More Prattle from Povey

  He is a Clerk/Cashier in a local store. We completed our business.   I uttered two words The man was clearly a Hindu.  He was shocked and delighted to hear this greeting from a non-Hindu. We exchanged a firm handshake as he grinned from ear to ear. Doesn't take much to be decent eh?

  Cooper and I gave Arlington Park a miss today in favour of going to the Bayfront.  The Park is still closed, but there's a pleasant walk alongside the place where rental boats are moored. I had a sincere hope that C and I would see some of our regular walking pals. We did!   Bob, Sharon, and Susan who walk together.  We rejoiced because we hadn't seen each other in a couple of months. Cooper met Susan's miniature Schnauzer "Max" - they got on well.   Bob loves to rough house with Cooper - and also gives the best haunch scratching.  Susan said a bit about her visit to Vietnam and Cambodia; and the nightmare of getting back to SRQ just as Milton was doing his worst. They each noted how Cooper has matured. That's great. Just as Zion did Cooper now does.  He sits down comfortably when the humans natter, no tugging, no pulling.  What a blessed start to the day. And then....  I took Cooper to the Groomer (on Cooper Creek Blvd!). He trotted off happily with Siobhan

  I am not sure if I should use it since the manufacture doesn't know how to spell SULPHUR.  

 

 If at first, you can succeed etc. Drenched with Honey

  Perhaps the most unhelpful words on a School Report Card. I would think "what do you mean dear teacher. How will you help me?" In my 81st year of life I made French Toast for the first time. Needs improvement! Oh dear.  I used leftover Mama G's bread.  So hard to cut thinly, and very crumbly. I beat the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla.  Then I made a major mistake.  Instead of soaking the bread I poured the liquid mix into a skillet, and then added the bread.  Not good!  But the taste was good even though I didn't have any maple or sugar syrup. Self-taught, I recognise that it needs improvement.  I'll try again with old fashioned sliced bread soaked well, cooked well,  and smothered with honey.

Puerto Rico was "acquired " by the United States after the Spanish/American War. The following article from Wikipedia indicates that despite fancy words it is a Colony.   The official name of the entity in Spanish is  Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico  ("Free  Associated State  of Puerto Rico"), while its official English name is  Commonwealth of Puerto Rico . [ 21 ]  The Spanish official name was suggested by its architect  Luis Muñoz Marín  and adopted by a constitutional assembly on July 25 1952. Some authorities have called it a  euphemism  and have charged that the official name in English of "Commonwealth" constitutes a  fig leaf , i.e., associated with the covering up of an act that is actually embarrassing or distasteful with something of innocuous appearance. [ 57 ]  Puerto Rico remains a territory of the United States, exercising substantial internal self-government, but subordinated to the U.S. Constitution in areas such as foreign affairs or

  It arrived in the mail, but with no indication of the sender. 'Tis clearly someone who knows me well. Thank you!

  Relaxing and he comes to sit beside me. Dog owners will know the warm feeling that came over me.

  We are allowed to submit our ballots early in many U.S. States. I did so today.  I took my signed and sealed ballot to the Supervisor of Elections Office this morning.   It will not be counted until Election Day (Nov 5th). 'Tis a long and complicated four page document, Maybe I'll tell you more about this tomorrow. Most places have a bog-standard "I Voted" sticker. Not so in Sarasota. Here is our sticker, designed by a High School Student.                                                              Enlarge if necessary The Alligator having voted relaxes in a swimming pool on a red, white and blue floating tube. I love it!

    When the time comes for me to take Cooper for a walk, I take his leash from a hook by my front door. That's a signal for my dear boy that a walk is imminent. His obsessive/compulsive traits come to the fore. For Cooper will not allow me to leash him until he has completed a figure of eight walk. Go figure!

  Arlington Park in Sarasota: 7:15 a.m. today. Our usual canine friends, Buddy an entirely laid-back, and passive Greyhound; and D---- an old and tired Aussie were not there. Instead we met Ellie, maybe a Boston Terrier mix. He is smaller than he looks in the photo's. Ellie's Mom and talked.   I assured her that Cooper had never shown aggression towards another dog. She was worried because Ellie had once been attacked by a larger dog. We agreed to give it a go. It turned out to be a good choice. Ellie and Cooper raced, ran, wrangled, and did a bit of play biting for a full fifteen minutes. There was not a second of aggression. Ellie's mother was relieved.   I was overjoyed that for the first time Cooper could have fun and games with another dog.  He is an absolute treasure! Whoop Dee Do!

I met Dick Vitale quite by happenstance today.  I was able to shake his hand and thank him for his incredible philanthropy.  He gave me an autographed card.  Here is his story. Dick Vitale - Wikipedia

                                       At my home yesterday afternoon   L-R   Kadi (Estonia) /  jmp  (Limey) /Diego (Mexico/Cuba) / Yuliette (Columbia)   and a Dog Nibbling on Almonds     Drinking tea, coffee, sparkling water, and juices.     Lots of sparkling conversation.   Much in Spanish.   Kadi is fluent in Spanish;  Yuliette is learning English. Mr. Cooper was the star of the show. Fortunately, I Speak Dog. With my dear Kadi.  She returns to her home in Raleigh N.C. today. Our weekend together has been splendid,                                    Diego and Yuliette  

  My friend Kadi is visiting from Raleigh, North Carolina.  We've known each other since the mid 1980's. 'Tis good.   She and Cooper like each other so much. I had a wonderful insight today.   My task is not to entertain Kadi, or to keep her busy. It is to enjoy her company. Shopping together and cooking together is cool!   Long conversations are at the heart of our friendship. Alleluia

  Made more wonderful because of the presence of my dear friend Kadi who is visiting me from North Carolina

  In a recent blog post I railed against farmed salmon.  It ain't no good! The other day I was at Trader Joe's and bought Atlantic Salmon. 'Twas when I got home that I read the smaller print. In truth it was good and showed no signs of artificial colouring.  Trust the Norwegians! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- My friends D and A in Palm Aire, Sarasota had their power restored a few days ago.  Goody, goody.  Except that they do not have running water.  It may be (my guess) that the roots of a tree moved in the storm and broke the pipe from the street.  Misery upon misery - now their out-going sewage is wonky.  The plumbers cannot be with them until Friday. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarasota Airport has been closed post Milton.  Oh bliss.  I live in the flight paths and the silence has been golden. The Airport reopened this morning.  The noise is back.  BAH!  Except that my dear friend Kad

  And you know who you are. J in Westport, CT. who scoffed at the very idea of Baked Beans on Delicata Squash. M in Beverly, MA. who trashed Baked Beans in Tomato sauce.  I'll have you know that the Heinz brand (U.K.) and the superior Cross and Blackwell brand (Ireland) are staples for simple folks such as I. I put my money where my mouth is by eating Beans on a Baked Potato for lunch on Oct 15th.  Food fit for the plebes. SO THERE! My regrets that I couldn't find an emoji for tongue in cheek!

  This piece came up on Facebook.  I am grateful. Of course I am glad for the love and care expressed to me in many ways; and have continued gratitude that my place escaped almost scott free. Thanks too for my neighbour who wonderfully fixed the damaged windows on the porch. And smiling about Cooper's glee when we went to the dog park when it reopened. He ran, bounced and danced with unbridled enthusiasm. Yet with all this I am discombobulated.  Disoriented. Restless. I breathe in the tension which surrounds us. It's in the atmosphere.  Some because of the Hurricane; a lot because of the Presidental election politics. I commiserate with my friend D. who has lost her home. * I ache with my dearest friends A and D whose power came on as late  yesterday at 10:00 p.m. but who are still without running water. * * Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. I'm so "at sea" that it was only today that I realised I had not changed my clothing or taken

  My porch is not of strong construction.  It's more like a pool cage on a solid foundation, with a roof which extends from the house. Pool cages cannot support durable windows.  That why my windows are made of Mylar.   Some of it got ripped to shreds during the storms. I had what my neighbour/handyman said "was not a bad idea!" My idea "let's do a quick fix with plastic shower curtains". It turned out to be a good idea.  The neighbour worked hard for this "just for now fix" I will never turn the porch into a durable extension .   We are talking about spending some $55,000    Not at my age!

  It's been utterly wonderful to receive love, care and concern from so many people from so many places. Post-storm my heart was deeply gladdened because so many of you rejoiced that Zion's Tree survived.  It's as if you knew him. My community (Glen Oaks Ridge) never lost power. That's not true for many others. A massive "flotilla" of Power Company trucks and workers, some locally based, others from many other U.S. States, and from Canada is docked very near my home.  It's a wonderfully coordinated mutual aid enterprise; with buildings for sleep, for showering and for food. Our local site is one of perhaps hundreds throughout Florida.  Private enterprise is working at its best. Many are still without electricity. My friends D and C who live about four miles north of me are still without electricity. And due to miserable quirk, their home also lacks running water. They are hanging in there. Cooper and I visit them each day.  Cooper brings joy, and I've

  In residential areas throughout the U.S.A., you will most likely encounter four-way stops. This is how they work 4-Way Stop Intersection – The Complete Guide For Drivers – BC Driving Blog (drivinginstructorblog.com) It's an efficient system and is well respected. Post Hurricane Milton many traffic lights are out.   We are asked to treat four-way intersections/junctions where the lights are not functioning as if they were four-way stops. Oh my goodness, alleluia, whoop dee doo. T his recommendation is being widely respected.  Quelle Surprise!   ======================================== I knew that there would be a shortage of gas/petrol post-Milton. In anticipation of this I filled my tank last Monday.  Just as well - there is a great shortage of gas/petrol in our area. Yesterday, in our Zoom group, I reminded others of the biblical story of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. I touted my wisdom of being wise and thus being prepared.  My friends were impressed with my wisdom. But they we

  I awoke at U.S Eastern time 3:00 a.m. today Oct 9th. The storm had passed.  Cooper and I were safe! To my surprise I had mobile 'phone access. To their delight I was able to reach my sibs in the U.K. and talk with them or leave messages saying, "I am safe and well". Their worry level had been so high.  Their relief was palpable. My joy was full, There was a bit of damage to my screened in porch. It can be repaired DYI. A window had blown in.  When daylight came Cooper got super excited.  He tried to catch a wee bird which had flown in and was resting on an overhead fan.  The bird won. A bit later matters went downhill.  'Phone access was spotty. Internet access was impossible. But I had Cooper as my pal, and good food to eat. Early in the afternoon I called Verizon/Comcast to report an outage. I spoke to a machine. Within ten minutes  everything had been restored, Oh Lucky Man!   Oh dear and blessed friends!

But the storm is on its way.  That's unavoidable. It'll probably hit on Wednesday evening.  I say probably because Hurricane paths can be erratic.  I name them Donald J Trump and Boris Johnson. They are erratic but leave a lot of damage in their wake. The greatest danger is (1) from Storm Surge. (Ashville was a different scenario).  I live about five miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, three or so from Sarasota Bay. If Storm Surge reached us there would be no Sarasota. Having said that, we'll probably have a lot of local street flooding and the like. Our greatest risk is from fierce winds.  Fortunately, there are no huge trees near my property. Nothing to topple on my roof. My home is well built with very safe roofs.  The development is fifty years old and in all the hurricanes it endured there's never been roof damage. You may remember that I had hurricane standard windows installed last year. My screened in porch could suffer some damage to its  flimsy windows, but

  I had a CT scan this morning.  I'd not had breakfast some pre scan fasting was mandated. Horribly deprived as I had been, I treated myself to Rib Eye Steak for an 11:00 a. m. breakfast. It's what one does What no eggs!

  Many know that I rarely watch T.V.   It's not my thing.   Maybe that's because all the best programmes come on after 8:00 p.m.   Most evenings I am in bed by then. It's certainly because I have a short attention span; and because I don't need background noise in my home.   I don't even listen to the radio.                               My up-to-date model. When I got back from the United Kingdom in June the T.V. wouldn't work. That wasn't a major problem, though I would like to have increased my anxiety by watching the Weather Channel when Helene was on her way. I looked into purchasing (gosh and golly) a Flat Screen but never got around to it. Milton is on his way.   With that in mind I tried fiddling with the T.V. to no avail. But then........ Yesterday some gracious spirit put a thought into my mind.  "Maybe the remote control needs new batteries".  IT DID.  It took me only four months to figure that out

  I did the lazy male thing and left my dirty socks on the floor when I took them off. Cooper re-purposed them as his night-time friends

 YESTERDAY (3rd Oct) We had a lovely rain and thunderstorm. Cooper stood and stared for about ten minutes, taking it all in.

  American tourists to the English Cotswolds may well have been taken to Chipping Camden or Chipping Norton.   The locals were probably chillingly polite even as they seethed (think Venice and Barcelona!). The word Chipping descends from an old English word meaning Market. There is also a Chipping Ongar, about which I know nothing. We come to Chipping Sodbury. I worked there. It's about ten miles from my home city of Bristol. This photo' was taken in the 1920's (yes it was a Market Town!). By the time I worked there in 1961-1964 (for the former Westminster Bank) the lovely main street had changed little, though the Cattle etc. had been moved to an out-of-town venue. I was fortunate to work in this lovely town.  As a junior banker I was privy to town news, gossip and a juicy scandal.  More tomorrow!