Archive for the ‘USA’ Category

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Ramblings

September 17, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

I was going to try to express what I think about recent current events and ugly attitudes, but it is too overwhelming for me and I cannot be articulate. So, I will leave it to these two quotes by articulate people.

“…as I say to people time and time again, yes the Middle East has been plagued by a lot of conflict, but everyday life in the Middle East is not violent, it’s ordinary. People want the same things as we do, they want to put a roof over their heads, have a reasonable standard of living, send their kids to a nice school, have a family and live in peace. There is no difference with what most people want here.” Frank Gardner Reporting from the Middle East

“…I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back.” If the ‘Mosque’ isn’t Built…

Blessed are the peacemakers. May the opposite happen to the fear mongers.

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Oregon Green

August 26, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

The geography of Oregon includes many different ecosystems – coastal, mountain, valley, semi-arid desert, rain forrest, dry forrest, grassland, and more. It is a beautiful slice of the Earth. Here are a couple of sites from the wet, green mountain range.

green forrest with thick underbrush

I thought these were white flowers until I got up close. They are white berries instead.

white berries and green foliage

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My Fortress

August 25, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

rugged hill with layers of volcanic rock formations

This is one of my favorite Central Oregon sights. It is a hill near the city of Warm Springs in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. I never cease to be amazed by the multiple layers of volcanic rock. Central Oregon used to be the hot and happenin’ place. This bluff is where I would build my castle if I wanted it to be defensible. Only an army of crazy people would try to attack from this side. Almost as good as a mote full of alligators.

juniper trees and plateau hills

Maybe it’s all those cowboy movies I watched as a kid, but I love this terrain. It has it’s own beauty. It may be hot and mostly brown, but I find it just as pleasing as a cool, green forrest.

grasslands, juniper trees, sage brush and clouds

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Edibles

August 25, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

My sister’s green thumb is not limited to pretty flowers. Here are some edibles.

zucchini squash plant with large yellow bloom

Zucchini squash

apples in the tree

Green apples in the tree, which is heavily loaded this year. Plenty to eat and give away.

raspberries on the bush

Raspberries just beginning to ripen. Yummy! These are my favorite kind berries. Food of the gods!

Posted in plants, USA | 2 Comments »

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Family

August 24, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Here is my nephew’s idea of birthday cake lighting appropriate for his 86 year old grandmother.

cake with a taper candle with a lightbulb attached to it

It’s a Christmas taper candle with a lightbulb attached to the top. I can’t explain the logic of it, but it IS funny.

my nephew, his wife and my 4 month old grand nieces

Here are the newest additions to the family, Katie and Anna, four months old. (Oh, and their parents, too.)

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My sister’s green thumb

August 24, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

My apologies for having so many pictures in this post, but I had great difficulty choosing just a few. These are the beautiful flowers growing in the garden around my mother’s & sister’s house.
pink rose

purple phlox

large daisy

pink daisy

purple climatis

peace rose

bleeding heart flowers

purple daisy

pink striped geranium flowers

violet flowers

blue flower with ten petals

Posted in plants, USA | 1 Comment »

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Home again

August 23, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Here is an aerial view of my home town. It is a green gem, nestled in a valley.

Prineville, Oregon

This is what the rest of the area looks like.

sage brush and juniper trees

Sage brush, juniper trees, dry grass and blue skies.

purple sunset

This sunset was so spectacular that I had to pull over and take a picture. My favorite color!

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The Other Oliver

August 19, 2010

Posted by Kanga

tabby cat

This is the “other Oliver.” He lives with my best friend, with his Mom, his brother, an older male tabby named Angelo and a big dog named Jenny. He is nothing like my Oliver. He is mostly quiet, although he does talk occasionally, but he is actually saying something when he does. He likes laying in peoples laps and he likes running around with his brother. This is his brother (sorry the picture is blurry, but he was in constant motion.)

grey and white kitten

This is Mouse. He is a foot cat – he likes to lay on your feet or shoes. He likes to chew on shoes, too. It was quite nice to discover there was a warm fuzzy thing laying on my toes, keeping them warm. He also loves to chase and play with Angelo. Angelo was the only cat in the house for a long time and he used to just eat and sleep most of the time. Now, he runs around quite a lot with Mouse and it is very fun to see and very good exercise for a middle aged cat.

I still miss my Oliver and Bert while traveling in the U.S., but I had a lot of fun with these guys.

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Sticker shock

August 11, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

I’m in the States presently. I have to say I suffered sticker shock when I saw the gas station sign indicating that gasoline is $3.00 per gallon and up. Ouch! Then I bought a daily newspaper from a vending machine for $1.00. You’d think it was made of gasoline for that price.

I’ve made a small contribution to the local economy buying a few things that are difficult or impossible to get in Dubai. I put the shoe salesman through his paces trying nearly every shoe in my size. I bought two pairs of sensible shoes, unlike these I saw while travelling.

stiletto shoes

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Summer

June 19, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Well, my summer plans were looking something like this: read a lot, sew a lot, laugh at the cats antics a lot, watch a lot of Bollywood movies and go outside as little as possible. I was also going to do a lot of blogging – book reviews, movie reviews, cat antics and get caught up on the wacky toys videos. I was also going to get brave and explore some social issues that have been in the press lately.

However, on the 30th of June, I turn in my work laptop computer which is in great need of some maintenance work, and will not have it again until I return to work at the end of August. I expected to have a MacBook Pro before this, but that has not worked out. So, blogging is not to be. I will still be reading, sewing, laughing, etc., but any writing I do will be in a paper journal which only I will be likely to ever read. I will still be on Twitter, Facebook and email, because my iPod Touch is very useful for those things, but typing more than a few words is not practical, and loading pictures, forget about it.

We are not travelling anywhere exotic this summer, so maybe no blogging is not such a big deal. We are each travelling to the States at different times and to different destinations. This tag team travelling allows for the cats to be cared for without having to enlist a cat sitter and should be far less exhausting than last years 7 week odyssey.

I will endeavor to get caught up on some not yet posted pictures before June 30th. I’m sad that I won’t be able to take advantage of my time off to do more in depth writing.

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