Daisy Dew

daisy dew

A little dab will do ya

yellow flower


Butterfly or moth, I don't know. Anyway, he would get a little dab here and a little dab there and flit around and move on. Do moths even gather pollen? My ignorance catches me by surprise, but it is too late to research it now.

I am just happy that I FINALLY got the blogs that I read on a regular basis linked on my page. What the heck took me so long? No round tuitts.

Witchy woman

brianna


Daughter of a friend of a friend. When was this? Two years ago? I hope it wasn't three. I don't think I have had my camera that long, but it could be. My niece was married on Halloween two years ago. It was quite a wonderful event. This was at the campsite that I go to every Halloween. Goblins and a haunted field. Fun stuff. Love that orange hair.

Hiding squirrel

hiding squirrel


The poor little thing was trying so hard to get away from me. This tree stands solo in my front yard so, he had no place to go but up. I had to zoom and zoom to get him. In the back yard they can jump from tree to tree to the neighbor's trees. Much safer back there. But here, I think he is a little panicked.

I had a really long post typed up yesterday, got a phone call and I lost the entire post. I tried the "recover post" option, but it was too far gone. I wasn't feeling well so I said "screw it" and went to bed. I have been going rounds with the telco repairmen and found this site on the web that sums up my life with them pretty good.

Last week-end I caught "Lady Sings the Blues." A movie based on the auto-biography of Billie Holiday. Two things I don't like about the movie. First, I think that Diana Ross is a little too soft to play Billie, and I hate, hate, hate the part where The Piano Man (played by Richard Pryor) gets beat to death. I think someone with much more grit should have played Billie. For the timeframe that the movie was made perhaps Pam Grier, Madge Sinclair, Leslie Uggams or Cicely Tyson?

The county fair

horse rump


The Local 4-H groups were quite creative with decorating their horses this year.

horse head


Quite the curious nature, a horse turns to look at me as if saying "What are YOU looking at?" Note: this is not the same horse as the picture of the rump above. What a halter, though, huh?

The fair was okay. Crowded. I heard that the rodeo was quite lacking. I didn't watch it. Many people were leaving the grandstands disappointed. They may have watered it down this year because I heard that last year somebody was seriously hurt.

I had the Italian sausage. My brother stated years ago that there was really only ONE place in the area to get a good sausage sandwich. Many others must think so because our little fair had three of that brand setup on the grounds. There were a handful of others offering sausage, but this place is so popular they need three campers set up?

Well, it was quite good. I only allow myself one of these a year because of the onions. I had taken my migraine medicine earlier in the day, anticipating the bright lights, the noise, the rich foods and the crowds of people. I skipped the french fries and the deep fried vegetables. I wanted them, but I did not get any. Partly because it was too crowded and partly because I don't need them. I also missed lemonade this visit.

My daughter wants to go this evening to see the demolation derby. Part of me wants to stay on the grounds with her while she is there and part of me wants to drop her off at the gate and go back home, returning later to pick her up. Yeah cell phones! It is seven dollars to get in. Whether you ride the rides or not. The charge is the same. I asked them at the gate if they were going to start charging less for the people who don't ride. They said "Hopefully some time." As in - "don't hold your breath."

I saw about half a dozen people I knew last night. I wasn't much on socializing. I was too tired. I did get some funny pictures of my daughter and her friends. They were getting helium-filled ballons and sucking in the helium so they could talk funny. I made them stop. I can't think that is very healthy for them.

I like to look at the drawings, painting and photo displays. I usually don't agree with the judges on the winners, though. Years ago, (about 25 years) I entered two oil paintings in the Harrison county fair and won first and second place. I was quite surprised. Of course I gave away the paintings. I usually give away things like that. I am not one to keep my stuff around me. It makes me uncomfortable. It's like looking at a picture of yourself in your underwear or naked. You see all your flaws, regardless of what others see. Either that, or I put something very personal or very vulnerable in the painting and it makes me squirm to look at it. Like itchy wool on my skin. I want to get a way from it.

Next week-end is the Fall Festival at Atwood lake and a theater showing of The Wizard of Oz. Looking forward to both of them.

Charlie Brown head

cookies


I'm the one in red,
with the Charlie Brown head.
I must have been six or so.

Cookies we're nibbling,
with four of my siblings.
It was Christmas don't you know.

5, 6 and 7. The first phrase has five syllables, the second has six. The last words of the first and second phrases rhyme with one another. The last phrase has seven syllables and the last words of each phrase rhymes with the other.

I don't know if this is a well-known structure of poetry (like Haiku), I didn't study much poetry. I just like to write it.

I couldn't sleep early this morning, so I posted more pictures on my web site Photos area that came from our family album. These I have to scan in and re-size. They take a little more time than say my shoulder-shots which are already in a digital format. My family keeps at me - more from the family album, more! Okay, okay. I posted 24 this morning.

I think I am going to the county fair tonight. If so, I will get some pictures of farm animals and pretty lights from the rides. I also have the October fall festival coming up. This is the campground that decorate their campers in the Halloween motif and sell crafts. I go every year.

Woody Allen

treehill


I just realized today that I have never seen a Woody Allen film. I think I have seen parts of maybe two or three of them. I don't like the guy, I never did. Looking at his work on imdb.com, I see that he wrote for Candid Camera in the year I was born. I may have seen a few of those.

Which has nothing to do with the picture above. It is along Route 21 somewheres in Tuscarawas county. I may get to the fair tomorrow and take some pictures. I seem to have a touch of that flu bug that is going around. My stomach hurts. I don't want to eat anything, especially not fair food. I want to lay down and sleep, sleep, sleep. It is a dreary, gray and rainy day here.

Cows and cell phones

country technology


Yeah, yeah, yeah. I took this picture today. It made me smile to see a cell phone tower in the midst of the cow field. This is Ohio. Green rolling hills, cornfields, blue skies, black and whites and yes, cell phone towers.

I am calling these my shoulder-shots. Taken while driving with the camera perched on my left shoulder. More here: www.mydeja-view.com.

Green Eyes

green eyes


Yes, I wouldn't mind having those eyelashes, too. I have pretty long ones, but I have to admit - not like that. Not anymore. Darn aging process.

layout


To top off the eyelashes, he is quite the charmer. I found him like this at the shower, flirting with some girls. He is a huge flirt. He is my step-grand-nephew. I think? He is my brother's step grandson. He is not a blood relative, but I seem him more often than most of my immediate family.

Patiently waiting for Mom.

waiting sable


While Mom took pictures at lunchtime, somebody waited patiently for me to finish. She gets a treat when we go back inside. Because she doesn't run away anymore.

I do have sad news. The grasshopper on the yellow mums picture from yesterday, wasn't dead but he was missing a leg. That is probably the reason why he didn't hop away. He is still on the mums. I guess he is waiting to die. I don't know. It is kind of sad.

I can't believe that my daughter went to the county fair last night and found it boring! She didn't even ask to go tonight. Didn't even mention the fair. Wow. Sad news - Blake Shelton had to cancel because his father had a heart attack. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

I go to see the horses. Beautiful animals. Maybe a lamb or two. And the lights. The rides, the shrills, the thrills. Cheesy music. If I am brave, the food. Everyone is excited at the fair. I guess I always get caught up in it.

Who, me?

who me


I don't know what I did to these kids at the baby shower, but each one was giving me a surprised "Who, me?" look when I took their picture. Wide eyes!

A previous co-worker sends me jokes from time to time. I like jokes. I especially like jokes with pictures. The one I received today was not a joke, to me. It was a powerpoint presentation. The first slide showed a little car and the caption read: Woman driving down the road.

The second slide was a black car, with the caption: Man driving down the road in opposite direction. Third slide caption: woman rolls down window and yells "Donkey!" at man, he rolls down window and yells "Bitch" at woman.

Next slide, is a real picture of a horse or a mule (sorry joke makers, that is NOT a donkey's tail) that went through the windshield of a black car. Just the horse's (or mule's) rear end and back legs are showing, the rest being in the car. I believe I know the difference between a donkey's tail and a horse or a mule's tail. I did play 'pin the tail on the donkey' when I was little.

Now, most would say that isn't the point. Anyway, the next slide caption read: Men don't listen to women, or don't understand them, blah, blah, blah. Was this funny? Not to me. I love horses and to me it was sad. Men don't listen to women, women don't listen to men. This isn't a new joke. Maybe it is me. Maybe it is because it is Monday. Maybe I am tired. I just didn't find it amusing.

grasshopper

Somebody likes my new flowers I bought. God, I hope he isn't dead. I kept sneaking up to take pictures of him, wondering if he was going to hop away at any time. He didn't move. Maybe they sleep with their eyes open. My dog walked right by him and he didn't flinch. I came around from both sides and from behind. He didn't stir, not once.

If he is dead, I can say "I see dead grasshoppers."

Bette Davis Eyes

bette davis eyes


A little girl at a baby shower. Every time I took her picture she had this "deer in the headlights" look on her face. Wow! Now, this gal is a doll baby, but just between you, me and the fencepost - BD wasn't all that great lookin'. It could have been the movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane that did it for me. Spooky lookin' chick, that one.

I did see my niece at the shower. I asked her about her friends in New Orleans. She lost two. I was stunned. They will release the body of her friend next week for burial. I think she said she was flying down for the funeral. My niece is twenty-three. Her friend was twenty-two. I didn't catch how old her friend's husband was. My niece said she had talked to them two days before the hurricane. They were being stubborn and refused to leave.

She mentioned that her other friend's husband (all from that area) was a commercial fishermen. They were allowed back into the area before some of the others were. He had tried to find them as soon as he was allowed to re-enter the area. They were unable to locate their own home because the water was still too deep. They were using church steeples and other higher buildings to navigate.

My niece would have been right in the middle of this mess. She spent two years at Loyola University in New Orleans and returned to Ohio to continue her education up here at Kent for financial reasons. She told me that she would probably have not had the necessary money to leave. She has her own car. I need to talk to her more on this matter. We were cut short by the shower activites.

I am just trying to understand some of what happened there, so that if a similar situation were to happen here, I could be more prepared. I have always heard, keep your tank more than half full. I don't all the time. Mostly because of the prices. I wait until I absolutely have to buy gas. If an emergency were to arise, and I needed to leave the city, I would be in a long line at the gas pumps. Along with a lot of other people.

Half of September is gone!

Springwood Lake 2


Ahhh! Didn't I just post pictures of the Labor Day cook-out? I guess it was a week into September anyway. Then another week - the lake. Where I took the picture above. And, now this week-end. We have rain. That is okay with me because I only have indoor events.

I bought some pretty purple asters and yellow mums. I hope to get pictures of them tomorrow. It was raining too hard this evening when I brought them home.

Pearl Valley

the hill


If I don't get the chance to stop along the road to take some pictures, sometimes I will roll the window of the car down, balance my camera on my left shoulder and just click away. I don't pay attention to what the camera is doing, I just look after I am home and have downloaded them to the pc. I caught a beauty today of this small hill.

fenceline


An interesting fenceline. I meant to touch this one up in PhotoShop, but forgot.

man in chair


I was hoping that I would get him and I did. Although he is a little blurry. He was sitting outside waving to the traffic. I think he saw my camera and was curious.

sheriff


On up the road, I entered the city limits. Sitting at a red light, I didn't know that I captured this ominous driver. Hmmm. Good thing for me, I stopped shortly after taking this pic and put my camera in my passenger's seat. Nothing pretty in town, so I put it away. I had no idea he was next to me.

Colder weather? Nah!

red bird


An old wive's tale, I'd say. My Mom always said that when you see a red bird, that meant cold air was headed our way. Well, I saw one the other day and - nope. Nothing cold. It has been nice and warm. Maybe a wee bit cooler in the evenings, but I think that is supposed to happen when September rolls into the middle of the month.

I saw Daisyloo's sister down the road on a light pole. My daughter said it was her brother, it was a man, but it had long straw-colored hair like Daisyloo does. I won't be surprised if Daisyloo goes missing one night while they go and paint the town red. She is just wild like that.

Dover Dam

dover dam


About ten miles from my house sits Dover Dam. It isn't very pretty, but it is utilitarian.

If you haven't done it yet, go to google moon and zoom all the way in. Cute.

A beautiful lake

the lake


My friend is trying to sell her camper/site here along this lake. We have been partying here for about ten years. Someone suggested that I should buy it. My eldest sister is thinking of selling the family home this spring. (She purchased it in 1966). Someone in the family suggested that I buy it and restore it.

Both ideas sound nice. But, right now I am just trying to raise my teenage daughter, keep up my own home that I have purchased, keep down a full time job, and manage my own life. Life is good. Life is short. Damn, life is complicated. Sometimes, I just get so, so tired of it all. Take on more? I don't think so.

I have three birthday get togethers this month and a baby shower. I have been wrapping gifts and fixing crafts and food. I have a cold and my daughter has a cold. Nothing that will keep us out of school and work but just enough to be annoying.

Car needs to see the mechanic and the cats/dog need to see the veterinarian. Did I call to make those appointments today? Nope. I have three doctor appointments this month, my daughter has one plus a dental appointment. We had open house at school, and she has two birthday parties this month.

I am tired and I am going to bed.

The Blue Lagoon

half moon lake


As anyone here knows, I like blue. I was able to capture some blue indigo sky into the pictures I took of the lake last night. The moon didn't last very long, he disappeared below the horizon soon after taking this picture. There was no beautiful sunset like last year. No pinks in the sky. Oh, well.

Regardless, I posted most all of them on my photos page of my web page. I don't advertise my page with meta tags. I plan to someday, probably not today. So, when I check my site meter for that web page (which is not very often), I am surprised that anyone besides close friends and family have visited there.

What really tripped me up a couple of months back was the rambling I did on my certain brand of computer that rhymes with smell. I don't dare mention it again, because they will pick up my blog entry here again and post it on their site - again.

What I am talking about is: this site searches for anyone mentioning my brand of pc with the word that also rhymes with it and having the definition of Hades, along with the word "support."

I mentioned the problems I was having on this blog site and it picked it up not once, but twice. The first time because I mentioned it and pointed to my web page, and the second time because I mentioned in my blog the fact that a lot of my hits were coming from that reference. So, in an effort to stop my web page from more of the same, I have refrained from referring to the names on this entry. This probably sounds as confusing as hell (whoops there is a trigger word), but what I am getting down to is the fact that I am still getting hits on my web page from that incident.

As today, I noticed one from a United States gov web site. I only focus on the individuals who spend more than sixty seconds at my site. The government? Yikes, I was wondering why are they looking at my personal web page? I just post pictures of giant grasshoppers, flowers, lakes and trees. I was relieved to discover that it was the United States Department of Agriculture. Probably researching that car-sized grasshopper citing in Carroll county. LOL.

Anyway, I like to keep my personal web page low key. I have uploaded way over my limit of space and so far, no one has stopped me. A while back I asked my provider how would I know when I reached the 10mb limit. They answered that my uploads would error out and they would stop uploading. Well, they error out, but that is because I am shoving 70 to 80 images at a time and it stalls. I just re-connect and keep on shoving. They are just pictures and the only copyright I may be infringing upon is dear Mother Nature. She hasn't given me her permission yet, but she hasn't complained, either.

Hey, maybe my provider meant 10mb per upload. Ha, ha - NOT! Last count, I had over 200mb on my site and growing daily. I keep taking pictures and I keep uploading. I just can't stop. I suppose they will pull the plug at some point, but until then I will keep posting pictures.

www.mydeja-view.com

www.mydeja-view.org

www.mydeja-view.net

A friend brought taco lasagne (lasagna) to the party last night. It was quite delicious. Tostada shells crumbled on the bottom. Ground beef mixed with taco seasoning came next. Then, a layer of cottage cheese. A layer of green chile peppers, a layer of salsa, a layer of shredded cheddar cheese. Top with crumbled tostada shells and if you wish, taco sauce. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty to forty minutes until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream and/or guacamole sauce.

Some variations of the recipe include using flour tortillas instead of tostada shells. Onions can be added, along with black beans and refried beans. Here is a close recipe for Taco Lasagna. I have decided that cold beer goes very well with Mexican foods. Big discovery there, folks.

There was also a lemon delight dessert. I shunned lemony-tasting foods for years, but my taste buds continue to change and I find myself liking lemon more and more. I'll look for the recipe and fix it at my next family get together.

I am tired and am recording Ladder 49 as I type. I watched parts of it and maybe someday I'll get around to watching it in it's entirety. I did not get nearly enough sleep last night. It does take time to post all those pictures, you know. My nephew keeps trying to "give" me short cuts to posting, but he just doesn't understand that I don't want shortcuts. I want to learn "on my own" and do it my way and when I have the time. For now, I will post them the long way and the tedious way. I don't like someone handing me things, I want to learn how to do it myself. He is a wizard and bless him, but I love this stuff too much to take short cuts.

It is kind of like Art. If you are painting a picture, you don't ask for somebody else to paint it for you. It is a creation - an expression of your soul. It may be rudimentary, but it is all mine. I don't create anything until I fully understand what it is that I am doing. Sure, I copy things from other sites. But, they are training html sites. They post to educate me, and I learn from them.

I like what I do.

Believe it or not

giant grasshopper


I didn't really tell many people about my side trip last week. I still can't believe it myself. It was a lonely stretch of road. I was by myself. I did have my camera, and was taking pictures. Then, it happened. From out of nowhere. I was driving along the dirt road, minding my own business and over the hill it came. A giant grasshopper.

Sweet Mary Mother of God. I grabbed my camera and resisted the urge to jam the car into reverse and get the heck out of there. I thought to myself, "Okay. Grasshoppers don't have teeth or pincers, do they? What can it do to me? I don't think it can crush my car." So I moved ahead.

flying giant grasshopper


A little further up the next hill, another one hopped into view. As if from out of the sky.

(The pictures are not touched up or added to in any way, shape or form. They are as original as the second I took them.)

I looked around to see if there was a farmhouse or a farmer on a tractor. Anyone to witness the phenomenal event. But, there was no one. Just me and my camera. I have a few more shots of the creature, but it was scurrying away by that time and they are blurry.

running giant grasshopper


Here is the one crossing the road in front of my car. I had to swerve to miss him.

I am still shook up by the whole ordeal.

What did my daughter say? "Aw, Mom. Just turn on the windshield wipers. They will go away." Ewwwww.

LOL. For more pics: www.mydeja-view.org - choose Photos button at bottom of page.

And then came Tobias

tobias


Some of my relatives are expecting babies. Others, are getting new additions to their families. Meet Tobias. He was mostly legs at the cook-out. He ran around completely curious about everything. He didn't want much human contact, he probably gets enough of that. He wanted to roam. Into the woods, into the fire, into the trash, into the flowers. He even tried to walk on top of the lily pads. I wish I had seen that and taken a picture of it. Or better, a movie of it.

It wasn't long before he tuckered himself out. He wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a picture. My camera has auto-focus and he just was not patient enough for the moment. This one was probably the most I got of his facial features. The rest are body parts, usually moving away from me as fast as he could. "Who are you? You don't have food, I can't eat that black box!" And, away he would plod looking for another adventure.

I don't have much experience with puppies. I always got my pet dogs fixed and from the pound. The abandoned ones. The ones that nobody else wanted. Tobias (a.k.a. Toby) is a rescue. Some of my friends pay hundreds of dollars for a dog. I can't do that when there are so many waiting for a home. Waiting to be loved. Just because they don't have a certain look or blood line shouldn't determine that they don't get a chance.

Aw, don't mind me. I just lost all my formatting on one of my documents and have discovered that I have to do all the work over again. I saved the damn thing, but for some reason moving it from my laptop machine to my desktop machine re-arranged the html document. I am trying to find a fix without all the extra work. I think I am getting sick. Lots of people off from work and lots of kids out of school. Something is going around. Headaches, sore throats and stomach aches.

Stop and smell the roses

two creams


Two beautiful cream color roses from my sister's flower garden. I also have pictures of their pond that they started last year. It has so much green my eyes had a mini vacation.

Family cook-out yesterday. Today, me and my crew.

I am worn out.

View from a school

farm


Could you imagine going to school and seeing this? I was coming out of the school in "cow country" this past week and this is what greeted me when I got to my car. My camera was in the car and I just snapped away while driving away. FFA is probably big here.

I dressed in my bathroom this morning. I don't know why. But, I grabbed the deodorant out of a drawer. It was one I used years ago while in my late teens and early twenties. (Uh, a new container, not the same one! LOL) The smell brought back memories like a wave crashing down around me. I was back standing in my old bedroom in my Mom's house. I felt rejuvenated. Excited for the day. Maybe I should use that deodorant every day.

Perhaps I should investigate Aromatherapy a bit. It appears that my olfactory senses bring on a lot of headaches for me. Maybe I can use the sense to my advantage.

Well, I have a lot to do. I have a family cook-out tomorrow at my sister's house. I am taking a cheeseball with crackers (of course) and the layered taco dip. Here is the recipe:

I usually place this in a round tray with a small lip, so it doesn't spill out over the sides. I use a wide spatula to spread the first layers with. And it is easier to bag up the ingredients and take to the cook-out location, putting it onto the tray there. For obvious transport reasons, you don't want to drive with a full tray of this stuff. Trust me.

Refried beans
Mixed cottage cheese and sour cream
Salsa
Shredded lettuce
Fine shredded mild cheddar cheese
Sliced black olives

It has always been called seven layer taco dip. I guess the cottage cheese and sour cream are considered two different layers, but I mix them. You can also add fresh chopped onions and green peppers. Some chop up tomatoes very fine instead of salsa. I get a couple of different kinds of tostada shells to dip with. I try different salsas as some get very watery and the dip starts to look a little bit sickly after sitting for a couple of hours. I break this into two different trays, because I don't like perishables to sit outside for very long. I leave one in the fridge for later.

My grocery store has setup a relief fund for the hurricane effort. I will make sure and do my part today while I shop. I hope that some changes will come about in an effort to remedy what happened during this troubled time. Because I don't know all the facts (and possibly never will) you cannot point the finger at any one group or person. I hope for a merciful relief for all involved.

Oh what a web we weave

web1


Here is the spider web from the other morning. I tried to get the spider into the picture, too. It is in the upper left of the web.

web2


Close up of the spider. Looks like it is taking a drink from one of the dew drops.

web3


This time I certainly caught the spider in the photo.

web4


And, a close detail of one of the web's anchors.

Been a long day. Finally, a headache is gone. The migraine medicine was taken earlier at lunchtime. Two advil this evening knocked out the rest of the discomfort. If I could just take my eyeballs out and sit them in a bowl of ice water or something.

My daughter and I went to see Red Eye yesterday. We had the entire theater to ourselves. I told her I reserved it just for us. Yeah, right. The movie has you thinking that person is involved, or this person must be in on it. Keeps you guessing. This guy plays a great C-R-E-E-P.

They call me mellow yellow

mellow yellow


I had a wonderful drive today. Actually, I had a wonderful day. As soon as I walked out my front door I saw a fantastic spider web. I'll post those pics another day. The yellow moth in this picture was a big as the flower he was sitting on.

Well, I just burnt up one of my T-Fal saucepans. I am so-o-o mad at myself. If you have birds you know that this is death to them. I just hope that my poor little Peru is far enough away from the kitchen the fumes don't kill her. The pan was thrown outside in the wet grass. I am losing more and more marbles every day.

Edit: 10:00 p.m. - The house is aired out, the bird seems fine, but I have the worst headache! I hate, hate, hate smells!