September 28, 2010

A John Cleese Eulogy











A nice way to have a funeral might be to have someone like John Cleese - or better yet, the actual John Cleese, to come and discuss your life with those gathered. It occurred to me remembering a travel piece I once read about Egypt where the writer very cheerfully outlined all sorts of concerns such as microscopic bugs in the shower water found in lesser hotels that could invade your brain but never mind that, the very air is rich with history - oh, but don't even think of putting your foot in the river, shudder the thought, but oh, the pyramids, the glory, the mysterious allure, and wait, did he mention the nasty habits of camels and that they spit and bite?
For every pro there was a con but all delivered in the same cheery, let's just take in in stride, it's travel, you know, ever the adventure. Crazy world. The article, mislaid, probably not as absurd as I fondly recall but that was the impression it left, and while it was not written by the lovely John Cleese, it most certainly had that tone, that brilliance.
So what if you had died and there you were, in some casket with people milling past, oh, sniff, she was a nice woman, and for the eulogy, John Cleese steps up. He clears his throat and begins to summarize your life in the same tone, "oh, it was such a well-lived life, the sunrises and sunsets, true, there was that five year period, rather bleak that, and expensive, the medication alone, oh but moving on, she never let anything get her down except for that time in Fresno, that was bad, but ever the trooper, she practically rolled through the next six or seven years until she hit her proverbial wall, ouch - that smarted, but once they paid off that bloke, things turned around for the better....
“A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants” ...not a bad send-off.
An added note - my own fact-checking, usually done prior to a posting, turned up this wonderfully loving tribute by the Python crew to Graham Chapman at his memorial service way back when...

September 26, 2010

Sunday Quote













Elke outjie,
het sy lied:
krokodil
en zoeiii-muskiet,
elke
kokkerot
of sysie
met sy
eie sysiewysie.
Elke gogga, elke mensie
elke omie met sy pensie
moet kan skinner, krys of kweel
kwinkeleer of koer of neul.
Of dit fraai, of goor of gek is,
jy moet sing soos jy gebek is.

Everybody has a song,
be it short or be it long,
in the right or in the wrong key,
like the hee-haw of a donkey,
twitter, tweet, tu-whit, tu-whoo,
howl or growl or quack or moo.
Everybody has a song
and must sing it all life long.
Don't be silent
nor afraid,
you must sing
as you've been made.

- Philip de Vos, Under the Spell of the Moon

September 25, 2010

deep sigh.

I will not survive seven more years of middle school and high school. Two children through all ready. The third one might do me in.

September 24, 2010

Any thoughts on raw honey?
















We have been enjoying a large jar of raw honey this summer that my daughter purchased at a farmer's market. Usually we get the little supermarket bears because I'm a sucker for the packaging. Having read recently about the medicinal purposes of raw honey especially for sinus etc. I just purchased a jar of something that is really super raw honey with all sorts of unfiltered and vaguely alarming bits of stuff in it - it tasted a bit wonky too. Thinking of tossing it but it was very pricey at the Health Food store - anyone ever try anything similar? (For tea, I will definately go back to the filtered raw honey or the wee bears but this is supposedly for health benefits).

September 22, 2010

Knights and Ladies and Patchwork to boot


















I loved the castle and the paper royalty featured at a children's exhibit at the National Gallery of Scotland. Nearby a store was featuring all sorts of lovely sweaters and such but I liked this hodgepodge window collection. I am in a colorful mood, must be the cherry iceys we got from Rita's - tried the sugar free kind - sort of miss the sugar rush (!) but we still have cherry pink tongues all the same.

September 21, 2010

Can you be homesick...

















for a place you only were in for a week? Have you ever taken to a place so quickly that it seems strange that you are not living there? I think of all the daily goings-on and how it all went on before and now after and that it will probably be a couple of years until I get back...maybe it's growing up Scottish-American, it was just natural to have it feel so right, so at home.

September 19, 2010

Sunday Quote














I skipped over water,
I danced over sea,
And all the birds in the air
Couldn't catch me.

- Mother Goose

September 18, 2010

In a pickle














in a number of ways...maybe fall will untangle it all.

September 12, 2010

Sunday Quote

















Just get it down on paper, and then we'll see what to do with it.

- Maxwell Perkins

September 11, 2010

September 10, 2010

encounter with a gardening fairy





















The Farmer's Market on Sunday had more than just lavender cookies (yum!) and veggies and the usual animal pals, walking trails, dappled sunlight, you know the whole country wowza thing that makes your brain smile...the gardener turned fairy was leading fairy walks (we remembered our walks with the fairies from years ago)...she was gracious enough to show off her self-made wings - hangers and stockings and paint held on with some bikini bottoms - inventive to say the least. We missed out on our Vermont days away so this held a hint of it.

day at the farm





September 8, 2010

September 5, 2010

Sunday Quote















Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts.

- Charles Dickens

September 3, 2010

Love Your Dog Groomer! I do :)

















I love me a dog groomer :) so here are a few pointers about dog grooming that might not be common knowledge. If you use a dog groomer - please tip them! It is customary to tip them. Something I did not know when my incredibly gifted and wonderful and dog- adoring brilliant dog grooming daughter became one. So when you come and pick up your sweet nipster - don't just thank the groomer - tip the groomer. And if there is something you don't like about the groom - tell the groomer (in a nice way, of course). If your groomer is a good one, they will appreciate the feedback and adjust the groom the next time to your desires. And if they are all huffy about your suggestions - well - maybe that is a good sign to get thee to a new groomer.
Also - please - just like your own hair needs brushing, so does your dogs. But a matted dog is not like your hair with tangles - it actually hurts the dog's skin and can make the dog anywhere from uncomfortable to ill and then your poor groomer has very little choice most of the time but to shave the dog down (think how embarrassed poor Fifi will look starkers on the street).
And don't be all hey only wussy dogs get groomed. Labs get groomed, pit bulls get groomed. This I also did not know. They get nails and ears done and paw pads and bathed and something alarming called a "sanitary" that I will not speak of here - but the dogs leave the salon a heckava lot healthier for it.
I wince to hear all the rude comments, no tips, dogs in bad condition, etc. that come my daughter's way. This is a professional gig, most groomers (the good ones) have gone to school quite awhile for it (do you know how many dog breeds and dog cuts there are to learn?), must also know a lot about psychology (canine and the often more ill behaved owners), can spot if your dog has something wrong and alert you to it, have expensive tools they purchase themselves, and understand that it is a profession - attend trade shows and keep up on the latest things in the field and work long and hard to make your dog look and feel fabulous. And mostly, the best thing, the majority of people in this field are not in it because they settled...my daughter is a bright and shiny penny, smart as the proverbial tack, and just loves loves loves dogs. Your dog should be so lucky to encounter her.
So pass it on, spread the love. Give your groomer some kind words and respect, and a nice tip to boot.
And if your groomer happens to be a gorgeous Celtic beauty with a magical way with dogs...well, lucky you, you might just know my groomer.

September 2, 2010

love is the best endeavor













Run like a race for family
When you hear like you're alone
The rusty gears of morning
And faceless, busy phones
We gladly run in circles
But the shape we meant to make is gone

And love is a tired symphony
You hum when you're awake
And love is a crying baby
Mama warned you not to shake
And love's the best sensation
Hiding in the lion's mane

So I'll clear the road, the gravel
And the thornbush in your path
That burns a scented oil
That I'll drip into your bath
The water's there to warm you
And the earth is warmer when you laugh

And love is the scene I render
When you catch me wide awake
And love is the dream you enter
Though I shake and shake and shake you
And love is the best endeavor
Waiting in the lion's mane


- Iron and Wine, Lion's Mane