National News!

California Has Been Rocking and Rolling!
The Bay Area in California has been knocked around the last three days:

Thursday, October 20, 2011

4.2-magnitude earthquake rattles Bay Area A second strong earthquake has rattled the San Francisco Bay area. The second earthquake had a preliminary measure of 4.2-magnitude.

3.9 October 20, 2011 8:16 p.m. -- 2 miles southeast of Berkeley, CA
2.2 October 20, 2011 4:50 p.m. -- 2 miles southeast of Berkeley, CA
4.0 October 20, 2011 2:41 p.m. -- 2 miles southeast of Berkeley, CA
2.0 October 20, 2011 11:14 a.m. -- 1 mile northwest of The Geysers, CA
2.1 October 20, 2011 10:50 a.m. -- at The Geysers, CA
2.1 October 20, 2011 4:33 a.m. -- 3 miles northwest of The Geysers, CA
2.0 October 19, 2011 8 a.m. -- 3 miles north of The Geysers, CA
2.4 October 18, 2011 11:43 p.m. -- 2 miles southwest of Cobb, CA
2.0 October 18, 2011 7:06 p.m. -- 3 miles southeast of The Geysers, CA
2.1 October 18, 2011 1:36 p.m. -- 8 miles northwest of Pinnacles, CA





 Here is a Complete list of recent seismic activity around the world in the past seven days
The facts are that there is always constant activity and earth quakes are not unusual.
I thought this was interesting and that is why I posted it all

National News

I am not trying to Plagiarizer... this story is so shocking and sad it has to be retold exactly... which is why I am posting it this way.

 49 animals were slaughtered, including 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, a pair of grizzlies, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon.
  For the Full story please go here.... I don't understand the human mind sometimes.

Rare Bengal Tigers Among Animal Massacre

abcnews.go.com

Cops in Zanesville, Ohio, were forced to shoot down as many as 56 ferocious animals -- including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions -- who were set free by the owner of an animal preserve before killing himself. A monkey with herpes is still running loose.

By CHRISTINA CARON 

From My Heart

Today has been a rough day for me, and I am unsure how to

approach it with my readers. Most of you are bloggers

and understand how the blogging world works. 

I guess this is to the non bloggers and I don't want to offend anyone.

A Blog is a personal experience for each person.

It is a journal of your journey in this life put on cyberspace for everyone to see.

I do not get paid to do this, everything that has had to

be paid for has come out of my pocket.

Even some of the gifts I have given.

All this to you some friends but most strangers.

Today, I came in and found an extremely nasty note, about me, my family, my writing and my blog.

Then my co writer hit me with she did not want to do the blog anymore.

.

.

.

It has been a hard day for me,I take pride in my family and my life.

I worked really hard on this blog.I spent a lot of time and money doing this,

and when someone hits below the belt it hurts badly.

 I feel I do a good job here and I refuse to let some mean spirited person make me feel badly about it.

This is my blog, my life and my stories.

I respectfully ask you to be gracious and courteous on my blog.

If you do not want to receive my emails, 

unsubscribe. There is no reason to be hateful.

If you decide you want to be nasty,
I will ban you and remove you from everything here. 

Overhauling...

I am overhauling my life... cleaning up and cleaning out. How did it become so cluttered anyway?
I am a clutter bug for sure and my shelves prove it. I remember when we moved in to this house. It was a huge cavernous space which we quickly filled up to the rafters.

What I need is some cupboards......

Harsh Day

My heart is not in it today........Harsh day.

Coming To America

In July my daughter got married.

Lauree and James 

My now son in law is British and lived in England. 

So after they got married he went home to take care of a few things.

It has been a little over 3 months and today.

He Returns.

He is on the plane now on his way back to America.

I know his friends and family will miss him

There is a lot he is leaving behind...

But please help me welcome my son in law back to his new home and a GRAND NEW ADVENTURE!

                                   

Things I Love To Share...Kind Of...

When the kids moved out I let them take all of their bedroom furniture I then converted the bedrooms into spaces for me...when they came home I had inflatables...

 however,the cats made short work of them, as they stretched flexing their built in swords they sliced and diced and the sleeper awoke laying on the floor...

No worries I also had folding mattresses.

 What did I hear a collective moan? Or was that just my kids groaning.....hmmmm. Anyone who has had to spend the night on a folding bed or a sofa bed knows that little bar in the middle is just killer...my kids opted to sleep in the recliner and on the floor. This just won't do! So I started a redo... I finished my guestroom with gusto!     

But then there was the issue of who got to sleep in it

I want my kids to come home and feel like they are home when they do.So I started on converting my art studio back into another bedroom.

I bought a second mattress set and the Mr and I fought it up the stairs and into the room. We managed to figure out how to set up the frame and got it in there... YAAAAY the project was started!

I checked the room for stray pets and closed the door. Leaving the set in there for the remaining treatments...

But I was not prepared for the treatment it got....

Let me explain...

The next day my husband and I got up early and took off to Lincoln to see the kids.

We were going to spend the night because we were looking for R.V.'s. We were driving my son's truck...

 but the truck broke down..sounds like a kiddie song huh..

I am lucky because the Mr.can fix things and he fixed the truck and got it running again, but the R.V. money was gone this is my sad face here :( .

So we came home instead,however it was really late and we went straight to bed. The next morning I hear cats (plural) meowing. Which is never a good thing...I have found them in linen drawers, in cupboards and cabinets...I know they crawled in and fell asleep. Some conscientious person saw it opened and closed the cat trap, when the cat wakes up and realizes it can not get out it starts screaming LET MEOWWWWT! 

So I head to all the usual places, then it hits me..OH NO! I open the guest room and the first thing that hits me is the two cats as they escaped,

The Culprits:

Xaynee (The Misfit)

Mysty (The Lover)

The second was the smell. Prominently in the middle of the bed was their "Thanks" for locking us in here, this is for you gift.OH CRAP! literally. My first reaction was to throw the mattress away and buy a new one because not only did I have the special package on it, they had also pee'd and cat urine is one of the hardest smells to get rid of.

I am going to share what I did and which treatments worked and did not work.

I have to tell you that through out this whole ordeal I wanted to toss the mattress and buy a new one. But we don't have the funds, it would have been a lot more fun to drive down the interstate and toss the money out of the car window, then to deal with this,yet I had to find a solution.

I have always heard the vinegar is the miracle solution that cleans and neutralizes urine, so I first used that. I poured some in my Bissell Little Green Machine and went to work... It didn't do it. All I got was a cat pee-y vinegary nastiness that made it hard to stay in the room. I do not give up easily so I poured a gallon of vinegar on it with a bucket of water and then I sucked it all up... all I got was a soppy sick smelling mess. When it dried it smelled just as bad as before.

So I went to Earl Mays and bought a pet odor neutralizer that cost A LOT and did not work.Again it smelled just as bad as before, with a new twist since it now was a pee-y, vinegary, perfume-y horribleness.Wanting to give up but not able to, I went to Menards where the Mr. and I sniffed our way through the cleaners and settled on Shout Carpet Spot and Stain Remover. We chose that one because it did not have a perfume to it, the scent was clean and neutral. I sprayed it on and let it dry. The Perfume and vinegar smell was gone but not the urine. I stuck my nose down on the bed and I could still smell that cat pee. OH BOTHER! So then I went to Walmart and bought Bissell's OXYPRO plus their 2X Ultra Pet Stains for Compacts along with Woolite's Pet+ Oxygen. I was going to war with this smell! First I saturated it, I mean I sprayed it good with the Woolite and I scrubbed it in. Then I used the Little Green Machine with the 2X Ultra Pet solution. And I finished with the OXYPRO. I left it for 2 days to dry completely. Then I gave it the nose test, and you know what IT WORKED! There was nothing there OOOOOOOO YAAAAY I WON! I went  ahead and gave it another good spray with the OXYPRO and let it dry just to be sure.

 Because I am super reluctant to put my kids in a bed that the cats had used as a litter box.  I got one of those wet proof bags and zipped it in, then I added a foam mattress topper and Beautyrest Hotel Luxury Pillow Top mattress pad on top of that. Next came a new set of sheets, quilt and  comforter. My daughter slept on it last night which was the real test  because her nose knows,if you know what I mean...and I passed the test. She said that it was a comfy, cozy bed and she loved sleeping there. WOO HOO! I can not say for sure which product did the trick, I  suspect it was the combination of the last three that gave the mess the final heave hoe! But I would say they all get my THUMBS UP!

                                                                  

Products I used:

A Little Bloggity.....Blog?

My reflections....

There are some people in this world that have a knack for telling stories. 

Some can spin a tale so large you can get caught up in the magic of their words. 

They can fill page upon page that wisk you away to a land of make believe...

Well, I am not one of them... I am a story teller true...

However my stories are real ,they are of my life.

There was once a time when I would have be placed prominently next to the fireplace
 as the rest of the family gathered around to hear my tales and learn our history...

The modern age has ended all of that.

Technology has meant a lot of things, 

Progress for sure...

But also many traditions have been lost .

 Most people know nothing of their past, in their rush to go forward.

How about you?

WHOA MAIL CHIMP!

There is nothing I like better then GOOD surprises and great companies. When they combine I have to say :

                                                          

I use Mail Chimp for my blog emails...I love this site, they have tutorials and live help. I am not a computer geek kind of chick and Mail Chimp made it super easy for me to figure out all the complicated steps to get my service up and running smoothly...and all for FREE! They have paid services for bigger needs then I have, but for little ole Bloggity Blog the free is PERFECT!.

I always look at the mail I send to make sure it went out okay and recently I saw an issue with my mail not loading correctly for me. So I went to the site and looked around. I could not find anything wrong so I went to live chat, where I got to talk to Katrina... talking to her was delightful and she went though my mail sending it to various test email boxes that they have. She found nothing wrong with my posts. But gave me a couple sites to look at for tips and help and also told me that it could be the size of the pictures I am posting. Ohhhh.. that kind of makes sense because unlike most sites Blogger auto adjusts pictures without having to reduce the size of them... making them smaller makes posting pictures a little longer but not a real big problem for me.

During the conversation I had told Katrina how much I love Mail Chimp, we said goodbye she gave me some Chimp love and an EEP EEP! and we were gone.... After our conversation I did check out the tip sites and have been adjusting the picture sizes which seems to have taken care of things because I have seen better emails coming home!WOOP WOOP!

Then today a package arrived and I opened it... Have you ever had that Holy Moly feeling of utter delight?

In this package was this note:

Also in the package was a winter Kitty hat, which I will not share with my daughter!

Acoloring book which I will and a Mail Chimp Sticker and Temporary tattoo....           

Notice the temp tattoo she already used!

DID I TELL YOU THEY WERE GREAT OR WHAT?  I LOVE MAIL CHIMP!

A Thank you note has been sent but I want to share the love of a Great Company with you all!

If you are looking for a great service that is easy to use..this would be it!

                                                   Halloween man wore the hat also!

The Mr even put it on!

                                                                     




                                                                                     

I'm a Lost and Found Kim at Menards!

My husband and I went to Menards to get a new lock for our elderly neighbor Fern. I did not update you on her situation. She came to us two weeks ago in tears, her nephew had kicked in the back door. Then he and his mother got into a yelling match. She thought they were all gone, so Rick and I went over and called the police. But he was there,Fern's nephew was no stranger to the police, they know him well but they could not do anything this time. Not even a domestic violence charge, however the fact that she would call the police or allow me to, made them PACK UP AND LEAVE! It took them two weeks to go but they are gone! So we went to Menards to get a new lock set. While there, I spoke to an associate about our front door,we had purchased it at Menards a few years ago but it had cracked due to the  severe and constant weather changes here in Nebraska. 

I thought that it shouldn't do this but resigned myself to it. Rick and I were interested in options to fix it. While looking at doors a very kind and helpful young man showed us a few doors and gave us some information on a new insert for our door and then disappeared. Suddenly he reappeared announcing we have a life time warranty on the door! While we browsed in the lock department this associate called the manufacturer! WOW! Anyway my Mr. followed him in order to get the forms so we could submit a claim to replace the door. The young man even told us what to do in case we no longer had proof of purchase. I'll say it again...WOW! People just don't go out of their way to help like this anymore. Well, while Rick went to get the forms, I remained in the lock section, he would return for me... and I waited..and waited. Then a hot popcorn popper caught my eye I needed one,as the one I had died,... This should only take a second and Rick could hardly miss me I was just two rows down and could clearly be seen... or so I thought. I grabbed the popper and back to the locks went I.... no Rick. I waited for what seemed like a couple hours(more like 45 minutes I'm sure), I was tired and hot, I wanted to sit down. But I was afraid to leave the section and knew I was going to draw attention so I walked around and around the same isle up and down... no Rick. The last time I felt this abandoned I was 6 years old and at the Illinois State Fair..yep I got lost there too! I started to contemplate having him paged ...but dang I am 50 years old .... So finally I figured he would find me somehow and headed off to the sofa section. I was gonna sit and wait like a lost child. There was a guy, a little older then me already sitting there and I figured he had been parked there while the Mrs. did her thing. I would not be alone. Just as I went to sit down, my Mr. appears.. darn it... and then he had the NERVE to say WHERE WERE YOU? Sometimes they just have to be lucky we can't carry baseball bats with us...just sayin !

On a brighter note, while checking out something we bought was to have a rebate with it. At Menards when you check out all the items with rebates automatically print out a small receipt just for it so you can send in for the rebate. With this one, it did not print, I went to customer service, they verified the missing rebate and PRINTED the rebate check for me right then and there the 5.00 plus a little more to say sorry for the mix up! WOO HOO !Keep an eye on those things they really pay!

National News!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

5.9 earthquake hits off the coast of Oregon At 8:13 p.m. an earthquake with a preliminary measure of 5.9 hit off of Oregon's coast near Coos Bay.

Polish Folk Stories

The Dragon of Krakow ( Cracow ) :

Long ago in Poland’s early history, On the River Vistula, there was a small settlement of wooden huts inhabited by peaceful people who farmed the land and plied their trades.

Near this village was Wawel Hill. In the side of Wawel Hill was a deep cave. The entrance was overgrown with tall, grass, bushes, and weeds. No man had ever ventured inside that cave, and some said that a fearsome dragon lived within it. The young people of the village didn’t believe in the dragon. The old people of the village said that they had heard their fathers tell of a dragon who slept in the cave, and no man must dare waken it, or there would be dire consequences for them all. Some of the youths decided to explore the cave and put an end to such foolish talk. They thought that they knew better and dragons were just old stories from the past. A group of these young people took some torches and went to the cave. They slowly entered the cave until they came to a dark mass of scales blocking their way and the sound of heavy breathing. The boys ran as the dragon awakened and roared. Fire came from it’s mouth warming the boys heels and backs. When they were far enough away, they looked back and saw the dragon at the entrance of the cave, very angry being awakened from it’s sleep. From that day on, the people knew no peace. Every day the dragon appeared and carried off a sheep or preferably young virgins. The populace made many attempts to kill the dragon but nothing succeeded and many of those that attempted were killed.

The hero in this part of the story differs. In the village lived a wise man, or a shoemaker or a shoe makers apprentice named Krakus or Krac. He got some sheep and mixed a thick, yellow paste from sulfur. Krakus smeared it all over the animals. Then led them to a place where the dragon would see them. The dragon came out as expected, saw the sheep, roared, rushed down the hill and devoured the sheep. The dragon had a terrible fire within him, and a terrible thirst. It rushed to the River Vistula and started drinking. It drank and drank and could not stop. The dragon began to swell, but still it drank more and more. It went on drinking till suddenly there was a great explosion, and the dragon burst. There was great rejoicing by the people. Krakus, was made ruler of the village, and they built a stronghold on Wawel Hill. The country prospered under the rule of Krakus and a city grew up around the hill which was called Krakow, in honour of Krakus. When Krakus died, the people gave him a magnificent burial, and erected a mound over his tomb which can be seen to this day. The people brought earth with their own hands to the mound, and it has endured through all the centuries as a memorial to the person that killed the dragon of Krakow.
The large 200-foot-long cave in Wawel Hill, Krakow, which has been known for centuries as the monster’s den, now attracts thousands of visitors each year. Whatever the truth of the dragon legend, the Dragon’s Cave (Polish ‘Smocza Jama’) is Cracow’s oldest residence, inhabited by man from the Stone Age through the 16th century.

Kim's How To's

My neighbor gave me some really nice raspberry bushes a few years ago, but because of thorns, our neighbors to the west of us killed my plants. Fern kindly game me more and I relocated them where little fingers won't get poked.

So here is what you do to keep your plants happy and healthy:

This will work with Raspberries, Blackberries and Currants. Keep in mind that they take more space, but they are super easy to grow. Once you harvest be sure to remove and old drying canes this will make them happy and healthy. Also pinch back any tips of new growth 3-4 feet to encourage branching. once the fruit has formed, you may want to net your plants to keep the birds from enjoying them more then you do!

Let's Talk Politics... A Commentary

Because I feel that it is important to share  what is going on in our world, and because it is always important to see all points of view and have and open mind to what is going on around us I will post commentaries from time to time.

This was written and sent to me by my one of my oldest and dearest friends. She is someone I respect admire and trust. I don't think I gave her or this commentary the proper introduction when I first posted it because I was trying to dance around my beliefs and that just won't do.
To My friend I love you! Thank you for this commentary.


On 9/23/2011 9:56 PM,

I do not know what the political persuasion of everyone on this email is, but regardless of your party affiliation, I wanted to point out just how blatant the media manipulation of the information you get is. I'm really hoping all of you take the time to research EACH presidential candidate without relying on the media, the GOP, or the Democratic Party, to give you the appropriate information you need to make an informed choice. Besides voting records, it's an excellent idea to read anything any of the candidates have published - also a good way to see if they are consistent, or go whichever way the wind is blowing that month.

Now CNN, MSNBC, CBS, FOX, etc. are ALL guilty of this. Do not for a minute think ANY news site is giving you fair, balanced reporting anymore. That said, I'm going to provide you with a blatant illustration of Fox News' ongoing attempts to completely ignore one of the candidates. Anyone here who reads the Fox site has probably figured out by now that Fox desperately wants Romney to take the primary, (for about a week, it almost looked like they might switch allegiance to Perry, but in the past week, they've solidly gone back to backing Romney). This is evidenced by their incessant touting of everything Romney says or does. . . .and their almost complete omission of anything about the other candidates (unless it's something quirky they did, or borderline brainless they said, which can be turned into a headline with a little, or a lot, of stretching of the truth, depending on how bad they want the candidate to appear). And then there is one guy who they almost NEVER put in print, and that was never more grossly obvious than last night

After the Fox/Google Republican Presidential Candidate Debate on 9/22/11, Fox had a poll up where people could choose who they felt won the debate.  They did the same with the debate they sponsored in August. In both instances, Ron Paul greatly dominated the peoples' choice, as he has done in every other debate he has participated in across the country. In both instances Fox put up a poll, in both instances they pulled it down within 24 hours, and did not publish one single shred of news as to who won the poll. I have included below the results from last night's poll, which went up about 1/2 hour after the debate ended, and which is only available because Google cached it at 3AM this morning, and some people were able to find it. It must have been just prior to Fox pulling it, because it was no longer available for viewing as of 6:30AM. See link below. For comparison - their other polls frequently stay up for days, and are often still available months later. Not so these.

Fox News Debate Poll 9222011

Regardless of whether or not Paul is who you would vote for, you have to wonder WHY the media finds it necessary keep hiding the results of these polls when they don't go the way THEY want them to. Not only did they hide the poll, this morning Fox's headlines were all about how Romney dominated Perry. (??Seriously??) Nowhere, not once, did they mention the poll results. The pundits they had commenting after the debate (who were, by the way, simply awful) spoke almost exclusively about Romney and Perry, with a passing nod to Santorum. At one point they did mention all the other candidates names who were present at the debate, in a list format. Guess whose name they did not mention at all. You guessed it. Ron Paul. Listening to them, you would not even have known he was at the debate.

Even Jon Stewart took the media to task for this last month, when he did a segment on the Daily Show, and blasted the media for what they have been doing to Paul. Link below. (It's funny, but also makes a profound point.)

Jon Stewart Daily Show Segment

Just exactly what are they afraid of?  Makes you wonder doesn't it. . . . . .As far as I'm concerned, no matter who the candidates are, they all deserve equal coverage, whether I agree with them or not. I am offended that the media thinks we are so stupid as to not realize what they are doing.

Sorry, Fox. I'll make my own choice, thanks.

B.

 Disclaimer: I in no way want to alienate any of my readers, however This is my blog and I feel I have the right to post what ever I feel is important. You may post your comments and I will gladly share your feelings,JUST KEEP it fair, and keep your comments CLEAN! No shots below the belt okay!

Unexplainable, Inexcusable

Unexplainable, Inexcusable

No one has been able to explain to me why young men... and women serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, and only get 50% of their pay. While Politicians hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full pay retirement after serving one term. It just does not make any sense.

On Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just where will all of it stop?

35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention.

This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on.

This is an idea that we should address.

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.

If each person that receives this will post it on their wall, in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message.. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .."

Now, what are you going to do about it? Read and delete, or work for reform? Share on the wall of EVERY congressman, representative, governor, the white house!!!!! Pass it around!!! Make calls, send fax's and email's...............

— with Veterans Freedom, Desertstorm Veterans, Steven Sonich, Bob Veteran and Veterans.See More By: Tim Shuler

The Things People Say and DO....

Real Facebook Posts....
Thanks Gerrie for sharing these!










ohoooo boyyyyyyyy...

For these and lots more check out HAPPY PLACE