Sixteen Days of the Olympics...

I just love the Olympics. It doesn't matter if they are summer games or winter sports. I marvel at the amazing things that athletes can do. The opening ceremonies last night were awesome. Everyone was saying how can you outdo China and their summer games opening ceremonies, well I say you don't, you do what you are best at and that is to bring everyone together in an intimate setting and make the audience part of it and that is exactly what was done. David Adkins pulled it off beautifully. He made you and the TV audience feel the beauty of what Canada is. Canada may be vast but it is also intimate in it's nature. I say well done, eh?

I love Canada, you have to know that I am partial as I'm married to a Canadian who is now a naturalized citizen of the US. I have been to Canada many times and what they say is very true in that the people of Canada are very warm, friendly and welcoming. They are ready to help you at a moments notice if you ask or even if you don't ask they are there. It is a country of vast skies, towering mountains, clear water lakes and streams, beautiful sunsets, clear air and abundant wildlife. I am always amazed at the cleanliness of it's national parks. You just don't see trash in them. I have only been to Canada once in the winter and I can say they do have winters like we don't get here in Oklahoma. The closest thing to what a winter might be like is the blizzard that we had in December. Dave talked to one of his buddies from Calgary and he said " So your getting a taste of what we have for about 6 months of the year, eh?" The cold I can do without.

I have made another pot of stew as the weather calls for it and it is the time of season that I am extremely busy and don't have much time to cook. It's so easy to just put everything into one pot and let it simmer all day and have a feast that evening. I put everything in it again as I did for Super Bowl Sunday but this time I added corn and peas to the mixture. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm Gooooooood.

At the top of the page is a picture of the amaryllis that my office gave me when I was out for my knee replacement surgery. To the left you can just see another bloom in the process of opening. The one you are looking at is about a week old. I just need to get my other pictures from my hubby so I can make a book of the flower opening. There is another stem that is growing and it should be opening sometime next weekend. These flowers are rather stunning. I could become partial to them as they seem easy to take care of. I wonder if they travel well?

Ah...the escapemisters...the dogs. For some reason I thought things were too quiet in the back yard and in looking out the kitchen window I could not see the dogs. Hmmm...so I went to the back door in my bedroom where I can see the yard and knocked on the window. I saw Bear and Fitz but could not see Lizzy but noticed that one of the boards in the fence seemed to have a little more daylight between the slats. I hollered a Chris and told her that her dogs were out. She went out and gave her famous whistle and only one dog came running. So she brought in Bear and started to go out the front door to see where they had gone to when her dad came through the door with dogs at hand. He was on his way home from the store and saw them down the street. He parked the car and hollered at Fitz who heard him and turned and came home running with Lizzy tagging behind. Good thing too as the basketball game at the Lloyd Noble Center had just let out and traffic was getting heavy on the main thoroughfare. And he could have been hit by a passing car. Dave checked the fence line and found where they had dug out. So he filled in the hole with brick and repellent. Guess it's time to replace the fence and figure out a way to reinforce the ground under the fence so they can't dig out. Railroad ties may do the trick if we bury them.

Speaking of knees my therapy is going well. I'm working out at the Huff three to four times a week for about an hour and a half. I'm also doing upper arm work as I have decided that I don't like having bingo arms. I am building my time on the recumbent bike and am now up to 25 minutes. I'm pressing about 85lbs with my legs on the leg press and am getting more bend of the knee on the free leg swing. I am up to a 100 swings. I also do other stretches with a thera-band, and am doing quad bends. That one hurts as it stretches the front of your quad and you have to stretch the hamstring where it connects the the back of the knee. I have not been a big gym person since my mid thirties but I am starting to like it again. It's called...not putting it off if you want to be able to move normal again.

Well it is time to watch some more of the Olympics and cheer on the USA and Canadian Teams.

The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning,the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me ~ Chief Dan George, Native American Author

Just another day in the life of...

Amore and Arrivederci For Now