Where Has The Year Gone?

Oh My Gosh!
It is almost Memorial Day!
Where has the year gone?

Historically, We get together with Dutchman and Swede, and all go Camping.
Such fun we have had in the past!
Camp outs to the San Juan Islands, Blake Island, Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, etc.
Any place where a tent could be pitched and roaring bonfires could be had!
And visitors often swelled our parties.

Though my mind draws a blank heer.
Edvard, Swede's brother,
Margi, whom Swede had the worst crush on for years!

This year, we are doing a BBQ in the yard.
Swede and all of my kids, and all of their kids.
So, ought to be fun!

Have a safe holiday!

Nervous

Oh so nervous!

Today is my first oil painting class!
Wanted to do this for decades but never had the desire to see how bad an artist I am!

Class is beig taught by a member of the Daniel Smith staff.
The lady is quite good and knowledgeable.
There are only six of us:
I, the lone male and way younger that the rest of the students!
4 women
and, one something in-between outwardly male and female!

So quite the spectrum there!

We worked on creating a color wheel.
Mine was perfect until I hit purple!
Yeah, not all blues when mixed with red yield purple.
Nope.
Try a muddy brown!
It was amazing ....
Just like with computers,
IF Kris.
Then Brown!~

Yeah.

But, the 2.5 hours of class rushed by.
I was covered in oil paints.
Sure hope it washes off!

So by next weekend I need to get this right.

Erin Ga Braugh

Yes, Erin ga braugh!
For sure.
Even though Ireland left a distrintly sour taste in my mouth.
Five years of running a computer consulting firm out of Cork,
Well it leaves you a bit jaded!

The people of Ireland are friendly and personable.
But, the work ethic is badly damaged by alcoholism.
And, a socialism government!
It cost me millions.

We planned to gather the entire family for St. Patrick's Day.
But mother, whom was to host, cancelled on Saturday night.
So, no celebration!

I convinced Gaelic Girl to go to Ben Franklin's down in Bonnie Lake after church.
During the 1 hour, 15 minute drive, my mother called to cancel the dinner, again.
And Oldest Daughter called to invite us to lunch.
So we diverted to Orting.

Had a blast with grand-kids!
Then took everyone to Ben Franklin's.
Grand-kids scored on that one!
Just wished we had one or or two of the others with us as well!

So, a night of sadness that there was NO celebration.
First lack of an Irish day, since 1975!
And all of the kids and grand-kids refused even try to say, Erin ga braugh!
sigh ....
Kids are not much fun in this generation of smart phone captivity!

Rarest of the Rare

I think I have mentioned before that I am a coin collector.
We can blame my grandfather, John Kaiser for this!
When he died in 1963, he left me his coin collection.
Of course, grandmother took what she could sell,
My mother took what she could spend,
And I was left with the "junk".
Did not matter to me, these were from Grandpa and I still cherish those pieces.

So, in my free time, throughout my life, I diligently search my change.
Rarely, I find something worth even a few bucks.
And then  I found this:

In 1943, pennies were made from zinc coated steel, NOT copper:

So it is an error to find one made from copper and they are very valuable!
This one, roughly $67,000.00 !
Of course it has to be authenticated.
But, I am thinking Greek Island cruise on a dialysis equipped ship!
(very expensive!)

So, like - WOW!
:^)

Thanksgiving!

A little fun for my readers!

I am being hosted by oldest daughter, so no cooking for me!
On the other hand, no left overs either!
And I love turkey sandwiches!

Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Fourth Reich

This was a gift book from someone in my church.
It sounds like it might be German, right?
It isn't.

So, I reluctantly started this book on Sunday and it is hard to put down!

It is an eschatology book, on steroids.
Imagine The late great planet earth, only written by someone obviously Christian.
Nothing would surprise me more than to find either Hal Linsay or CC Carlson in Heaven!
Much less Dwight Pentecost!

What do they have in common?
Well, Carlson wrote much of TLGPE and was Pentecost's understanding of the end times.
Yeah, he spearheaded the purposeful obscuring of prophesy for generations of Christians!
Carlson, had her own agenda.
And in many ways Lindsay was more a victim of bad theology - just like the generation he helped mislead.

Oh, that is not to say that Robert Van Kampen got it all right.
But it is one of the better books on end times fiction.

Even though I am only 2/3's the way through the book - I think it is a keeper!

ISBN: 0-8007-5650-9

More importantly it reignited a fire in me.
Not sure to why or what.
But, I sense a real change inside of me ...

Eureka

I have been watching a TV cable show called Eureka.
A bizarre comedy about a town of geniuses without a drop of common sense amongst the lot of them!
Oh how we have been cracking up!
It is like secretly watching my friends, only they can't hear your laughter!
Unfortunately, there are plenty of representations of my escapades.
cough-cough ....

Put out by the SYFY channel, about a decade ago.

Acting is randomly rather good.
Albeit a few of the cast are quite out of their depth.
Hard science is just that.
And if you can not understand the topic - it shows.

Writing is quite creative, catching us off guard often.

Props and CGI are quite good.
So far.
Of course I am only in season 3 of 5 seasons!

A guarded thumbs up, since I have not completed the full series yet.

:)

Barry Brierley

When I was in Florence, Colorado, this past summer, I was walking down the row of shops and rather bored.
My sister was going crazy buying stuff for her shops in Minnesota while I was just standing around.
Finally, I just went out onto the street to see if there was a bench I could sit on.

There was a man leaning on a store front looking bored.
So, I stopped and asked if he was shopped out as well.
He said no, that he was a writer just watching people.
So, we got to talking.

Turns out he wrote Westerns, 16 of them!
Won a bunch of awards and now sells them out of his daughter's shop in Florence.
Well, we had to check this out!

Then I find out he is also an artist.
So since I was interested, he showed me his paintings for each of the book covers!
We really burned up an afternoon!

In the end, I bought one of the hardcover editions of his first book, Wasichu.
He happily signed it.
Admittedly, I have only skimmed through it.
But, it looks interesting.

I am a Western snob.
As a rule I discount all Westerns after 1964.
Because Leone's Western movies completely corrupted the entire genre.
Of course Ray Hogan's books were already doing this at the time!
Like I said, I am a snob.
I much prefer real life situations to John Wayne wanna-bes!

Having said that, one of my most favorite books is, Haunted Mesa.
Don't ask me, Western plus time travel - gaaaack!
But it is entertaining and makes for interesting dreams.

I also am reading back through all of the Thurlo Western novels.
Though Tony Hillerman ranks as my all time favorite writer.
His daughter, Anne, has attempted to continue his work, with a few good books well.
Gonna be a great fall for reading!

Eight of Barry's are available through:
Spirit Riders Western Emporium
111 W Main St
Florence, Colorado
81226

Barry can be reached at:
brierleybarry@yahoo.com
719-784-2231

Coin Show

I managed to get a break on Saturday, while my computer was running one of its restoration routines.
It tuns 2.5 hours and is in no waywhat would have yielded a working computer!
No, that would take another day of effort!
Darn Micro-Squish!
How I loath you ....

So, I started the second part of the restore and headed off to a coin show.
There  is usually one every three months here.
Since I collect Jefferson nickels, there is little chance of finding something I do not have.
Actually, no one much even has one in their stock.

I ran into one of my long term antique acquaintances.
Always a pleasure.
And they always have something eclectic.

I walked away with:
A 12th century fork - extremely rare!
A 15th century table knife , in excellent condition.
An 18th century Russian 5 Kopek for my niece.
And some supplies.

Then I rambled around spotting a 1990 without the designers initials.
Another dealer had several "mules.
In this case wrong reverses for thge year of nickel.
Yeah, not all reverses are the same!

1938, 1939 and 1940 all had differing reverses..
So, you could have a 1939 with a 1938 reverse or a 1940 reverse.

Or a 1940 with a 1938 reverse.
So many options!

But I am having fun ...
:)

Bigfoot Hunt

So, I read in this blog at how I went to search out Bigfoot, but shattered my foot!
Hence no Bigfoot hunt.
Nor for the next four years.
But, I have a friend whom wanted to hunt Bigfoot, but had no idea how to start.

I checked on the web and found that the area of my old foot sighting, has been a hotbed of sightings ever since!
So, back up we went!

First - I drove and made it all the way!
A hard drive for someone with PTSD ...
I only had one freak out moment but I made it.
Not a brag, just a statement.
A smart man mite of just called it and pulled off the road.

As for the Bigfoot,
Well, the entire area has been dozed for 5 miles and made into self-contained camping, every 150 feet!
Yup, a real surpriser!
So, no Bigfoot.

No self respecting Bigfoot would have been found there!
And then there are the vacation homes being built!
Habitat lost.

sigh ......

Washington State Fair

Gaelic Girl has been working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for months!
I really feel for her.
I know my job was similar.
And, why I am glad I was forcefully retired!
I would have died on the job years ago!
And this schedule is killing her
But no one ever listens to me.

So, Sunday, she unexpectedly got the day off when the night crew hosed up the clean room.
And suddenly not able to access her area, we seized the day.
Off to the Washington State Fair we go!

But, with her broken knees we could not walk far.
So we just viewed the Hobby Hall entries and Art sections.
Flat wore me out!

Now GG has been entering various sewing contests for years.
Usually wins a few ribbons every year.
Then, two years ago, she entered her photos of desert cactus in bloom, and won Grand champion!
This year, she entered photos of tulips.
And won Reserve Grand Champion!

This, with a Nikon point ant shoot poor excuse for a camera!

So she was delighted.
I was delighted to have a 2 pound deep fried turkey leg to gnaw on!
Ugh, I am still so full!

In all, it was an excellent day.
I ended the fun for her on Monday when I bought her a new digital Canon EOS camera system.
Time for her to get serious with her new interest!

And I snored through the night!
Not a common event at all!

Centralia

Saturday, I was feeling pretty good - so declared a road trip!
So, I drove over to Gaelic Girls work and kidnapped her.
Then proceeded down to Centralia.

It has been a long time since we did anything together!

My goal was to do the Centralia dinner train.

Luckily, I picked her up at noon as accidents barred the way south!
The 70 miles took 3:15! 
eepah!

What I did not know was that there was a logging festival in fun swing in Morton, a little town south of Centralia and there was not room to be had anywhere!
I finally managed a room at Motel 6, for only $140!
grrrrr!

The train ride was just about perfect.
Two hour ride.
During which a yummy prime rib dinner was served, followed by a strawberry cake.
The scenery was beautiful.
The weather perfect.
Back in Centralia, I looked at the Pendelton shop at the various indian designs.
GG bought some earrings and an opal ring.
I got a postcard!

Sunday, what to do, what to do?

I drove out to the beaches.
We toured the small towns, I fell in love with Pe Ell.
A lighthouse beconed.
As did using my four wheel drive in the beach.
Tried to find a fish house - but only found Mexican places.

And a very long drive back home!

So, I drove more in two days than in the past 8 months combined!

Guess I am passed my PTSD!

Scotty Games

This past weekend was the annual Highland Games, over in Enumclaw.
I have no idea how many attend this event, but it is amongst the largest gathering of Scots and bagpipes in North America.

I have not attended a gathering in at least ten years!
So, much fun!
I really was not going to go.
But, constant nagging by an old friend, prompted me along.

I stopped going when the "forest fairies" and their ilk took over the gather!
Luckily, they did not show up this year.
But lots of "medival" re-enactor types whom know nothing of Scotland nor its history!
Very sad ...

Bangers were the menu item of the day.
Thankfully sans the 'neeps'!
Gag!
And lest I forget, deep fried turkey legs!

Lots of music.
From harp to digeree-do!

Lots of vendors hocking all things Scottish:
Tea
Cookies
Books
Scarves
Kilts
etc

I think I really need to find my bagpipes .....

Who Is ....

Since Blogger changed about 2003, I have been looking at stats periodically.
It is fun to see I have a regular readership from Portugal, England, Russia, and the USA.
And lots of irregulars such as in the Philippines, Malaysia, France, Holland, Columbia and that is about it.

Numbers fluctuate wildly!
Usually 795 readers, or 485, or 17!
lol
As do accounts that will download the entire Blog!
At least once a week.
I truly have no idea why.
From my standpoint, my life is a disaster .....

This is also true of my site about my Father's life, Albert Arthur Plattner.
(winner of two historical awards! and it is not exactly high quality!)
And the Little Apple, the closed Blog.
Life changes and so must Blogs.
But it still generates more hits than this Blog!
WEIRD


Long ago I had some internet friends who commented and we had great fun messaging one another.
And then commenting went away.
My internet friends went away.
But I kept blogging since it helped me think through issues, then relearn English and how to type after the stroke!
At times painful, stressful, but helpful.
And pretending I am talking to someone has a healing quality!

So, looking at stats on last Thursday, I saw I had a comment!
WoW! a first in a long time!
Then I found I had lots of comments!
But, without a linking Blog, I know nothing about the author!

So, who is Kim W?
I am filled with curiosity!

My email address is on the profile page.
Or: kj.plattner@yandex.com

Yandex?  Yeah, it is a free Russian server run by some Americans and Russians I heard!
Works well. much like Yahoo.
But no sniffing for keywords in the messages!
Supposedly ...

So Kim, drop a note.
(others can too!)
Introduce your self.
Holler if there are questions I can research!
I LOVE ANSWERING QUESTIONS.
I expect next week to be blogging answers to a list of questions already emailed me!

Funny Stories

So many memories were shared between attendees over the four days we were all there.
There was much laughter
More so as the evenings wore late and the alcohol flowed freely.
And why I very rarely even have a drink!
Like once a year!
If that!

I told about the time I came over to Gwen's and as I stepped into the house, Gwen' voice shrieked,
"Kristoph, get out of this house right this minute!"

This was very much unlike her ...
And as far as I knew, I had not done anything stupid in years!
So, I backed out of the house.

I drove  down the drive.
Parked on the road and then crept back to the house.
Peeking in each window, I could finally see the problem;
Gwen thought she would surprise me by making split pea soup.

But at over 9,000 feet, pea soup is difficult.
Darn peas  just will not soften!
So she put them in a pressure cooker!

Will, as some of you have guessed, it blew!
Split peas covered the floor, the walls, the ceiling!
It was EVERYWHERE!

So, I let myself in the backdoor.
Gwen was running water in the bath tub.
And I scrubbed everything clean, down to the point that a five foot tall women could reach!
Then went away for the weekend.

Everyone roared will laughter.
Youngest Cousin, teared up because she understood.

Many were the tales.
Some happy, some sad.
I thought to myself:
"What an excellent way to have summed up a life!"
Described as loving, vengeful, playful, the bravest woman in the world .....

She contracted MS at 14 years old.
Which left her blind for life.
She could see shape but nothing else.

But, I protested, I had once been told by her that my tie was dirty, at 30 feet from her!!!!!
My sister, Somer, snorted, "No, she just knew what a pig you are!"
Which caused me to snort while laughing.
And YC lost control and started snorting.
Then everyone was roaring!

And so it went as forty told their tales.
Gwen was very much loved by her family and extended family
This week is the friends she had in Denver chance to get together as well.
Now that one would be very interesting!
As with the Westcliffe meeting, father's memory played an interesting role.

Shopping

Somer owns two antique malls in Minnesota.
So she is always on the hunt!
And Florence, a 40 minute drive from Westcliffe, advertises itself as the antique capital of Colorado.
And we shopped until we dropped!

I found a White Stag knife, which although made in Washington - is quite rare to find for sale!
For Swede, a Viking replica knife made in Norway by Helle.
For my jar collection, a vintage Ball Freezer Jar, all original and perfect!
A blasting cap box for my rock collection.
An antique, 100 + year old, iron meat tenderizer with more in common with brass knuckles!
Tee-shirts for the grandchildren.
A superb Tourmaline from Namibia.
An old Argentite specimen from the Silverton Mining District of Colorado.
Yummy stag flat side grips for the Ruger Mk II pistol.
A book criticizing the Hutterite movement!
A gorgeous Santa Clara Indian pot.
And a turquoise nugget from the Cripple Creek Mining District for Gaelic Girl.

So many goodies, many interests, and curiosities.
And much fun was had!
My sister COMPLETELY loaded down her rental with stuff destined for her shops.

At last text message, my sister was hopelessly lost in Nebraska!
Looking for a store she had visited years ago!

Bonneville

On the Columbia River, outside of Portland, Oregon is a huge hydro-electric plant.
Begun in 1941, it provides electric power to the western United States.

For us tourists,there is
A Salmon ladder for fish to use to get past the dam
A nice rose garden
A cafeteria
A museum concerning the dam
and sweeping vistas of the dam

Very interesting.
Definitely a return to!

In all, it was quite a weekend.

A Walk In The Park

Well, hardly.
But adventure, yes!

So, took the geologist down to Mt. St. Helens.
Good museum.
Great view of the crater when it is not socked in!
And since I could speak from first hand knowledge, as I was there - well ....
I knew a little more than what the 20-somethings were trying to sound knowledgeable of.

It was great.

But what to do next.
I had no clue.
So we drove down to Portland.
Picked up the Oregon Anarchist, as he knows where there are great hikes.

Ended up at Panther Creek Falls, back in Washington.

Long drive.
Short hike.
180' STEEP slope, just a few degrees from a sheer cliff face.

I questioned my sanity going down.
Confirmed I was an idiot climbing back up!
But I digress ....

 Nice stream, twin falls, sturdy overlook.
Unless, of course, you decide you have got to dangle your feet in the stream!
And, OA did just that - almost!
His feet slipped on the wet volcanic rock and SPLAT!
In the creek above the falls he went ...

Of course, this was after Geologist and I were hiking back!
Up he trots, "I don't feel good ..."
He is dripping wet, with a broken arm!
Of course, he is a doctor by trade.
GG and I dragged his body up the cliff.

So, I set the arm.
While GG hunted for a large compress - yeah, compound fracture!
And a three hour drive back to Portland - to get him a tetanus shot and 5 stitches.

Best part was that Sunday he was speaking at a conference on brain function.
We all agreed over dinner he needed to attend, not speak at that one!

Freuchen

Dropped by the local second hand store, to see what was new.  And I found a cookbook by Dagmar Freuchen, Cookbook of the Seven Seas.  I grabbed it because something about it struck and ancient memory- and irretrievable at the moment.

So last night, as I continued to recover from a horrible dialysis, I opened the book and was transported back to 1966.  It was spring break and I went to Denmark to see what was there.  Like my Danish uncle, the people of the country were very friendly and helpful to this almost teenage tourist!  I loved my week in Denmark!  Though everyone seemed to furnish their bed and breakfasts in Danish Modern and I am more of an antique kind of guy.

My highlight of the trip were the museums!

In particular, one dedicated to Danish explorers.
Amongst the heroes of Scandinavia is Peter Freuchen.
He was an Arctic explorer, but really traveled the world!
His writings fired my imagination, of places I knew I would never go.
But, then I am a dreamer at heart.

And here was a cookbook by his wife! 
Of things he liked to eat from his travels and at home!

As I read through the recipes, I was saddened.
Almost none of them are on my rather strict diet.
But it was a fascinating read and memory.

I will definitely go back and reread it when I able to go five minutes without having this unbelievable dizziness and nausea problem!

Yeah, your prayers are really needed .....

Home Again

The RedRoof Inn in SeaTac is a very nice place to stay in the area, but being home to my bed is wonderful!  Especially my pillow ... I missed it!

And only the first few hours back were horrible to my lungs.  Thank God for Tylenol Cold and Flu ...

Mother's Day went okay, most of the kids and grand-kids showed up to honor Gaelic Girl.
Conversely, I got 4.5 hours of hate speech from my mother!  Why do I even try?!?!??!?

Okay it had not been my desire to go into Viola and Yvonne, but emails demand otherwise!
Sigh ...

Viola went by Sam, her nickname, when I met her.
She was a computer nerd belonging to a customer I supported back in 1970's.
Sharp as a whip,blond, married, one kid.
And the klutziest person I ever met - continual injuries!
But, there was this nagging clicking sound in back of my mind ...
I "knew" there was more to the story, but I was terribly naive!

One day she did not greet me the usual way.
No one else in the office had noticed anything, but I instantly did.
I had to force her to face me and when I did ...
She looked as though a boxer had worked her over!
Apparently, husband gave her the ultimate Mother's Day gift:
A fat face for - are you ready for this?
The wrong temperature for his coffee!!!!!

I held her for a while until another woman showed up and took her to the bathroom.
Then I called her father and asked him to come immediately!
He flew the distance to our office building.
Husband did not survive the day, I heard.
Viola decided she liked, that I liked, her real name and took it back up.
She moved and I never heard from her again.
No one did.
And I never pressed her father for information.
They both knew how to reach me.

I have prayed all these years for her.

As for Yvonne ...
I was visiting a new church and sent to the adult sunday scool.
I walked in the room and I instantly "knew" a lady there.
But I was clueless.
I never knew anyone named "Louise", much less a redheaded one!
GG is the only redhead I have ever known!
Never mind that she dyes her hair brown!

Then one year later she brought her mother.
And it all clicked!
Her mother was my teacher back in the 1950's, down in Portland!
So, Louise was really Yvonne, aka Vonnie!
Her red hair was really brown!
Her brother had been my best friend until a return to Europe intervened!

And I went from "freaky-guy" to suddenly best friend.
And it seemed she needed one.
Short story:
Husband was a drug addict and abusive when stoned.
It was hard to believe!

But one night I got a call ...
With super human strength he had smashed her face,
Then thrown her through a wall!
They were afraid I was going to take him on,
And trust me, were it not I had just had cancer surgery on my back ....
So, I called the police and an ambulance!
She was still out when they hauled her to ER.

It all broke my heart.
A second friend, an equally sweet lady, abused for years!
It was hard to understand.
I had known many a stoner, but no one was like this!

He was shunned by his children,
Once they let him out of prision.
He went back for trying to stock his ex-wife.

A name change, a new location and she disappeared.

Someday, I hope we cross paths again.
And, I pray regularly for her as well.
She was one of the few real Princesses I have known,
And yet she was treated worse than a dog .............
By the very man whom should have known far better!

Okay, happy now?
You have bummed me out ....