Click here for a cute animal intelligence story!

A black labrador was separated from his master at a Scottish railway station.  He caught the first train home, even chose the correct train, & got off at the right station too - all by himself!

I have a black labrador too, his name is Merlin.  Here he is:

"A new company plans to unveil new high-tech tombstones with embedded flat screen monitors that would allow visitors to play memorial videos of the deceased..."  See local6 news: http://www.local6.com/news/4863830/detail.html" title="http://www.local6.com/news/4863830/detail.html" target="_blank"http://www.local6.com/news/48... .

What a wonderful way to be remembered. What a great family history/genealogy resource. How comforting to know that we will not be forgotten, that someone at sometime will likely press a button to know about us!

:cry:  My blog has been viewed 323 times, but nobody has commented yet. Please comment?

My mother stressed the importance of seeing the other person's point of view.  I still find that to be challenging, because I felt a lack of support, sympathy, & loyalty for me from her at times, so as a result perhaps I haven't stressed seeing the other person's point of view enough for my children, although I have tried to teach them to be kind & to be respectful, which I feel are all important.  After all, it feels so good to be treated kindly & to be respected; & it hurts to be treated unkindly, & to be disrespected.

That was rather premature.

Let me see if I can remember everything:

I've been headachey for the last three days, unusual for me, presumably because of a work project I've been concerned about, & a state conference I've been helping to organise, plus the usual, not getting enough sleep.

Last week I happened to be outside & noticed water gushing out of my house!  Luckily my husband was able to come home from work (that's rare) & spend three hours finding, breaking concrete, digging, & fixing the source of the problem (the plumbers were away on a job) - a burst pipe under a concrete verandah.

Trying to organise my daughter's work experience in our capital city has been a scheduling nightmare, looks like she'll have three 'employers' in one week!

Yesterday I managed to flood the entire laundry floor.  Water seeped into three other rooms & now the carpet pongs.

Today my son came home from school with a rash - & tonight he discovered a tick on him!

I'm sure there's been more that I've forgotten to mention, but due to the lateness of the hour, that's all for today.

I've had heaps of visitors to my weblog, 216 already! but none of you have commented yet, so please don't be shy, I could do with some encouragement about now!  :-)

Five things I wish I had:

• a grand piano


• a timber kitchen with granite benchtops & splashbacks, & a cork floor


• an automatic gate


• a widow’s walk


• a new car

Five songs that I can’t listen to without thinking about what was going on in my life at the time that I first heard each of them:

• What about me?


• Sometimes when we touch


• The Stranger


• Take the long way home


• Is this burning an eternal flame?

Five things I’m thankful for:

• My family


• My home


• My computer


• My internet connection


• That my mother read to me every night when I was a child

Five things I’m sick of:

• Disrespectful people


• Being tired


• Flooded floors


• Scary snappy older women


• People letting me down

Four things that are true and one lie:

• I was given a tulip from the garden of the Quebec Parliament


• I’ve been ice skating at Park City


• I’m descended from royalty


• I’ve had psychic experiences


• I am an identical twin

Five words I adore but that I don’t use very often because I like to pretend to be normal:  (see:  www.dictionary.com if you’re stuck)

• Abysmal


• Doppelganger


• Sagacious


• Philanthropic


• Ludicrous

Five jobs I’ve had in the past that I would rather be unemployed than go back to:

• Bank employee


• Legal Secretary


• Bookkeeper


• Advertising Rep


• Word processor

Five things I’m not that I wish I were:

• Fit


• Slender


• A singer


• Relaxed


• Independently Wealthy

Five things I am that I wish I weren’t:

• Fat


• Easily stressed


• Big footed


• Impatient


• Unselfdisciplined

You're welcome to use this, just replace with your own answers, of course:

1. How long have you been blogging?  Two days
2. What colour underwear are you wearing now? Pale aqua
3. What are you listening to right now? White Snake "I just died in your arms tonight"
4. What are the last 2 digits of your phone number? 81
5. What was the last thing you ate? Yoghurt
6. If you were a crayon what colour would you be? New grass green (varies with mood)
7. How is the weather right now? Cool, sunny
8. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Mum
9. The first thing you notice about a stranger? Face, especially eyes
10. Favourite Food? Mangoes
11. Favourite Drink? Cold water
12. Favourite places to shop? Bookshop, art supply shop, house wares shop
13. One good memory? Holding Dad’s little finger in my hand while walking around the Show, as a small child
14. Hair colour: Dark copper brown
15. Eye Colour: Dark brown
16. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Only glasses to read tiny print, or in dim light - & sunglasses
17. Best friends? Maria, Sherree, Julie, Gwen, Lynn, Anne-Marie
18. Favourite Month? June
19. Favourite Fast Food? Chinese
20. Last Movie you Watched? Monster in Law
21. Favourite Day of the Year? My birthday
22. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Too wise, more like
23. Summer or Winter? Winter, our summers are too hot for too long
24. Hugs or Kisses? Cuddles, they last longer
25. Chocolate or Vanilla? Butterscotch brickle
26. Favourite tv shows?  Alias, ER, Temptation Island
27. What musical instruments can you play?  Piano, recorder, violin
28. Tattoos?  No way
29. What books are you reading? Bill Bryson’s "A Short History of Nearly Everything"
30. Piercings? One per ear lobe
31. Favourite Movie? Groundhog Day is one of them
32. Languages other than English:  A little high school French
33. Favourite Hangout? My home
34. Any Pets? One dog, a black labrador
35. Bass, tenor, alto, mezzo soprano, soprano?  Soprano
36. Butter, plain or salted popcorn? Salted, & only fresh, only at the cinema
37. Dogs or cats? Dogs, but friendly cats are fine, just not inside
38. Favourite flowers? Irises, orchids, gardenias, frangipanis…
39. What do you say when you wake up in the A.M.? What time is it?
40. Do you still talk to your best friends from school? Only by email & Christmas cards
41. What's on your desk? Diary, digital camera, wooden box, stationery
42. Rock concert or symphony? Both
43. Play or opera? Either is good, especially when I get to mingle with the cast afterwards
44. Have you ever fired a gun? Yes
45. Do you like to travel by plane? Not in economy
46. Right-handed or left-handed? Right-handed
47. Smooth or crunchy peanut butter? Sanitarium crunchy (not unsalted)
48. How many pillows do you sleep with? One
49. State and country you were born in? Queensland, Australia
50. Ever hitchhiked? Not likely

I thought I'd better do something to live up to my blog title, so here is my most recently completed painting, entitled "Reach for the Sky":

You can see more of my latest paintings, by clicking on the link to the top right! (just click to see the next painting)

I downloaded TypeKey, from the WordPress people, only to find it rather complicated, & that I had to have a domain name registered, hosting arranged, & an ftp program in order to use it.

Here I am at tblog, but so far it looks like this blog will look rather plain & boring until I can either amass tbucks somehow, or pay for the pro version.

Well, I soon discovered that tbucks, after the first few days of sorting things out & adding some features, aren't any more use to me, I wish the tbuck rewards were more useful for those who are no longer new.