Grandmas Goulash

I don't see Grandma anymore, Harry.   Where did she say she was going? Grandma's Goulash just acquired it's own domain name.  It will be keeping the Blogger format, but will no longer be located at a blogspot.com url.  There really shouldn't be any difference for readers.  Once implemented, you will be forwarded to the new url if you come to this one.   Of course, nothing is ever simple.  At the moment, Calico and I are struggling to implement this with my test blog and the results are less than successful.   Yeah, it's just not working.  I'm sure we'll figure things out eventually.  I won't try to transfer this blog until the test blog relocates successfully.  Hopefully it will be smooth, but if I'm not available for a bit, please don't panic.   My posts here will be infrequent while we're working on it.  Apologies in advance to my Convictions readers.  I'll do my best to make it up to you when I return.

What are you grateful for today? Life. Here's a small rhyme I wrote a couple months ago that says it well: When I was young, I'd wonder why bad times would come to make me cry. What had I done? What was the cause? Were these the fruits of divine laws? Now that I'm old, each day's a gift: the good, the bad, the subtle rift. My life flows swift towards end of time and I am glad that they are mine. What's missing in your life? A fully functioning heart. My damaged one doesn't pump blood effectively. That creates other health problems and restricts what I can do physically. But even so, my life is good. If I'm missing anything else, I guess it's too insignificant to remember. Has the conflict and harm religion has caused outweighed the good it has produced? Conflict is a constant in our world. Religion is one of the excuses used for conflict. I think the same holds true of good. The world is filled with good people and loving actions. Some a...

We had some unidentified bushes at the front of the house. The new leaves are very pretty, a bright red. I'd seen similar ones, although much larger, in Atlanta. The red leaves turn to green as they get older. They have a fairly glossy look and are oval-shape with a point at the top. I had never seen these in my northern years. Red leaves came in the fall. I started searching and came up with the Red Leaf Photinia as my best candidate. I think that's what we have, but I'd be interested to hear any other ideas my readers might have. We plan on keeping them, they are quite beautiful, though badly in need of some pruning. We'd hate to cut those beautiful new branches, but I wonder what is the best time to do it. At the minute, I can't go down the walkway to the car without being poked. In the virtual world, I did a bit of pruning today. "Friends" are fairly transient there and if they aren't playing with my virtual pet, it's time fo...

How do you feel about couples that share an email address? I really hadn't thought about it before. I can't imagine saying anything that both halves of a couple couldn't read. Or that they would share an address if it were an issue. How open about your life are you in the various online arenas? I'm fairly open about my life. I talk about my health, my family and my passions. I'm pretty closed about my identity. I reveal that I'm a female senior citizen from the Memphis area, but not much more. Grandma may be a bit senile, but she ain't crazy. Click here for my real name, home address and social security number.  What?  You say that link's not working? On average, how many hours a week do you spend online? Do you think it's too much? That's rather like asking how much time I spend eating dairy products. I could estimate the time I spend eating, but I don't break it down into food groups. I spend at least 10 hours a day on the c...

Medicine has it's wonders and I guess that pharmaceuticals are one of them. But sometimes I question it. If the diuretics are reduced, my legs double in size and I can barely draw a breath. Increase them and I'm too dizzy to stand for more than a few minutes. There's more of these wonder drugs, but let's skip the details. Suffice to say that it's a rare day when everything equalizes and I have both the oxygen and the stability to do more than sit. Today wasn't 100%, but it was close enough for me. How to spend it? Like a kid at the candy store, I checked out my options. Grab the canes and head outside to enjoy some sun. Get Calico to take me out to lunch or for a ride around the town. Stay inside and tackle a project. Today, the project won. My bedroom hasn't felt truly organized since we've moved in. Being the largest bedroom, it's become the designated dropping spot for items that haven't found a home. So I started weeding, ...

My goulash contains a large portion of virtual pet obsession. If you love cute little critters, beware of Superpoke Pets . It is so addictive. I keep repeating "They aren't real. They aren't real." Then I race out to make sure that all my pets have been properly cared for, have plenty of friends and possess all the latest items from the Pet Shop. Pets have gardens too. They can keep the items they grow or recycle them for coins. Then, of course, the coins are used to buy more goodies at the Pet Shop. I'll admit this loses something in the translation. Only those who have experienced this virtual mania can truly understand. Today, some of my favorite seeds were discontinued at the Pet Shop. What should I do? To answer the question, I created a spreadsheet of crops and their potential recycle values. I'm even including a link here for my SPP addicted friends. SPP Crop Values Yes, I can see a bunch of you shaking your heads in disbelief. B...

What do you value most in other people ? Honesty, loyalty and a sense of humor. And close behind these three are creativity and intelligence. Don't want much, do I? If you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see? Lilac is my favorite color and I love many shades of pink. But I'd choose green in all it's variations, if I could see just one.  Perpetual spring.  But everything pales next to reality.  Glad that I can see them all. You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about? Accepting and appreciating yourself. Don't waste time trying to imitate others.Don't focus on "fixing" them either. Embrace your passions and find some humor in your flaws.You'll enjoy life more. And so will the people around you. Check out Manic Monday for more answers to these questions. Or join in the fun and add your own answers

I grew up in northern Vermont where snow was almost a constant.  Spring waited until May, followed by a brief summer and briefer fall.  By October, snow regained it's rule. Roads that were snow-blocked for days and drifts as high as power lines were common parts of that winter experience.  Some  loved it.  They strapped on their skis or climbed onto their snowmobiles and went out to enjoy their winter wonderland. I hated that white stuff.  I had no interest in winter hobbies.  I hated wading through it, shoveling through it, driving through it.  I don't claim to be a fast learner.  I spent most of my first half-century coping with it, accepting it.  Until the November day when I climbed on a plane headed for Georgia.   The world was white and the temperature was 6F, when we took off.  Two hours later, I arrived to fall leaves and temperatures in the 60's.   Sure I'd known it was warmer ...