Dogwood days

Meet our newest addition to the front yard. The Pink Dogwood! We are so happy this tree survived last years drought. I spent many days hauling dishwashing water out to many plants. I could not stand the idea of tossing out the water and the plants were thirsty. I have a dripping kitchen faucet and I keep a large watering can in place to catch the drips. The water conservation has now become a part of my daily routine. The plants enjoy the attention

Grandma Rose

Teddy needed reasurrance that Grandma Rose will always love him.

Spring Beauty

Oh, I got to take a rare picture of a Spring Beauty in my front yard!

Snowball

Snowball has gone home to her family. She had been missing from home over a month. She lives over 10 miles away and we can not figure out how she arrived at my door. There are three major roads and an interstate between our houses. After having her live on my front porch for a week, I discovered that she had a tatoo on her belly. Todd helped hold her and we were able to write down the numbers.....02-.... The next day I called the Knox County Animal shelter. They encouraged me to bring in the cat and they would scan her to determine if the cat had a "chip." The cat did not enjoy the car trip across town nor did she enjoy the wait in the shelter office. It was very small and busy. A lady was there turning in her two labadors, saying she did not want them anymore. She was told by the shelter lady that because this was an owner surrender that the dogs could be killed that day if there was no room. She was also informed that between 40 to 50 animals A DAY were brought into the shelter. She let them go anyway.
The cat was scanned and we heard a BEEP! What great news. A phone call was made and it was discovered that the cat's registration was in a box somewhere and not in the computer. I was told I could leave the cat and they would take care of contacting the owner. The registration was from 2002 and there was a chance the cat's owners might not be found. I said, I will take her home, you call me later. Several hours later I received a phone call and was given two numbers. The shelter lady said a strange thing happened. She opened the box for the 2002 cards and this cat's card was the first one in the box! On the second phone call I made, Lisa answered and was amazed to hear the story. She at first could not believe me because she had almost given up hope. Lisa then told how she was moved by the Easter service at her church and had prayed that her cat would come home. She then told me that cat's name was Snowball.
A wonderful reunion happened a few hours later. Her son said that Snowball had lost a tremendous amount of weight. He also said that maybe Snowball had left home because he had paid more attention to the other cat in the family.
I hope they send a picture someday, I miss Snowball. Cherry does not.

Oh, ahhhhh

Sometimes you just have to stop working on something. Have you ever noticed the how many times " It is finished" is said in the Bible? Moses said it, Jesus said it, God said it. There is something very satisfying about that word. Looking toward completion with eager anticipation... not of having nothing to do but of being able to start something new. Completion...new concept for me.
I discoved that I could remove and rearrange the granny squares and I did so to correct some obvious only to me, errors in the color pattern of this afgan. It calmed down quite a bit, isn,t perfect, but it is finished.

One of those days

Well, it just seemed like one of those days today. I had to go get me some doctoring today after my dag burn cat chewed on my finger like it was a tasty chicken bone. Now I hollared, it did, real loud and serious like. Why you go and do that for, cat, I said, I did. Well that cat up and sashed out of the room, totally satisified that it had done runned off the invader, not noticing that I was the one skiddadling, not the new cat in the window. Well I got me a shot, some funny looking blue pills, and a Taz bandaid. Well my Mom used to say that I would get hurt , just to get a pretty bandaid. Now I remember what happened this morning....."hummm, cat is looking crazed, great time to get a bandaid!!!"

I took my finger, and "Porch" for a walk and discovered these flowers in my yard. Amazing. I never knew there were so many different kinds.

Whos your Momma

Someone has lost their way and has ended up on my front porch. This is a very sweet, lost kitty kat that just wants to either go home or come inside my house. Gma has named the cat Lucky, but we shall see. Cherry is not pleased with the stranger outside and becomes a screaming banshee whenever Lucky looks into the house. I went to move Cherry from the windowsill so I could close the curtain. I was also afraid Cherry was going to give herself a heartattack. She attacks the window, flails about until she falls off the windowsill and starts again. I was in the wrong place and received several deep bites on my finger. Now I have had cats in my life, forever. Never have I been bitten like this. So, after the cable guys show up, I am off to the doctors for a tetnus shot.
Oh the joy of pet ownership.

Rainbow Afgan

Mom and I started this Granny Square Afgan last year but never did we expect it to grow so large. There are 120 squares! First we put together an afgan for Mom. We had rejected a pile of squares because of bad color combinations. These became the core of my afgan. Mom and I worked on the squares while she was recovering from her fall. We wanted each one to be different so we had to get creative with color "themes". So,there are Holiday themes, High School and Collage themes,and some matched our favorite Cold Water Creek advertisements! Needing more ideas we would chose three random colors each other. We asked Gpa to go chose three for each of us. We even spread them out on the couch and closed our eyes and chose three. We always had to use the three and we came up with some unexpected squares.
The rainbow theme finally gave us plenty of ideas to finish the squares. Tell me what your think about the afgan!

...A writer needs three qualities; creativity, originality, clarity, and good short-term memory

Drought

Paul and I attended a program put on by the UT Tree Arboridum Club, which we are members, about the affects of last years drought on our trees. The speaker was a professor from UT who specializes in researching how stress affects hardwood plants and trees. She showed charts depicting the rain amounts over the past 100 years. The last low percipitation date was during the Dust Bowl years of the 1920-30s. She then drew our attention the last years drought mark. It was off the chart. Last year's drought was the worse it has ever been since weather tracking began. The big surprise of the evening was that the Easter severe Freeze did more damage to our trees then the drought. She said three events could give many trees the "strike your out" blow. The drought, the freeze, and deer and bug populations. These populations were desperate for food and dined heavily on any available green. To check for freeze damage on your tree, look at the bark near the base of the tree. If it is soft, falling off, or can be peeled back, your tree is in danger or is dead.....
sigh

Hiking with the leg

Last weekend Paul and I experimented with the new knee/leg and took it for a walk on the Nature Trail at Frozen Head. I have to report that I was able to walk a least one mile, with the only damage done being the mysterious stuff stuck to my shoes. We cruised downtown Oliver Springs and found the Library / Historical Museum open. It is located in an old Train Depot, well done and interesting place. We tried to take a photograph of a picture on the wall and the Librian felt sorry for us and photo copied the image. It is a composite of grade school children dated 1930 - 1933. Some are labled and we found Hazel Hill, Paul's Mom picture. There are many familiar last names, one being Josephine Whalen, so we were both excited about this find. We celebrated the day by chowing down on a pizza at Big Ed's in Oak Ridge. My skinny new self rarely eats pizza so enjoyed every crispy, cheesy bite. Great day. Wish you are could have been there.

Found!

Camera has finished hiding and returned home. Whew, I am so happy. Camera was hiding in a new "safe place" in my car. I rarely drive the car and thought I had driven the van when I last had camera in my hands. So, three things have now returned home 1) Camera, 2) Brown knitted scarf, 3) Jewelry box......all were in " safe places "... Lesson learned. My "things" are in more danger of me hiding them in "safe places" then they are from the world.......

Lost

At this moment, my camera is not with me. We have parted ways and I feel a great loss. The last time we were together, I took pictures of the sunrise at Weems Road. Afterwards we parted. I do not know where and am certain that I am uncertain of the parting. All I know is we are no longer together. I am grieved more than I can say, not only in the loss of a "thing" but at the realization that I just do not remember where I put the camera. How did this happen? How foolish and forgetful on my part. Was I in a hurry, did I walk off and leave it in a store, or most importantly, did I put it in one of my "safe places"?
Maybe camera will return, maybe I will learn from this, and maybe someone else needed camera more than me.
Camera, if you are reading this, come home, all is forgiven and I will be more careful in the future........

Belly Blues

I got the belly blues, and I will play a tune for you u u u ....

New Year

New plans, dreams, directios. Cousins growing into Brothers and Sisters. Patterns everywhere around us. We are woven together as a family, a part of this beautiful world. Our Fathers on earth are guiding us to our Father God. God continues to weave, paint, and order this world, showing us his Glory in the earth, sky, sea, and love found in our family.

Scott's birthday

We had a wonderful birthday party for Scott at Gma and Gpa's house. The cousins always enjoy spending time with each other. Some people play cards, others play foodfall, talk. Our "cousins" share a couch.

3 movie stars

Andrew

thanks scott

....if only Todd had not yelled

"Land Shark!!!"


Fortunatey for the Burka Cousins, Scott was able to hold on and kept them all from floating off into

space, the great unknown....

Christmas

Christmas on the beach with the Burkas and this is the photo I chose to tell the story. No matter where we are, how we feel, how old we are, how we toss and turn, struggle, rebell, follow, or lead, our Mothers will always love us.

That is the Christmas story.

Love

We are imperfect people in the way we love ourselves and others.

Only God can love perfectly.

30th Wedding Anniversary

and still in love

Cherry Berry

This is one of Cherry's favorite books. She just was reading another chapter and dozed off. Cherry is very sick and will not be with us much longer. She has contracted FIP, the same virus that killed YAK. We are heart broken. I believe she is a carrier for the diease and she gave it to YAK when she moved in..Now it has progressed from a runny, very wet nose, to a big fat swollen tummy. The tummy will press on her lungs and make it hard to breath, or press on her stomach and make it difficult to eat. The virus also attacks the blood and depletes nutrition , so she will starve. The vet said that now is not the time, because Cherry is still happy, eating and playing, so now is not the time. The time will be later. Five percent of cats recover....maybe...just maybe...

Seriously?

"Seriously Maury? " You really think Aunt Janet Rose and Uncle Paul are cool?" "Seriously?"

and then there were two

Here is the new resident of 11724 Yarnell Road. If anyone wants any information passed their way, send one months rent of $200 to the above address. Phone calls will be billed at $20 an hour. Photos are not allowed at this time due to processing fees.

Hairy Story

First I got a free haircut at the fair. My hair looked good, if you like having hair one inch longer on one side. Then I went to my hairdresser and told her to do anything she wanted. Well, she had been trying to dye my hair red for 20 years, so , that is what she did.
I am no longer a ditzy blonde, now I am a fiesty red-head.........

So, did I win any ribbons? Um , you bet!

Sam and Danielle

We were visited by Danielle again last weekend. She is Sam's friend.

We went to the Fair and

stayed and stayed and stayed.

"Exceptional Drought Level"

The weather has taken on a persona of it's own. IT It never rains, never. I did an internet search using just the word Drought. NOACC displays various maps, predictions, satellite views and all are so depressing. Guess which state is the "star" of this exceptional drought, okay, you know, it is TENNESSEE. We are now Big Dried Out Country. One report says that we need 18 inches of rin to get back to normal.
You have all seen the weather maps with the little thundercloud predicting a possiblilty of rain. In Ireland the percentages are shown as 70%, 90%, or 50%. Here we get the little cloud with as little as 20%, now think about it, that means there is an 80% of sunshine. It fails to rains so the weather man just moves the emblem a few days further, trying to give a flicker of hope. I think the little tine green blogs that do show up once a week are just showing where the last green grass can be found. Sometimes the weather man will zooom far out just to show us that yes, Virginia, it really still rains somewhere in the country.....like in Texas.
We have only mowed the yard twice this summer. In a good year we have had to mow twice a week. We have picked the shrubs we will try to share and know we will lose the rest. The trees are dropping their leaves, trying to save their roots.
We actually got some rain yesterday. Comments heard, " What is that stuff?" " We used to have stuff like this when we were young, but I can't remember what it is called." "It has been so long since it rained, I didnt know how to open my umbrella" A few days before a man had stopped by the booth and told me he had heard a rumor that it was raining on Merchants Road.

I am sorry but the answer is NO

"Um, I told you yesterday that I would not refill your prescription. It is two weeks early, you do not have insurance, and it is made out for "Mr. Rogers", by Dr. Feelgood. "

"Next" ( oh no, it is that guy that always pays for the entire order with pennys.....sigh )

( Wait, is that lady over there shop lifting again? I hate working in a musuem drug store....)

My shadow

Sassy has been called my shadow. She stays beside me, watching, caring protecting. Always on alert.
I am never alone. What a comforting thought. Psalms 121, current favorite verses in the Bible, tell how God is with you ALL THE TIME. Paul and I read this passage before surgery and again during recovery times. I have enjoyed the wording in different translations.. Have a favorite verse? Try reading from as many versions as you can, the verse will grow in your heart. 'Shall I look to he mountain gods for help? No! My help is from Jehovah who made the mountains! And the Heavens too! He will never let me stumble, slip or fall. For he is always watching, never sleeping. Jehovah himself is caring for you! He is you defender. He protects you day and night. He keeps you from all evil,and preserves your life. He keeps his eyes upon you as you come and go, and always guards you.

Resilience

I just love reading Stacy's new blog. I feel like she is visiting, telling me about her day. She is such a blessing to the Whalen/Burka clan. Knowing Stacy, has made me a better, stronger person.

I have been trying to learn new words since I have been wearing out all my old familiar ones. Today I found the word Resilience. Resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back from adversity or to remain positive in the face of ongoing pressure. Resilience is often clustered with other personality characteristics, such as optimism and acceptance.

After therapy today I went to see a friend who had knee surgery, ACL repair, a few days after mine. We encouraged each other and compared purple ankles.

Andrew has mentioned moving out once again. I find that to be very sad, he has been such a wonderful help during my recent illness. He needs to go I guess

I will just have to be resilient

8 - 1 = 7

I wonder if today is a lucky day because of the date formula 8 - 1-=7 . Today is a much better day than yesterday. My new therapist and I overdid the three week old knee which resulted in some serious bed time for the last two days. This was a serious, stuck on the couch, poor old me and the knee kind of two days. I boo-hooed a bit last night, even cried a bit over my Yak Kitty. Mom and Dad came over to the rescue and were able to help me change my focus to completing a fun project...Thanks Mom and Dad......you guys are super...

Before the knee I was thinking

Hello Reading World,
I have had my left knee replaced and have been busy recovering. Knowing that the surgery was needed, I played until the last day. Paul took me on my third trip to Ireland in May. The trip came up quite suddenly and within a week, Paul and I plus Adam, Paula, and Victoria were boarding a plane to the Green Isle. We sat in the cheap seats , three across, and I had a very pleasant school teacher to my left, and my Paul on the right. When I go anywhere I try to observe, listen, and learn. My teacher companion was very shy, as was her husband. She had booked her flight six months earlier and found that when they were seated, they were not together, not even on the same side of the plane. As we were all settling in I suggested she speak to the stewards and make arrangements to switch seats. She replied, No, No, I could never do that. What a waste. What difference would it had made? Sure, sometimes when you speak to a stranger, "Excuse me, can I borrow your car?", now THAT might be considered forward, rude, even frightening, but switching seats on the plane? To be together on your vacation which had just begun and you had not had time to be over each other? I chose to be on my vacation and not mention a solution the second time. She and I talked then played with my new, way cool, Brain Age Game. What did I learn. There is a difference between Aggressive and Assertive. Not everyone is comfortable with the later or they can not tell the difference so they are more willing to just spend several thousand dollars for a two week vacation. And then not be together..........I mean, what would the famous THEY think, if one of them had spoken up and asked for the change of seat....Seriously

Sassy and I in the backyard, being beautiful

Gpa

A picture of Gpa looking for the perfect wave...
WHOOO>>>>> WEIRD WATER>>>

My Boyfriend.

Home from Ireland, hugging on this cutie
Happy Birthday to me, and Butch, of course.

Looking for...?

Now where is my family? The bicycles are gone, the parents are missing, and the Whalens have gone to the beach.
I have been left to keep an eye out for pirates.

Who is this guy?

One cute couple.

Amy Graduates

Super Star Amy and several Burka/Whalens....
Amy earned so many honors, one of them being a permanent member of the Burka family! Pictured here are other famous folks belonging to the Membership only Burka Club.

Ocracoke Beach

Once again, Butch is caught waiting hand and foot on Joquita. Being a Burka, he lives to serve ohers.

BBBBBuuuuuuutch

Zoooooooommmmmmmminnnnng with Butch .....Hello World!!!!

Bear with Sam

I went to the beach with Sam, Rose and Paul and a bunch of Burkas. Sam is helping me review my blog. Sam isnt asleep, he is concentrating.
Bee Bear at the Beach