Genius Granddaughter

DSC06949_edited-1, originally uploaded by Porkbone.

This is a picture of my Granddaughter, Alison, using a toy I gave her for her First Birthday to attack her Fischer Price farm. The balls in this particular toy come out of the top of the toy with a force propelled by air. All she has to do is turn it on and load the balls and she's dangerous. Does it amaze anyone else that a little girl who barely walks and only says a handful of words has already leanred this? She isn't allowed to watch TV either, so she hasn't been exposed to violent behavior on cartoons or news programs.

I think she's a genius for making the connection that she can knock over her farm animals and Mr. Farmer with the balls from another toy! Or is that just Grandma Bias?

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Little and Lewis Garden Ceramic

IMG_0017, originally uploaded by Song Bird.

I'm posting from flickr where I now am posting photos, rather than Yafro where I used to post photos. This is an experiment of course. First time for everything. This Little and Lewis Garden was a wonderful place, very small, but full of ceramic artwork like the bird above. Would be a great place of any photographer (Fossil Guy) to have a couple of hours of taking shots. And even better would be to buy one of their creations, because all of them are fantastic. They use lovely glazes and all fit so well into our green Northwest, even the ones inspired by Italy and Greece. Little and Lewis have a website and are open by appointment or a couple of times a month during the summer. I loved it and have been inspired by it! Trying to get my mate to make me some concrete pillars to put plant pots on!

A Lovely Friday

Because I'm about to get flak from Fossil Guy if I don't post SOMETHING, I am going to post something. I am at work. All Directors have taken Friday off, my boss is in Ohio because her father died, our Supt. is in Port Angeles because one of our old Board Members died, and our Asst Supt has broken her ankle badly and requires surgery. Who is in charge? The monkeys are in charge of the zoo!!!

We had a really nice 4 days off last week because we (Mate and I) took Monday off, too. What a great time we had pretending to be retired! Even with 4 days I still didn't have enough time for the things I wanted to do, so I know I am ready for retirement. People keep asking me: "What are you going to do when you retire?!" That question tells me that they aren't ready or they would know! I used to feel that way, too, back when I was in my 50s. But not any more! My list of things I want to do is very long and includes getting out like Fossil Guy is doing, on his picture taking forays. We discovered on the 4th when we had Fossil Guy and Bookworm over for burgers and dogs, that FG and I have the same camera. He is taking much better pics than I am and I wonder if I'll ever catch up with him. He is a photo artist!

We had a lively conversation about retirement and buying new houses and so on. Condominiums, one level houses, city or country, taxes, enough money to live on, all those things people in their 60s and 70s must think about. I don't feel like I am of advanced age but I guess I am getting there. Retirement looks to me like a long wonderful vacation, not a slowing down time. It will be a time I can actually design my garden, rather than only trying to keep the weeds at bay. It will be a time I can make a really great card to send to a friend rather than one I can whip up in an hour. It will be a time of fussing over dinner rather than putting something quick on the table. And yes, I have to admit, I will even be able to keep my house cleaner, if it seems important to do so. I wonder about that one!

My mate has told me he wants to take lots of cruises when we are both retired. He won't retire until 3 years after me. He wants to get on a big boat, enjoy the fabulous meals, go to classes, to the gym, see the scenery, read, walk the decks, be away from the telephone and Real Life for 10 days. It's the only way he can avoid the chores that he can always hear calling. If he was at home 100% of the time he would never stop mending, weeding, fixing, adding, sanding, painting. He is a man of doing.

Bookworm said something on the 4th that has had my mind working overtime ever since. I had told her about the latest worrisome adventures of my Mom. On the day my brother locked the keys in the car at Safeway, Mom ran out in the street and flagged down a driver to take her to Silverdale with "extra keys". A stranger picked her up, took her to Silverdale, drove her around the Safeway parking lot where they couldn't locate my brother, and then drove her back home. In the meantime my brother came back home with the locksmith, looking for Mom to pay the bill, and she was gone! She showed up later with the keys, which hadn't actually been car keys at all. I told BW about this and she looked at me with one of her "I have to tell you something" looks and said,

"You know, your Mom has probably been doing these things all along and you just didn't know about them. Those are the kinds of things that I do."

This just has blown my mind (pardon the 70s expression, but it's the only way I can describe the affect it's had on me). I love the "gaps" as BW calls her midadventures, the wild things she is capable of have always intrigued me, but in my Mom they scare the crap out of me! And sometimes they drive my up a wall. I never connected the "gaps" that BW has with the ones my Mom has. Never before have I compared the two. That's what I've been doing this week. Comparing and puzzling and wondering. Why so attracted and repelled by the same thing? Surely, BW is not exactly like my Mom. She is far more driven to succeed, to make a fabulous life, to be loyal to friends and family. My Mom has never been driven, is kind of lazy in fact, and loses track of friends pretty easily and doesn't seem to honor family much. But these "gaps" are very, very similar. Baby, baby, baby, I am reeling! Gotta get together with Bookworm and talk this over some more. More later!

Sorry there are no pictures. Blogger wasn't cooperating today.