Booming Banter

Bit late on the Banter because a blizzard is happening in our area. It’s part of a major storm winging its way across the Midwest and hit here about three hours ago.

I was at the prison. That’s twenty two miles from home. It usually takes me about forty minutes to get back but tonight it took twice as long.

I absolutely love snow. Driving in a blizzard is not the best way to enjoy it but even that has a little edginess that makes the heart beat faster.

Theres always the challenge of which road to take the highway or the byway. Highways are unpredictable. The towns and rural roads are slower and steadier and that’s what I chose.

It was so bad at one point that I couldn’t see my landmark to turn onto one of the country roads. Maybe not such a bad thing though as it kept me on the straight not narrow!

Reaching your own little town sure is sweet and sweeter still is reaching your own place.

Now all we have to do is sit and bite our nails, wait and worry until the young man returns from work! My crystal ball tells me there may be a day off forecast in his future!

Blessing #605 – Lights of Home

Our Aaron is having a snooze  that’s how I managed to get a photo of his iPhone! It is usually attached to his finger with superglue.

He got his first one for his 15th birthday and I’ve lost track of how many upgrades we’ve had since then not to mention the number of cracked screens that have been repaired. This one has a well damaged screen but himself is now wise enough to understand that until it packs up completely there is no need to change it.

The phone has caused considerable tension and some bust ups within our family but Dad and I have, after much argument, resigned ourselves to the fact that today’s teenagers needs a smart phone like we need oxygen.

Phones have played an important role in romantic relationships since their inception but today’s phone has replaced entirely the art of letter writing and to a large extent the spoken word with the dreaded TEXT! 

Back in the day when I was a teenager our household didn’t have a phone. All my friends had phones and it was tough for me that we didn’t especially when a boy asked you out for a date. If you hadn’t a phone number to give him you were a lost cause!

So after much pressure my Mum caved in and agreed to get one. So significant was this step that I can tell you we got it mid July 1976! My Dad wasn’t in the least fussed whether we got one or not but Mum was. He gave her the housekeeping money ever Friday and she could do what she wanted with it. So it was up to her to fit the phone into the budget. Calls were paid by the minute back then so if you happened to talk for a little longer that the usual « OK I’ll see you at seven thirty at the bus stop »  a look that could kill came your way!

That phone was much loved not just by me but also by my Mum especially when I moved away from home. All it did was allow you to talk. It wasn’t digital and back then even when we called to make an appointment real people answered you and said hello. It wasn’t a numbers game.

Beside it sat my address book filled with friends names and numbers. It’s successor is still going to this day and sits beside the phone in our kitchen and yes it is still referred to now and then.

Our landline though is in jeopardy. Nearly all the calls we get on it are spam. That never happened back in the day a phone was an appliance of affection. Now, between endless holding music, prompts by robots and fake callers trying to scare the life out of you it is nothing short of an instrument of torture!

Blessing # 604 – Words of Love

We have just finished eating our dinner. It’s was one of our favorites a breakfast fry up! Its far from fancy fine food but we love it.

Each of us through trial and error come to know how we enjoy things best. Take the eggs we just ate as an example. You might be a sunny side up person, a poacher or a scrambler. We’re over easy people. You can have eggs many ways and any way but there is only one way you LOVE them.

The same is true of other simple things like a cup of tea. You’ll drink it out of paper, plastic, fine china or glass but you’ll only love it if it’s in your favorite mug with just enough milk and sugar at the perfect strength.

Imagine if there was only one variety of apple. Maybe that would make life easier but would you ever love it? Having a choice gives everything an element of desire. It’s awful though if you see something that looks like your favorite but doesn’t deliver as it should. That’s a real big and bitter disappointment.

Experience is a gift. You have to live with an electric fire before you fully appreciate the glory of a real coal blaze. Even if today there are attractive simulations nothing comes close to the real McCoy.

Maybe that’s why a little candle is so romantic it brings us back to that primeval flicker!

Blessing # 603 – Fanning Flames

This morning sitting quietly with Scooby gazing hopefully at yet another Croissant au Chocolate it struck me how much we can learn about love from our dogs.

Since it’s the week of Valentines there couldn’t be a better time to talk about this most important  subject.

Dogs are so grateful for the smallest token of kindness even if it’s just a crumb. They give kisses every morning and each time you come home even if you’ve only been away a little while.

They never bear grudges even if you shout at them and keep you amused if you’re in a stinking mood. They’ll listen to anything!

They don’t care what you wear or how you look in fact they secretly like your socks if they’re smelly!

If you stay up late they’ll keep you company but are just as happy to go to bed early and no matter what time the alarm rings they’ll jump out of bed with you.

Today while doing a little Goodwill hunting I found a lovely little treasure that sums up very well these feelings.

Blessing # 603 – Four Paw Passion

All those years ago when I lived in the UK I loved to watch the BAFTAs. This is the British equivalent of the Oscars and back then it covered television (T) as well as film (F).

So it was with delight I discovered that BBC America was broadcasting the event held last weekend on play back. YEAH perfect for Friday evening with a glass or two of sparkle.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were there looking like movie stars themselves.

The setting was magnificent it was after all at the spectacular Royal Albert Hall in London and the sweet and beautiful Renee Zellwegger won best actress.

Apart from this it was disappointing. Several people took digs at the Royals with references to Harry, Meghan and Prince Andrew leaving TRHs in attendance visibly cringing. It was pathetic, not at all funny and in some instances such as the display by Rebel Wilson downright mean.

The presenters all seemed to have difficulty reading the teleprompter which was funny and the hosts receiving the guests on the red carpet were downright weird. What were those green gloves about?

So as the first full moon of this Chinese Year shines let’s see if the stars do too at tomorrow’s Oscars.  Let’s hope that they will be in the business of building each other up with some kindness for their fellow men as well of course as the environment.

Blessing #602 – Second Takes

The penultimate day of the two week Chinese New Year celebration was a lucky one!

We’ve been waiting some time to be able to say We Got A Snow Day. It happened today. 

Aaron was already awake when school rang to announce the closure. He’d got an email himself with more good news. His application for THE Ohio State University had been accepted.

He is delighted and of course so are we. All he has to do is finish the last months at high school!

It’s such a big milestone in life going off to college and this is the first major step. It’s scary in a sense unless you are certain what you want to do and Aaron isn’t so sure.

All we can do is advise him to make sure he does something he loves. He’s always enjoyed history so he’ll most likely start with that as a major.

The system here is great though as you can do something quite general for the first year like liberal arts and then decide after the first year what to major in so maybe he’ll do that instead.

So many things to think about and decisions to make. It will take more than a snow day to do that! Maybe an ancient Chinese sage could help! In the meantime he’s off to work at the bakery!

Blessing # 601 – Fortune Cookies

Aaron’s got the sniffles so had the day off school. Poor dragon is in his den!

That’s a good place to be as it’s dull and cloudy and to make matters worse there is freezing rain again. It’s can look lovely though as you see in this pic by friends Sandy and Brian of their bird house.

The four legged boy still needs out regardless and while we were sniffing and strolling cautiously we appreciated the beauty an ice storm brings. Mom can even take some pics too or keep her hands in her pockets as smarty Scooby’s skilled at holding his own leash!

On the trees and bushes the droplets of ice look like tiny diamonds and really sparkle.

This year for the first time we’re seeing how our ornamental grass looks when it’s glazed too.

Krishna cannot stand these plants at the end of our driveway. He usually has them chopped as soon as summer is over. This year though, after some petitions on my part, he let them stay.

They do look like straw but offer some movement and texture in an otherwise evergreen scene.

I know they harbor a few little chipmunks. Given the amount of attention Scooby pays them they may hide some other little rodents too! Well what else would you expect? After all didn’t we Irish breed the Wheaten to catch such critters. Will You Go Ratty Go!

Blessing # 600 – Natures Jewels

There are some products that never leave you. You can smell them and feel them even though you may not have touched or even seen them since the last time there was a year of the Metal Rat!

A recent post about hand cream immediately made me think of a product called Nulon. It was very PINK and had a lovely smell and it was the sort of thing that, as an affordable little luxury, you’d get as a gift for a birthday or Christmas. The only image I can find doesn’t do it justice. This bottle was the seventies plastic and not the original glass and has clearly aged less than gracefully.

My Moms beauty routine was simple. Oil of Ulay moisturizer and a little lipstick and if someone had bought it for her a rub of Nulon on the hands too. She didn’t buy hand lotion for herself.

My Mums Mum Granny Gibson was very partial to talc especially Yardley’s Lavender and again this was used like a perfume on special occasions only. Granny Barr was older and never dreamed of using anything other than soap and water. Any soap would do but if it was Pears she’d be delighted! I think she even washed her hair with soap!

I spent a lot of time at my friend Carols house and her Mum was younger and a little more adventurous than mine. No foundation or blusher or eye makeup but she might have a brighter colored lipstick than my Mum and she had Ponds Cold Cream that was very thick and exotic and had to be used very sparingly. Carol and I sampled it in secret! Just the tiniest touch!

The funniest product of all that Mrs Braithwaite had was a hair gel called Dippity Do! You could set your hair for a week with this. It was to all intents and purpose pink super glue and gave us the giggles.

All these items came in small bottles often glass or in thin metal tubs and were used in tiny amounts and treasured like gold.

Does the abundance we have today diminish our ability to appreciate the beauty of something as simple as a little dab of cream? As my Mum often would say “little pots of powder little dabs of paint makes a girls complexion look like what it ain’t” 

Maybe that’s why all the wrinkle creams don’t work. We just use too much of them!

Blessing # 599 – Mini Magic

With the ring safely back where it belongs in the jewelry box the washing of the gems in the rough got started.

This is such a joy finding these little beauties and then seeing how well they look when they are all cleaned up. They take over the kitchen for a while though!

It feels so good to think that these once loved items will one day find a chance to be loved again. They are selected on the basis of their appeal to me. I’m not going after one particular category which is maybe not the way to work. It might be their color or the fineness of the work. Somehow though they all seem to look good together and now you’ll laugh they look happy!

There is always the chance they’ll suffer an injury during their facelift or on their journey to the store but with this lot of lovelies all went well and they are now on the shelf waiting patiently for their new family to take them home.

Blessing # 598 – Safely Gathered In

After the bread drop yesterday Krishna and I went to an estate sale in downtown Columbus. We were hoping to stock up for the store and we weren’t disappointed. We got a huge amount of lovely things three boxes full to be precise.

Thrilled with our success we got home to find that Aaron had surfaced, been out shopping too and spent three times more than we had buying a fancy speaker for his iPhone.

As he was explaining the intricacies of this piece of hardware to me I was taking off my jewelry in preparation for diving into the sink to wash my haul. That’s when my heart sank. My wedding ring was gone!

Maybe I dropped it when Scooby jumped on me so I scrambled around the floor and even moved chairs to look for it. No! Maybe it was in my pocket. No! Maybe I didn’t even put it on. Check the jewelry box. No!

By now I was almost sick and I was praying. Please please please let me find it. Not in the car either! Should I go back to the house where we bought the things!

I didn’t say a word to Krishna or Aaron and decided the only thing to do was bite the bullet and accept the loss.

 

How you might ask could this have happened. Well you see my fingers  were so thin all those years ago that I now have to wear the ring on my pinkie finger.

It must have fallen off when I was helping pack the things we bought.

I could have cried but instead I got down to the business of  unpacking all the time praying I might find it.

On the third box a miracle happened. I heard a little ping and out of the newspaper came the little ring.

Talk about relief it was like winning the lottery and I have to say when I explained to Krishna he was happy too!

Blessing # 597 – Lost is Found