Friday-8:30pm

We did have some sun.

The warmer weather and melting away of the snow brought the roofers back, as I mentioned. The ground is so soft and muddy that they lay down a path of sheets of plywood for their big orange machine to drive across the grass.

And I was back to keeping my blinds drawn because they were up and down right next to my porch...

...and later right near my living room windows. For some crazy reason Karma actually wanted to spy on them. She cried till I pulled the blinds up a bit for her. (If I don't meet her feline window demands the naughty girl bites holes in the plastic blinds.) Her spying didn't last more than a couple minutes. Always likes to believe she is braver than she is--LOL!

They were here for a few days--clomping, drilling, pounding...

...and tossing down pieces of siding.

I just don't want any more leaks.

Please.

I took an old journal that had the first few pages torn out (can't remember why now) and decided to make it my calligraphy practice book.

I learned this Italic style in my class all those many years ago. I am so out of practice.

I mixed these up. Sorry. This was my first attempt at the alphabet.

But after I practiced for several pages AND made a sorry attempt with the Gothic alphabet, I realized that the memory of all those many hours of practicing the Italic was coming back to me. I could really tell the difference trying a new alphabet. I was horrible. (Forgot to take a picture.) Anyways, I plan to continue to practice the Italic calligraphy and get back in the swing of things.

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Well...I think I forgot to tell you that for my birthday I got an extra big Target gift card this year from my brother and his wife. Leah and Dagan said they'd "buy" it from me, so that I could finally get a new all-in-one printer. Dagan researched printers for me online.

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My 11 year old HP G55 that I bought "as is" (floor model and the scanner never worked)...well, she has been getting touchier and touchier. Her circuits are a bit frayed. Recently it has taken me up to an hour a couple different times (instead of the occasional 15-20 minutes of pleading that has been going on this past year) just to get her to remember how to print from the laptop. (She never did like the switch from the desk computer to the laptop...maybe doesn't care for Macs...or her cord being disconnected and moved about?)

The most recent addition has been that she doesn't want to shut off if she is on or turn on if she is off. Takes a lot of persuading. Got to the point where I put that purple post-it note over her on/off button a couple months ago to remind me not to bother her and I just left her on all the time.

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But then she had problems remembering how to come out of sleep mode. And yet, when I open the blinds and the morning sun hits her from across the room she revs up and thinks I am going to make copies--poor thing! It's the only thing she hasn't forgotten how to do--yet--make copies. (The sun hits between the cracks of her uneven cover and she gets all excited to show me she remembers copies.) The poor old thing has Altzheimers. On her last wobbly circuits. :)

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Then Thursday morning this big box arrived by FedEx.

I was hoping she wouldn't notice...

...but she did. *sigh*

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I decided that I might as well use up some of the ink cartridges before Dagan and Leah come over to move her away and hook up the new guy in town, right? All black and slick and wireless, he is--sitting there--waiting--quietly. I bet his scanner even works.

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She was totally defeated. Wouldn't work. No way. No how.

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I tried every trick I knew for an hour and forty-two minutes. Nothing. She'd tease me and say she was processing the job for 5-10 minutes at a time and then disconnect or tell me a fatal error had been made. I asked her to try different tasks. Used different brain routes. Shut things down and started them up. Plugged and unplugged. But I think her little metal heart was broken.

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I turned her off and asked the techie angels to work on her during the night.

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Now, I know that sounds bizarre, but it works half the time.

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And it did. This morning she was raring to go. I have been printing all day! Weekly schedules, recipes, photos, etc. We have had a grand time. I figured I had best print while I could. Tomorrow is another day...and she may not remember a thing she did today. But...today...she did herself proud! Very slowly...but she ran a magnificent printer marathon today! It was almost like the old days. :):)

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And she did say one of her cartridges is almost out of ink, but she wouldn't tell me which one--ROFL! I will miss her. All those college papers...the endless times I would print off some partial story or poem or assignment I was writing because I still need paper and pen in hand to really work on drafts...

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G55 will be missed.

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Maybe the weather confused her and she thought it was January again--when she was still in better working order at least part of the time? This morning the windows were iced...

...and the snow...

...is back.

So much for the green grass--ROFL! The world has a soft white blanket again. What is it about Fargo's simultaneous flooding and snowstorms? ;)

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Seriously tho--it won't last long. Spring snowstorms melt away fairly quickly. Even the pounding they are taking west of us--won't stay on the ground long. :)

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Anyways...been a long day...have a nice weekend!! :) :)

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"Vision is the art of seeing things invisible."

Jonathan Swift

Wednesday-2:45pm

Beautiful blue sky today with scattered white and grayish clouds.

The dirty snow pile mountain that used to be as high as the tip of the garage roof is a mere shadow of its former magnificent self. But do you see something? Green! There is some green showing up after the rains and the 50 degree weather!

Our parking lot pond has turned into a small lake--hehe!

The lawn is starting to turn green. And everywhere is revealed all the trash that has blown about all winter.

The roofers still futz about with their mess and equipment.

Just so we don't become too complacent, tho--it is only 36 degrees right now. No open windows today. I had to take the plant back inside yesterday. I apologized to it because I know how happy it was to be back outside swinging in the wind--you could see it in the perky, perky leaves. Soon, I promised. Soon.

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Well, not too soon. They're talking possible snow again on Saturday--LOL!

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Well, time to go check the mail and see if my movies are here yet. Karma's back in her cat bed again where it's warm. Hope you're having a good week. :):)

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"People are like stained glass windows: They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within."

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Tuesday-2:45pm

Karma's been enjoying the morning sunshine when it decides to greet us.

A few days ago I was taking a picture of this orange sunrise...

...when I noticed all the water sitting in puddles in the field beyond the garages.

It looks pretty much the same right now today because we have had a few days of rain since then.

Water, water everywhere! You can double click on any of my pictures to see them better, of course.

This was a little later in the morning. Wanted to show you how the big dirty snow pile in between the garages was way down to a third the size. I actually have forgotten to look since then.

Anyways, we may have soggy ground, but I am not near the actual flood area. Dagan and Leah are safe, too, in West Fargo. I hope everyone is okay and the dikes hold. The Red is slowly subsiding. All the various roads should be open again soon up in this region. :)

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I didn't post these, but I think most people should have received them by now.

I made up some very simple thank you cards for my birthday. You all know who you are. ;)

The roofers have been back...kind of. I have seen the big orange lift vehicle take off on different days. A few days ago this white truck was out there and I saw that a couple of men were putting some of the assorted junk and stuff into the back of it. I mistakenly thought they might be done and cleaning up their mess. Nope.

It has been in the upper 40s to lower 60s, so I hung out the philodendron on the porch. Been keeping the bedroom window open at night since it has stayed in the 40s. Ahhh! Love it!

Karma has been lying in the sun now on the porch in the mornings so she can watch the flies on the big porch screen. I decided it was time to put her porch water and food dishes out, too.

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This was the picture this afternoon of where the roofers still have piles of whatever. They never did clean up their mess and I'm not sure if the big orange machine is still around or not.

I was out of commission since last Friday. I have never had or seen anyone who has had pinkeye. But I believe that is what I was dealing with after checking online...a mild case of pinkeye, according to the photos I saw--awk!! Who knew how annoying one eye could be. Sore, itchy, watery, pink like I had been crying for days, and swollen. It is almost gone now. Just a little sore and itchy yet, but nothing like it was. Whew! First the flu and then pinkeye. I hadn't been sick-sick for the longest time. Oh well. Am feeling lots better now. Things will get back to my normal here soon. :)

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I did order my kalimba this morning. Oh, and I have been sleeping at night--tada!--so that's good. Was glad I got all my thank you cards in the mail before I got sick again. I have accomplished little since then, but I have caught up on my audio talks, have been doing some reading, journaling, and got a couple letters written. Spent the last two days dealing with my semi-annual paperwork/copies for forbearance on my school loans. Nothing too exciting--except ordering the kalimba--hehe!

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I have Hereafter and Burlesque coming tomorrow from Netflix. I had the maintenance man come and put in new light bulbs in the kitchen Monday (they didn't work all weekend). Strange because it wasn't that long ago I got new bulbs? I had to cancel on some after work shopping with Leah Monday night because of the pinkeye. Maybe next Monday. Want to go to Tochi's, our favorite natural foods shop, for tamari sauce and jasmine rice and such. What else...? Can you tell my mind is skimming all over the place--LOL!

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I am still pretty useless. Sunny morning but it turned into a dark day. More rain. I am going to go watch Masterpiece Theater...later folks. I should be feeling more myself next time I write. :):)

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"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."

Galileo Galilei

Thursday-6am

I told you Karma makes me laugh every day. Some days there's a whole lot of giggling going on up here. ;)

This was the morning sky yesterday.

I do so love the sky.

It got warmer than they expected and now they're predicting 58 degrees today! What a heatwave! Really does feel like spring. Caroline cleaned out my window sills and wiped down the porch furniture on Tuesday. There are flies on the porch (much to Karma's delight and my consternation). Spring has finally sprung up here. It will take a while to melt the snowbanks and snow piles, but spring is here! :)

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Dagan and Leah came over Tuesday night. They ordered Chinese (my late birthday choice)--yummm! I love fried rice! And we finally had a Sacred Circle. Very good energy. Good information for each one of us in the Angel Cards. Just a really great night! :)

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I played with the Parallel Pens a little. This is what the nibs look like. Right out of the center come these two flat layers. A little odd looking. Mine are the narrowest (1.5).

The brochure shows an example of the graduated color it is possible to create with these pens using the special mixable ink cartridges...

...and some examples of some of the decorative effects that can be done.

They include samples of three different calligraphic alphabets.

I wondered what these thin flexible metallic rectangles were. You use them to clean between the plates of the nib!

You get a red and a black ink cartridge and a converter, too, with each pen.

So, I had to try graduating from black to red. Fun!

I can see where it would take some practice as to how much color to tap on the end of the other pen--but that was my very first attempt. They are very juicy inks. :)

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Let's see...

The roofers have been back this week. So there is occasional clomping and pounding going on again. They can't have all that much left to do, you'd think? I'll be so glad to see all their stuff gone and out of the parking lot! :)

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For my birthday Dagan and Leah gave me the rest I needed to order the kalimba! (Plus an extra $10--so I actually have cash if I wanted to buy a coffee or something when I am hopefully out and about occasionally this summer.) Since I had emailed Mark at Kalimba Magic a while back and he said he'd be sure to save one for me for April, Mark told me he'd give me the old price (they went up in March)--tada! And I asked if it was possible for me to hear the ones he has left on a video so I can pick mine. He said sure--is looking for his video cord. ;) Such a nice young man. So, all that's left is choose one and order!! :):)

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I've been storing up some more of the free Ecollege classes Tori told me about. I am now collecting classes on Creative Visualization, Handmade Soapmaking, Creative Writing, Short Story Writing, and Yoga Explained. Any time I have nothing else lined up...I have all these classes saved! Neat!

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I finished watching Mad Men: Season Four! I really do enjoy that show and love the characters. They're into 1965 now. I was 14 years old. So many things in this show look familiar to me--hairstyles, dishes, clothing, nic-nacs, cars, furniture...and, more importantly, I remember the culture. The racism, prejudices, chauvinism...the TV programs, the news, the commercials, and the events. Makes you think about how much we have changed in so many areas...and how little in others. Fascinates me!

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Well, the sun is coming up on this Thursday morning.

Have a satisfying day! :):)

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"Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it's what they bring to the world that really counts."

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tuesday-9:45am

Package guts!

The birthday booty!

I wonder what brands and colors our April mystery Ink Drop contains?

I made such a fuzzy video that I took some pictures so I can really show you everything--whether you care or not--LOL! Lots of new cheap--or should I say inexpensive--pens! The Preppy pens (with the colors) are $3.95. The Noodler's clear piston pen is $14.00. The top clear pen with the black top is the free Noodler's pen I got with the Chinese ink color.

Here's the Parallel pens and ink sampler.

The black rubber rings and silicone grease (worked like a charm!!).

The cartridge filling units that look like syringes.

I loved Noodler's inks before I learned that the owner, Nathan Tardiff, basically runs his business by himself--creates and mixes all these inks by hand. He is a man of passionate convictions. Each of his inks seem to have its own story. You can click on a couple of the ink colors below and hear him tell you himself. :)

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Anyways, here are the ink bottles that came yesterday:

Noodler's Green Marine and Navajo Turquoise...

...Apache Sunset and Antietam.

One side of the Noodler's Bernanke Blue and North African Violet...

...and the other side of the labels.

One side of Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses and Black Swan in English Roses...

...and the other side of these pretty labels.

Only one other brand--hehe! Diamine's...

...Red Dragon.

The last bottle--a large bottle of Noodler's Kung Te-cheng...

...showing you the variety of photos...

...all around the label. Including these two...

...Chinese gentlemen.

I did some emptying and filling and refilling yesterday. So I needed a new chart. Can't tell I love Noodler's, eh? ROFL! 14 pens filled (still have three empty ones) and only one isn't filled with Noodler's.

I didn't make a color sample for the Parallel pens because they are filled with their own special mixable ink and I have lots of colors to play with. Here's my box of pens when I was finished. :)

Goulet Pens also has a blog and a youtube site.

Do you think I am having fun with links now that I learned how to make good and proper ones? ROFL!

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With Iggy's assistance, I have hopefully begun the process of permanently deleting my facebook account. Even when you tell them you want to delete it, they won't do it for 14 days. And there are apparently many ways you can accidentally click on something distantly related to facebook on other sites and then--bam!--you're back in. That must be what happened to me last time I tried to delete it. Facebook is kind of like that stalker you can't shake even when you call the police and have a restraining order. We'll see how I fare this time. I figure I'll wait three weeks to check just to be on the safe side. ;)

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Well, I have to get moving...Caroline called and asked if she could come early...Dagan and Leah are coming over after work...and it is supposed to come close to 50 degrees today, so I plan to open some windows! Or at least crack some--LOL!

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"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

Mark Twain

Monday-9pm

First time I have tried this kind of video where you hold things up to the camera. Sorry I couldn't get the camera to focus very well. I'll post still pictures tomorrow, but here's the video that took me two tries and half the evening to upload. All that for such mediocre quality. Oh well. :)

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"Not only is another world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Arundhati Roy

Sunday-7:15am

Soft sunrise this morning.

Not raining at the moment, but it was yesterday and is expected to today. So, as you can see, the melting has returned--for now. Soggyville. Waterworld. Puddle City. ROFL!

But we are supposed to have a little snow again tomorrow. The temps are on that edge between rain and snow, so it's anybody's guess for a while here.

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Well, due to saving a little from last month in anticipation, my gift certificate from Iggy, a coupon, and some discounts...I bought myself a whole bunch of inks and cheap pens from Goulet Pens as a birthday present to myself. I am so excited for that box to arrive!!

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Thanks to AliceKay sending me an email (with great photos!), I am trying out making some proper links here on the blog--tada!! I am hoping they will work correctly. Please let me know, okay?

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Then--all my birthday money I have been saving toward buying a kalimba from this awesome shop run by a very nice young man named Mark. Donn, from the Chinese Brush Painting yahoo group, sent me a link to show me he'd purchased a kalimba. I had never heard of them. I decided to watch a video and then ended up watching and listening to every one of the videos that Mark has on his online shop and totally fell in love with their sound. I have no musical abilities, but I think that this particular kalimba would sound good no matter what you did with it. I hope so! After I finally get mine I promise I will make a video for you of my goofing around with it. :)

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So exciting!! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas! My April Ink Drop samples will arrive soon...and the big order of pens and inks...and eventually I'll be ordering the kalimba!! Whoohoo! This turning 60 has it's advantages. I decided to just go eccentric-old-lady-wild! LOL!

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Meanwhile, I have been sleeping better the last two days and not just napping off and on round the clock. When the sleep wheel stopped spinning, my sleep patterns ended up landing on around 4pm till midnight. Not too bad. Closer to day hours. Can't complain. ;)

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I made a decision today. I have been thinking for a long time about deleting my art blog. I have never been able to figure out how to go back and find my photos each month since I switched over to the McLap and that was the main reason I cared at all about the chaotic photo storage. I had very few followers and everything on that art blog was already on this one, anyways. Since I have been trying to maximize the value of my computer time since last fall--well, it is gone. Deleted. Adios. So, in case anybody even noticed, that's why it is gone.

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After being hacked for some sex video a few days ago on facebook, I was sorely tempted to delete that, too--but I am sitting on it. Only because I never could find a way to actually delete the facebook account last time and I didn't feel up to spending endless time trying to figure out how to do it. If anybody actually knows how to completely delete one, let me know.

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I'll leave you this fine Sunday with a contended cat video. ;)

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

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"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way."

A.J. Muste