reflections in the mirror

*sigh*

This has started out and is going to be a sad week. I mentioned earlier that a friend of mine lost her daughter last week. Well, this week will be the funeral. I have started working on the angel, and I am bringing dinner to my friends family today. Wednesday is the viewing (wake) and Thursday the funeral. I have been asked to sing in the choir, which means I will be sobbing through the whole song… I just wish there were some way to help my freind out.

This week will have some good times. Wednesday, I will be teaching a friend from church how to crochet, and Friday, my daughters uncle will be driving up for a visit. Friday night into Saturday is also the Father & son church campout, which will be my sons first campout. He is so excited.

I dont know how much I will be posting this week. But I will do my best.

My family has ‘fostered’ butterflies from time to time, mostly Painted Lady butterflies. But we have also fostered Monarchs and a Tiger Swallowtail. Here is one of the Monarchs that we fostered. These pictures were taken, just after we released him.

Tags: Pictures, butterflies,

OK, after searching most of the evening, I gave up, and decided that I would do my own thing…so here is my angel. This pattern is free and you are welcome to borrow it, as I drew it, please give me the credit due. Now, I can set to work on making this for my friend.

OK, I am feeling inspired to make a pillow for a freind who lost her daughter this week. I want to filet crochet an angel, not to large, for my friend. Her daughter was her first child and they were very close. Her daughters death is a big shock to her and I havent spoken to her about it yet, not that I will do much talking…

My plea, is if anyone who is crafty or crochet’s knows where I could find a pattern for an angel, Please, Please let me know. I will do my own search, but I just feel that this needs to be done for her.

Thank you in advance…

I have been working on my neices blanket for about 5 weeks now, and unless she is a very short, skinny girl (skinny yes, short no) then I have got alot of work to do…

My goal for this weekend is to Crochet. I need modivation.

OK, I will admit it, but I am obsessed with the dolphins. And just to prove it, here is another dolphin story…

Noah’s Rescue
Safety After The Flood
Today animal trainers were able to rescue, Noah,the youngest dolphin who was washed to sea. When the dolphin rescue team laid a floating mat in the waters of the Mississippi Sound, he leaped onto mat into the arms of waiting trainers. He will join Jackie and Toni in the temporary shelter of a hotel swimming pool while awaiting the delivery of the Navy’s emergency holding tanks expected on Saturday.

Now for the other 5…You can check to see how they are doing by clicking on the link here -> Marine Life Oceanarium

I have to tell you, seeing the dolphins playing in the pool is really cool. They interacting with one another and seem to be very happy to be back with their handlers. They have hoops, and basketbals and all sorts of ‘toys’, and they are playing! I am so happy to see them safe and sound!

Tags: Katrina, Katrina animal victims, Mississippi Dolphins, Dolphins

So many, including myself have seen pictures of the areas affected by Katrina and those affected by her and have had our hearts moved to help. One of the stories that I have tried to follow, was of the pets and animals affected. And to narrow that down a bit further…the dolphins and sea lions from the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi. This is a story that I saw a little of before Katrina hit and not much after that. In fact, before Katrina, I had heard that there were 5 dolphins moved to two different hotel swimming pools. I did not know, however, that 8 dolphins remained at the Oceanarium, along with some 28 sea lions.

The last couple days I have been watching the news and there have been reports that the 8 dolphins that were left in their tank, during the estimated 40 foot storm surge that hit the area. I love animals and feel that all ‘wild’ animals that are kept in the care of humans, must and should be cared for. These dolphins, some of which, can not care for themselves in the wild, as they have not learned or lost the ability to hunt and socialize with ‘wild’ dolphins, are at the mercy of their caretakers.

I am happy to read that the 8 dolphins that were washed out to sea, are as safe as they could be. They have been located, and are being cared for by their handlers, though they are still ‘free’ in the Gulf. The Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi, has a website where they are keeping updated news about the dolphins. Which, I am happy to read, also includes, that a mother and daughter (Toni and Jackie) pair of dolphins were infact rescued from the gulf this evening. The pair were in danger due to enemia and needed to be removed from the Gulf to save their lives. But all the dolphins survived.

The sad news is that out “Of 26 sea lions kept at the facility, five are dead, one is missing and the other 20 have gone to other aquariums, mostly in Florida. A seal is also was missing.” Reuters There are reports that the sea lions were swept out of their enclosure and deposited all over the place.

As of now, eight of the 15 missing sea lions have been recovered and joined the others, which had been transferred to Sea World in Orlando.

“We found the sea lions all over the place,” Solangi said. “People’s front yards, front porches, under an SUV.”

The woman who found the sea lion under her SUV coaxed the animal into her kiddie pool, and then fed her frozen fish she had stored in her freezer.

AOL News

I have thought alot, lately, about what I would do if a storm like that threatened my home and family. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I feel reasonably sure that the first to be placed in my van would be my cat, the hamster, and my daughters lizard, then the kids could climb in…

Tags: Katrina, Katrina animal victims, Mississippi Dolphins, Dolphins

Depending on where she decides to go, we might get something from Ophelia. We haven’t had rain in over 2 weeks (since Katrina) and could use some rain. We wouldnt mind getting spared the wind…but we really need the rain. I was watching the news earlier, and was reminded of Ophelia, from Shakespear’s Hamlet.

Ophelia appears in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. She is Hamlet’s lover. She watches the development of his apparent madness, suffers his coldness and strange behavior as he rejects and humiliates her (part of his strategem to make good his claim of insanity,) she is used by her father as a pawn towards manipulating Hamlet, and then finally, discovers that her beloved has violently murdered her father. In the face of this, Ophelia falls into (genuine) madness, and eventually drowns herself.

The newsperson stated that Ophelia was perhaps not the best name for a hurricane, and I have to admit, that I agree. Hopefully, this Ophelia, doesn’t take anyone with her into the water…

*Map added…

You can click on the image to see the local radar loop.

It seems that no matter how much we have to do, we find something else that needs to be done…now they tell us that multi-tasking actually is making me stupid…

Multitasking Can Create Mental Fatigue

For many people, juggling too many things at once is standard practice, but did you know that multi-tasking can actually make you stupid?

A new study shows that multi-tasking can hurt your memory and short-circuit your brain power.

Over-worked, overwhelmed, Americans are busier than ever. In this age of info-mania, technology tempts us.

“At work I’m on email and answering the phone, and doing everything at the same time,” Michele Rubin said.

But, new studies have shown, the more we juggle, the less productive we become. Multitasking can make you forgetful, anti-social — even lower your IQ.

Dr. Gary Small is a memory specialist at UCLA.

“When we’re multi-tasking, we don’t focus our attention so information never gets into our memory stores and so we think we don’t remember…we just never learned the information to begin with,” Small said.

Multitasking puts stress on the brain and can actually shrink memory receptors. Rubin, a 46-year-old mother of three, started having trouble with her memory four years ago.

“I’d be talking and my husband would say ‘who stars in that?’ And I would say, ‘oh that’s…’ and I couldn’t bring it up like I used to,” Rubin said.

The doctor put her on a 14-day plan: diet, exercise, relaxation and memory techniques. He taught her how to focus on one thing at a time.

Small said, “After two weeks on the program her scores were about average for a woman in her mid 20’s and in a way her brain had become 10 years, 20 years younger.”

Dr. Small said not all multi-tasking is bad, just use moderation.

To boost your memory, eat a diet rich in anti-oxidants and boost your intake of omega three fatty acids commonly found in fish like salmon.

So, my new excuse for why I got nothing done is…you guessed it, I am trying not to lose any more brain cells.

I took this picture early one day this past week. I love morning glories, I just wish I could enjoy the flowers a little more during the day