God's Country Revisited

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Early Sunday morning as I stood on the misty shores of Lake Wazeecha - - -

I tried to soak up some of the beauty with my eyes - - -

So I could savor it in my heart back home.

So still.
So tranquil.
So breathtaking.

I wanted to capture it with my camera lens,

So I could share it with you.

Splashes of color - - -

Are just starting to appear in Central Wisconsin.

They remind me of spilled paint.

Blue skies, green trees, sun soaked stone,

And red sumac

All along the way.

Au revoir, homeland - - -
Until next time.

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Lionicide Alert!!!

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We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog posts to bring this special news bulletin.


We have just learned that there was an attempted lionicide in a high school science lab near here today.


Apparently the class mascot was a bit disgruntled over his living conditions and threatened to remove himself - - - PERMANENTLY- - - from the lab.


In an heroic rescue attempt, the science teacher pulled him from his would-be guillotine, soothed his ruffled mane, fed him some animal crackers, and restored him to his rightful place as King of the Lab.

As this reporter left the scene, she heard the lion say, "Evan made me do it."

Absolutely no stuffed animals were harmed in any way during the production of this post.

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"Pining" For Home

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What is it about your childhood home that makes it, for you, the most beautiful place on Earth? How does "home" get such a hold on your heart that you find yourself "pining" to return.

Lately, I've found myself literally pining for the pines of Central Wisconsin.


These are my favorites. Eastern White Pines. There is something about their non symmetrical ragged silhouettes emerging above the forest canopy which draws me in.

They can stand alone. . .

Clump together - - -

Or march in columns.

I love the crunch of their needles under my feet.

Breathe deeply of their pungent sun baked perfume.

They are the sentinels of home.

(All photos taken at Lake Wazeecha on Sunday.)
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Get Your Vote On!!!

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Just got back from the eye doctor and ordering NEW glasses.

It all came down to deciding between two pairs.

While deciding, four of my students walked in and I asked them to vote - - - then I voted - - - my vote counted more than theirs. Here's the GREAT news - - - the pair I liked best was also $160 less than the other pair, and on top of that, when I showed Fisherhubby the two pictures, he pointed right away at my favorite pair.

I want to hear which pair you like. AFTER you vote, I'll tell you - - - or perhaps just SHOW you - - - which pair I got.

So, take a good look and then VOTE for "Keetha A" or "Keetha B" in the comments.

"Keetha A"

"Keetha B"

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Twining Threads

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It is clear to me that our lives are tapestries made of colorful twining threads representing all the people and events that have impacted us.

None of us are "self-made" nor do any of us "pull ourselves up by our OWN bootstraps."

We are what we are because of the people and events which impacted us AND the choices we made as a result of those impactings.


Meet Connie. Her life and mine have been twining threads since the summer before I started 6th grade. We were both in the same youth group as we traveled down those tortuous middle school and high school years.

Being older, I went away to college first and we lost touch for more than twenty years. Several years ago we reconnected and now Connie is a regular visitor to this blog. When I get up to Wisconsin, we try to get together.


I can't even begin to describe the huge impact Connie's thread is having on my tapestry now. She is an amazing lady.

We were able to spend several hours together last evening at that FAMOUS meeting place - - - CULVER'S.

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When in Rome - - -

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Stock Up!!

I'm in "Rome,"

So I stocked up!!!

GO BADGERS!!!
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Because I Was Just So Mature and Rational Back in the College Day

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This is one of my rare all words, few pictures posts. I THINK it might be worth the read, you'll just have to give it a try and see - - -

To say that I love college football is a gross understatement. I'm unreasonably, irrationally crazy about it.

Most fall Saturdays I start watching it at noon, flipping between AT LEAST four games all afternoon and evening until about midnight or so.

Crazy.

Hubby frequently BEGS me to change the channel, which request is met by a glare OVER the top of my glasses. "It's Saturday, and WE watch college football on Saturday," say I.

Tonight I'm getting a "jump" on the weekend football by watching Ole Miss battle with the Gamecocks of USC - - - THIS USC is the University of South Carolina.

Which has taken my mind back to my college years and this little tale which will demonstrate just how WISE and DISCERNING I was back in the day when it came to choosing who I would consider dating.

Once upon a college time - - - early in my freshman year - - - a friend of mine came to me and asked me to consider going on a double date. My half of this double date was going to be blind. Oh, my friend brought me an annual from the previous year when my date had still been a student at our school. So, I got to see an 1 X 1 (that's inches girls) black and white photo of this potential date before I made my decision.

Not much help, that.

My friend assured me that HE would get a date and THEY would be right there with me all the time. He also assured me that this guy was really great and I'd like him.

"How do you know he wants to go with me?" I queried?

"Because he was on campus earlier this week and SAW you and asked me to get him a date with you."

Do I BELIEVE this? Maybe a little - - - 18 year old girls LOVE to be flattered - - - they are just mature in that way.

I'd NEVER even considered a blind date before - - - - but somehow I was persuaded. I imagine being ALONE in South Carolina, 1,000 miles away from all my high school friends - - - did I mention I was ALONE in South Carolina, and bored and lonely on the weekends when all my new acquaintances went an hour or two HOME for the weekend and left me on a nearly deserted campus MIGHT have had something to do with it.

The night of the date finally arrived.

My friend had given me an accurate description of Mr. Blind. He was nice looking, a gentleman, fun, and attentive. We had a lot of fun on the date.

After the date, he returned to USC (University of South Carolina) where he was a premed student and I figured that was the end of that and I'd never hear from him again.

Aux contraire.

In a few days or a week or so (I don't remember - - - a LOT of water has rushed under the old proverbial life bridge in the past 37 years, you can't really expect me to remember a little detail like THAT can you?) I was summoned to a call on the hall phone in the dorm - - - that's right HALL phone. No cells, no phones in rooms - - - we SHARED the same phone in the hall, one phone per floor.

Anyway, back to my call. There he was. My kind blind date. He DIDN'T just go away and stay away. He was phoning to invite me to come to USC (remember - - - South Carolina not California) for the weekend and ATTEND A GAMECOCK FOOTBALL GAME.

I won't worry you with all the details he had worked out for me - - - - I'll just skip right to the "punch" line of this story which is: I said NO!!!! Me - - - the girl who ADORES all things college football - - - that girl - - - - SHE SAID NO!!!

What was I thinkin'!?! Well you might ask, and since becoming an ADULT I've asked myself that same question a million times. WHAT WERE YOU THINKIN', Keetha Louise!?!

Are you ready for this???? Are you sitting on the edge of your seat wondering WHY in the WORLD I said NO?????

You will be awed by the vast wisdom and depth of insight that I displayed in this decision making process:

I HATED WHAT HE HAD WORN on our date.

Did you HEAR that? I HATED what he had worn. HATED. And THAT ruined the whole thing and caused me to spurn him AND his football game.

Now - - - - are you ready to see WHAT he wore that was so horrible I couldn't ever be seen in his company as his date again?????

Well, bear with me here a bit. I can't FIND actual photos of the offending article of clothing since it has probably NEVER been in style AGAIN since the fall of 1972 and even then I think it was ONLY a style in North and South Carolina - - - one can ONLY hope.


It was a pair of fringed instead of hemmed khaki pants.

This pair isn't quite right - - - but it's as close as I could find. This pair HAS a hem which has become frayed with wear. The hem of HIS pants had been CUT off and then fringed by raveling out some threads.


And if THAT wasn't horrible enough - - - the pant legs were at LEAST an inch and a half ABOVE his bare ankles which were attached to bare feet that were stuck into penny loafers.

Girls - - - this ABOMINABLE style was all "in" for guys in the south that year.

I had never seen it before going south to school, and hoped to never see it again.

My own self-esteem was NOT strong enough to get past being SEEN in public AGAIN with THAT.

And so - - - I said NO!!!

See - - - I told you - - - I was just so mature and rational back in the college day.

"What happened to him?" you might ask.

He became a great and wise family doctor. He married the girl of his dreams, who loved him for who he was and not for what he wore, and together they raised a lovely family.

I, on the other hand, found fisherhubby, who as you have all seen, dresses just like a fashion plate EVERY DAY (especially when fishing.) And WE have had great fun together for more than 34 years and raised a lovely, if ROWDY and CRAZY, family which we wouldn't trade for all the USC (South Carolina) football games in the universe.

First photo from anaffordablewardrobe.blogspot.com
Second photo from mymanybags.blogspot.com

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Thrifty Thingies Thursday - "Tweet" Treat

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It's THAT time again!!!! Vintage Thingies Thursday over at Coloradolady and Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville.














Be sure you click on both of the icons or links above to check out what everyone else is posting.

Who remembers Saturday morning cartoons back when they were REAL? I'm not talking about the sharp angles and edges of Japanese Anime - - - I'm talking about the likes of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Mr. Magoo.


In 1973 Pepsi produced a Warner Brother's Collector's series of glasses featuring Saturday Morning Cartoon characters. Sometime circa late 1975 or early 1976 Hardees offered these glasses for a little extra with the purchase of a soft drink.

Fisherhubby and I were newly weds going to school and living on less than a shoestring.


We planned and scrimped so we could eat at Hardees (in Clemson, South Carolina) once a week when the new glass came out. (Win-win! Eat out AND get a collector glass!)


We ate small burgers and fries so we could afford the extra pennies to get two of each of the new glasses - - -


Week after week until the promotion ended.


We got two glasses because we EACH wanted one - - -


And when we got them home, we put one in the cupboard to use, and wrapped the other up in newspaper and stored it away to preserve it.

I don't remember now if we managed to collect ALL of them or not, but I do know these are what we have left - - - in mint condition - - - treasured for the memories.

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What's Better Than Watching Fishing Shows on TV?

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Depends on who you ask.

If you ask me, I'd say:

Just about ANYTHING
You know, like:
Getting your teeth pulled.
Having surgery.
Shaving your legs.
Eating liver and onions.
Watching football.

But if you ask Ole, aka Fisherhubby
He'd say:

CATCHING a Lake Michigan King Salmon just like this!

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Sunday Reruns - Better Late than Never

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Don't you just LOVE bloggy Sunday reruns!?! Thanks so much to Chari over at Happy to Design for hosting Sunday Favorites.

"A Girl in Every Port"
First posted April 5, 2007

That's what they say sailor's have, and Ole is no different. He went to Florida for one week, found his seaport gal, and here she is - - - -


Penny, the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). Ole took her under his wing and fed her fish scraps.


Here's where Ole met Penny - - - at the cleaning station. Look in the water behind the station and you will see - - -


The gaggle of other pelicans waiting to rob Penny of her delectable morsels. But never fear, Ole, ever the hero, chased them away and protected our fair damsel in distress.

For those of you who are unsure, Ole IS my fisherhubby standing on the dock cleaning fish. This post is MEANT to be a JOKE about his "gal in every port."
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Thrifty Vintage Thingies - "Calling All Planets . . . "

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It's THAT time again!!!! Vintage Thingies Thursday over at Coloradolady and Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville.














Be sure you click on both of the icons or links above to check out what everyone else is posting.

Let me rephrase that opening line - - - it WAS that time again.

You girls were together and organized and you all came to the party on time. I was like the foolish virgins who went to the wedding banquet WITHOUT any oil - - - I was caught unprepared.

So here is my post. The party's pretty much over - - - and I'm just now dragging my sorry self through the door. Well, the clean-up crew may enjoy hearing from me!!!

I swear, I just don't know what on this great big wide green Earth is WRONG with me this fall. Last fall I was able to bring home the school bacon AND fry up my blog in the pan, but this year - - - - - - - - - not so much!

Anyway, for my vintage thrifty thingie this week I give you this little rendition, and I PROMISE LaVoice, I had this idea in the back of my mind even BEFORE I saw your post today:


These hands belong to my friend Vickie. She is a modern girl. She has one of those fancy phones that takes, stores, and sends pictures. It can send texts lickity-split, clean the house, do the laundry, go grocery shopping, bring it all home and store it away in the freezer and pantry before you can say "Jack Robinson."

And Vickie? - - - her fingers just FLY over that phone day and night, she hardly even gets any sleep, shes' so high tech and highly technical!!!


These hands belong to Fisherhubby. His phone is even newer-fangled than Vickie's!!! He can hold his horizontal OR vertical, he just touches his screen and he's roaming the world wide web, checking his Facebook and buying swamp land in China. Why his phone will even transport him to outer space and back instantaniously just like Captain Kirk and the crew on the Enterprise.

I can't even turn this baby ON!!!! Once I tried to touch-type in my password and I contacted Venus instead. (Oh I do exaggerate - but not by MUCH)


Because you see, I am a VINTAGE kind of gal!!!! This is my phone. It can't take pictures. It can't text. (Well it used to, but I had that option deleted) It won't fix dinner and it can't solve the Earth's problems. It does wear it's bling well - - - though even THAT fad is now passe, being circa 1998.

To be honest, it's just a tad too complex for me, but it was the most basic model they had when my simpler phone died and I had do a FREE "upgrade" a couple of years ago.

As cell phones go, this one is vintage, obsolete, and thrifty.

JUST LIKE ME.

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Peep Show

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Make a Smilebox slideshow

Just a fun little peep show.

Who IS that person in the red hoodie and teal visor????

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