Shirley's Secret Room...Yikes!

Cool Weather

2008-10-18T13:58:00.001-05:00

Last night was great sleeping weather!I had the living room and the bedroom windows open. It had been cool during the day, but sunny and beautiful.

By last night it had gotten quite cold! I left all the windows open when I went to bed, and I dressed in warm sweat pants, sweat shirt and warm sox on my feet!! When I crawled into bed and lay there for a bit, I realized I would be TOO chilly.

But...I love sleeping in cold weather, and didn't want to shut the windows. So I got back up and dug out a warm, heavy quilt. I snuggled up under that and felt like I was all snuggled down in a nest.

I love that feeling! You 're all nice and warm down in your cocoon, but if you leave your nose outside the cover it gets cold. If my feet get too cold I have to add another layer of socks.The next morning, I wake up, and doze off again, 'cause it feels so good I don't want to move.

Fall is a wonderful time to sleep your life away!! I might crawl out of the covers long enough to....catch ya later!

I Don't know Why?!

2008-10-07T19:00:00.002-05:00

I've made three more blogs......I don't know why.... no one ever reads this one.....but these other are 'out there' so maybe other people will read them. One is Shirl's Lounge and one is
Shirl's Poetic Heartbeat and one is Shirl's Poetic Musings .

They're all on blogstream and blogspot.

Now I have to find somewhere else to do somewhere else, and see what response I get. It is fun getting comments from people in those places.
It's like the posts you get back on here in answer to something you post....in BH or somewhere.

I'm also thinking of starting a blog at the same place as my Lounge and Heartbeat, where I can write my fantasy stories. It might get me more motivated to write!! There is a guy on there that writes really dark fantasies in one of his blogs....he has like three blogs, also.

Well I'm going to watch the Presidential Candidates Debate...so....I'm outta' here!! :)

My Conclusions About Men

2008-10-01T11:55:00.003-05:00

Yes, they truly are from mars!!!

Since I don't go to bars anymore.....since my church has NO single, active, decent-aged men......and since my apartment building has none of the above...............

What is a woman to do??....Where do you go???

During the past two or three years I have seen a few men....they weren't easy to find, let me tell ya' !!!.......and one found me, my Ex.... These experiences have only served to verify the conclusions I had already drawn from the past.......men are, basically, sneaky....sly....devious....manipulating.....and yes, liars!!!

Sorry ladies, if you don't agree....and my apologies to my sons.....I know there are exceptions.........I just haven't found one yet!!!

The other difficulty is age. I am a reasonably healthy, active woman, and I don't THINK I am ugly. But I need to meet a man YOUNGER than me in order for him to be able to enjoy life with me (everyone my own age is in a wheelchair, uses a walker, shuffles, or don't walk at all). I need someone to keep up with me!! .......But then, what younger man wants an older woman??!!........It just becomes a vicious circle!!!......So, I'm stuck!!

You know what I did???........ I checked out Match.com.......Yes! I did!!

You know what the conclusion there is??......men are sneaky...sly...devious...manipulating...and yes, liars!!......Oh, sorry, did I repeat myself???!!!!

Here is another conclusion from Match: Most men, on average, aren't much taller than I am!......I always wanted to meet someone tall like my brothers.....hasn't happened, yet! Mostly their average height is between 5'6" and 5'10".

Two other things that struck me as weird:

When you tell Match for profiles of men within 50 miles of your hometown....they send them from California, all the way to Florida!!!!....What good does that do them or me??!!

And there is the other weird thing; Florida......Widowed men and women retire to Florida....it is a MECCA for single men and women....Yet, most of the men on Match looking to meet someone, are from FLORIDA!!!! Why don't they look in their own backyard??! If I lived in Florida I wouldn't even think of Match......maybe I should move?!

I want someone to run around with, and who is CAPABLE of enjoying life....what am I to do??! (tears going on here!)

Shirls :(

Subject To Other's Whims! Really??!!

2008-10-01T09:21:00.003-05:00

Here I am enjoying my PC, not bothering anyone......I have a good time with myself......when the downstairs innercom BLARS out!!!After picking myself up off the floor.....it scared the bejeeses out of me!!!.....I asked who it was.

I got yelled at!!! "Time for choir practice!!"I looked back at the button like, 'what the....'?!

Did I sign a life-n-death contract or something?..NO...Did I have to be there 'cause we have an 'event' coming up?...NO....Did I plan on being there?....NO...Did I want to slap someones silly face off?...YES!!!...Do I have to tell someone my comings and goings?....NO....Am I grown?....YES!!

I didn't say a word, just took my finger off the button. That's the equivelant of hanging up on someone. It felt goooooood!

Hey...I just got out of the shower; just finished coloring my hair; My hair and I are still wet; I'm not dressed?! I'm not going anywhere!!!

I Came back over here...got comfy in this chair, again, and went to my favorite place----cyberspace!!!Oh, if you come by to visit we can heft a cuppa...or something...together.

But, right now I guess I'd better go do something with myself.

Talk later, Shirl:)

Missing You

2008-09-30T21:45:00.003-05:00

My eyes weep;
My heart looks back;
My soul grieves;
My every thought flies back to you!
Your voice laughs;
Your humor shines;
Your words excite;
Your teasing caused my heart to sing!
Our jokes, risque;
Our stories, hot;
Our thoughts shared;
Our times together were too few!
Now it's gone;
Now all is lost;
Now missing you;
Now what will tomorrow bring?

Dining Out

2008-09-30T19:27:00.002-05:00

I love to eat out!!No cooking! No cleaning up afterward!Being waited on!!I love it!!

I went to a place the other day called Cheddar's. Do any of you have one? The food was delicious and reasonably priced.....but it is usually the decor which turns me on...or off...when dining out.Cheddar's turned me on!It has HUGE ceramic pots, of all shapes, all over the place...lushly planted! But in the middle of the room was what really got me!!In the middle, like a room-divider, was the LARGEST aquarium I have ever seen!! You could walk all the way around it, and after I had eaten I was over there cruising back and forth and all around!!It was beautifully planted and decorated. And the water was so clean and crystal clear! (Some places, their aquariums are kind of murky and look uncared for!! )There was a large variety of fish, in all shapes and sizes...from large palm-sized ones in bright yellows and blues....to tiny little things you almost miss seeing!.....some playing in the greenery....some hiding in rock-caves.....some cruising the bottom gravel.Any man who takes me out and wants to make points, needs to take me to an enjoyable place like that!....and of course be enjoyable company and can make me laugh......or take me to a Blues Club!!Well, enough of that I guess.....see ya later!! Shirls

The Wanderer Returns

2008-09-30T17:34:00.002-05:00

I feel like a wanderer who has been gone a long time!!During my absent time I was seeing an ex-husband from 54 years ago!! (That didn't last long this time either!)......I have been quilting, growing houseplants, doing some traveling, and meeting friends from my Garden Helper forum......and of course playing on my computer.

The title photo is of me out in Washington, where I visited friends and family. Met friends from my forum on Cedar Hill. This is a magical place, full of Gnomes, Fairies, and Unicorns and many wonderful gardens.

I flew there, but then took a train across the state to visit family. I had never been on a train before and LOVED it. I hope to take more trips by train.....hopefully overnighters, so I can sleep in a Pullman. The dinning was nice! The food was good, and the prices were no higher than eating out in a restaurant. I thought it would be higher priced.
Then I flew back home to Ohio.

I flew to Virginia at Christmas time last year to another sons, which was a great reunion, as we had not seen each other in years. Got to meet my daughter-in-law, and three more grandchildren!! That was a wonderful time, and in a wonderful little VA town.

I have been to a Church Camp just recently, where I had a lot of fun, in a beautiful setting, with wonderful weather. For talent night I read a poem I wrote, which caused me to pick up a writing assignment about the camp for the church paper, and, asked to write a poem for next years camp!!

The camp had been damaged (and since repaired), as well as damage in Cincinnati, from the edge of Hurricane Ike!!!! Lots of destruction and power outage!!.......But, the Salvation Army sent one of their 'on site disaster trucks' to the apartment building where I live, and kept us fed.....and lots of COFFEE!!!

Well, this pretty much catches me up with my blogging. I'll see if I can't come up with more, now that I am settled down again.

Next time....see ya'

Strange Thought Processes

2007-06-18T19:05:00.000-05:00

Let's just sit out here and watch the world go by for awhile. Are you a people watcher?....I am!...I check out their clothes, how they treat people....especially their children; their gestures and expressions.I really have strange thought processes sometimes!Look at that couple walking down the sidewalk. Her hands are waving all over the place....you know she is talking ninty miles an hour!!!He's walking along with his hands shoved in his pockets, eyes roving off in the distance...his whole attitude says 'boring'! I watch people a lot and have come to realize I'm seeing the same things, over and over...gestures, body language, facial expressions; even laughs and giggles. All seem to be universally the same, used to express something, or as a reaction to something.BUT...the really weird thing is....we all, each one of us, feel that each expression or reaction we use is unique to ourself.I know I sometimes catch myself wondering how many thousands of people have made the same gesture I just made, in response to the same thing??I've thought things which I have felt were really 'deep' and 'profound', and then wondered if anyone else ever thought that before. Then later on, I hear it from someone else, or read it in a book or article. I gotta tell ya....it's very deflating to ones ego!!We all use the same facial expressions to show sorrow, joy, tiredness, anger, and on and on. It's no wonder we can have little gremlin faces to use to indicate these feelings! They're universally the same.Have you ever noticed this while watching people? Or even thought about it before? Check it out sometime.Yet...these same universal reactions...in various combinations, help define our individual personality! And help make us recognizable as who we are. Authors use these in books to help define a character.It's all really weird to me....but then, maybe I'm weird! It makes me realize the truth to a passage in the Bible which simply says, "There is nothing new under the sun".Well, I hope I haven't bored you too much, or that you haven't found me too strange!!Hope you'll come around again, and I promise I won't be this odd too often....I hope See ya later, Shirls

Driving In Pennsylvania

2007-06-12T16:28:00.000-05:00

I recently took a trip, by bus, to Hershey PA. While driving through the countryside, as the scenery changed, I couldn't help but notice the differences, contrasted with the Ohio I had left behind.

My mind was capturing many images, which I was afraid I would forget. So out came my notebook and I started jotting down words, which would remind me later, about things I was seeing. Those single words started coming together so well that a poem was practically writing itself!!! So, I turned it all into a poem which I will let you read, if you wish.

Pennsylvania Countryside

The hills swept by, rolling and green;

Tall, skeletal trees spiking through the canopy.

Stone, layered and tilted, spilling sideways

With edges rough; colors gray, brown and creamy.

Burned out trees; their limbs artfully twisted,

Clawing for the sky through lush growth below.

A hawk, wings spread, floating quietly aloft,

Fierce, golden eyes from early morning's light aglow.

White and black trees, with leafless stems,

Dancing and twisting through forests green.

Protruding stones, chipped with gargoyle faces;

Others layered, sharp, with a watery-wet sheen.

A dusty road meandering off to nowhere;

The greens of the woods spiking across the horizon;

An Amish farm with rows laid out so clean.

The sun's glory, over all, has risen.

I guess one of the most intriguing places to me was Intercourse PA !!!! I can't begin to imagine who would come up with that name! Or why!! Even the church group I was with laughed and snickered! All of my friends on the GardenersHelper forum who know me well will be proud of me!! I spoke nary a word!!! Can you believe it??!! Me, who would normaly be saying all kinds of raunchy things??!!! I even amazed myself!!:)

I did love browsing in and out of all the crafty shops. I needed Loz the Shopping Queen with me though! I didn't seem to care about looking for bargains and all. There was so much I left behind that I wanted!:) And, I found the horses pulling differently designed carriages very charming....but the town did stink! Piles of '----' here and there does make for a rank smell !! I guess they don't know about 'pooper-scoupers' :) :).

I went through HersheyPark Chocolate Factory! It didn't look at all like the movie :) :) ! I also refrained from buying bags and bags of chocolate!!! Three bars only, so there!!

I really would have liked to bring home some chunks of that Pennsylvania rock which had fallen by the roadside from those colorful seams of stone!!! But, there was no way to stop and accumulate 'art'.

So, that was some of my adventure, going to Hershey PA.!

Italy, Oh Italy

2007-03-05T16:53:00.000-05:00

Tuscany of mellow light,
The golden hue,
The brush of green.
Tuscany of blue-washed height,
The creamy stone,
The dusty road,
Tuscany....a pleasing sight!

Shirl:)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If I had a genii in a bottle....and I rubbed him until he popped out....up....uh, whatever....and if he granted me a wish to go anywhere in the world....I would pick Italy!
Then if this genii would transport me there....on a beautiful magic carpet.....I would have him gently lower me to earth upon the soil of Tuscany!

But, Venice would be a wonderful place to be transported to also....standing on one of the humped up bridges....watching the people!
The sexy frenchmen...with their berets and striped jerseys....the singing gondoliers....the piazas and side-walk cafes.....the vivid colors that sing and ripple!

Ahh...to hope.....to wish.......per chance to dream!!!..............

Arizona Babe

2007-03-04T19:03:00.000-05:00

This is me when I lived in Lake Havasu Arizona. I am watering my cactus (which I stole from the desert!!).

The cactus is surrounded by black/brown lava rock (which I stole from the hillside up from the house!!!).

The fill-in is white quartz rock which you can walk through the desert and pick up (it's FREE!!!)

Out from the front of me and the cactus is about a four-foot hill down to the street. This hill is lined from top to bottom and side to side with black/brown lava rock (you know!!!!)

The rest of that yard remained desert. I lived in the desert; I loved the desert! No grass going in there!!!

If you enlarge the picture you will see that the property is up on a high elevation. That whole area sloped upwards from the Colorado River, to the hills. You can barely see, way out there and below a faint strip of blue which is the river.

Lake Havasu City was way down there by the river. It was small, just being built actually at that time. It has grown a lot!!!!! I lived here when they brought over the London bridge, stone by stone; dug a wide and deep trench between the city and the airport which was on a finger of land, making it an Island; and built the London Bridge there, reconnecting the airport to the city. It was fun to watch!!!

I was scrounging around down in the bushes and rocks along the river, picking up smooth, polished river rocks to take back to my cactus beds; found a beautiful gray and white snake skin that had been shed. Of course I had to cart that back home too. Kept it until it began to stink!!

My sons caught a scorpion in a jar and their father showed them how to make it sting it's 'own bad self ', as Cindy would say!

Once they caught a really cool grasshopper and put it in a cage, and put a saucer of water in there for it. It drowned in it's own drink!! (Sounds like me!!!)

My sons would wander the desert around our house; this was their playground. They took the youngest with them, who was barely more than a toddler, and he fell into a cactus!! (That was fun, for me!!!)

We, as a family, would take many trips out into the desert and explore; gathering (stealing!) cactus and rocks and strange pieces of wood; exploring mines, and observing wildlife.

I loved Arizona!!! It was my favorite place of anywhere I have lived!

This Is The Place...

2007-02-28T21:56:00.000-05:00

Well, this is it! This is where I sit and talk to you all; and where I write in here; and where I try to write a Fantasy novel.
Sometimes I am sitting here until the night and darkness surrounds me, and I finally remember that a lot of time has passed!!!! By the time I come to myself many Coffeehouses have come and gone...or Dragons have appeared and confronted my hero Val, who is a young apprenticed Wizard, living in the Kingdom of Lynnwyck. King Adrommo and his kingdom is in danger from an alternate universe of pervasive darkness; burning hot fires and passions; and the black-cloaked form of Darkwing. Ah, but never fear, young Val is here with his inept approach at saving them all!
I remember in the thread someone started about showing pictures of where we sit and talk all the time with each other, there was some really very, very cluttered spaces!!!! I cleaned mine up before this picture was taken!
If my gremlins out of PB don't go on here properly I will be VERY unhappy!!! (Didn't work!!!)

So...see my Willy in the plant on the desk? I love all my Willies!!!! You can see more of them in my Photo Bucket in the pictures of my houseplants. I am going to get more. Up above is my Bad Hair Day plant!! And a piece of pottery I designed and painted in Ceramics.
I keep a paper laying beside the PC where I put everyones Garden Forum names and their REAL names....so I can keep track of whose's who.

To the right on a table is my scanner (which doesn't work..not compatible with WindowsXP)
And up above is my printer (which doesn't work!)

Attached on the other side of PC is a clipboard where I attach my writing notes which I can pull around where I can see it, and type them into my novel file. Hanging on the arm of that is the Mic which my son just brought ( It WORKS!!)

So...this is my writing and chatting space...I would have put this picture in the Forum where everyone elses is but couldn't find it...so it will only be the ones who choose to visit my Secret Room who will see where I am.

Don't know what else to tell you about this space....oh, there is often a bottle of wine sitting there, and in the mornings my Garden Helper mug full of coffee.

Guess I'll call this one quits...but now you can picture me here when we talk....
see ya.....

Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere

2007-02-26T19:34:00.000-05:00

No one seems to be in the Coffehouse so I'll come into my secret place.
I have a bottle of wine sitting here on the desk (as opposed to a GLASS of wine). I think I have become sort of partial to the whole bottle! I mean, if you're goin' to have a sip...you might as well go whole hog, I say.
Tonight I'm tired and sore, with a back ache and headache, so I'm really contemplating getting into a nice, relaxing, warm bubble bath. Showers are so....quick...and over with, ya know? How can you have bubbles floating around in a shower.
I like bubbles piled up...like the billowing white clouds in the sky, especially the way they look from an airplane...piled up..with some gently departing their tether and floating around, with their irridescent colors shimmering pink and blue......so pretty and delicate..of course they must have a wonderful aroma. Right now I have Lavender Chamomile.
They pop like champaign!!...sometimes on your nose.
I like to hold them in my hand and blow on them so they float up in the air...and pile them on top of..well..you know...and pretend I have bigger ones than I do!! Ha Ha!!
While the water is running and the bubbles are mounding..I set a small table by the tub and get my wine, or what ever I'm drinking...it use to be beer.. and put that on the table, maybe lay a book there, depending on my mood....maybe lay out something sensual to put on afterwards.
I mean, a sensual bubble bath deserves sensual clothing afterwards!...no flannel, or night shirt, or jammies....no, it has to be soft, swishy, silky, and lace....for me black, or red....
Well, enough dreaming. Maybe I will do that later...right now it's back to the Coffeehouse and friends. I hope someone is in there by now!!....See ya....

Joys of Shopping!!!

2007-02-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

I went shopping for half the morning today....for ME personally!!.....not for Willies or seeds or anything like that....just for me.

One top is like a long sleeved T-shirt only it is rib-knit chenile, in what I would call Ocean colors; it is striped with deep grey/blue, light denim blue, powder blue, white, lime green, and forest green. It's by Arizona!..it's acrylic and spandex, which means it's going to 'form fit' great..which is what I like (if you've got it, why not show it! That's what I say!!). (Laugh gremlin goes here. No I haven't gotten any here YET.)....Guess how much it cost...come on...guess..
....90cents!!!!!!
I got another one, also in acrylic and spandex, long sleeves, Chenile but a little thicker. Its pattern is 5" by 5" squares of all the colors of fall leaves..brown, beige, rust, sort of olive/brown. These colors are speckled with the other colors like tweed. I think it's gorgeous (maybe in upcoming camera time?).....how much you ask?......90cents!!!!!!

I got a pair of plain black, LEATHER pumps, 2+" heels, brand new tags still attached, ....by Worthington Soft Collection .....you ready?....4 bucks!!!!!

I got a large, woven basket, with pale rose and sage/green wicker in the patterned weaving...
only $1.50.........A white recipe book with spring flowers splashed all over it (for my new kitchen!), which has hard pages with pockets on both sides for storing cut-out and hand written recipes, and catagory tabs....$3 dollars, which I didn't think was bad, it is so pretty!! And will help clean up my clutter.

Then I got three mystery books... 50cents each.
One is titled, 'Long After Midnight'..
One is Op-Center, by Tom Clancy..
One is Edge of Evil, by J. A. Jance....This one I will read first because it is about a woman who sets up a blog!!!!!!!....and she starts getting threatening posts!!!!.....of course I'm going to read it first. (my scary face goes here!!!)

Yes!!...The joys of shopping!!!!
....and posting...and blogging.......

Too Early!

2007-02-23T05:32:00.000-05:00

I went to bed last night about 1:00am, and woke up bug-eyed at 4:30am!!! So what does one do?? Jump onto the Garden Forum of course!!! All my buddies there will understand that!
I toured around on there for awhile but then saw the link to myself and couldn't resist. So here I am, at the crack of dawn (actually it hasn't even cracked yet!), talking to myself like I had good sense. I'm having a good cup of coffee though, and quite happy. Maybe someone will come along and read my rambling; maybe not;... does it matter;... maybe not;... this is quit theraputic;...I like talking to me!! (grin gremlin here)

I had checked 'remember me' because I thought that would make this place 'remember me', ya know....but...knowing my messed up self, it of course asked me to sign in..AGAIN!...hhmmmm?

I thought I would spend two or three hours on here trying to figure our how to post pictures in these blogs. Well.....lookie up above!!! All kinds of tools, like in Word... and there's the little photo icon plain as day!!! It even has spell check, thank God, which the above 'theraputic' made me happy to see. (clapping hands here) Maybe I will spend a couple of hours trying to find out how to get all my gremlins on here to use. Or, minimize my photo bucket and copy/paste out of there. hhmmmm. Next post I will see if I did good. More coffee right now.

Nuts for the Squirrel

2007-02-23T00:29:00.000-05:00

Well, nuts!!

I did not know that I had to make a post first!!! Nothing told me that!!!

Now I have an Archive and under my blog, Comments.
It doesn't look like everyone elses, but that's OK. It's mine!!

Squirrely!

2007-02-23T00:15:00.000-05:00

In bars out in California, and at parties, sometimes I was called 'Squirrely Shirley', all in fun of course! Anyway, tonight I feel totally squirrely (I wish I had my gremlins to use here!!).

It is after midnight, the witching hour, and I have been trying for three hours to try and figure out WHY I don't have Comments or Archives on here. When I go back to my set-up page it is all checked properly, but it's not here!!! Things like this go wrong for me in things I try to do on my computer ALL the time!! If something doesn't change soon, I am going to trash this blog and start a new one. This is suppose to be fun, not frustrating!! It is driving me squirrely!!

At least out in CA I was fun when I got like that!!