The "Beagle" has landed

Did you happen to watch the Westminister Dog Show last week? The Beagle won. The first time in the over 100 year history of the dog show that a beagle has won Best In Show.

Uno is his name and he was regal and spirited and quite a ham. When the judge called Uno out to the center and presented the trophy to his handler the crowd went wild and roared. With that, Uno could no longer retain his show ring composure. He stood on his hind legs, leaned against his handler and barked; then threw his head back and howled.

Bless his heart.

And don't you know Charles Schultz and Snoopy were looking down from heaven grinning from ear to ear.

24/7 news

and a quote about how discomfited we can become with too much exposure to a daily diet of bad news.

"When I was a child people simply looked about them and were moderately happy; today they peer beyond the seven seas, bury themselves waist deep in tidings, and by and large what they see and hear makes them unutterably sad."

~ E. B. White

Conversation.

I happened upon this quote by the Dalai Lama:

"Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, his/her conversational skills will be as important as any other."

Sam and I have been married for 56 years and we still love to talk to each other. From the very beginning we have been able to enjoy each other's company and good conversation.


I always think it is so sad to see an older couple having dinner out and sitting in complete silence during the entire meal with nothing left to talk about.

We are blessed.

The big snow of '08

Atlanta got a bare sprinkling of snow today. It was just enough to excite the little ones who are snow starved here in the deep south. It was pretty for about an hour and looked like someone had lightly sprinkled powered sugar around on the shrubs and grass.

When we turned on the national news tonight at 6:30 we were startled to discover our local station had preempted Brian Williams NBC national news for 30 minutes of local coverage of the "severe weather alert"

We got a good laugh out of this but decided our poor weather guys have gotten so sick of reporting the weather news for the last year when all it has been is "Drought. Dry, No rain" that they deserved a half hour in the spotlight.

Cya ...gotta go sledding now,,, :)

"A Far Cry From Weak"

When I read this editorial in this morning's Atlanta Journal Constitution I had to agree 100%
Here is the pertinent excerpt. I especially agree with paragraph 3:


Clinton a far cry from weak

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 01/11/08




"Did Hillary Clinton cry, tear up or just get something in her eye during a meet-and-greet with voters in a New Hampshire cafe?

There's been more discussion this week about whether Clinton cried than about her health care plan or her strategy for Iraq. According to the post-mortems of her unexpected New Hampshire victory, Clinton's misty eyes humanized her and caused hundreds of women in New Hampshire to cast their vote for her rather than Barack Obama.

Debate still rages over whether a teardrop actually fell. But if a tear had fallen, does that mean Clinton is unfit for the White House? Given the looming recession, the collapse of the real estate market and the war in Iraq, it's a wonder more Americans aren't weeping."

In writing off Clinton and then crediting her resurgence to tears, pundits underestimated the candidate as well as the voters. It's ridiculous to proclaim that legions of female voters could be swayed by that hint of a tear. After all, Mitt Romney has choked up during the campaign — to no avail.

Perhaps the New Hampshire women who were forecast as Obama voters switched to Clinton after watching her debate the other candidates or answer questions at campaign events. Pundits drubbed most of Clinton's public appearances in New Hampshire, saying she was wonkish and bogged down in detail, while Obama was inspirational."

Maureen Downey, for the editorial board


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 01/11/08

A simple quiz

And just to keep us sharp and on our toes here is a simple quiz. Answers below but no peeking. :)


A Simple Quiz




Answers below

1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?

2) Which country makes Panama hats?

3) From which animal do we get catgut?

4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?

6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?

7) What was King George VI's first name?

8) What color is a purple finch?

9) What country do Chinese gooseberries come from?

10) How long did the Thirty Years War last?

ANSWERS:
1) 116 years, from 1337 to 1453. 2) Ecuador. 3) From sheep and horses. 4) November. The Russian calendar was 13 days behind ours. 5) Squirrel fur. 6) The Latin name was Insularia Canaria - Island of the Dogs. 7) Albert. When he came to the throne in 1936 respected the wish of Queen Victoria that no future king should ever be called Albert. 8) Distinctively crimson. 9) New Zealand. 10) Thirty years, of course


(I MISSED 8 -- HOW ABOUT YOU??)

Positively Honest

This story reminds me of something similar that happened when we moved 5 years ago into our townhouse.

---------------------------------

Woman loses ring in fudge, gets it back Sat Dec 29, 8:14 PM ET



LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A woman whose diamond ring vanished while she was making fudge for a bake sale was despondent after scouring her home and finding no sign of it.



But Linda Vancel recently got a sweet surprise: A relative of the woman who bought the fudge found the ring when he bit into a piece of the candy.

"It's a very sentimental ring," Vancel said of the white gold ring her mother, who died 15 years ago, wore for 50 years before passing it on.

Linda Rhoades bought the fudge during a bake sale in West Lafayette. She took some of it to her sister-in-law's father, Charles "Red" Matson, in hopes of cheering him up after recent health problems.

When Matson snacked on a piece of the fudge, he bit into something hard — the ring.

Rhoades said Matson called her and said, "Well, Linda, it's got chocolate all over it, but it doesn't look adjustable. It's got a stone that's really shiny."

Vancel said she had scoured her home, even dumping the trash can on the kitchen floor to sort through the rubbish for the ring. Finally she thought to track down Rhoades and sent her a long-shot e-mail, which Rhoades returned as soon as she got back from vacation.

"It renews your faith in people," Vancel said. "Sometimes there's so much negative in the world, to hear a story like this is reassuring."
-------

When we moved into our townhouse we did some extensive remodeling and the counter tops and cabinets in the kitchen were covered with a lot of fine sheet rock dust. We hired some cleaning ladies to come in and help clean up the mess through out. One of the ladies is the wife of a moving company employee and she runs a small cleaning company. They all immigrated from South America as few years back. The moving company, "Truck And I," has achieved good success with hard work and perseverance. Except for Hazel, the boss and owner of the small cleaning company, the other two ladies were strangers to us.

As they worked hard at wiping out the insides of the cabinets, one of them, called me to come into the kitchen. She held out her hand and showed me a ladies ring, gold and set with some lovely stones. I could tell at once it was valuable. I told her "This is not my ring.The previous owner must have accidently left her ring in the cabinet."

I thanked her and praised her for her honesty and proceeded to call Mrs T, from whom we purchased the house.

Turns out it WAS her ring and she had not missed it in the hustle and bustle of their moving. She has three small children and was distracted by all the packing as they were planning to move to Canada where her husband was opening a branch of an Atlanta company

Mrs T came by immediately and retrieved her ring. She said it had great sentimental value. It was her engagement ring.

I have always thought this was a lovely story. Mrs T asked for Hazel's phone number so she could call and send a reward to her honest employee.

Isn't this an inspirational story. Do you have any similar positive experiences you can remember?

"It renews your faith in people," Vancel said. "Sometimes there's so much negative in the world, to hear a story like this is reassuring."

HAPPY NEW YEAR

New Year's Resolutions:

Since New Year's Resolutions are so hard to keep here are some easy ones:



"Are you sick of making the same resolutions year after year and yet you never keep them? Here are some resolutions that you can actually accomplish! Enjoy! :-)

10. Read less.


9. I want to gain weight. Put on at least 30 pounds.

8. Stop exercising. Waste of time.

7. Watch more TV. I've been missing some good stuff.


6. Procrastinate more.

5. Drink. Drink some more.

4. Start being superstitious.

3. Spend more time at work.


2. Stop bringing lunch from home: I should eat out more.

and last but not least...

1. Take up a new habit: maybe smoking!"

Annual Christmas Message

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

"In Hoc Anno Domini'
Vermont Royster's annual Christmas message.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST

"This editorial was written in 1949 by the late Vermont Royster and has been published annually since.

When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.

But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression--for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.

So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.

But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.

Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.

And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Christmas Tree Update

.

I did get a "real tree"

Yesterday, when I went to the Publix Grocery store, this pretty little 3 ft tall green fir tree with a red bow on top had my "name on it".

We put it on the front stoop. With the red bow on top and one lone keepsake Snoopy ornament, it is now my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree..

My husband,Sam, teased me when he saw it and said. "You JUST had to have a REAL tree didn't you?"

I had not thought of that aspect of my purchase but subliminally perhaps he is right.

Anyway, I now have the best of both worlds.

Merry Christmas to ALL!!
&
Happy Holidays

The search.

For over 50 years I have been a purist, pure as the driven snow as the old cliche goes. Or as the old Coke ad sang"It's The Real Thing".

Every year about this time my husband and I would set out, first just the two of us and then when the children started arriving into our lives we would all head out in search of perfection. We hardly ever found it. The years passed and the children grew up and moved on with their own lives and personal searches. Then we would, again, just the two of us set out on our search. . After awhile a grand child or two would accompany us on our yearly adventure but soon they too were tied into their own families' searching.

How to break the addiction? This search for perfection? If we dared to branch out would the world stop spinning on it's axis? What would the neighbors think? Then out of the blue I mentioned to my good friend ,Vi, what I was contemplating. And lo and behold she had already beat me to the punch. She had already branched out into virgin territory. Now you would have to know Vi to appreciate the wonder of her personal decision to make such a radical change at her age. She is an arbiter of taste. She has relatives in Charleston SC, the old genteel , society Charleston. She attended the St Cecilia Ball there. She is an artist with impeccable taste.

When I first learned of the change Vi had already made in her lifestyle I was anxious to follow suit. I admired her courage. She is my age and it takes guts to adopt a brand new lifestyle at our advanced age. She directed me to an out of the way warehouse in a somewhat seedy part of town. Normally only open to the "Trade" this spot is now open to the public because the business has been sold and they are liquidating.

Sam and I arrived and walked into the back of the warehouse. Eureka ! There it was. Our search was finally over. As we were looking and walking around it a cheerful grey haired gentleman walked up and told us he had a similar one and his family loved it. He showed us all the features and told how easy his life was now that he had taken the plunge.

He even said with a twinkle in his eye, " I tried to get you an additional discount since that one is the last and is a floor sample but Scrooge here said no deal"

It was already a bargain and so beautifully constructed, even though it was made in China. We brought it into our home and quick as a wink the project was complete.

After finishing we sat down with a nice cup of spice tea marveling at the beauty of this newcomer into our lives.

Our search was over.

We have finally found the Perfect Christmas Tree.

The only problem is this. The tree is guaranteed for 15 years and by then I will be 93.

I need to call a lawyer and change my will.

.

Movie night.

Last night I happened upon an excellent movie on Comcast On Demand. This one is NOT a light holiday film but you might want to consider watching it when you are in the mood for riviting dramatic escapism.

"Notes On A Scandal" is an engrossing story about the relationship between a spinster British school teacher and the new young art teacher. The action turns violent when the spinster, played by Judi Dench threatens to tell the authorities about the younger teacher, Cate Blanchett's torrid love affair with a 15 year old boy at the school.

I know this doesn't sound like the sort of movie one would seek out because of the story line but it is the edge of your seat suspense which hooks you like a book you cannot put down. In "Notes On A Scandal", portraying Barbara Hart, all Judi D. has to do is raise an eyebrow or breathe in silently to evoke an entire range of mostly macabre emotions. Judi Dench is outstanding in her portrayal of the love starved neurotic spinster. So different from Dench's demure portrayal of another unmarried older woman in "Ladies in Lavender."


"Notes on a Scandal" received several Oscar nomination and Judi Dench won the Oscar in "07 for best actress.

Cate Blanchett is also masterful in her role of Sheba, the new art teacher.

From IMDB:
"In her juiciest role since "Mrs Brown," Judi Dench brings an element of sympathy to Barbara, a closeted, self-loathing lesbian school teacher attracted to the new art teacher, Sheba, played by Cate Blanchett. Madly hoping to wrest the heterosexual Sheba from her husband and two children, one of whom has Down Syndrome, Barbara stumbles upon Sheba's sexual dalliance with a 15-year-old student. In a Machiavellian turn, Barbara hopes to manipulate Sheba by maintaining her secret . . . with strings attached. Need I add that all does not go well?"

Down Memory Lane In Slacks.

One of the many things I am thankful for is slacks for women. I live in pants and very seldom do I struggle into panty hose and a skirt. I have several nice skirts and I may perhaps wear them with tights this winter but my apparel of choice is a comfy pair of pants and a top and perhaps a cardigan or pull over sweater layered.

I remember when I got my first pair of blue jeans. I was 15 years old and my two girlfriends and I went downtown and shopped in the boys department for a pair of Levis. We felt slightly risque as we rolled the pants legs up to just below the knees and reveled in our new wardrobe. Those jeans lasted forever and ever. I wish I had saved them since a pair of Levis from 1944 would probably help finance our retirement. Collectors item.

I suppose the advent of pants for women harkens back to WW2 and the women who were called upon to work in defense plants. Prior to that only "daring, avant guard actresses like Katherine Hepburn wore slacks.

Just notice in old movies from the 40's and many times even the 50s women were dressed in skirts or dresses most of the time.

Many of you are not old enough to remember the times of which I write but you probably are also thankful for the freedom of slacks also.

I say Hip Hip Hooray for the comfort and freedom of slacks.

The times they sure are a' changing.

An Incredible journey.

Thinking back on the time when I was clueless about computers and the Internet and how I got started:

10 years ago my hubby and I got our first computer and we were both greenhorns. Our grown son set the contraction up for us and gave us rudimentary lessons about how to use it. In demonstrating the wonder of this (new to us) technology he typed into a search engine "lemon and sex" as an example of how much information was out there in cyber land.:)lol He got hundreds of web sites and I thought it was incredible. For instance here is one site that appeared.

"Lemon Cake
This is my lemon version of the famous Better Than Sex Cake. ... Cover cake with cool whip mixture and arrange 24 lemon "fruit slice" pieces on top.":)

I took to the computer like a duck to water and my first venture online was to a Chat Room. Humm I thought, I will never be able to chat with a hunt and peck typing system. So I forced my fingers and brain to remember my typing skills from 50 plus years ago and soon I was "chatting away" fluently without looking at the keyboard

I have tried many games like Hold 'em Poker on Yahoo and Scrabble and a form of Scrabble, "Bookworm. For awhile I was entertained with blackjack on Yahoo and also the Yahoo current events chat rooms. Other activities includeded "Groups" that I participated in later forming my own group.Also email, research, current events and political blogs and many other blogs. Finally about two years about I took the plunge and started this blog.

I now concentrate mainly on reading and commenting on the many "Elder Blogs" which I found links to on Ronni Bennett's excellent blog, Time Goes By"



I cannot imagine a time without the computer and the windows on the world this technology provides.The access to newspapers and even radio from all over the world, the instant news,and all the information at my fingertips is still a wonder to me.

How long have you been online and what started you on this incredible journey?

How did we survive?

READ TO THE BOTTOM FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH BY JAY LENO. IF YOU DON'T READ
ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED

"TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!"

"First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while
they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't
get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby
cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and
when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we
took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster
seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special
treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NOONE
actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made
with sugar, but we weren't overweight because,
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were
back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride
down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into
the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at
all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no
surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no
Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in
us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks
and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not
put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or
rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them !

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW
TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS !

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow
up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of
our lives for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave
(and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't
it?! "

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding,
severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and
with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a
good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance ?"

I am slap dab out of ideas

For a post so I thought about this joke:




"An old country preacher had a teenage son, and it was getting time the boy
should give some thought to choosing a profession. Like many young men, the
boy didn't really know what he wanted to do, and he didn't seem too
concerned about it. One day, while the boy was away at school, his father
decided to try an experiment. He went into the boy's room and placed on his
study table four objects:
> - a Bible,
> - a silver dollar,
> - a bottle of whiskey and
> - a Playboy magazine

"I'll just hide behind the door," the old preacher said to himself, "when
he comes home from school this afternoon, I'll see which object he picks up.
If it's the Bible, he's going to be a preacher like me, and what a blessing
that would be! If he picks up the dollar, he's going to be a businessman,
and that would be okay, too. But if he picks up the bottle, he's going to
be a no-good drunkard, and, Lord, what a shame that would be. A nd worst of
all, if he picks up that magazine he's gonna be a skirt-chasin' bum."
The old man waited anxiously, and soon heard his son's footsteps as he
entered the house whistling and headed for his room. The boy tossed his
books on the bed, and as he turned to leave the room he spotted the objects
on the table. With curiosity in his eye, he walked over to inspect them.
Finally, he picked up the Bible and placed it under his arm. He picked up
the silver dollar and dropped it into his pocket. He uncorked the bottle
and took a big drink while he admired this month's Centerfold.
"Lord have mercy," the old preacher disgustedly whispered, "he's gonna run
for Congress!"

It tastes like chicken!

I know our ancestors here in the USA used to eat squirrel, especially when making dishes like Brunswick Stew but I personally can not stand the thought. I guess the most unusual dish I have ever eaten was a taste of Frog Leg, and it did taste like chicken.
Oh no! I take that back. When we were in Portugal some years back with another couple. we had a car and driver. Our driver wanted to treat us to an authentic Portugese dish so he stopped at a truck stop. He ordered stewed cowbelly and beans and insisted we all taste it. I was the only brave one and it was not half bad.

Tasted like chicken:)

What is the most unusual food you have ever tried?



From the Dailymail.co.uk
"I haven't tried grey squirrel but people I know who have say it tastes like chicken used to taste when it tasted like chicken."






Top Lakeland restaurant serves up Peking duck-style squirrel pancakes




Nuts: Grey Squirrel is served in canapes

A top restaurant is serving up free grey squirrel pancakes to hungry diners.

Peking duck-style squirrel wraps are being offered to diners at The Famous Wild Boar Hotel.

The restaurant at Crook, near Windermere, in Cumbria, is giving diners the chance to try the canapes free of charge.

The grey squirrels were caught in the hotel's 72-acre woodland grounds and have been prepared by head chef Marc Sanders.

Hotel general manager Andy Lemm said: "Although we do still have red squirrels, the greys are everywhere.

"Our diners seemed to enjoy the squirrel pancakes and I thought they tasted rather nice, a bit like rabbit."

Scroll down for more...


Nibble: Wild Boar Hotel head chef Marc Sanders with the Peking duck-style squirrel treats

Lord Redesdale's Red Squirrel Protection Partnership specialises in trapping and despatching greys to protect the reds.

The partnership has killed 4,521 greys since January, and Lord Redesdale said: "The problem is that when we catch and despatch greys, there is nothing we can do with them.

"We would like to be a supplier of grey squirrels. With an estimated five million greys in the country, there are enough of them to go round."

James Cookson runs the Flying Fox sales and marketing venture for food and rural businesses, based near Morpeth, Northumberland, which also features the Comfort at Meldon Park restaurant.

He said: "Grey squirrels can be eaten and there is no reason why they shouldn't be eaten.

"It makes sense if you are catching something to make use of it.

"We have some grey traps set at the moment and I would be willing to try it, without a doubt.

"If we could get enough greys and a suitable recipe then I can see no reason why it shouldn't be on the menu.

"Our reds are disappearing, and perhaps the more greys that are eaten, the better it is for the reds."

Scroll down for more...


Endangered: Red Squirrels are under threat because of a burgeoning population of greys

Carri Nicholson, manager of the Save Our Squirrels project based at Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said: "It is far more ecologically and environmentally sound to find a use for what is being trapped.

"A number of places in Northumberland are thinking of having grey squirrel on the menu.

"I haven't tried grey squirrel but people I know who have say it tastes like chicken used to taste when it tasted like chicken.

"The Americans have numerous recipes for grey squirrel, with the most popular being Brunswick Stew, which is casseroled squirrel."

Last year Lord Inglewood, who lives near Penrith in Cumbria, warned the red squirrel will soon become extinct if the non-native grey population is allowed to go on increasing.

He suggested then that one way of dealing with the problem would be to foster a market for grey squirrel meat.

He said: "What about celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver promoting it for school dinners? I have never actually eaten a grey squirrel but I am prepared to give it a go."

(one of the comments about this article)
"Here in NY grey squirrel pancake is better known as roadkill."

(click on title of this post for link and for photos of the "cute squirrels")

Super Bug

Please click on the title of this post for a link to a very important Reader's Digest Article about the "Super Bug" that is becoming alarmingly frequent throughout the country. It is resistant to most known antibiotics and can strike anyone, but children and the elderly are especially vulnerable.

If you have grandchildren, even teen age ones, please send this link to their parents so they can be informed and know the symptoms. You can email the RD article from the RD site.

A good friend and classmate of my 11 year old grandson is extremely ill with this condition. He has been in the hospital for over 3 weeks and has just come off the heart lung bypass machine. He remains in a medically induced coma while they try to build up his strength and get his lungs operative again. They do not know how he contracted this. He did play football and he may have had an injury.

His parents took him to the emergency room three seperate times and the ER sent him home thinking it was the flu. He progressively got worse and as his condition deteriorated, they had to helicopter him to another hospital here in Atlanta that had the heart lung machine to keep him alive.

We are all praying for him and his family.
Poor little guy.

Read in the New York Tmes

Ronni Bennett,of "Time Goes By" has recently posted a blog about what we Elders give up as we age. I thought this was a good example:

From the New York Times:

"Youthanasia / (yooth en azhe) / n. / a neologism for the controversial practice of performing a battery of age-defying medical procedures to end lifeless skin and wrinkles; advocated by some as a last-resort measure to put the chronically youth-obsessed out of their misery: “My doctor was on the fence about youthanasia, but I whined so much that he finally agreed to perform my abdominoplasty, mammoplasty and rhytidectomy, all at once. Think of it as mercy lifting."

"A Thousand Splendid Suns"

"A Thousand Splendid Suns"
by Khaled Hosseini


I had not planned to read this book but there it was on the new books shelf at my
neighborhood public library and I said to myself, "Why not"

I hesitated because of the locale and what I had perceived as serious subject matter. Afghanistan. A saga with the Soviet invasion, civil war, the Taliban. To my surprise this book turned out to be the story of two women and their indomitable spirit in the face of unimaginable hardships and tragedy. I highly recommend this book You will not be able to put it down and you will not soon forget it.

From Amazon Reviews:

"A Thousand Splendid Suns is an absolutely wonderful story about the things that keep us going, even when our world falls apart"


"Splendid Suns follows the lives of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, as they move from children to adults. The book spans 30 years, beginning with the Soviet invasion and ending with the overthrow of the Taliban. A Thousand Suns is a moving story about the power of love, the bonds of friendship, the love of country, and the struggle to survive.


BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and History at a large high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California-San Diego's School of Medicine, where he earned a Medical Degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Hosseini was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004.

While in medical practice, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, in March of 2001. In 2003, The Kite Runner, was published and has since become an international bestseller, published in 38 countries. In 2006 he was named a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in May of 2007. He lives in northern California.