A Breath of Fresh, Wet Air~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

It seems my idea to go to my country place was a good choice. There is rain, and a little higher up a light dusting of snow, but not enough to affect where I am.

I got up early yesterday and went to the Gun Show at the Cow Palace, and that was a good move as well. Ran into some old friends, who work the show, they told me that Saturday was very, very busy, today is slower but sales were very good.

I noticed a few changes, the dealers who deal with Ammo have different set up now because of the changes in the gun law, so one can see the ammo, but there are barriers between them and the product, so it's more working with the sales person and asking questions.

A number of security dealers, but in talking with one person I know, the word is that because of the heavy rains many of them will be coming to the Spring show or working more in Nevada and Arizona at this time.

I saw a lot of antique pieces, practically museum quality. But the energy was not as high as usual, but from what I was told the energy was much better Saturday, and it being a 3 day weekend many people might be taking advantage of going skiing.

But it felt good, had a chance over a meatball sandwich (very good), to talk with some members of the Chabot Gun Club that do their SASS shoots on the third Sunday.

Did I buy anything, not really, nothing sang out to me. But it was fun just looking. I left by 1:30 p.m. and managed to get to my place by 4 p.m. Traffic was really very good. Of course things are going to be very rough going home tonight, so I talked to the Powers that be and made arrangements to come in Tuesday afternoon and work through the early evening instead.

Turns out that was a good thing too, the upgrades are not going as fast as they hoped, so going in in the afternoon will be a good thing. And since I don't have any meetings until about 3 p.m. I'm going to take advantage of it.

It is cold and rainy here, but a number of people are glad, the rain is needed. My caretakers were glad that I did come up, some repair work is needed in the barn area, nothing drastic and they were going to e-mail me about it for my approval before having it done, and it was a good thing to be here, I had a chance to talk with a couple of members of the historical preservation board and got an update on things, fund raising is going better than expected, some surprising grants received, land purchases progressing well.

And the educational aspect is moving forward and looks to be very good. The line up for their events for the year is all set and I'm looking forward to it. Then a special request was sprung upon me. Where they hold their meetings is going to be under renovation starting in February and they will not have a place to meet on a steady continuous basis, as it appears that the renovations could take more than a year.

I asked how many people attend these meeting and they said that besides the board members not much over a dozen, if it was going to be a very large gathering then it would be held at the school auditorium especially if it was something where there might be a lot of input needed from people in the town. So I was asked if I would be willing to loan my house, primarily family parlor and dinning room since they blend into one large room.

I asked my caregivers is that would be a hardship on them and they said no, so I agreed with the proviso that anyone attending a meeting here must be made aware that the house was currently not handicapped accessible, that it was a temporary meeting place and that the minutes of the meeting would be posted in the local newspaper. Also anyone coming onto the property could not claim injury if they fell or injured themselves as it was at their own risk. Anyone who is handicapped and wants to attend a meeting needs to make arrangements with one of the board members and all efforts should be made to accommodate those requests.

Getting that in writing the board members agreed. So after dinner I talked with my caregivers and asked if there was any spot in which a wheelchair ramp strong enough to accommodate those motorized scooters could be installed. The best possible spot was through the back into the kitchen, because the doorways were large enough to accommodate most wheelchairs and scooters into the lower part of the house and the angles into the living area was practically a shotgun arrangement. The stairs were on the side and were going to eventually be replaced so this would be an excellent thing to do. The walk way to the back is level brickwork so no problem there.

So I told them to see what it would take and have the work started as soon as possible. Because I had a feeling that it was going to be along time before they got back to their usual meeting place and also if we needed to replace anything or bring in a heavy piece of funiture having that ramp would be a good thing.

I slept like a rock last night and woke to the smell of coffee this morning, it's raining but I'm going to go into town, and just see how things are going there. It's chilly, a bit windy and diffently wet. But it feels like my restlessness is cured, that I'm back insync with myself.

I had a chance to see more of Fram's photos from his apartment, how facisinating those horse drawn carriages so close by, it almost feels like one is in Sherlock Holmes London. And I listened to that piano piece, yes it does sound like the way this wet winter feels. I'd forgotten about Chopin. In the next town over there is a music store that carries CD's I'm going to check it out and see what they have in the classics.

I don't think I'll have a chance to go to Europe, at least not this year. My Baby Sister is going to graduate this June with her Bacholers degree in Business---and her fiancee will get his Master's as well. But Baby Sis will be going back for her Masters as well and Ted will be job hunting---not easy in this current economy, he said he may go back and "augment" his masters by taking other courses, he has to see what the 'waters' are like.

Anyway, I know where I'll be this June. I'm very proud of her.

Now I must be off if I want to do what I want to do. My caregivers and I will make arrangments to meet in town for lunch, they need to do some grocery shopping, while I will "flutter like a social butterfly" oh yeah, right! ***chuckle***

Until Later Sweet Things, Kisses. And Fram keep posting those photos and tell us more about what you see.