My Andy Warhol impression...

I wanted to post a current photo on my new blog layout but could not get a shot I liked. I do not take great pictures and finally decided to play with one that was very washed out. After adjusting the contrast (a lot) and converting it to black and white I liked the effect. Adding the colors in the Warhol style completed the picture for me. I can tell it is me but it is me free from the reality of chin rolls, red blotchy complexion and the wrinkles that have come with the years. Hey! It's my blog and I can be a piece of art if I want!

a day at the park

In this movie clip Pyxle loves chasing the ball at the park. Notice at the end of this short clip how she tries to throw the ball to me so I can lob it out there for her again. This ritual goes on everyday for at least an hour and 2 hours if the weather is nice. The exception is rain...she might not mind it but this old lady is not going to play in the cold rain!

This is the first time I have tried to use a movie clip so I hope it works. It uses the quick time player format so most people should be able to view it...I hope! If you do not have quick time you can download it free here

Go ahead and play with your food

Playing with your food could be a good career move if you want to earn a chair in this orchestra... Vienna Vegetable Orchestra

Be sure to listen to some of their audio clips. Some of it sounds like jungle noises and some actually has a melody.

Their concerts would be a vegetarian dates delight since they serve the audience fresh vegetable soup at the end.

You can't beet some of the things that sprout up on the Internet and I yam nuts about anything that will lettuce enjoy cucumbers without getting pickled. So where have these folks bean hiding!

What was it?

Last night Pyxle presented me with a very sticky mystery. She was covered from head to toe with a sticky mess. It felt like syrup but had no odor.

I searched the house and yard trying to discover the source of this mess but came up empty. There was no sign of it anywhere but on her. So I had to write it off as one of life's little mysteries and proceed with the job of bathing the pooch.

This is no small chore because she really hates baths. By the time I got the goop out of her fur we were both all wet and the water on the bathroom floor was so deep I had to use the shop vac to get it up. Then came the rub downs with the towel as she sped through the house trying to avoid me and dry herself off on the sofa, chair, draperies and bedspread.

Once she was dry it was brushing out time. She rolls onto her back at the first sign of the brush and loves having her belly brushed....but she must be turned over and held down to brush anything else. With her under coat matted from the bath this process took an exhausting 2 hours. But she sure is pretty and clean and soft after all this and I had no problems getting to sleep!

Change is inevitable...

A world that stayed the same would be boring and lifeless but non the less, change is often feared and abhorred.

Lately there are a lot of major changes going on which affect me either directly or indirectly but are not in my control. One example of this is the recent sale of a favorite web forum site. It is Dave's Garden and I stumbled into it several years ago and watched it grow from a few hundred members when I joined to the huge membership it has today.

Google for a plant identification and the chances are more than good that one of the top links will be to Dave's or DG as we have come to refer to it. But the site is much more than just gardening info (though with gardening being the number one hobby that is reason enough for it's popularity) it is a diversified forum with separate areas for everything from A to Z. The limitations are few and to be expected on such a site. No vulgarity, no political discussion and no religious discussions.

When they decided to start charging a subscription rate of $15.00 a year I had never been tempted to use a credit card on line for any purpose and had never paid to use any site since there are so many free ones out there. But the young man who built this site had created something special. The lay out was user friendly and the people who joined were for the most part great to "hang around with". So without any hesitation I paid the fee and was happy to be a small part of that community.

BUT...along with the notice the site has been sold, (and Dave's assurances that he will remain in charge and nothing really is changing), they announced the subscription rate is going up 60% to $25.00 a year.
That is a huge increase and I just can't bring myself to believe it is still such a great bargain. Oddly enough, part of the reason it seems too high is because the site has grown so much and become so successful, that it has lost that close family of friends feeling. There are many wonderful and interesting people involved in this site but there are a lot of interesting people in the blogs and other forums also.

There are now 206 forums and 271,082 members as of today's count making it impossible to get to know individuals or even keep up with the posts of those you already have gotten to know.

So, I have to make a decision. Do I pay the fee or just visit the few forums open to non subscribers? I have until November to decide....but a 60% increase seems excessive....