Un-mentionables

You know that old saying...."Always wear clean panties because you never know when you might be in a car wreck"....Well, last year when I broke my ankle it was one of my thoughts as I lay in the rocks waiting for the ambulance. Yes, my underwear was clean but it was so old and stained you probably would have never believed it. I told myself that I needed to take care of that.....well, here it is is a whole year later and I am  just now am getting that done...(did I ever tell you that I procrastinate?).

Shopping for lingerie always seems to be such a chore! But, I thought I would really take a big step and go to one of those speciality stores that will fit you for a bra. I don't know if it is just the store I picked but what a joke....three rounds with the tape measure and I was fitted or at least knew my size to shop for as she explained. I hauled my little butt back to Penny's and after looking at racks and racks and sales and sales I finally got 6 new pairs of panties and 3 bras and they even match:)

One of the biggest problems for me is that there is so much to choose from and they never have what I bought last time.

The panties I got this time are nylon/spandex Lycra and I mean to tell you...it is like wearing nothing!  Oh, my pocketbook is lighter too.....over $100.00 and they were on sale and with coupons!  I do feel better though from the inside out:) 

Did you know?

The magnificent Dalmatian

was originally bred and trained for the specific purpose of preventing highway robbery?

Dalmatians, or "coach dogs," ran alongside of horse-drawn stage coaches

and acted as a buffer and bodyguard to ward of robbers, also known as highwaymen.

When the first fire engines arrived on the scene

it was only natural to chose Dalmatians to assist them, since the breed was accustomed to running long-distances and to being around horses.

 Their bright white coats, covered with large black spots, made them a highly visible warning sign to bystanders and onlookers, as the dogs ran ahead of, and cleared the path  for, fire engines racing towards a fire.

Of course today they are no longer needed but fortunately, Firemen did not fire the gentle Dalmatian from his position in the  Department. Instead, they honored him, by adopting the breed as the official firehouse mascot.

I got your back

I have two long haired Chihuahua's

Little Bit

and

Max

They each have their own bed

But............... this is how you will find them sleeping

Between the end table and the wall and butt to butt....



The Siamese fighting fish (Betta )

This is Charlie...a new edition to our home

He is a betta, a fighting fish so apart from a female he has to live alone.

 The males are ones with the beautiful colors as seen in so many species.

The reproduciton of these fish is quite interesting.....

The male betta will flare his gills, twist his body, and spread his fins if he is interested in the female. The female will darken in color, then curve her body back and forth as a response. Males build bubble nests of various sizes and thicknesses at the surface of the water. The act of spawning itself is called a "nuptial embrace", for the male wraps his body around the female; around 10-41 eggs are released during each embrace, until the female is exhausted of eggs. The male, in his turn, releases milt into the water, and fertilization takes place externally. During and after spawning, the male uses his mouth to retrieve sinking eggs and deposit them in the bubble nest (during mating the female sometimes assists her partner, but more often she will simply devour all the eggs that she manages to catch). Once the female has released all of her eggs, she is chased away from the male's territory, as it is likely that she'll eat the eggs due to hunger. Henceforth, the eggs remain in the male's care. He carefully keeps them in his bubble nest, making sure none fall to the bottom, and repairing the bubble nest as needed. Incubation lasts for 24–36 hours, and the newly-hatched larvae remain in the nest for the next 2–3 days, until their yolk sacs are fully absorbed.

Can you believe it....the only role the female has is to get squeezed! I want to be a betta in my next life haha.

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

The fat lady sang....

I grew up in this grocery store and before it was "Zettler's Market"  (my maiden name),  it was my Grandparents bakery. It has been a working establishment for  90 years or more so I was shocked to find it closed while giving my granddaughter a little tour of my old hometown.

I wanted to spend some special time, just my granddaughter and me (she is 13 Years). I tried to figure out something special..... As I contemplated my own grandparents the thing I wished the most is that I would have known more about their lives. My maternal grandmother came to the U.S. on a boat from Sweden and spoke no English...My paternal grandmother worked in a boarding house and birthed my father at home. I so wished I would have asked them more questions but when you are young you just don't think about things like that, so it was decided. I would take my granddaughter to my old hometown where I grew up in the grocery business, went through all  12 years of school, and got married. I figured she would probably be bored, but boy was I wrong. She was full of questions and of course we took pictures of her in front of my old house, and the little church where I got saved and married...

I told her all the funny stories and the sad happenings that occurred over my 19 years of living in this little town. I brought pictures of what it looked like...way back when and even a picture of me at her age.

We even visited the old graveyard and she took pictures all along the way.

It ended up being pretty special for the both of us and a time we neither will forget:)

Oh, did I tell you that she is beautiful?



On the drive home the subject of politics came up and of course Grandma can get a little on her high horse on that subject.....Granddaughter says "Tell me more Grandma...that don't teach us that in school".

The lesson............Pass it on.

Anniversary

Today is a mile marker for me....exactly one year ago today I broke my ankle

Three bones broken and one a compound fracture.....

After surgery that added screws and a steel plate to put it all together........

Months of therapy and today...

Almost as good as new!!
The left is always a little larger now but I am so grateful to have good use of it.......

Book

If you hadn't noticed the  bookshelf on my sidebar I would like to invite anyone interesting in reading books to join me on  Goodreads.  You can email me your email address and your name and I will add you as a friend:)

I mostly listen to audio books while knitting, sewing and going about my work. You can download a book free from your local library.

I just finished a really good book.......

that was inspired by this picture taken by Lewis Hine.

"Counting on Grace" is a historical fiction book about a young girl working in a textile mill at only nine years old. Child labor was a huge problem here in the U.S.  in the early 1900's and in 1908 photographer Lewis Hine was hired by the National Child Labor Committee to document these many sad situations. Even with all these many photographs

 it wasn't until 1938 That Congress passed the law that stopped child  labor.

At the end there is also a interview with author Elizabeth Winthrop that is just as interesting as the book itself.

A privileged 4th of July

One of the owners of  the I and J restauarant  is from Poland and after much hard work, she became a U.S. Citizen on this forth of July. I had never been to one of these services before and must say it was a privilege. There were 300 people from 60 different countries being sworn in as American Citizens after meeting all the requirements and passing  the test.

There were camera's..........

a full auditorium of friends and families

People helping the elderly that didn't speak English (there is an exception for those over 65 years)

There were speaches and music and at the end of the ceremony they played the song (I am proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood).......all   300 stood and sang as they waved their flags.  

Congratulations Izabela!! We are proud of you......................