A SPORADIC WRITING OF MY FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS.
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Friday, June 14, 2024
Letter "X" -- Friday's Weekend Roundup 12 and Reflections and/or Street/Candid Captures
This Week's Prompts: Has an "X"; A Favorite; Tom's request, "Xword" and For James, Reflections and/or Street/Candid Captures.
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Has an "X": Her name is Marceline (after the "l" I guessed).
Our new great great niece is Extra cute, Extra small, and Extra happy. For the picture she was just newborn. At birth she weighed 4 lbs 13 oz and was 17 inches long.
Tom's request, an"Xword": Before my knee joint replacement surgery I'm having a bunch of X-rays. Soon after that I hope not to need this wrist band.
For James, Reflectionsand/or Street/Candid Captures: I can't remember the port our ship was pulling into or could be leaving. Overseas for sure.
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The fine print:
- [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra large]
- I am linked with Tom of "Backwoods Travel" (Link here to click for Tom's Weekend Reviews) - I am also linked this week with James of "Weekend Reflections" (click here for his Reflections Photos). - The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law.
# posted by Jim : 6/14/2024 04:37:00 PM
7 comments
Friday, January 12, 2024
Letter "B" -- Friday's Weekend Roundup 12 and Reflections and/or Street/Candid Captures
For Tom: This Week's Prompts Starts with "B". "A Favorite. "B"ig.
For James: Reflections and/or Street/Candid Captures. _ _ _ _
[Adi goes wild when our daughter came to visit]
Starts with "B": Beagle starts with "B" so I'll tell about my Beagle dog, Adi. She was born in 1996 and first came to our house as a pup. Adi was our daughter's but keeping her was more than she could handle so she came to us and was with us ever since, except for one time when she came for a short spell to the daughter. Above is a picture of her greeting the daughter when she came to visit.
When I retired in 2001, Mrs. Jim, a retired social worker did some preemptive professional application by suggesting that Adi and I could become a Pet Therapy Team for me to keep a little bit occupied. (Ladies, this a good thing to do for your husband when he retires.)
We both made the rigorous testing and soon passed into the new field and became a Registered Pet Therapy Team. Adi loved her part of the work, she was also a reading dog and tutored a sixth grade boy so he could pass his required skill level.
Both Adi and the child enjoyed their sessions.
But also she liked visiting the elderly. We became regulars with Assisted Living and Alzheimer's afflicted at our local facility. We continued with those until Adi retired in 2012. She received a nice letter from Delta, the registering society, you can read the letter here,
Adi and I were buddies and we have her ashes still.
[google find, "Corvettes" -- I have not purchased a new car since 1967]
A Favorite: My Bucket List is one of my favorite daydream sites. In 2001 when I retired, travel on my list was three, the Panama Canal, China, and Moscow, USSR. I quickly did those and many more (I didn't start blogging until 2006 so only Moscow made this blog, right off we went to Sicily for two weeks so that was my first to make it here).
I've removed lots of items, like touching the South Pole, winning the lottery, and owning a Corvette.
Some are still there, maybe still open up to 100 and some more things I have forgotten.
[photo copyright, Jimmiehov 2010, first posted here]
My Nebraska cousins, Linda and Jack, standing
away from the tall Statue of Sam Houston .
Tom's word choice, "Big": There is a U.S. saying, "Everything is Big in Texas". This is a photo of a statue north of Houston with my Nebraska cousins standing in front. It is of Sam Houston, Texas' first and third president back when we were a stand-alone Republic. He later was a U.S. Senator.
(Note, Sam Houston was not a Civil War hero, and he resigned his post after Texas seceded from the Union. He did own slaves as were helping on most Texas plantations.)
[Click on any picture to make it larger sized. Try clicking that one next]
For James: Reflections and/or Street/Candid Captures: There is a 'slight' reflection in the pond above the falls. This a walk picture. Going here takes about 16 minutes at our rate, the round trip gives us plenty for our 30 minutes, one day of five we like. Below the falls is a small pond and then a Bench if our legs say. "Please give us a rest "
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The fine print:
- [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra large]
- I am linked with Tom of "Back
woods Travel" (Link here to click for Tom's Weekend Reviews) - I am also linked this week with James of "Weekend Reflections" (click here for his Reflections Photos). - The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law.
# posted by Jim : 1/12/2024 09:50:00 AM
7 comments
Friday, October 06, 2023
Letteer "N" --- Friday's Weekend Roundup 11 and Reflections and/or Street/Candid Captures
This Week's Prompts: Starts with "N." A Favorite. "N"ecessary. Reflections and Street/Candid Captures.
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Starts with "N": New York City starts with "N". We enjoyed our visit back in 2008. We've been there a few other times, once we took our younger daughter back when she was in the fifth grade.
A Favorite: We liked the New York's "Hello Deli"; it was David Letterman's Favorite restaurant. And it was just around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater where his program was broadcast.
"N"ecessary: Taxicab's were Necessary in NYC. Of course most all here walk a lot, a lot of places we want are often far apart. And of course parking down town is very expensive and the taxis, busses, and the subway are very reasonably priced. Many families do not have a car, not needed.
Oh, yes. We didn't find our what the NYPD was parked here for.
Lagniape #1: Cathy Lee was being interviewed out here in NBC's patio.
Lagniape #2: Nice horseswere pulling the carriages through NYC's Central Park.
[click on picture for larger size]
Reflections and Street/Candid Captures:
Our long and winding walk on New Year's Day (five years after New Year of the part above)New Zealand, down the hill (we paid for a ride up) took us through theWellington Botanical Gardens.The flowers were in bloom (their January 1 in the Southern Hemisphere is like our July 1 here) and all was cared for very well. This family seemed to be enjoying themselves.
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The fine print:
- [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra large] - I am linked with Tom of "Backwoods Travel" (Link here to click for Tom's Weekend Reviews) - I am also linked this week with James of "Weekend Reflections" (click here for his Reflections Photos). - The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law.
- Tom's Requests: Starts with "J"; A Favorite; and Tom's suggestion, "Junk."
- James' request, Reflections and/or Street Photos/Candid Captures.
- I would like for you to see my last week's post if you haven't already. I posted late and several missed it. Please click here when you are finished with the J's here. It has a picture of Mrs. Jim and I standing behind the cake for our Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary.
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Reflections and/or Street Photos/Candid Captures: From my "Dog days in Telluride" 2008 post,URL. That is Mrs. Jim in the green pants petting this dog, there are other dogs also on the posting.
Starts with "J": The car is my 1950 Jimmy Dean Mercury 2-Door. I traded it for my equity in my 1956 Ford Sunliner Convertible after I was drafted into the Army. That car was about a year old, I had purchased it new and my monthly payments were more than a Private's pay, married and two kids.
Here I wasparkedon the early slopes of Mt. Franklin in El Paso (Texas). I was age 21 and stationed there at the Fort Bliss U.S. Armypost. This was for five years and three kids born at the William Beaumont U.S. Army Hospital. One other, our oldest daughter was born at a civilian hospital in El Paso. Mount Franklin overlooked El Paso and was easy to climb. I would climb up and take the cable car down.
Tom's suggestion, "Junk": Junk Mail. We get plenty of it. I wonder if this New Zealander's box gets any of it. About a fourth of the mail boxes in NZ seem to have some admonition note left for the mail carrier to not leave junk mail in their boxes. I hope it works for them.
A Favorite: Notice the Junk Mail now sorted out into the sack on the upper right. A nice bundle of mail was left at our doorstep, and we found it that Saturday night when got home around eleven. That's it in the pictured bucket, labeled United States Postal Service, and it was full. I don't know where we'd been, that was around the middle of April, 2006.
A Lagniappe: Our "J" Countries visited are Jamaica, Japan, and Jordan.
The Fine Print:
- [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra-large.] - The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law. - I am linked with Tom of "Backwoods Traveler" (click here, Link, for Tom's Weekend Reviews) - I am also linking again this week with James of "Weekend Reflections/Street Photos" (click here for his Street Folk and Reflections Photos).
- Tom's Requests for this Week's Prompts:
Starts with "Q"; A Favorite; and Tom's suggestion, "Q"uaint
- James wishes for our Reflections and/or Street Photos/Candid Captures
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.
a busy day made busier.
Tom's choice, "Quaint": On one of our visits to France, 2013, we went to visit Homps, Southwestern France, to ride a canal boat on the Canal du Midi. When we got there we found out that in late April they only ran the afternoon ride so we had to figure out what to do with our morning.
By unanimous vote of we three, Mrs. Jim, our youngest son Tim, and me, it was decided we would visit an old town a bit to the north.
I will show you around that Quaint little town which once had been a medieval fortress city.
[click any picture for large size]
The boat captain (only he and a boat attendant would be working on our little canal boat) has suggested that we drive north to Minerve (link). That would help but since we couldn't take the tour from there (we wouldn't anyway). Still we had to have eaten and be back to Homps by 1:00.
Our son Tim came along for this Holiday
Note the cat digging in the garbage
at the restaurant outside eating area.
And what did we eat? These places here were not fast food
and there wasn't a MacDonalds. So we dug into our emergency rations.
That would be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made in the car,
some cookies, and canned Coca Cola Light.
We made it back in plenty of time for our canal boat ride. All the canal boat ride are posted here (remember to click on a picture once or twice to make any of them larger)
We hope to travel that ride again, it was really nice.
For sure we had not planned on going to Minerve. After our boat ride, our busy day would continue on. Old town, Carcassonne, was next on our journey. See the map below.
[The orange was our afternoon boat ride in the can going to Bourgeois, the blue was our car ride through Province that day]
We had fun. I wrote more of our Spring 2009 Europe Holiday later.
having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque: a quaint old house. strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way: a quaint sense of humor. skillfully or cleverly made.
having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque: a quaint old house. strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way: a quaint sense of humor. skillfully or cleverly made.
My friend, John, asked me if I minded following him to this place. He had left his camera home and wanted some pictures of a car he knew about. I never pass up opportunities to look at old cars so off we went. This is what he wanted to see again, he had discovered them earlier in the year. They are a pair of Model T Ford cars. Either 1926 or 1927, my guess in 1927. In 1927 the Model T had wire wheels standard equipment, in 1926 they were optional. Before that the T's used wooden spoke wheels. I was surprised and delighted with the find. The last time John had talked with the owner they were not for sale. Times and circumstances since may have changed now. He doesn't know if they could be bought. I suggested that he offer to pay $1000 for cleaning the shed out if he could have the cars and whatever else the family did not want. That means work but John had some grandsons who would really have liked to help grandpa in his quest for more old cars.
The one on the right was for sale at a moderate price, $9,950 . It had been restored but before the restoration I imagine it looked very similar to the one John found in the back of the shed.
The front one is my favorite. Hot Rodders use them to make "T-bucket" hot rods. Most of the originals have been either restored or used up for hot rods. A new fiberglass reproduction body can be had for several thousand dollars
John is deceased now, he died about a year ago. We miss him.
Photo from the Houston Chronicle
A Favorite: Queer? Isn't it Queer to have World Osteoporosis Day so close to Halloween what with all those bones-alone skeletons running around loose?
Reflection: Yesterday late afternoon our sky Quite Pink, from north to south and west to east
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My friend lost a sandal, still had one left. What good is it having only one shoe? If you're a bird and have half an island. It's still an island, only half as large.
A Lagniappe (1): From a previous Poetry Post on my poem blog.
This was taken from our paddle boat in Regents Park, London.
A Lagniappe (2): Isn't this HALLOWEEN Tree Qute! I found it at the Houston Methodist Hospital West yesterday in one of the hallways near an elevator.
Mrs. Jim had been given a steroid shot in her hip and then we visited two friends who were having procedures there, one was outpatient status and the other had back surgery and would be hospitalized for several days. The later hoped to be home for the Baseball World Series games at home, tomorrow is to be the first.
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The Fine print stuff:
- [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra-large.]
- I am linked with Tom of "Backwoods Travel" (Link is here to click for Tom's Weekend Reviews)
- I am also linking again this week with James of "Weekend Reflections/Street Photos" (click here for his Street Folk and Reflections Photos).
- The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law.
