bad day, followed by Good Day

Friday got off on the wrong foot and didn't correct until I found myself at the Cheryl Wheeler concert that night. Left my ticket on the dining room table, but the kind ladies believed my story and let me in. Being late I got lucky and scored a single seat, way up front and next to CW's niece - so there was CW talking to her niece when frazzled me arrived! It was a great concert and she was as funny as ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJaKqOzDvMQ

The day had begun early with Mom getting her dates mixed up for the haircut. We muddled through that, and someone trimmed her hair. After that we scurried over to St John's for the physical with Dr. B. - all went well - lunch and then home. Lots of complaining about the bad haircut, the sore toes, the floppy shoes. Always the floppy shoes. A "discussion" of footwear (hers) back at the apt was the end of my day with her, I desperately needed a break. After a long walk and back at the house, I was fine.
You can see what a nice person Dr. Bandi is. How lucky that we found her when we did. I don't think mom will like this photo of her "bad" haircut, if she ever sees it.

Saturday
Woke up to wind and blowing snow, which didn't amount to much. Realtor coming at 10:30 so I vacuumed up and down, having finished the wash/wax of kitchen floor the night before. The place has been transformed and is looking good. Spent an hour with Realtor #1, a very nice lady who seems compatible. I know she likes this house and I think she is smart and knows this market, yet I feel a need to interview a few others. Time is running out.

Picked up mom, and met cousin Diane and her mom for lunch. It was a fairly relaxing two hour lunch, I think the ladies enjoyed themselves and it was good to see Diane.

Afterwards mom and I spent an hour at Puddn'head Books, a new shop in Old Orchard. Here she is, looking for mention of her grandfather Maack in 'Early St. Louis:The German Community.' Sadly he was not mentioned.
Mom wanted to buy a book so we settled on "The Economist Book of Obituaries," concise, two page biographies of famous people, just the thing for someone with no short term memory who still enjoys reading.

Back at her apartment we did some organizing of papers and then I sat and knit a spell, finishing the amazing, ruffly scarf. I took a series of photos of her wearing it, as the sun streamed in and she seemed happy as a clam. All the discord of the day before never even happened. That brought us to 5 pm, yawn, and I took my leave right then. It was a good day!

Sunny Day St Louis

Late lunch at Brio ... the wine was good! And the lamb chops too. And the salad - wow - a two watch, gold star day! Gnawing on the chops, and food tasting like food! Yea, mom's back!
Started at the jewelry store, where we left mom's diamond ring to be enlarged. Off to visit dear friend Mary Ross who is in St John's Nursing Care, recovering from a stroke. As her son told us yesterday, Mary has her smile back, and this she does, she is looking great. She was snoozing when we arrived so we tickled her toe and she came to, delighted to see us. Had a good visit and were glad to see how much improvement she has been making. She'll be 92 April 19th, day before mom turns 88. We'll be celebrating together as usual. Mary's OT came and ran her through some exercises and then we decided it was time for lunch, nearly 3 pm, which brings us to this lovely photo of my crazy eyed mama, wearing two watches. After the tasty lunch we headed over to Kaldi's for coffee and chocolate which tasted like coffee and chocolate. Yea! Things were still good so I took her to the Kirkwood library, got on the internet and showed her my blog, which she marveled at. No matter that she calls it a glog and demands an explanation of the word. Delivered her home to the apartment and said g'night. It was 6 pm and I was done in, as was she. We'll be back at it 9 am tomorrow, when appointments begin.

Almost finished this crazy scarf for mom which I began last weekend - it's made of a flat tape, which is about 1/2" wide (wool/acrylic). It's five stitches across on size 5 needles. Looks like a ruff or an Elizabethan collar, or "an underwater growth," says mom.

Shreddin' out back

We have been working with inventor friend Dave Sampson to come up with a bicycle powered leaf shredder for use in our yard, the neighborhood and beyond. The design phase is closing in on teeth that truly cut leaves and we hope to soon add a bicycle component and get those many bags of leaves shredded and into the compost cycle. Pictured here, the hand crank version, are inventor and entrepreneur, Dave and Jack. Stay tuned...

Came across this wonderful film while cruising the net checking out links! Below the you tube link is the link to the Maya Pedal website. Very cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL1MqPeaerk&eurl=http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:hAT8Pp97WeQJ:www.howtoons.com/post/maya-pedal/+maya+pedal+bike+machines&&feature=player_embedded


http://www.mayapedal.org/bicimaquinas/contenido_in.html

Furry friends unite in Abilene, KS

We were awash in rabbits this weekend in Abilene!

It was a fun time, a "first" for me to visit a rabbit show. Here is my friend Denise who yesterday pulled maybe a fourteen hour work day, first feeding all of her critters at the home farm and then loading eight bunnies and Bailey (Yorkie pup) into the truck before heading to Abilene. She got set up before I arrived at the fairgrounds around 6 pm. The evening show began at seven pm and after much poking around and misc photo taking I bailed at midnight. Denise stayed for Best of Show, and collapsed back at the motel around 1 pm. Red wine and conversation. Yikes. These bunny folk work hard days.

She was back at it this morning, much earlier than me, and still hadn't shown her bunnies by 4 pm when I headed back to Manhattan. Lots of waiting around and talking rabbit at these shows.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the cute kids cuddling their bunnies, what a patient and caring bunch of kids. And lots of 'em - bunnies and kids. Rabbits are huge in 4-H around here and many adults catch the bunny bug too. Witness Denise and her cast of characters. Lucky for us the weather was dry and snow didn't amount to much.

Don't go to Abilene to dine, but do expect to spend some money at the Shivering Sheep yarn shop if you're into fiber (open Thurs-Sat) and visit the wonderful and endlessly fascinating hardware store across the street, on this the main street, Buckeye. It is one of those hardware stores that inspires Projects. I got lost in there and can't wait to have an excuse to go back. Thank God for such hardware stores. Abilene has many antique shops, in fact one woman said "if not for the antique shops, downtown would be empty." She's right, they are amazing and everywhere.

Check out my pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/salsamama1950/AbileneRabbitShow?authkey=V4y9sW8QdAs&feat=directlink

Also, here's a link about the breed Denise loves most, the satin angora's - so fluffy and easy to love:
http://www.glauserweb.ch/satinange.htm

More later, off to see The Pink Panther... a valentine treat!

No germ lab in cattle country!

Tuesday, Feb 10, was the day Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius visited Manhattan, KS's Level 3 germ lab (which isn't usable yet due to safety hurdles yet to clear and money problems no doubt) at KSU's Pat Robert's Hall. We were there to greet them! They were in town to celebrate the decision to place a federally funded Level 4 lab here in KS, adjacent to this building. Bye bye Plum Island, hello Manhattan, KS. Yikes! We have concerns.

Check out the photos, it's always good times visiting with friends on the protest lines...

http://picasaweb.google.com/salsamama1950/RecentlyUpdated?authkey=KX5K4BNdh3w&feat=directlink">

And here an article about the visit:
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090211_4394.php

Turning 22 at Dempsey's Pub

We had a blast in Lawrence the other night - Peter's birthday, Feb 8th, he turned 22 - listening to Peter and his new band The Sunflower Colonels. They were great and there was a good turnout at Dempsey's Irish Pub to hear them. Fun time! (We had to limit Ana to one Pepsi - she was having too much fun!)

Check out the Colonels...here are some tunes to listen to:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=184446141

Full round of the evening's photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/salsamama1950/Dempseys?authkey=Pc52hVCpkTQ&feat=directlink