STILL CELEBRATING MY BIRTHDAY..... WHY NOT?!!

February isn't over yet, is it?!  

After being taken to the movies for my birthday the week before, then 2 movies in the theater ON my birthday, I came home and ordered a larger TV. Happy Birthday to me!! I just LOVE "the big screen" and wanted "more" in my home. It arrived yesterday and was set-up today. WHOOHOO!!  

While we're on it, is it "WHOOHOO", "WHOO HOO", "WOOHOO" or "WOO HOO"? Does anyone know which is most grammatically correct?  Please?

Ok, so back to my "celebrating"......... I received fresh flowers ON my birthday (Friday the 13th) - enjoyed lunch in South Philly with family the next day - the following day Brunch with family in Media - a good friend made lunch for me a few days before my birthday - a few days later, flowers, homemade chicken corn soup and homemade chocolate chip cake arrived with a full-day visit from out-of-town friends - dinner at one of my favorite restaurants that Friday night - dinner out with great friends earlier this week - fresh tulips from a friend last evening - and another friend took me to the BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM for the JAMIE WYETH Exhibition today (followed by a trip to SOMMERVILLE MANNING GALLERY for more JAMIE WYETH "indulging", then lunch out). 

THANK YOU ALL!! Life is good. 

I've been told that tomorrow is the end of the month and it's time for celebrations to end.  HA!

I will share photos of JAMIE WYETH'S paintings in my next post.

Stay tuned.............

Joan

WILLOW LOVES THE SNOW!!

She actually senses when the first flakes start to fall. She runs to where I am in the house, gives me a "stare" and a "bark" so I'll look out the window and there it is. Naturally she wants to go outside - NOW! 

Her FRISBEE is her "security blanket" and she doesn't like to go outside without it. Cracks me up! If she forgets it, she turns around immediately, runs back into the house, finds it and then out she goes, with all of her confidence.  She can even bark with that FRISBEE in her mouth!!

I'm not sure how much more snow we'll get this Winter, as February comes to a close...... wiping MUDDY DOG PAWS will begin soon enough.  UGH.  

Wouldn't change my life for the world. I LOVE my German Shepherd Girls!!

Joan

26-SECOND VIDEO - PREDJAMA CASTLE, SLOVENIA

I promised a video taken from the PREDJAMA CASTLE window, didn't I? Promises are often hard to keep, but this was an easy one.  

It was cloudy and drizzly outside and inside the stone castle it was naturally quite cold and damp. After walking up and down many levels inside, seeing torture rooms and all, I stopped at an open space and looked out over the countryside and was taken by its natural beauty. I wanted to capture not only the landscape, but also the "babbling brook" below.  Don't you love the term "babbling brook"???  Who the heck came up with that anyway???  

While I was filming, I heard a bell ring.  I smiled.  And then another bell ring. I nodded my head. Because at that moment I KNEW it was a "HELLO" message from my Mom and my Dad (who send me messages from Heaven on a fairly regular basis - and have done so over the past 15 years). It just makes me smile to know that they are still always with me and have figured out a way to let my heart know it.  

You'll need to be in a quiet space to hear it, but I hope it makes you smile too.........

BTW, we were there for over an hour and the only time that bell rang was during the 26 seconds that I was filming.  That's how I KNOW!!

Joan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and VALENTINE'S DAY TO ME!!

Ah..... it's FRIDAY THE 13th, it's MY BIRTHDAY and I could do anything I wanted to today. I love to watch a movie on the BIG SCREEN, so I saw 2 movies today (BIRDMAN and AMERICAN SNIPER). Yes, I even paid for both movies. Admittedly, years ago, I'd watch 2 movies, but pay for only one. I felt really "cool", like I was getting away with something, but now I can't live with the guilt. So, guilt-free, with a bag of popcorn in front of the BIG SCREEN, I was in HEAVEN. Had wood-fired Margherita Pizza after the movie - YUM. And I just poured a nice glass of chilled Rose Wine for myself (on to a Bordeaux next.....)

And so it's VALENTINE'S DAY tomorrow. Sadly no one has asked me to be their VALENTINE (yet). This happened last year....... And the year before that!! WHAT is going on?! Ok, maybe I need to ask a little LOUDER........

I hope YOUR VALENTINE'S DAY is a joyful one!!

Joan

BOOK - "THE OTHER STORY" by TATIANA de ROSNAY

Sorry folks....... The worst book.  What happened to the writer of "SARAH'S KEY"??  I felt like she did some research and then had to add every single detail that she discovered - overkill.  Not impressive. I really struggled to finish it and by the end was no happier with it, than I was halfway through.

Joan

BOOK - "VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT" by AMY TAN (no spoilers)

What an enjoyable book.  Almost 600 pages but I didn't want it to end.  AMY TAN told the story of Violet's life - a young girl in Shanghai who was forced into a life as a Courtesan. I had no idea before this book that a COURTESAN (a prostitute, especially one with wealthy or upper-class clients) and a CONCUBINE ((in polygamist societies) a woman who lives with a man but has lower status than his wife or wives) were two different roles. I also didn't know that men in China in the early 1900's were polygamists.  

This young girl, Violet had sheer determination, which drew me in immediately and kept me intrigued. And as my friend Lisa looks for, it has a "tidy ending".

A few excerpts that will give you a taste for why I enjoyed this book:

Page 4

Mother gave her to me when I told her I wanted a friend. The cat had once belonged to a pirate, she said, who named her Carlotta after the Portuguese king's daughter he had kidnapped. No one else had a pirate's cat, whereas anyone could have a friend. A cat would always be loyal, unlike a friend. Mother said she knew that for a fact.

Page 31

I had forgotten.  No one celebrated birthdays in the house. It was not a Chinese custom.  ......I was now eight, no longer the innocent little girl who trusted her feelings. I had once expected happiness and lately had received only disappointments, one after the other. I now expected disappointment and prayed to be proven wrong.

Page 114

How can a woman so smart become so foolish? It is a weakness in many people - even the richest, the most powerful, and the most respected. They risk everything for the body's desire and the belief they are the most special of all people on earth because a liar tells them so.

Page 115

"Only Americans think they have rights," Magic Gourd said. "What laws of heaven give you more rights and allow you to keep them? They are words on paper written by men who make them up and claim them. One day they can blow away, just like that."

Page 205

"Accept love when it's offered, Violet. Return love and not suspicion. Then you'll receive more."

Page 423

"The world does not care for the woes of another when they have their own," she said.

Page 465

"You nearly froze your little bum," she said. "What foolish things we endure for love."

I stiffened.  What was she saying?

She patted my back. "I have done it many times, to my detriment, but never to my regret."

Page 555

"He's a good man," she said. "Considerate. The best life you can have as you get into old age is good food, good teeth to eat it with, and few worries when you go to bed at night.  A good husband is extra and can vary whether the number of worries you have is more or less. Mine are less."

Joan

VET DERMATOLOGIST - WHO KNEW?!

The house sure was quiet on Thursday morning without WILLOW around.  Even if she's sleeping, I feel her energy and without her, it was so still........

No worries - it's nothing serious. THANK GOD for educated medical professionals. My sister's dog RUBY had to see a Dermatologist several years ago. I knew there were specialists for dogs/cats/horses and other critters, but before Ruby's experience I had never really given it any thought that there would be a need for a dermatologist.  But why wouldn't there be?

For the past 3 years WILLOW (she's only 4) has been scratching off and on, so my trusted Vet, DR. DAVE suggested it was probably seasonal outdoor allergies - treatable but not curable. Over a year ago he recommended that we try a drug called Atopica - daily pill at $6/day (regularly used by Vet Dermatologists to reduce itching). After a year and still some intermittent scratching I started questioning it. Basically I just don't like pharmaceuticals and prefer to avoid them if possible (for both myself AND my dogs). If there is a more "organic" way to treat something I prefer to go that route. So, I asked DR. DAVE if we could try something different.... blah blah blah..... which led to my decision to take her to a VET DERMATOLOGIST for a consultation. And we're off!

Jane's poor dog Ruby was diagnosed with skin cancer during her visit, so I was ready for anything (ok, I was worried.....). Thankfully it's just a large variety of allergies (trees, grasses, weeds, molds) for my precious WILLOW.

Under light anesthesia, 66 allergens were tested and we have now entered the world of me giving her allergy shots!! I gave the first shot yesterday and I was TERRIBLE - I put the needle in, she jerked, I reacted by pulling it out....... put it right back in, but the plunger was already pressed - so..... I have to wonder, did the serum go in the first time or did I accidentally press the plunger when I pulled it out, thus putting the serum into the air (or her hair)??

I'm resolved that I CAN DO THIS!!!

Shots every other day for a month and it eventually spreads out to every 3 weeks, just in time for my 3 week trip to Europe in May.  Phew!

Joan