"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." ~George Bernard Shaw

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time." ~Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Sunday, October 31, 2010

We are on vacation...ole!



We are gone for almost 3 weeks- not sure about posting abilities
BUT- I will be reading my favorite writers/authors and
you know who you are........all of you...my literary community!
Cheers- til later on...........I love you all..........

Happy Halloween!

Here's a little poem I wrote for Halloween...
And for Jingle's Poetry Potluck too...
BOO!



Once upon a dark and gloomy night

I was out for a little tiny bite

Of a tasty neck

Oh what the heck

It's my diet and I'll eat what I like



Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Magpie 38-Unknown Mothers




Adopted at the age of five


Was your Mother still alive


Were you abandoned


Or saved?


~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~


My mother always told us that she had been put in an

orphanage at the age of 4 and adopted by an older woman

when she was only 5 years old. She always told us that

she only remembered swinging on a gate waiting for her

father to come home. When he didn't my mother was

sent to an orphanage with her smaller sister.

My adopted Grandmother died when I was only 3.

So I don't remember her at all. I only remember the

horrific stories my mother told me about how she was

raised by this older widow and the one letter my grandmother

wrote me when I was a tiny baby.

Years after my Mother had passed away, my father

told me that my biological grandparents had not died,

but had put my mother and her little sister in an

orphanage for unknown reasons. My mother's biological

mother had attempted to contact my mother, but was

refused at the front door. My grandfather tried to also see

that my mother was okay. Another refusal by my mother.

I tried to find them by writing the Orphanage and the City

where she had been adopted. It was too late as all I could

find out was that everyone had passed away.




Sunday, October 24, 2010

Potluck Poem- Love and Romance





Love and Romance


It's a lively dance
A cha cha cha
A YES YES YES
I do gotcha


Machismo tangle
of legs and arms
A sexy samba
Aie Yie Caramba




Swift sure steps with
Feet in motion
Set the oceans
Of deep emotions


And there's that pause
When eyes glance
Oh take that chance
Of that forever dance

Friday, October 22, 2010

R is for Rice and Shrimp Risotto...

I don't have any photos of my tasty Shrimp Risotto....
so will these photos of the latest completed
baby quilt do?
Just finished this for our good friend Tom's
first grandson....and he's mighty grand from what
Tom says!
Here's the recipe:
Shrimp Risotto
2-4 Main Course servings
5 cups (about) low salt chicken broth
3/4 cups dry white wine
1 or 1/2 pound uncooked large shrimp peeled/deveined
6 T butter
3/4 cups chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 T chopped fresh parsley
3/4 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Bring broth and 1/4 cup of wine to simmer in medium pan
Reduce heat-keep hot
~
Melt 2 T of butter in medium skillet over medium heat
Add 1/2 the garlic and all the crushed red pepper, then shrimp
Saute til shrimp begins to turn pink-about 2 minutes
Add remaining 1/2 cup wine. Simmer another 2 minutes
Drain shrimp-set aside and reserve cooking liquid.
~
Melt remaining butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat
Add onion and remaining garlic, saute til onion is pale golden,
about 4 min.
Add rice and stir to coat about 2 minutes, Add 2 cups broth mixture
Simmer til absorbed stirring often. Continue adding broth mixture
1 cup at a time until liquid is absorbed before adding more-
about 20 minutes.
Stir in reserved shrimp cooking liquid.
Cook until rice is just tender and
mixture is creamy about 5 more minutes.
Remove from heat.
~
Stir shrimp and chopped parsley into rice-season with salt and pepper.
Spoon into bowls and sprinkle
with Parmesan cheese according to your taste.
YUM.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Magpie 37- Mirror Mirror





Mirror mirror on the bed


Who's the cutest sleepy head


With rumpled jammies


and tangled hair and a


Drowsy face so rosy with heat


My little one is oh so sweet



Photo of me and my oldest son Phillip
many many years ago as he is 47 now!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Seven Deadly Sins-Potluck Poem

This weeks prompt for Poetry Potluck is the Seven Deadly Sins....
I did have just a wee bit o' fun with this one!


She lustily sighed "Oh, please just one more"
Enviously eying the one she adored
Oozing with avarice and enormous greed
Her hand lazily reached over with a hungry need
Only to be met with a fierce hot anger
Refusing to admit her crumby fatal flaw
Of caloric intake beyond all awe
No wonder she cannot fit into her tiny size six
Those VooDoo Doughnuts got her into this fix.

http://voodoodoughnut.com/
"It's all their fault!"


Thursday, October 14, 2010

Magpie 36

Open doors

stretch arms out wide side to side

Hugging all

Monday, October 11, 2010

Highway 26 as a Charm Bracelet

This week's Poetry Potluck theme is Beaches and Mountains
http://jinglepoetry.blogspot.com/2010/10/poetry-potluck-beaches-and-mountains.html
Well- living in Oregon we have 363 miles of coast along Highway 101.
But, that really didn't do too much for me.
Then I thought about Oregon's State Highway 26
that meanders from Astoria all the way to Nyssa, Idaho.
A mere 472 mile drive.
I began to think ( I was awake in the middle of the night) about all the
little towns that Highway 26 passes through
and voila! here's my little poem:
(a small caveat- all photos are from a free photo site.
I will eventually have the time to upload my own of all these places )
I Think of Highway 26 as a Charm Bracelet

Little towns linked together
by silvery rivers and waterways
Astoria has the mighty Columbia
where the Peter Iredale still sleeps
Passing through the Coastal ranges
of Clatsop and Tillamook
Chinook and Salish spirits in the trees
mix with Lewis and Clark



Onto the old city of Portland
Sometimes called Puddletown
Clackamas, Tualatin and Mollala
waters feed into the Willamette


Continuing east towards the Cascades
with sleepy slumbering volcanos
past Rhodedendron and Zig Zag
Mt Hood rises above the timberline

Over the summit, passing Frog Lake
and down into the Warm Springs
where the Deschutes River
meets the Crooked and Metolius


Through Madras and the Grasslands
Through Prineville and the Ochocos
to the Painted Hills, Fossil Beds
Strawberry Mountains and John Day River


I think about the Oregon Trail as
I see a sign for Baker City
But continue to my final stop
Nyssa and the awesome Snake River

Sunday, October 10, 2010

A Segue from Magpie #35

After posting my "Leaf Ride" poem for this past weeks
Magpie Tales, Stafford Ray made a comment on my blog:
"First we rode in a side box on the old Indian, then we had a three ton truck and kids rode in the back, no sides or anything to hold us in, then we had a car and all sat inside. Then we had seat belts in front and no babies allowed to ride on laps, then no arms outside windows, then everyone had to have a seat belt, then no phones in the car. Why not make them completely safe and ban people from using cars at all... except for leaf rides!"
Well- that triggered another poem. Which I then sent to
Stafford and he replied with his version. I like his better
than mine, and he says he likes mine better.
So- here are both for all of you to enjoy!
Cheers!
Kathe's version:

First the covered wagon
Children running alongside
Then the Model T
Kids bouncing loosely inside
Now we're all buckled in
With no laps to sit on
Children watching DVD's
Instead of life flying by
All I can say is-
"Good grief why?"

Stafford Ray's version:

Before 999.

First the lumb’ring Conestoga
Took us where we had to go. A
Few years on, a bouncy ride
In Model T, thrown ‘round inside.
Now with belts and bags and laws
No kids on laps, and child proof doors
It seems the fail-safe life we lead
Is fool-proof, holeproof, guaranteed
Strapped in children, eyes transfixed
On DVD’s, adventure missed
So much of life goes flying by.
And I just wonder: “Good grief, why.

http://staffordray.blogspot.com/

and don't forget to go to Willow's blogsite Magpie Tales...she started it all!

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/

Friday, October 08, 2010

My Birthday Week

My birthday is October 2nd and I fully intend
to celebrate all month!
This first photo is of September's full moon....
Here's some of my garden's bounty! I made lots of
tomato sauce this year and Delicata squash gnocci.....yum

Our good friends Bill and Ewana were coming up for a long weekend
from Weed, California to help celebrate...
So I made some Oatmeal Cranberry Coconut Orange cookies
in case we got a it peckish in between meals...hahahah

Russell and I walked down to inspect the massive sewer
interceptor project going on....the lake has been drawn down
about 25' to enable replacement of our sewer line.

Incredible project- it's taking more than a year to complete

We went to Marylhurst University
(my alma mater)
to celebrate the Art Gym's 30th year!
Greg Grenon and Mary Josephson were two of
the artists exhibiting in this marvelous show.

http://www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/index.php

http://www.laurarusso.com/artists/grenon_g.html

http://www.laurarusso.com/artists/josephson_m.html

Wild mushrooms at the Lake Oswego Farmers Market!

I purchased some Lobster and Shitake mushrooms

Russell made a fabulous pasta dish with the mushrooms...

Huge artichokes!

Someone let these zucchini get out of control in the garden!

Gorgeous colors in the fall

Later this past week we went to the Green Dragon Brewery
and saw these goats in a field- they were with a whole bunch
more and were clearing all the brambles from the field.
Goats for Hire... the sign read" the goats are here to enjoy
and feast upon what spontaneously grows on this urban meadow.
Unlike gas-powered mowers, goats require no fossil fuels
to trim the vegetation" How clever is that?
and here's a pic of this months flower arrangement
that I put together for Blue Sky Gallery-
Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts
a non-profit gallery that is supported by
a huge group of volunteers
This month is a special month for Blue Sky
It's the 35th year it has been exhibiting photographs
and it started with just 3 photographers with a wonderful vision.
Mazeltov!
and finally...last but NOT least here's a little
video of Bill and Ewana's little
Cairn Terrier doing what he does best...
entertaining us! Enjoy!




Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Falling Magpie #35

Pile all those leaves up
We're going for a leaf ride
Load up the little pickup
We're going for a leaf ride
Heap orange, yellow and red
Fill up that little truck bed
We're going for a leaf ride
and here comes the best part...........
as
we
drive
slowly
up a hill
we're waiting for the thrill
of throwing gobs of leaves
at the honking cars behind us!
Silly them- they make a fuss...
Hah! We're going for a leaf ride!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When my two sons were young we had a little
Datsun pickup and we would load up the back with
tons (well-maybe not TONS) of freshly fallen
leaves. They would pile into the back with all the
leaves and I would drive slowly around our neighborhood
while the boys would wait for the right moment
to appear tossing big armfuls of color. What a lark.
Today, I suppose everyone would frown and not
enjoy the exuberance of youth with the colors of Fall.
They would possibly grumble about more leaves to rake up.
Nevermind, we had a great time.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Four Elements of LIfe


Inhaling roses


watery wet scents


that tease my nose


fierce fires


ignite my heart


and pierce the earth