Monday, May 31, 2021

Memorial Day

 

I'll never forget the day the our elementary school principal came into our fourth grade classroom and took my classmate, Jamie, away with him.  His father had been killed in Vietnam and we never saw Jamie again.  RIP Sergeant Pirkle.

William Ithel Pirkle
Sergeant
D CO, 2ND BN, 27TH INFANTRY, 25TH INF DIV, USARV
Army of the United States
Hollywood, Florida
October 29, 1948 to March 23, 1970
WILLIAM I PIRKLE is on the Wall at Panel W12, Line 36

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

If this is Tuesday, it must be England #139


I collected stamps when I was younger but it was a passing phase.  Over my adult years, Mum would often send me first day covers of new stamps issued in the UK of special events - the weddings of Charles and Diana, and then of Andrew and Sarah Ferguson among many.  I keep my eye on the Royal Mail website and occasionally pick up a presentation pack for things that commemorate special events.

This set is coming June 24 and I will definitely be adding it to my collection.

Monday, May 17, 2021

Hello Monday

 

The weather:::
Three out of six days this week with "Sunbreaks".  Interesting.


On my reading pile:::
Finally made it to the library and picked up We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter.  Working my way through it at lunch time and on the bus home. 

On my TV:::
Finished the The Pallisers on You Tube and started Madam Secretary from the beginning again on Netfix.

Checked off the list:::
The closing occurred without incident on Friday but the buyer's attorney did not get to the town hall in time to record the deed so the deal is not quite final.  He has an appointment at 9:00am today so hopefully by the time you read this we will no longer own a home in Rhode Island.

Crafts Roundup:::
Sorted all the photos for the 2010 Family Album, they will be ready for pick up after work today.

And in other news:::
Still trying to get caught up at work from being off two days last week and now I've got my second COVID shot on Tuesday so I think I may be out a day this week.  There is just so much going on.  I made it to my rescheduled hair appointment and the guy came to de-moss the roof.  Unfortunately, the florist delivered flowers from Vic that same afternoon, just before the de-mossing.  He left hem on the front porch and the de-moss crew worked from the side of the house and the back.  They didn't see the flowers so when I got home, the arrangement was full of dirt and pine needles.  I gave them a bit of a shake and they're still going strong.

For those of you watching Atlantic Crossing, I don't know if you've seen the great feature on PBS' website, Fact or Fiction, for each episode.  It's a really great way to separate the history from the dramatization.


Mum would have been 95 today, Happy Birthday in heaven, Mum!

April 1957 with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, Dad was stationed at the Presidio, Mum went to work at Macy's and they rented an apartment a couple of blocks from the Marina, a location you probably couldn't touch these days for a king's ransom! 

Monday, May 10, 2021

10 on the 10th May 2021

 

It's a two post day as it's not only Hello Monday but time for 10 on the 10th.

May's topic is 10 Things You Hate to Do and I think Leslie's graphic has most of mine.

1. Cleaning the Oven - ugh, even with the self-cleaning function, it's still a chore.

2.  Exercise - let's face it, I'm just lazy so spending 30 minutes getting all sweaty is high on my list of things I hate list.  

3.  Drinking Water - that ranks up there with exercise, and I've tried everything to make it more palatable.  Nothing helps.

4.  Ironing - don't get me started.  Mum was an amazing ironer and I think I have a complex that nothing I iron will ever look as good as she could make it.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

5.  Clean house in general - there are those who love to clean and those who would love to have a cleaning lady.  I'm definitely in the latter category.  Daisy, my iRobot vacuum, has made my life a lot easier and I'm going to add her cousin, the iMop or whatever it's called, soon.  Now if they would just invent an iDuster!

6.  Cooking for One - SO boring!  Soup, sandwiches, takeaways, and frozen dinners are my elements of meal planning right now - not healthy, mostly not satisfying, can't wait for Vic to be home so I can cook for two.

7.  Most Reality TV - just not my cup of tea at all, but I don't want to offend anyone so I'll leave it at that.

8.  Gardening - no interest, no talent, but I love to admire the work of others.

9.  Poor Customer Service - how difficult is it to be helpful and polite?  A lot of salespeople act like you're trying to take a dollar right out of THEIR pockets when little do they realize that by making the slightest extra effort, they will retain a customer who will come back again and again.

10.  And to end on a humorous note - LIVER!  Yeuch.

Hello Monday

  

The weather:::
Things are warming up!  That's not a "Yay" exclamation, it's more like a "Yikes".  You know me, not a warm weather gal.


On my reading pile:::
Still working my way through The Village Vet by Cathy Woodman from my bookshelves.  I really want to move to Talyton St. George.  

On my TV:::
Finished up The House of Eliott, with abrupt ending, and moved on to The Pallisers on You Tube.  Sophia and I have watched it before and still use Lady Glencora's expressions, "Hey Ho" and "Excellent, excellent, excellent, Mr. Finn" when the occasion calls for them.
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Checked off the list:::
The appraisal is in and in the words of the buyer's agent, "We got our number!".  The new oil tank has been installed and all documents are signed, notarized, and in the mail.  It just remains to be seen how long they will take to arrive from Okinawa.  Closing date is this Friday.

Crafts Roundup:::
The 2009 Family Album is done!  It's 3 1/2 inches thick so I think I'm going to have to split it into two.  Next project:  2010.

And in other news:::
I was completely down on Monday and Tuesday with my back and stiff and sore Wednesday and Thursday although I did manage to get to work.  I had to cancel my hair appointment and I didn't make it up to see Sophia for Mother's Day.  I just didn't think I could handle 2+ hours each way and sleeping in her twenty-something bed.  It's more like a futon than a mattress!  We'll try again over Memorial Day weekend.

The dining room set finally arrived and it looks beautiful!  I need to find something to go down the center.  I tried out this set of mats but it still needs something more.


I had my three tier server decorated for Mother's Day and meant to put it up as my Friday Favorite but didn't get to it so here it is.  It's a tribute to Mum - the photo on the back left was taken as a gift for Dad when he was in Vietnam, next to it is a 3-D card from Hallmark that says With Love at the top and has a removeable "Happy Mother's Day" card that is hidden behind the Yorkshire Tea box which is in one of the cute marshmallow cups.  Next to that is a sweater that Mum knitted which is a cozy for your boiled egg.


The bottom tier holds Rae Dunn pots that say I (heart) Mom - the one at the back left has a white hydrangea and the one on the back right holds Daisy and Milly, little stuffed dogs that belonged to Sophia.  When my sister got married at Duns Castle in Scotland, the family had three dogs, Poppy was the mother and Daisy and Milly were her pups.  Sophia and Mum both loved dogs and spent time with them whenever they could.  In front of the hydrangea is a small Charmin bear that Mum gave to Sophia.  I think it was one of those supermarket giveaways, buy x number of rolls of Charmin and get a free stuffed bear!  Next to that is a booklet on Buchanan tartan, the tartan of Mum's maternal grandmother with a card I made for Mum one Mother's Day years ago.  The whole arrangement gave me a lot of wonderful memories of Mum.

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day!

Sunday, May 9, 2021

Happy Mother's Day

 


Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and caregivers of human and animal children.  To  my Mum and my mother-in-law in heaven, my sister, and to all my friends near and far, have a lovely day and I hope you are spoiled.

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Out for a Few Days

I'll be out for a few days - you would think I would have learned not to lift things by now but no. 

Office chair 1, Pamela 0

  I was off work Monday and Tuesday because I could barely get out of bed, slow and sore yesterday and today but I made it in.  As one of my co-workers said, "We'd rather have a slow Pamela, than no Pamela".  LOL, I guess they missed me.

Monday, May 3, 2021

Hello Monday

 

The weather:::
I think weather forecasters should come up with a new category for western Washington - "Partly" - that could be partly cloudy, partly rainy, partly sunny.  This week, the exception is Wednesday when it is Mostly!


On my reading pile:::
I got so immersed in National Scrapbook Day yesterday, I completely forgot to go to the library to pick up my hold book so I'll be shopping the bookshelves again.

On my TV:::
For any of you who took up my recommendation to check out London Hospital on Amazon Prime, I hope you weren't totally confused by the way it is listed.  Apparently, London Hospital is the US title, with Casualty 1900s as the UK title.  That is further sub-divided into Casualty 1906 (one episode), Casualty 1907 (three episodes), and Casualty 1909 (six episodes).  And to make it even more confusing, it's not to be confused with the modern UK program, Casualty, which is set in modern times, in the A & E (Accident & Emergency) Department, think ER with British accents.  It's a very popular program, 35 seasons so far, and available on BritBox.  I'll be checking it out this week.



I'm working my way through The House of Eliott on Amazon Prime at the moment.  I've watched it before, years ago, and really enjoyed it but I'll give you a bit of a heads-up, not really a spoiler, it ends abruptly after Season 3 when the BBC decided not to renew it.  Kind of leaves you hanging.

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Checked off the list:::
The suspense is killing me!  The appraisal is still not in yet.  Vic is waiting for documents from the attorney's office because they have to be notarized and returned by express mail.  The oil tank will be replaced on Wednesday and I hope to have lots of great things to report next Monday.

Crafts Roundup:::
Spent the entire day on Saturday continuing on with the 2009 Family Album.  It was National Scrapbook Day and since my local group didn't have a special event planned, I decided to just commit to working all day on the album.  I'm in to November now, the end is in sight.

And in other news:::
I teleworked on Wednesday so I could be home for the alarm and roof de-moss service guys.  The alarm guy showed up but the roof guy's truck broke down so that will have to be rescheduled.  It was a busy teleworking day.  I woke up Thursday with a splitting headache so called in to work to say I was not coming in.  I took some Tylenol, liberally slathered myself with lavender essential oil headache relief, and went back to sleep.  I woke up a couple of hours later and made the mistake of opening up my work e-mail - the appointment slots for next week's vaccine appointments were released so I spent some time coordinating that as well as taking care of other e-mails and answered a few phone calls.  Instead of a sick day, I ended up working a full day, just on a later shift.  

I received an e-mail to say that my dining room set is finally coming on May 25 but the company could deliver my order sooner than expected so I selected May 15 from the available appointment dates.  I can't wait!

I'm off to see Sophia for Mother's Day weekend, can't wait for that either!