I was talking to my good friend Olive…I told her I was going on a trip or some would call it a journey…she kinda chuckled..and I said no really I am going on a search…for “THE GOLDEN YEARS”..I have heard of them all of forever and I watched the “GOLDEN GIRLS TV SHOW”…but they never mentioned how to find the GOLDEN YEARS…it has become very important to me to find them as I advance thru my final years…I have not seen them.  I am sure they are just around the corner…however I cannot get around THAT corner..now friend olive said…redbird I don’t think you are going on a trip and I said..well dear olive maybe in my imagination …so I looked to see if I had one of those little carry -on bags…stuffed it with clean underwear and I am ready to go..if someone will just give me the directions…I will borrow one of  those GPS thingys and take off…
I have worked lots of different jobs in my life…delivered newspapers…baby sat…and office clerk and construction clerk but currently I am working the hardest job I have ever had….getting old.  Who would have thought ..and see that is why I am looking for those GOLDEN YEARS…SURELY it would make things easier..you know I never thought about getting old until I became old..and I can tell you now you better get ready..it is worse than climbing mount something.
AND
Another thing I am upset about is the THUNDER NBA BASKETBALL TEAM…those of us basketball fans here in Oklahoma have just finished a bad year…now I have these beautiful Thunder ball schedule from a couple of years or so ago posted on my fridge…nice lady from the big state paper Ms. Kelly sent them to me and they have held this place of honor since then..I mentioned to son that I might take them down and his reply was…you will never do it…and guess he is right…
THEN…
Did you ever wonder who decided that we needed to read all writings “left to right”  instead of “right to left”…just a thought…
AND…
When I was a young girl around 11 or 12…yup I remember…see then you could walk down to main street in our little town to the “picture show”  now it is the theater…it was safe and if you were lucky your mom would give you a dime or quarter for the Saturday matinee…lots of times mom came up with that dime just to have a quiet afternoon and you would sit glued to your seat and watch the cowboys race across the screen or maybe a musical which was my favorite and lucky you…they would show the film twice…a real bargain for your dime
JUST SO YOU KNOW…
I recently read a study…that talking out loud to your self was good…it said to remember better if you said the words aloud you would be able to remember them better..so I am trying that out..
THE FARM…
WELL…. I told you about the new move in the rabbit..and I named it Jack..like in Jackrabbit..well suddenly there was Jack with 2 little ones…so I changed the name to Jackie…then I had a brain alert.. Jack rabbits do not have cotton tails…it’s peter cottontail....so just   named it Bonnie..that should take care of that..AND we are having all kinds of creatures/birds at the farm…wonder if the fires and floods have sent them our way…couple of new birds have shown up…and I had to look them up in the old bird book…we have a “fox sparrow” and also a “brown thrasher”…and a couple of days ago the older redbird came right up to the window and looked in at me… the humming birds have arrived…we have four squirrels running around the farm like crazy and I must tell you about “cranky crow”  …wheeee he is something else…when he arrives he struts around letting everyone know this is his place…he caws and invites the other crows in for a snack and when they arrive he jumps up and down and shouts until they leave….it is a full time job just watchin ….

Guess that is about it form here for now…I am sure something will come up…I am watchin for the flying cars they say are ready now for use…and I will continue with my “flower mission” and have upgraded from adult coloring to…”painting with pencil”….
Hope you are safe and well…\

Redbird
The word writer


“getting old is not for wimps”
 

So you are asking…did you get blown away with all the storms..in your area…NO but we did get winds like I have never seen in all the years that I have lived here..like in 40 yrs..and of course the rain and hail..rained so hard that you could not see my friend Mary’s house…across the pasture..morning brought light and viewing the farm…oh that is one of the big trees laying down in the yard…and that spot has limbs that are twisted and tore from the  oak tree and placed in the clothes line..humm…BUT THE FENCE REMAINED UP…HURRAH!!..the town about 25 miles away from us had winds up to 104…and we are just straight down the highway..so have not heard what arrived at our place..and of course we lost power..right at the start of my once a week TV show and I currently do not know if they escaped the fire …so later this week will have to check out the computer for looking..
Now my rain gauge in the front yard is showing 5 inches of rain but we are sure that more than that fell because at 5 it is full..but don’t worry..we sit up on a little rise and too we have a boat in the back yard…if we can just figure out how to plug the hole we should be good..aon has just informed me that the expected COLD FRONT has hit and the winds are now out of the north..that blanket you took off your bed..well back on

Well Ranger the warrior cat has been very very ill…for 3 or more days he would not eat and finally just a couple of bites…since this was before the storms..he slept in the yard…in the open so that you could certainly watch and check on him..he would not stay in the house…no amount of coaxing …if you got him in he would come in the back door and straight out the front door..finally one morning he was waiting for me to get up and as soon as I saw him I went to the door  to see if he would come in…and he did…as I was fixing his breakfast he sat in the kitchen in a new spot from his usual eating area..finally as I got his meal ready I put it down and he just looked at me…ok ranger here is your breakfast…and he looked at me and then down at the floor in front of him…several times before I got the hint…I WANT IT HERE…and I put it there and he ate…so we have moved his eating area per his request…and  he is almost back to eating..normal…I just happened to get him some of his favorite fried chicken from the deli..and boy I was a hero..so we are hoping for the best..BUT his new thing is…wherever he plops down for his nap…you do not disturb him..if you past his area too much..he will raise his head and scold you loudly or if you speak loudly..you get the same treatment…so as you can see…we are all walking in our sock feet and whispering or not talking at all..we have not gotten to the writing of ..passing notes but if need we can do that as well..

Well my coloring has entered a new phase …no longer am I doing adult coloring..I am now doing “Painting by Pencil” and I am now doing my “Flower Mission Series”….LOL LOL thought that would give you a good laugh..and heard about a lady that is sending out hand written notes  to breat cancer patients..I am going to email her and see if I could send flowers pictures and also want to see if my friend Mary would like to do this as well…as she loves to hand write letters …

well not much else going on here at the farm…so until next time please stay safe and well…

redbird
the word writer

"getting old is not for wimps"

Oh goodness…I looked and did not realize that it had been so long since we talked.. I decided to get off my lazy backside and write a few lines.

Summer came and went and no thanks to someone out there….our address was leaked to the mosquito community..and they came…not only did y sent the children but aunts, uncles etc…you get the picture.  If you had stock in the mosquito spray company you did well.
And
We also spent lots of time staying cool.  Seems the summers are getting lots and lots hotter where I live or maybe just me
Then
Septermber came…sadly…and my best friend Olive Clayson passed…I cried and cried and then cried some more.  She was an important person for so many of us mastocytosis people.  Not only was she a founder of the Mastocytosis society but her knowledge of our disease was so important…she encouraged many when they seem not to have a bright day.  She researched and kept up her data base of knowledge to share not only with us patients but lots of doctors as well.  I cried and I miss her phone calls and her emails and her jokes she played on me and I cried.  
And
Then we had Thanksgiving…and I had to really think about something to be thankful about…hummmm  oh I know…I am thankful that I have a small bathroom.  Now I know many of you have this big beautiful one but mine is small BUT I can always hold on to something or if I need to climb in the tub there are my hand bars…and if I need to bend over..no problem there is a …something…to hold on to…yes I am thankful for my small bathroom…
Then
Well Christmas rolled right up on the calendar… and since daughter was going  of state on a dog sitting assignment we had it early…she was going to be gone for some weeks so we decided that was best…and guess what I got for Christmas….BACON…BACON…BACON…as well as sausage and chicken tenders…but the big prize was BACON…did you ever wonder why bacon is so good but maybe not good for you and who cares and I learned how to …BAKE BACON…now I urge you to go to youtube or somewhere and read how…it is wonderful and this house may never fry bacon again…
THEN
I looked at the calendar again and realized….I WILL SOON BE 84 AND HOPING FOR MANY MORE…that’s right my birthday is coming up soon.  And here we need to talk a little about getting older…
FIRST
Getting older means lots of things..it means that I am starting a petition to all companies that make plastic storage and freezer bags..that they no longer put those little slot things to close the bags that they go to the zipper type only.
That ALL bottles  including ketchup  have easy to open lids.
And am looking for a fork that has sideboards so that you can eat peas without them falling off into your lap…lots of important things to tend to when you get old.

Now Mary “my neighbor who lives across the pasture” have been doing some humming lately…now Mary is doing great after her big cancer bout I am so proud of her..I truly believe that her attitude brought her thru this bad time…but back to humming…well see I read this article that says when you forget the word you want to use…you just hum…works for us.
REMEMBER
I wish I could tell you that my sight is not getting worse but I cannot…REMEMBER “gentle eye doctor” telling me that I was not going blind…however he did not say ALMOST…I am still able to color for which I am so thankful…it does require me to use bright light and closer to my eyes and that is ok because it brings me great joy to color and share with others…
HOWEVER
Not being able to see to cut your toenails is a bummer…I remember going to see my dad in his last years…dad was a proud man..but he did ask me to take my big clippers and cut his toenails as he could not…I remember that and how hard it must have been for him.

Here at the farm we are getting ready for spring and the stormy season to arrive.  This year we have a rather large group of “meadow larks” had not see any of those in a couple of years…lots of cardinals or redbirds …and we have a new kitten/cat…she is a wild cat but she likes son and they are trying to get friendly..he calls her …sweet pea…Ranger gave her several life lessons while she was still very small…how to climb the tree and stalk a mouse…he is still going off for days and days on some secret assignment…and he may have recruited Sweet Pea into the service as she is not here this morning as she never leaves the yard…we are hoping that she is not in trouble..

Oh oh oh..how could I forget..I have a gentleman friend online..he is a sweetheart…he sent me a “scarlet pink Moster Minky throw” for Christmas …we talk every day…and he is my friend Olive’s son Steve…he is such fun…we talk about the weather and the snow he sometimes wants to send over the mountains to me…and his wonderful sister Mary Ann who I love dearly make days fun.

Well think that is about it for catching up…I will try to do a better job…
Love to you all

Redbird
The word writer


“getting old is not for wimps”

just a gentile reminder....

if you know someone who needs "FLOWERS"  or needs to know someone cares please send their name and address to the email address listed here and I will be sure that they go out right away

coloring@pldi.net

FLOWERS ARE NATURE'S SMILES

WORD WRITER WINS THE LOTTERY!!

Oh come on… all of you have wished and dream of winning the lottery.  We think about what we would do…pay of all debts…send the kids to college…a new car one of those that runs down the road faster than you can drive and does not use gas…you just plug it in to the electric and you are set to go…maybe a new house…give money to some good charities…and the list could go on and on…..
We also know how hard it is to win…next to impossible…the odds are sure against you…and you know there are all kinds of lotteries….some for money or cars or pizzas or vacation or a life time of chocolate candy…BUT WE WON A LOTTERY….
One of the interesting things about our win was….we did not know we won….we did not get a letter in the mail nor a phone call….it just came…
Our award came in the silence of the night…no balloons…or a knock on the door…just silence…in fact we did not know we won until  son went  outside… saw the prize laying right there on the ground…not wrapped with a bow it just lay there on the ground…
Mom he called….come and look at the yard…and I did…and there lay the prize….someone had rototilled our front yard…sure enough there it was…none of the neighbor’s yard seem to have this event..just us…so am thinking this is a lottery prize that we won…another yard around the corner had a few places so guess they won second place…
So now I am out carefully looking and suddenly it hit me…and being an old farm raised gal…I instantly knew…hogs had dug in the yard…not in a small place a biggggg one. We had heard about feral/wild hogs in our area but  never thought about a visit from them delivering such a prize…now in front of our house is a large pasture…and behind us a small pasture and how lucky we were that they found us to deliver our prize…nothing for the neighbor to the left or the right…just us…it was done so well that neighbors ask us if we were going to plant a garden…
So I am looking and trying to understand why we won this prize…I found that a group of wild hogs are called “sounders” and they can smell for 5-7 miles and 25 feet underground…so the only thing that I can think of is….we have a dirty smelly lawn.
So be careful what you wish and dream for…winning the lottery can not always be fun..

Redbird
The word writer

“getting old is not for wimps”

Flowers are natures smiles