T is for....

T   is for trouble!
And I'm in trouble for ABC Wednesday.   I started a story on technology (supposed to be funny) but I didn't have time to finish it.  Saw some cute little twins at the pool -- adorable!(Now you know I am in trouble because I don't want to use that overworked word,) but they wouldn't stand still for a moment -- in and out of the pool and the sand box then off for a nap, so I didn't even have a chance  to ask permission.

Then 'tangles' never being far away from my brain, I thought of that. But you have seen so many of those (which I actually call doodles, but my sister calls them tangles and we were together this week) so I didn't want to inflict that on you again.

Being right as close to the beach as a condo can get, 'tsunami' was on my mind, especially because they did actually have a tsunami warning --not a watch-- only a couple of weeks ago.  It didn't amount to anything, thankfully.  But if anything major happens in Alaska or Japan.....

Still not finding anything for my letter T, and here it is Tuesday, we went on a tour of our own, (that means we didn't have to pay for it, except for gas), and I saw masses and masses of tangles of a different sort than those created by humans.  So in desperation I took a couple of photos, and here I am at the deadline and TANGLES it will have to be -- but not mine or Kaybee's.

But please don't let my tardiness and unoriginality disappoint you this week.  I already have settled on U,V,W, X ,Y, Z  so it should be a terrifically easy to get these together for the next few weeks.

This is my post for ABC Wednesday for the letter T.  Please visit HERE to see others' efforts.  Our thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger Owen Green for
their moderation of this exceptionally successful project.

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY

This week's topic is   AIR  You might think this would be a difficult topic to portray, but I didn't really have to think about it much at all because of our recent travels.  So here it is:

But don't think that because it is just a little Inchie that it didn't take much effort to do!  Because I didn't have my scanner, I first had to draw the inchie on an inch square.  Then I had to photograph it.  Then I had to put it from my camera's memory card onto the laptop. Then because it was WAY too large I had to resize it.  Then I had to crop it, straighten it, adjust the color, and add a border.  None of these steps was a straight forward 'one time hit a button and save' process.  To start with I didn't know how to resize, but with my sister's help and some knowledge of Paint I did it.  I learned several other new things from this lengthy process, so it was all worthwhile. 

Behold my Inchie!!

To see more inchies please visit HERE to see Trillian's blog and others who have joined us.

A SNAPSHOT OF SCRUFFY

S is for Scruffy -- what else could it be?

The clock moved inexorably towards seven-o'clock. Scruffy stood up and stretched his stiff back limbs.  He had been sitting sentry duty at the patio window watching for  any stray cats since first light.

Now to move on to his second duty of the day, but first a short snack.  That done, he scrambled silently up the stairs to the only bedroom of significance.  There were two lumps in the bed, looking like sacks of potatoes, and they were giving off soft snores.  With a quick  leap and a chirrup he settled on the bed and began to purr up a storm. The bodies stirred a little -- at least one of them did . 'She' lay still, sleeping snuggled under the sheets.

Scruffy stepped lightly over the stationary body and saw 'his' hand move.  'He' waggled his fingers and that was the sign that it was time for sticky, salty kisses. Scruffy's kisses were not the slobbery kind  but were soft and warm; a genuine show of affection developed to show his sincere appreciation for being rescued from the shelter.  It hadn't been too bad there.  It was warm, dry and there was always plenty of food but Susie who shared his room along with several other cats, was sassy and spiteful.  Besides he would sooner have the solicitous attention from humans he could trust.

After sufficient finger waggling, and some gentle strokes over his silken fur, Scruffy slowly descended (to prevent the shock to his joints) to the floor again knowing that 'he', with a sigh and a stretch would follow shortly.  Seconds later he was bounding down the stairs criss-crossing in front of him. This was the part of the day that was super special. He waited at the spot  at the foot of the stairs.  'He' spoke to him gently and scooped him up settling him with one hand  securely under his back legs. His front legs hooked over the other arm.

"Shall we see what's out there, Scruffy?  Did you send off any scurvy interlopers?"  he asked. They walked to the patio window where from his new height Scruffy could sit in splendor and survey his domain.

After a few moments of this, it was time for a snack again then back upstairs to see if 'she' was stirring.  No such luck.  He knew that sitting on the bed would only send her back to sleep.  There was one way to get her to struggle out of bed, but he was much too polite a cat to do that.  Ooops! He shouldn't have even thought about it.  He could feel his stomach sloshing.  Oh dear, oh dear....
slurp...gulp...hiccup...too late...swoosh!

"Oh Scruffy!  She sat up swiftly and sighed.  Ah well, he thought sadly.  Mission accomplished.

This blog is my contribution to ABC Wednesday sponsored by Mrs Nesbitt and her colleague, Roger Owen Green.  To see more entries for this satisfying project please click HERE You will find it entertaining, informative and even educational.  Thanks Roger and Denise!

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY

The theme this week is Accessories.  I thought about reproducing the page from my windows memory that is named accessories but decided that might be more work than it seems, so here instead is my version of Accessories:

To see more Inchies on this subject please visit HERE

Sorry, this must be brief...got places to go, people to meet, things to see....catch you later!

BUSY DAYS

Everyone's busy this week with Thanksgiving.  I just have to get away from all the hype.  I hate what they've done to Christmas and Thanksgiving. So I'm outta here!

Sorry, one more doodle.  I did this one a few weeks ago and wasn't sure I liked it, but I find it sort of  'grows' on you -- no pun intended. I could call it Veggies, but officially it is in my book as 'Foliage'.

Now, for the people who think I'm too hard on myself, I have to say I quite like this and may try another one like it one day soon.  

Really, I am not quite so hard on myself as it may seem.  As I said on AJ's blog, I have an analytical mind by nature and by training. I've been taught that  there's always room for improvement.  In a high school of 600 I only ever remember one  student getting an end of term grade of A- in seven years. (Those were the days when everyone's grade was read out before the whole school assembly!  Imagine that happening today!) To get a B o r B+ on any assignment was a great achievement.  The theory was, no one can achieve perfection.  How different from today when everyone must win a ribbon so no one feels left out or inadequate.   If you reward everyone, no-one needs to put out a lot of effort. Ah well, I'm on a hobby horse of mine now. 

As an educator of the old school, with a few of the new school more humane refinements incorporated,  I'd like to see a lot more emphasis on achievement, effort, respect, politeness, consideration and a more realistic approach to evaluation.  Amazingly, my students really seemed to appreciate this.

'Nuff said.

I picked up some malware this week, so haven't done so much commenting on ABC Wednesday as usual.  Watch out for Snap Do which likes to hijack your browser and then collects mounds and mounds of information, clogging you computer.  My computer guy's advice is, immediately shut down you computer. That stops it collecting. Then scream for help.  We're all clean and up and running now.

As I'm not as organized as my sister (see there it is again!), I will try to be on time with the weekly projects, but can't promise.  We will be spending two weeks together and that will drive my husband batty because we are so much alike in what we do and the way we think.  He will definitely be in the minority.  We both mumble too!  (Inside joke).

R is for....

R is for....

RED

There are five different shades of red in this doodle (plus some shading and highlighting).

Read...

Raymond Richards rebuked himself roundly, realizing that Rita would see red when he told her that he had run a red light. A $500 fine was ridiculous but realistically he knew it was really what he deserved.  They wouldn't be ruined by the fine but their savings were rapidly dwindling and his real estate company was on the rocks due to the recession. Resources for college for the kids were drastically reduced since last year.  Then yesterday there was the red tag sale at Ross's where their daughter, Rosie, had ragged on them until they'd bought her a whole new wardrobe for next week which she would be spending with Rianna, a rich, Redlands coed, who somehow thought she was royalty and was relentlessly recruiting Rosie to the same rank.  Thank goodness Rick was not reaching for a similar goal.  He had the regimental leanings of Ray's father and relentlessly pushed himself towards that goal by first joining the ROTC.
      
Ray redirected his route by taking the ravine road down to the river to ruminate upon his revelations.  He turned off the radio which had been playing "Red River Valley" and was now recounting the latest responses from Red China to the recent re-election of the president.

Perhaps we will have to refinance our home, he thought remorsefully.  There'll be no more watching the Redskins at the stadium, he resolved. Resolutely he realized they needed to cut back rigorously on their recreational weekends at the Radisson Resort and Spa.  At least he had time to reverse their reservations for next weekend. 

It wasn't just the $500 he realized.  They needed to refresh and renew their budget rigidly.  But Rita loved their ritzy life style.  She reveled in her social contacts and she certainly wouldn't relinquish her role in the Red Hat Society.  But their bank balance was close to being in the red.

Ah well, it was beginning to rain and he was ravenous.  He could almost smell the redolent barbecue ribs waiting for him. As he pulled into his residence, Rover, his retriever came racing rambunctiously to greet him.  Rita was waiting at the front door.  His heart sank.

Well this is it, he thought ruefully,  I hope it doesn't end in a major row. He reluctantly moved towards the front door.  Rita, red-eyed and crumple-faced, rushed towards him.

"Oh Ray!" she recited, "I rear-ended a police car today!"  Then she burst into tears.

This post is for participation in Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger Owen Green's ABC Wednesday.
If you would like to see more of those creative entries please click HERE

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY

This week's topic is MANE:
(An Inchie is a piece of art done in any media  but it must be on one inch square)

Hmm....

This has not turned out quite as I hoped.  I wanted to get the idea of movement -- a horse either galloping or shaking his head.  I think I got that, but a bit too much hair.  Then I used the white pen that my sister introduced to me which is good in reality but doesn't reproduce too well on my scanner, so my horse looks a bit like a dog.  Ah well, there's always next week.

Please visit this LINK to see how others have done with this theme in one inch.

In the mean time, I have been practicing some new doodle designs and this one is the result:  My doodles are drawn on 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches with prisma colors and black pen.

I call this one Blue Fan. Needs a more imaginative title.  I'm open to suggestions.

Q is for...

Q is for....

QUINCY QUACKENBUSH'S QUANDARY

Quenton Quigley checked his cash quarterlies in his quaint old fashioned office when the next quarry of his quixotic temper appeared at the door. It was Quincy Quackenbush, one of a quartet of poorly qualified clerks. He was quaking in his boots waiting for the querulous old man to question him about the quantity of paper that had been used by the outer office in this last quarter.

"Twenty-five quires of quality linen-finished sheets," quoth the old man in his quarrelsome way. He moved his quartz paperweight, picked up his quill and quizzically checked the sets of quadrupled invoices in front of him.

Quickly, Quincy tried to quieten the old man by quoting his office mates.  "Quade says it was only 20 quires", he said, his voice quivering.

"Don't quibble over numbers with me," Quenton retorted, pulling his grandmother's quilt more tightly around his cold legs and trying not to think of the hot quail soup and quiche he knows is waiting for him at his dining table.  He took a quaff of his hot cider that was beside his desk lamp.  He was cold and hungry and Quincy quailed before the hard gleam in the old man's eye.

"I'll dock your pay by five quid this month, I will, and you'll give up your quota of vacation days too," the queer old man added in his quest to quash the extravagance of his employees.

At that, Quincy swiped at the quiff of hair that had fallen over his eyes, drew himself up tall and without even a qualm of nervousness he declared, "No you won't, because I quit!"

This is my entry for ABC Wednesday, begun and maintained by Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger Owen Green.  If you would like to see more interpretations of the letter Q please click HERE.

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY

Time  for another Inchie.  The topic this week is HEART: 

Valentines were never big in the U.K. when I was growing up.  Now, with the theme of heart, I couldn't think of anything but valentines.   This is my effort.

It reminds me of that song in Les Mis (one of my favorite shows), "A heart full of love..."

To see other interpretations on this theme, please visit Every Inchie Monday, HERE

WHAT AM I MISSING ?

Fall is almost over and winter creeps on.  We really don't get fall down here in San Diego, But look what I am missing....

Copyright Owen A. Jones

A spectacular photograph taken this week by my youngest son,  on the street where they live in Boise!

Maybe I do miss fall after all!