A Vagabond Song

A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carman

THERE is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.
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I especially love the line -
There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir.

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There was a local gal, Hazel, who was one of those folks that was so smart she was insane. Hazel could recite Bliss Carman poems verbatim and then pass out on our public transportation buses. Hazel was mostly homeless, a hopeless alcoholic. She had tussled strawberry blond hair, her skin was usually badly bruised. I suspect she was somewhat of a "working" girl for little income. Hazel was very knowledgable on any subject matter.

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Do you remember the Bob Dylan line? "Its All Over Now, Baby Blue" includes the lyric, "The vagabond who's rapping at your door/is standing in the cloths that you once wore."

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Hazel died a few years back.

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Thanks Hazel for the Bliss Carman verses, you always entertained me, I thought you were a hoot. Cheers because I have fond memories of ya, I dig out The Vagabond Song every Fall just for you.

Salads for me and the girl goats

I'm sitting here eating a Chick-Fil-A Chargrilled Chicken and Fruit Salad with the Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing on top. Except that I wish cooked chicken tasted and felt like chicken I remember from long ago, it's good and Here's a review Mike and I got on the scales this morning, he's lost 4 lbs and I've lost a whopping 1/2lb. And I was just getting on his case last night for confessing to eating 3 McDonalds cheeseburgers - "but I didn't have fries or sweet tea!" Why does life seem sooo much easier for men than women?

Here's Clara eating her salad. Every late afternoon after I get home from work, I let the goat girls out on "my" side. All summer when the garden was lush and green, the goats didn't give the garden a second look, but now that it's drying out, they just can't wait to get to the garden. They just amble around loose, no fencing, rarely getting out of my sight. Shake a little of grain in a plastic cup and they come running.

One of Clara's daughter's CoCo.

Again, Clara and CoCo

Gypsy and CoCo will be leaving us in a couple of weeks. I feel like they are going to a very good home, the young couple has been working hard to get good housing and fencing on their property. We had 4 girls born to us this Spring, and we'll be keeping Gabbi and TootleLu (didn't get their photo's yesterday).

One of the turkey girls followed us to the garden, Bourbon Red hen.

SweetPea with a mouthful of a dried corn stalk.

Look at that squash plant that has popped up.

June, Gypsy, and Cali.

Cali

Fall and 9/11

It's Fall up here, photo of the leaves were taken this morning, Maple trees tend to turn colors earliest.
"If weather stays like it has last two days, sunny days with cold nights, we will have good fall colors," An Appalachian State University biologist is going out on a limb to predict fall leaf colors. Howard Neufeld, a physiological plant ecologist who looks at environmental factors that affect plants, said September had presented a pleasant harbinger of vibrant senescence.

On 9/11, I was home passed out in bed with the head-cold from hell. Phone rang, and it was father-in-law breathlessly saying, "turn on the TV, turn on the TV." I fumbled for the remote and knocking everything off the nightstand. My brain couldn't connect the dots at all. When I finally get the TV on, trying to focus, I thought I saw a plane crash into a building, turning up the volume, the announcers are saying "oh my God, a second plane just hit the towers."

Lisa over at Laughing Orca Ranch had this posted and I wanted you to see it in case you aren't a regular vistor at her blog.

mums, points, marans

Now that the construction is done - I'd like to do more, but have to wait until a big bag of money falls out of the sky. We're settled in now, Fall is here, actually I think the high was only 57 degrees today. Now is a an ideal time for me to concentrate on weight loss AGAIN. I "informed" Mike that he and I are going to try using a point system to help us lose weight. I don't want to join anything, but found a point system online that can help guide us.


Mike LOVES Wendy's hamburgers for brunch but is going to start substituting the fries in the combo for a more healthful side item. Oh my, how I love the french fries too. Dont want 'em seasoned with anything but salt - no waffle cut, no cheese and no chili on 'em, just straight up french cut, crispy, hot fries dipped in ketchup. On my death bed just keep bringing the fries and real CokeCola in a waxed cup with shaved ice.
Geez, get focused Joanna. Weight Loss!

From what I can figure,
Joanna = 27 points daily
Mike = 38 points daily
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http://www.peertrainer.com/LoungeCommunityThread.aspx?ForumID=1&ThreadID=47011
1. Are you female?- score 2
Male?- score 8
A nursing mom?- score 12
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
2. How old are you?
17-26- score 4
27-37- score 3
38-47- score 2
48-58- score 1
over 58- score 0
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
3.What do you weigh? Enter the first two digits of your weight in pounds. (for example, if you weight 199, you will add 19 to your score)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
4. How tall are you?
Under 5’1- score 0
5’1-5’10- score 1
Over 5’10- score 2
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
5. How do you spend most of your day?
Sitting down? score 0
Occasionally sitting? score 2
Walking most of the time? score 4
Doing physically hard work most of the time? score 6
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Now add them all together and that’s your daily total.
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When in our university-small town, it's difficult to find healthful, fast-food items. Plus, I just don't like
fast-food burgers, I'd have to be starving with no other options before I could choke down a fast-food hamburger. I never go to Chick-Fil-A, but I did notice today online that they had a Chicken Soup, so I proceeded to go there, and the soup along with with the other listed sides below were very good, a filling meal and it only cost me 8 points.

PLEASE anyone (Alix), who can lend us some guidance for this, we are open-minded and listening.
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http://quiddity.cc/rachel/diet/wwfoods.htm#P
http://wwpoints.info/

For me today -
2c Homemade (mostly) Veggie Soup = 7
SUB = 7
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1 small Chick-Fil-A Chicken Soup = 3
1 small Chick-Fil-A carrot and raisin salad= 4
1 medium Chick-Fil-A Fresh Fruit Cup = 1
1 medium unsweetened tea = 0 (added in Splenda)
the size of a medium drink now is what I'd call an XL
SUB = 8
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3c Homemade (mostly) Veggie Soup = 10
2 c of fresh strawberries = 2
SUB = 12

Total = 27 points




I added some mums to the hanging baskets around the outhouse.

It's on the to-do list this weekend to caulk, primer, and paint around windows. One time we started but it starting pouring the rain.

Bought the rooster and wreath at Big Lots.

Wheaton Marans hens, Daisy and MariGold

My ShangriLa

To think that we just got the RV up here on Memorial weekend '09, we've made good strides.
check out this link for Moving Day

We're not that far from civilization but we are up a steep, rugged, gravel road. Better to have 4X4 to get up here. We can't see any neighbors.

Brother-in-law is a contractor and a couple of his guys did the construction and Mike was their helper.

Yes, the pumpkins are real, a coworker raises them.

Do ya see Caliente standing on the picnic table?

I tried to coax Franklin up on the new deck but he said that he'd rather keep his feet in the dirt.

I had to sneak in a goat pic.

I know, we need a new barn, but at least it's still very functional for our farm animals, it keeps 'em protected and dry and night. They're not in this photo but the guinea's have been running around on the barn roof.

Vet Medical Center - East TN

Verteran's Administration Medical Center in Johnson City, TN.

Since 1903, James H. Quillen VA Medical Center has been improving the health of the men and women who have so proudly served our nation. We consider it our privilege to serve your health care needs in any way we can. Services are available to more than 170,000 veterans living in a 41-county area of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Mike's Dad, James, had knee replacement surgery on Tuesday at the Vet Hospital in Johnson City, TN. He's due to come home tomorrow. The drugs have James a little mixed up, the nurse left him some pills to take with his supper and she walked out of the room, he tried to hide the pills by sticking them in his applesauce, Mike and I had to tattle on him, the nurse came back, crushed the pills, and stood over him until he swallowed them.

I was very impressed with the facility. Before my Dad passed, I used to take him to a Vet Medical Center in North Carolina (Asheville) but he never was hospitalized there (many times in our local hospital though - Emphysema).

Daddy and James, both idolized Ronald Reagan.

The James H. Quillen VA Medical Center is recognized locally, regionally, and nationally as a patient-centered integrated healthcare organization for veterans providing excellent healthcare, research, and education; an organization where people choose to work; an active community partner; and a back-up for National emergencies. VAMC Mountain Home is primarily affiliated with the James H. Quillen College of Medicine *, offering residency training in all major medical and surgical specialties.

The grounds were quite beautiful and then Mike and I walked around the cemetery for a bit, I could have stayed there for hours.

It reads that Billy was a hurricane hunter, he was only 23. My father, a Korean War veteran, was a Billy who was in the Air Force, he would have liked to have had a tombstone here, to be buried here under the shade tree.

I'm proud of you Buck. Proud of all of ya.

Wanda was in the Persian Gulf and died last year. Carroll was a navy man, and loved my his wife and children. They're in the section where it reads that their bodies have not been recovered or identified, seems so heartbreaking for the families, no closure.

I'm glad the soldiers have a place to call home. I'm glad that some of my taxes are supporting Vet Hospitals.

Outhouse

I've got a new line for Jeff Foxworthy -
You're definitely a redneck if you have an outhouse in your yard, especially if it's in your FRONT yard.


ta-daa, look we (I) got. Ours has a crescent rather than a star on the door like pictured above.

The crescent moon cutout and the star cutout on the door of many outhouses goes back to Colonial times. In a time when few people could read, the crescent moon was the symbol for women while the star cutout was for men.

It is thought that the men, in general, let their outhouses fall into such bad shape that it was the women's outhouses that survived the test of time. The cutout also let light into the outhouse as there were usually no windows.

I kinda one for aesthetics but be functional, so for hygiene purposes, I had to rent one, and the company will clean it weekly. I'm telling ya, it never fails, you get out to the barn and it hits ya. Then, you have to run back inside the sunroom, kick off your muck boots, to protect the carpet in the RV, run inside and up steps, the 5th wheel RV has steps inside, to the bedroom/bathroom and by then you're in pure misery. My 53-year-old colon wanted an outhouse. I've just begun to decorate around it. Stay tuned: pumpkins, mums, etc are coming.

»§«:*´`³¤» ©Lois Caywood Guffy«¤³´`*:»§«
Just say all you want about living in the good old days.
I lived em' and I know there are more comfortable ways.
Now, imagine having to go to the little house out in back
Waiting until the last minute to hop out of your cozy sack
Running out into the night and wondering if you can wait
To answer natures call, that is, if you hadn't waited too late.
With your nightshirt a flippin and flappin in the breeze
As you quickly ran down the path to the house in the trees
Now folks, I say it with pride,
I cherish my old Sears & Roebuck Throne that sits inside.