THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

The first two Democratic debates are over.

Do you know who won?

I have my ideas but, as someone frequently says, "we'll see."

So enough yelling, let's get down to the REAL business of the day.

The rare few moments of hilarity in a week.

Starting off with the traditional question for this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere where I live, "Hot enough for ya?"

Okay, okay, if we're going to get rowdy here, I'm calling a halt to it.

Now listen, you lissome lovers of languor, lethargy and liquification, it is past the legal limit of lolling like a lummox.

Get out there and have a fabulous weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

No, no, no, not you guys.

Yeah, here's the actors:

COMMENTS

Oh, for crying out loud.

I discovered a bunch of comments that never got published on my blog.

And I found a place where I could order them published.

But then I found a place where I could delete spam comments.

And then I found a place where I could delete published comments and there were at least a thousand.

So I figured I'd clean up the system a bit.

But after I had deleted them (from the bank, so to speak) I discovered I'd also deleted them from the blog posts themselves.

I am such a technological idiot!

Okay, so now that I know what NOT to do, I'm going to try to keep a closer watch on my blog comments, publish those that have gotten flagged for whatever incorrect reason and eliminate the spam.

I'm sorry, folks.

I'm only 79 years and two months old and I'm still learning.

Gadfrey!

PAINTING AGAIN

Those of you Gentle Readers will know about SWMBO, aka Judy, aka my wife, and her artistic leanings.

I'm sure you will be pleased to know that she's back at the mural she has created on an old battered and tattered fence in our back yard.

Her small pond has become a true mountain lake and, under her new name - The Merry Muralist, the work goes on.

DRIVING LESSONS

Today's post is thanks to my great friend, Lori from Seattle.

She emailed these (and more) this morning and got my day off to a gay (in the old meaning) start.

You've all probably seen the commercial on t.v. where a guy parks, then moves his fancy new convertible out from under some pooping pigeons only to have a construction crew dump wet cement all over it.

Well, guess what.

It actually happens in real life.

And it's hardening.

Equally as bad is carrying paint cans in your car when you might have a collision.

Or you might take a wrong turn and end up in hot (or cold) water.

It seems even the police are in danger of the results of bad driving decisions.

You know that old expression about being hit like a ton of bricks?

Note the driver is still stuck in his cab.

I wonder if this next guy was.

Or this guy.

Sometimes your load may be too heavy for sudden stops, or is it lurches?

Then there are some road repairs to be driven mindlessly into.

But, you know, accidents can happen even off the road.

And some times it's the pedestrians, standing a little too close to the road on a rainy day.

Happy Motoring, everyone, and thanks again to Seattle Lori!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Oh it's been such a week.

But . . .

Bet you had to think about that last one for awhile, didn't you?

So did I.

Well, Gentle Readers, let's all jump out of the nest and fly around twittering (not Tweeting!) to find the tree of knowledge and giving naysayers the bird.

In other words, have a great weekend.

Oh, and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Oh, yeah???)

SUMMER SOLSTICE

It's coming.

Tomorrow, June 21st, is the Summer Solstice.

If, like me, you live north of the Equator, that is.

It's the official first day of Summer and this year that season runs until September 23rd.

And tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that, is the longest day of the year.

Meaning the day we get the most light from Old Man Sun.

You might want to start looking for that bottle of sun screen right now.

And the barbecue grill.

DEPARTURE

Our beloved Muggles, as they say nowadays, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.

From the time we rescued her from a raging rainstorm, she was a lovely member of our family.

I guess all cats are like this but her favorite thing to do seemed to be sleeping.

In all kinds of positions.

Judy often said Muggles was like her, with thin eyelids, which she often covered with one paw.

She was quite old . . around 17 we think . . and had stopped eating except for a few bites of her special treats.

She had lost most of her weight and seemed feeble except when we tried to give her some pain medicine.

She was an indoor cat all of her life but we decided to let her out a few weeks ago and she explored the back yard but mostly just lay and looked around.

I took this photo a week or so ago, her final picture.

I think it was her last time outside.

We invited her several times but she had lost the strength and the interest.

So yesterday we let her go on her trip to the stars.

MONDAY MISCELLANY

Ye Olde West

Spikey

The Complete Photo

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

On this sunny Friday, let's all send birthday wishes to my longtime friend, Baseball Steve, who is turning 70 today!

Who-da thunk it, back in the day.

But not dwelling on days gone by let us look to the future with humor.  

For Steve, then, here's what to look forward to.

With that then let us all light the candles on our cakes and have a very happy weekend.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh, no)

ThrowBackThursday

I began messing around with my genealogy today using Family Search and traced my ancestry in a direct line back to Fulk of Shepreth in Merry Olde England.

He supposedly was born in 1200.

Shepreth is a parish southwest of Cambridge and the name means "sheep stream".

Apparently it was a resting place where sheep enroute to Cambridge could be washed.

I have no idea if my ancestor Fulk was a sheep washer or not but I am happy to report that there are two "public houses" in the parish - The Green Man at Frog End and the Plough Shepreth.

So if you're in the vicinity I encourage you to lift a pint to my relative, Fulk, and to me.

(You will kindly notice that I have avoided any foul puns in this post.)

EVOLUTION

I wrote yesterday about the ongoing growth of hair on my face.

I decided to dig into the vault and show you the "growth" of my various facial hair styles.

The first attempt was a simple 'stash.

A couple of years later I had become Lincolnesque.

When Judy and I posed for a classic look for a Christmas card one year, I had a stylized goatee.

Then posing for a photo with my aloha-crazed  granddaughter it was back to a full beard again.

You may notice that my beard came out red, or at least reddish brown, in those early days.

As seen here, with my two best girls.

Or at the Sandra Day O'Connor confirmation hearings with reporter Ron Talley.

It changed styles as time went on but I remained Mr. Redbeard for quite a few years.

But then as I enjoyed an early retirement in Mexico, it began to exhibit a bit of graying.

Later, in Texas, it was becoming more and more obvious that I was, indeed, aging.

As we opened a bookstore in Prescott Valley it was getting grayer and grayer.

Now it's all gray.

Whiter as it gets longer.

Sometimes it makes me look angry.

Other times, wistful, as I think back over the years.

And sometimes it just drives me wild!