my 3rd birthday cake from Mom ~

 ~ one of my many scrapbook pages ~

I don't really think Mom had any favorites ~ lie!!  She loved her 3 boys ... and there were six of us girls always fighting for her attention.  I'm number seven on the totem pole of kids.  Oh she loved us all; but those boys were the apples of her eye.  Still are to this day if you ask me.

Today ... she surprised me.  She made me a cake for my 55th birthday.  She even said, " I believe this is the about the 3rd cake I ever baked for you."  Which is true.

Oh I'm not saying I never got a birthday cake ... because we all felt special on our birthdays with a special cake to our liking; but most of my cakes were baked by my older sisters.  Mom even pointed that out today ~ which I couldn't argue with because it was true.  Once my older sisters started hanging out in the kitchen Mom was always delegating chores to them and baking cookies and cakes seemed to fall into their hands. 

So at 83 years old ... Mom finally baked me a cake in honor of my birthday.  Guess what kind it was?  You'll NEVER EVER EVER GUESS??????  Have you ever heard of a Vinegar Cake??  Yep... I said Vinegar.  My Mom baked me a vinegar cake.  Do you think she was trying to tell me something??

Seriously,  I LOVED IT!!!!!

It was a chocolate cake from scratch with a couple tablespoons of vinegar in it, mixed with the baking soda for the levening.  It's really a good tasting cake.  It just sounds nasty:)  She had it frosted with a simple white frosting and some chopped walnuts.

Mom doesn't do much in the kitchen anymore since her mini strokes and is slowing down.  So I truly TRULY enjoyed the gesture and efforts she made to do this.  (I think lil' bro Eric helped)  Anyways, I know I was certainly surprised when she called me this morning asking me to come over because there was something sitting on the cupboard for me.

Now the kicker ... she asked me to cut it in half before I left and leave half of it at her house because the boys were going to be there for supper!  LOL ... I'm not kidding ... Momma favors and babies those boys no matter how old we get!

That's life.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

pc-itis ~

I know I've gone missing for a bit here and this is the reason why.  I have PC-ITIS.  Anything that ends with "itis" is just NO GOOD ~ examples: arthritis, brusitis, appendicitis, bronchitis, cellulitis.  You catch my drift ... things that you just don't want!

It started a few months back with Old Reliable ~ my old pc ... that I've had for a century.  The one I had built to my specs so I could have tons of music and tons of photos on it without ever bogging it down.  The PC that took all the abuse I could give it and it would always bounce back for more.  It surfed the internet, it told us how the business was doing and saw us through that chapter of our lives, mostly keeping track of orders and inventory.  It charted our finances, planned vacations, allowed us to dream.  The PC that endured having it's hard drive partioned 4 times and grew as I grew ... going from Windows 98 to Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3.  The PC that had it's guts ripped out ~ put back in and always bounced back.  Sure... it had some problems which were easily fixed by installing bigger and better options but eventually it just had enough of trying to please me.  My little machine started to smell.

It wasn't a pleasant smell that Old Reliable developed.  It was a burning smell.  A hot rubber, tires skidding on hot pavement and taking off a layer smell.  It's CPU fans were working and clean of dust and debris; but this was something else.  Now I know what that smell was.  It was the evil smell of the Grim Reaper harboring in it's shadows.  It was the smell of death.

Old Reliable also developed a need to talk to me.  On start up it would spit and sputter and take so much longer than before.  It was aging.  I gave it the time it needed.  It clicked and ticked as if it had a time bomb inside it,  just ready to explode! Now even I, no tech guru, knew this wasn't right.  Your computer should not talk back.  It shouldn't grind with arthritic moans and groans, it shouldn't click like the old school clock hanging on the wall in a quiet study hall. 

Old Reliable started having seizures or computer crashes would probably be the right description.  I came to terms with the inevitable.  The old pc was on it's last leg and it was leaning over the dug hole at the graveyard.  Upon further consultation with the PC Repair Man ... he too confirmed my suspicions: the future was looking bleak.  No more surgical procedures to do, no more uplifts or upgrades, no more security issues to solve.  Back up what you can and be prepared for the worse.
 ~~
We had a power surge a few weeks back.  I was out in the garage; but when I came in the office I knew it wasn't good.  Old Reliable's smell was very offensive.  Quick!!! Online I go, I have some last minute banking that I wanted to get done before the computer crashed.

Old Reliable died right in the middle of a transaction.

Rats, now I need to call the bank and I really don't have the patience for talking with machines and pressing this number for English and that number for this account or that account and don't you dare put me on hold!  And "NO! I'm not driving into town to take care of this.  My PC died!  I'm in mourning!!!"

So here I am.  Missing my old personal computer.  If a person can have an attachment to an inanimate object ... my pc was my teddy bear.  I loved that computer ... or at least I loved having a working computer.


Enough for today ...
the saga continues ~ meet the new pc ... It's name is Eric. (after my brother)

It's not really new Brand NEW but new to me.  I'm borrowing my brothers computer for the time being, deciding whether or not I want to make the investment and buy it from him.    He's decided that he is NOT into technology anymore and is going back in time to simpler days.  

After hooking up this computer I'm borrowing ... I can understand WHY he's come to that conclusion!!!

"What!  Eric ... you're killing me!! Your anti-virus and microsoft securities haven't been updated since 2008!"  I haven't seen or heard of this many errors and warnings since 4th grade and Mrs. Yost was hollaring at Randy, Dave and Leeky for impersonating the Three Stooges when they were suppose to be the Three Wise Men during the Christmas Pageant !! or the time Dad found my bra on the sidewalk!! or the time Randy pee'd from the pine tree yelling to Cheryl who was climbing up behind him, 'look out below!' and Mom caught him in the act, ....  MERCY!!! This is going to take some time to straighten out.

More on it later. 

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

from the tundra ~

Our visitor from the tundra showed up on the trail camera ... the Rough-legged Hawk.  I thought I heard one screeching the other day.

They are quite the majestic bird.   Because of their size alone they are often mistaken as juvenile eagles.  They have a wingspan of up to 54 inches.  The Rough-legged Hawk, also known in some areas as the Rough-legged Buzzard spends it's spring and summer / breeding season way WAY up north as you can see by the map.  We see them every winter as they love checking out our carcass pile of beaver that Dear Hubby puts out from trapping.  I imagine they love that fat rich protein after such a long trip south.

They really have a large winter range.  Do you have them by you? If not, toss a beaver carcass out in the woods... they will come.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel