Happy Birthday Stephen

July 27, 2015

Good morning.  Pogo and I got up early today so that we might enjoy the early morning coolness.  Now the sun is shining, and pretty soon the temperature will be getting up into the high 80's.  The weatherman says we have a whole week of 90's coming up.  Oh goodie. 

Today is grandson Stephen's 27th birthday.   He lives in the main part of the house with all the dwarfs.  Happy Birthday Steve.  I hope your day is fabulous. 

Well, yesterday I made a big batch of peanut butter cookies.  Unfortunately, my cookie trays are too big for my oven so I used my pizza pans as cookie pans.  I kept two cookies for myself, and the rest of the cookies got shared and eaten.  Between the dwarfs and my grandchildren, cookies don't last very long around here. This is good because it would be a shame if I had to eat them all by myself.  (really??)

There was an interesting column in the newspaper a couple days ago.  It was titled "Unhappy At Work?  7 weird jobs for you to consider."   The jobs are quite interesting, so over the next few days, I'll explain each one of them.

"In Amsterdam, people fish for bikes full-time.  The Dutch capital is widely known for its elegant canals and the approximately 2 million bicycles pedaled by its residents.  Combined, they result in the necessity for a very special kind of job:  the bike fisherman.

As Public Radio International reported, the workers use hydraulic claws to pull about 15,000 bikes out of the water per year.  They've been doing it since the 1960's, and there is no threat that they'll be out of a job anytime soon.

But why do Dutch people toss their bikes into canals en masse?  There are various explanations, but some argue that it all comes down to history:  Canals in Amsterdam used to be the city's sewage system.

Moreover, bikes are seen as cheap tools of transportation by most people in the Dutch capital, rather than as expensive investments.  None of the bikes that end up at the bottom of Amsterdam's canals is likely to be the newest model."   (copied from the Enterprise dated 7-20-15)

Kyra, if you have any more information about this job, could you share it with us?  Thank you so much.  I'd really like to know more about why the bikes were tossed into the water.  The article did not give a very good explanation. 

Lately, I've been thinking of getting my hair cut.  As it gets longer, it gets thinner.  Hmmm, I'm not sure why this is, but I'm not so crazy about it.  I'm hoping that if I get my hair cut shorter, it will thicken up again.  Speaking of hair cuts, daughter Audrey recently got her hair cut and it looks really nice.  (Photo courtesy of Audrey)

This past weekend, Audrey and Mac (their separation is quite amicable) both attended the Taxidermy Show in North Carolina; and they each entered a piece into competition.    Mac entered a very large black bear bust, and got a second place ribbon.  Audrey entered a piece into the nature crafts category and she, too, got a second place ribbon.  Congratulations Audrey and Mac.  You both did a great job.

Last night, I put a few more rows on the Country Blue afghan.  It's taking me longer to crochet now because my left hand gets quite painful and I have to keep stopping.  However, I am making progress.  There are only twenty three and a half more rows to go to finish this afghan.  Woo Hoo!!

Well I think it's time for me to do a few chores here before it gets too hot.  So till tomorrow, Y'all have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.