing--that's why. Not a big deal. :)

Anyways, I love being Leah's minor assistant with the cat toys! I do try to blog almost every day. Even if it takes me longer and I have to take breaks. Just don't want anybody worrying about me, okay? My happiness is not contingent on my health. They are very separate things. Netflix and the TV and I are best buds sometimes--hehe! Life is good up here in Fargo! :):)

Thursday-10:30am

Warning! Warning! Woman on the loose with new camera=lots of pictures--hehe! These first two are with the old camera--of the new camera from Dagan and Leah. Look at the huge picture screen! Wow!

Has a front lens that pops in and out...
...making an interesting noise and action. Karma might be difficult to sneak up on for a while--hehe! Until I figure out how to operate this camera better.
There will be ways to sneak up on her. I can have the camera on for a minute before the screen automatically goes black (sleeps) and another minute before it shuts itself off. Yes! It shuts itself off! Cool! Plus, she will get used to the sound of this camera, too. :)



Anyways, Leah came over last night. She showed me a lot about this new camera and all its do-dads. I can take close-ups and....wait for it....short little videos!!!! If I can get a cheap tripod and figure out how to actually accomplish this feat, maybe I could make some little "how-to" videos of my own for YouTube? You never know, eh? :) I had no idea this camera could take videos! Wow! Not sure what the quality will be or how long--probably only a couple of minutes--but it is an exciting prospect!



Anyways, we figured out how to get the pictures into the computer now--have to have the camera on the viewing mode. So--here are the pictures from Tuesday night of the new garage and Dagan and Leah putting the shelves together--again--for the second time in just a few weeks.Break time! Thanks to Leah we all have the same thermos for water--hehe! We all use ours all the time, too. At one point all three thermoses ended up right in the same spot--and we all went "uh-oh"! Leah's doesn't have a tag on the bottom of hers, but Dagan and I--had to look inside to see the shape of the ice cubes. Dagan and Leah have an ice maker--hehe!!
Some of the garage "stuff" piled about.

I just cannot part with my bird cage and playpen. Just can't imagine living the rest of my life and never, ever having a bird again. A lot of people get all wistful and mushy over babies--with me it is probably more over birds and kittens--ROFL!!
The glider rocker (that we brought in the apartment) came in handy for me to sit in out there.
Those boards are really heavy! I am amazed at how sore and exhausted I can get doing little or nothing--hehe! I was just watching them--deciding which boxes should go where--pushed the bird cage and playpen over--carried some very light things with my good arm--but somehow my body managed to demand imaginary credit for all the hard work Dagan and Leah did--chuckle!
Takes two people to deal with these shelves--but they really are the best!! Hold so much!! I'll have to get an after picture next time I am out there. I forgot. But it looks pretty much like the other garage when we got done--except there is actually a car in the garage now!! TaDa!!

Okay--now--last night--Leah stopped over at the Sportsman's Warehouse to get some more thread, etc, on her way over for Craft Night. They just happened to have a class on how to make your own flies for fly fishing that very night! Fate!! I got to virtually shop with Leah for half an hour by phone while she waited for the class to start. Never say never and never say always, right? Who would have ever thought Leah would be attending a fly-making class? ROFL!!! But it was perfect--and meant to be. She was the only "student" there besides the employee who told her about the class. She learned a lot of helpful techniques...bought more feathers and such, too! Here's our total stash now!!

And she brought pitas!! An opportunity to try out the macro setting--hehe!

Last night she made a couple of toys--one for Karma and one for Chuck and Michal's cats who are staying with them right now. :) Left close to midnight--and I didn't get to sleep until after 3am! So, I am dragging today. It has taken me almost two hours to write this blog--with breaks, of course. But--happy, happy me!!
I have a lot of pictures!! So--more tomorrow on how Leah actually made these toys!! :) I got lots of practice with the new camera--close-ups and everything! Karma may have gotten a new toy--but so did I--ROFL!!! :):)

Wednesday-9:15am

The sun greeted us in the morning yesterday and today. Nice!

Dagan and Leah came last night. We got the garages switched in a couple of hours. They hadn't eaten, so I put a small Simek's Lasagna in the oven while we were outside. We were done before the lasagna! :)

They brought their old camera for me! Leah gave me the basics on how to take pictures with this new fancier Cannon with the pop-out face. :):)

I did take pictures--really! Chuckle! But then last night, after Dagan and Leah left, I couldn't figure out how to get them out of the camera and into the computer?? My computer didn't seem to recognize the new hardware? So, these pictures today are all with the old camera. Hopefully I'll have the first pictures taken with the new camera for you tomorrow because Leah said she is coming over tonight for Craft Night!! :) :)

Also--Dagan noticed that I have one tire that is a little low on PitaPaseo, so Leah was thinking we might take the Paseo to a gas station tonight so she can put some air in that tire--and we need a couple things from Sportsman's for making more cat toys, too--hehe! Leah will call when work slows down--late afternoon or early evening probably.

I forgot to get an "after" picture of the new garage last night, too. Was fun learning how to use the new camera, but I wasn't sure what I was doing. Hopefully the pictures will be much better, right? The viewing screen is so big on this one! Awesome! I told Dagan and Leah that it was similar to when I went from my small TV to the big one--chuckle! Looked like it took action shots!? Obviously, my old one didn't capture movement well--you saw the action shots of Miss Karma--hehe! I can hardly wait to see what the pictures actually look like! Oh--and what they look like when you click on them to enlarge them in here, too? :)

And--I decided to switch out the red chair for a while--go from the bobble chair to a glider rocker--so we switched the chairs last. Look familiar, Ruby!!??

This chair was given to me from my dear friend, Ruby, many years ago. Then Dagan and Leah had it for several years at their apartment in Moorhead. They brought it back to me when they moved. Karma had to check it out...as soon as the scary company left--hehe!
What a total chicken she is! She is jumpy for a while after people leave. Every noise has her on alert!
And she gets all cuddly--needs to be reassured. I have never owned a scaredy cat--hehe! She never got properly socialized or independent, I guess--living alone with me and with my being home almost 24/7--her world is small. She feels safe and secure with me, but is nervous when people come over. Taking pictures is the only way the rest of the world gets to see the Karma I know and love--hehe!

Well, everybody--have a bright shiny day!

Tuesday-9am

On the news I heard that we had several streets flooded in the Fargo-Moorhead area yesterday. No surprise! I snapped a couple of pictures on my way to the office building yesterday. There is water sitting everywhere. The grass is saturated plus!! Water sits almost an inch deep over the sidewalk in several spots. Here's the small playground I told you about by the office building. Looks like a pond!Obviously this land the complex was built on is similar to the fields I look out across from my windows--almost marshy. I've been watching them fill in the small actual pond that was out in that field for the last two years. Dump trucks filled with dirt come and go in the summertime. A small grater trudges and tills across the land when it is dry enough to do so. They want to sell more of the vacant land to construction companies, so they are trying to fill it in--but then the water saturates the land like this regardless of all the man-made plans. They sure should continue to sell the land for the construction of buildings that have no basements, eh? Been mostly apartment complexes and small factory or business buildings that have been going up on our side of the road. But across the road there are houses--lots of new houses. ?? I wonder if the land is drier on that side? Hope so. I wish they would have left this land alone, actually. The things we do in the name of progress, eh? Sad.

I am really glad we had rain, tho! West of us they had snow! In Wibaux, Montana they had 15 inches of snow!!

Anyways, I got an assigned parking spot for the winter. I could have had one closer to the door, but I won't be using it every day. Some people have more cars than they have garage space--college students, or need the garage for storage (people who have lost their homes, etc)--where mine is more for company than anything. So, my spot is #18. I picked one that has a small tree in front of it so that we can find it when the numbers are covered over with snow and ice. :) The assigned parking starts on October 15th.

And Leah emailed me yesterday and said that she and Dagan were planning on coming over after work tonight to switch garages!! TaDa!! I will be glad when that job is done. Dagan and Leah sure will be, too. :) Perfect timing. Supposed to be no rain today. There is even sun this morning!

Then--I took these for you, Serena! You wondered how my cat could use a toy box for her little private duties--hehe! The toy box came unassembled. Before Leah put it together--my multi-talented daughter-in-law cut a hole in one end for an entrance. So, you can't see that there is a cat box inside and it can sit right in the hallway. :)

So--going to be a busy day. Later.... :)

Monday-9:15am

Well, it is supposed to finally clear up a little this afternoon--to partly cloudy.

Karma and I did another Gilmore Girls marathon yesterday and finally finished!!
I actually cried at the end--happy ending tears--hehe! Such a cute show! Happy, sad, frustrating, silly, touching, comfortable, heart warming and heart breaking. Stayed up late to finish it! Yawning as I write--hehe! I've been setting the alarm so that I won't keep sleeping later and later--because I have been staying up later and later the past several days. I sure don't want to lose my being on days routine. :):)

I have my yearly forms/paperwork (proof I am poor enough to live here--hehe!) to bring down to the office today. Going to ask them about assigned parking for the winter. They usually already have that set up by now? Those are my big plans for today--hehe!

Oh! Oh! A hint of sun! I see a glimmer of sunlight through the clouds!!

Gone.

Obviously I wouldn't fare as well in some place like Seattle, Washington where I hear it rains so much of the time. Maybe they get a warmer, more inviting rain? Or briefer showers instead of days and days of gray? Or because you have grown up with it there you are just used to it? No wonder they drink so much coffee--hehe!

Of course a lot of people wouldn't want to live up here with all the snow and freezing cold in the winters and the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes in the summer--chuckle! Different strokes, eh?

Well, I'll be glad to see a few rays of sunshine today if they show up.

Happy Monday!

Sunday-8:30am

Really wore Karma out with the new toys again--hehe!

I forgot to mention that Dagan and Leah didn't come to switch garages yesterday--made other plans--maybe next weekend? I told them that was fine as long as they didn't rent it out, but if they did rent it then I would have to have things moved ASAP no matter when that is. They let me move in early here because it was empty and they might want to do that for this apartment, also. Just so Dagan and Leah are aware.

Oh--the flower and bird books were $35.00 dollars each, BTW. :)

http://www.orientalartsupply.com/

Yesterday--went down to get the mail. Got in the elevator. It was acting weirder than usual (is usually quite noisy and clunky). Took forever for it to come up to third floor, the door opened a little on the slow side, and when the elevator made it down to first floor it just sat there. Silent. Nothing. The door didn't open.

And didn't open.....

I pressed the button for second floor to see if it would move again. Nothing!

I tried to shake and rattle the door. Nothing.

Now I was really getting worried. Saturday--nobody around in the office and little traffic in the building compared to weekdays...

Shouldered as hard into it as I could...a few times...

Finally the door creaked and very, very slowly crept open. I leapt out sideways as soon as I could! Whew! Creepy! I climbing the three flights of stairs and called the emergency number to report the scary elevator (answering service, of course). A man called me back a few minutes later and got all the details. Said he was coming out to look at it. I haven't been out there today--no mail on Sunday, of course.

Good incentive to use the stairs, eh?!!!!

I have never been stuck in an elevator before. My next step would have been to examine the control panel and look for emergency buttons, etc. I never got to that point, but I wonder if it has an emergency phone or what exactly IS in there for those wonderful occasions when a person can't get out? There's no door in the top--or none you can get to, anyways. The ceiling has a sheet of glass or Plexiglas--the lights are behind that glass. I am so short I could never reach anything in the ceiling in the first place--hehe! You'd end up sitting by the door and pounding and calling out for help--shudder! Glad I got out.

Other than that--it has been a quiet, rainy, dark weekend. Still raining--and cold. Would not have been fun to move stuff, that's for sure. Been raining so steadily that everything is soaked. The kid's playground area looks like a pond. Not expected to stop until tomorrow afternoon. Good days to hibernate and watch DVDs and read!