A Rare Experience Day....Post Views 8750

    Grandma G has been enjoying a rare experience.....hanging out alone at home and enjoying every minute of it!  What??  No anxiety?  No discontent?  No hankering for an adrenalin rush?   NOPE.....
     Just satisfied to work around the house.  Actually I did a DIY project.  YEP!  That's....Do It Yourself.

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 Hi there,  Grandma G here.  Today I am going to update my worn out old wood burning fireplace.



By replacing the heavy iron log grate and ashes in the firebox with an electrical heating/flaming unit that operates with a remote control....Woo!  Woo!



Initially a little Cinderella work was needed to clean out all the lingering ashes----a bit messy and tedious

Don't want my modern electrical fan blowing fine ash all over the house....

 At first the unit would not fit.  Fortunately I purchased the smaller size....the larger one would have been too larger to fit.....

With a little twisting and pulling and hammering down all the interference was out of the way.

The nifty, modern, no fuss, just turn the switch, light up,  pretend log fire unit went in with ease.

                              Grandma G is all set for the chilly winter months.....

                                      And holiday season, fast approaching.....
                                         (If only she would learn how to play that cute little red guitar....)

    There is a bonus to all this.  If I decide to burn a real fire (real wood or pretend logs) the unit will easily lift out and the grate go back in and one will have an  authentic fire..  Draw back?  Someone will have to be Cinderella again and clean out the ashes before I can convert back to modern.
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     There was some frustration today.....trying to figure out how to download 817 pictures from my Iphone to the computer. I bought a USB cable like one of my sons said to do.  I think all I accomplished was putting them all in a folder and double loading them into the phone.  Hopefully one of my techie sons will be able to tell me how to do this task really soon.

     The rest of the day passed peacefully while I did the laundry, cleaned the floor in my  room and did some stretches.  The day started out by doing water aerobics with 12 other ladies.  I don't think it was my imagination that the water seemed deeper today.  
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      All lightheartedness aside, my sympathy and prayers go out to the hurting people of the Philippines who have been so hard hit by typhoon Haiyan.

    "He [the Lord] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  (Psalms 147:3)
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     This has been a good "rare experience" day in the life of Grandma G.

     "Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."
 (Isaiah 26:12)
   

A RAINY Day in VC.......Post Views 8704

       'Tis a RAINY day here in Vancouver......gonna be that way tomorrow also.  The next few months, I guess.  
        Tuesday I woke up with a headache and  passed up water aerobics.  Don't remember much of what I did or didn't do.  I did go to Freddy's in the afternoon to make me get out a bit and do some grocery shopping.  Getting to one of several stores out here isn't always convenient for me, so I did a stock up buy.  It was good to just move slow and continue to get familiar with the store.  
        This afternoon I had an appointment with an electrophysiology doctor.  I had never checked back with the doctor in Wisconsin after my ablation 2 years ago.  I just wanted to make contact and check out a few concerns.  Turns out I am heart healthy.  Yeah!  
       So, other than VC is about to float away, life is quiet, though wet.  A good opportunity for........

FLASHBACK...

THE GIRLS DO VEGAS......

ROOF TOP POOL......

 

GRANDMA G LOOKING COOL

OR IS THAT "HOT"

FOUR LADIES LOOKING HOT.....

DEBBIE, ANGIE M., GEORGIA, ANGIE V.

FIRST TO A SHOW.....

FOLLOWED BY JAPANESE TABLE SIDE COOKING

    This has been a good 2 "flashback to Vegas" days in the life of Grandma G.

     "Then our sons in their youth will be like well nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace."  (Psalms 144:12)

Portland Saturday Market Post Views.....8665

  Mid Saturday afternoon, Kahana and I headed into Portland for the Saturday market.  I had never been there before.  All the merchandise booths contain handmade crafts.  And a wide variety there is!  We walked along river after parking several blocks away.  I viewed the first copy of the Oregonian newspaper first published in 1850.  

Water, bridges, rain clouds, rainbow, a patch of blue and a bird...

  Military ducks in formation.....

Set up under the bridge......

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       Sunday was the first day back to standard time.  That messes with my mind and body for about a week.  I woke up early, something like 6:30 which was probably 5:30 since it also takes about a week for me to change all the clocks back.  Unless it is the car clock.  In that case it stays the same year round.  In the summer I simply need to remember that the actual time is one hour later than it shows.  That is, except for some reason it is also 20 minutes slow....you do the math.  It's too confusing to me.  

         The time change seems to have brought on the "rainy season" here in the Pacific Northwest.  Sunday morning was quite pleasant with sunshine and near 50.  By early afternoon the rain set in and hasn't stopped yet this Monday night.  I think the forecast shows a "sun break" sometime this coming weekend...I think on Saturday.  Yep.  But it is NOT snow.  

         Sunday was granddaughter, Autumn's, 11th B-day.  She lives in southern Wisconsin.  We were together her first 9 years in Park Falls.  She had  two years of piano lessons with me.  These days she is into figure ice skating.  

Happy 11th B-day, Autumn!!

     Friday, Nov. 1 was my son, Gerry's, B-day.  He hangs out in Carlsbad, CA.  Not a bad place to be.

Happy B-day, Gerry!!

                                    Visiting Grand Canyon, Oct. 25, 2013

        These past 2 days I spent a little fun time composing a turkey song for Thanksgiving....actually a medley of 4 songs, maybe add a fifth.  The title shall be  "The Saga of Thanksgiving Dinner" or something to do with a live turkey trying to stay alive to be "The happy turkey that got away"  Gobble, Gobble.  The main song is the newly composed one, "Pumpkin Pie".  Maybe I'll be able to post it on the blog sometime this month.  Fun stuff.  Takes up time, but fun is fun.  And it makes me happy.  I'm not the only turkey around here.  Gobble, Gobble. 

        This has been a good 2 "start of the rainy season" days in the life of Grandma G.  

     "He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills."

(Psalm 147:8)         

Portland Chinese Garden/ Post Views.....8631

                                                        

        After a good workout at water aerobics I hurried home to get ready to spend the rest of the day with my younger friend, Kahana.  She invited me to go for a drive to Hood River for autumn scenery and fruit markets.  Since the weather forecast was for rain and strong wind Kahana chose to go into Portland instead.  
        She decided on the Chinese Garden in the middle of downtown Portland.  Inside was the quiet, beauty and tranquility one would expect.  

 









       We enjoyed a one hour guided tour which gave us an explanation and understanding of the concept and goal of an authentic Chinese garden.   "Balance" of opposites is the theme not only of the garden, but of all life.

Several balances of contrasts are included in the flooring of the garden.   

Beautiful furniture made from Rosewood.  (The garden was celebrating fall with a large display of chrysanthemums.)

       





   Authentic limestone rock formation from an acidic lake in China.

      No visit would be complete without a stop in the tea house for tea, almond cookies and........a marbled tea egg

           

      After tea time we ventured to the Portland Saturday market.....but that is for another posting.
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     Tonight we change back from daylight savings time to standard time.  This is the one time a year that one gets to relive an hour (withing the same time zone).

        I relived mine from 10 -11/10-11.   So this is only 10:30 PM.  

     This has been a good tranquil Chinese Garden day in the life of Grandma G.

      "Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind."
(Ecclesiastes 4:6)