yet more povey prattle

  Blossoming at approx 4 months..KEWL

 

  Product is Hot    DUH  Take Off Box and Wrapper  DUH   Unused Portions -  what are unused portions?

Bow tie Pasta, Chilli Beans, Grated Cheese. and Vino

Of course, we have been warned.  Earth Day started about fifty years ago. Climate change is real. World political/business/ leaders are paralyzed into indecision or into reactionary policies. And it's local. Cooper and I were at our local Dog Park this morning at 5:40. It was already 86f Cooper's best friend Lisbon was there.  They played.  (The white is shell).  Back to the park for a wee visit this afternoon.   By now it was 96f Just enough time for Cooper to lift his leg a few times.

  I was incorrectly advised that there'd been no bloodshed in yesterdays' 17th St Park Dog fight. 'Tis not so,  Lotus was injured in the melee. It transpires that Lotus' attacker had twice before fought and injured dogs, The County Animal Services have been advised and it's likely that the attacking dog will be banned from the park. Thank goodness for Cooper's cool and calm behaviour,  he stayed well clear   

  I had my A/C unit serviced today under the annual maintenance contract I have with A/C Warehouse.  Given the heat and humidity at this time of year 'twas good time for the maintenance. There was a bonus.  Given that I am a long-time customer it was a freebie!

BUT   Saved the chicken for Cooper.     Added French Vinaigrette dressing, mixed with Duke's Mayonnaise. Highly recommended (expensive) Cheese.

 

 

6:00 a.m.    o ff to Bayfront Park with Mr. C.   We met our friends Toska, and Ted, and Tonie, and Sharon. They gave Mr C the full attention he expects. Back home:  breakfast for C and for me. To Trader Joe's for "essentials!" Ho Hum  domestic tasks:  Laundry; Cleaning my bathroom.   Ho Hum, it has to be done. All out of the  blue came joy.   Such joy. MY SOUL was flooded with a theme from Dvorak's New World Symphony. I remembered that this theme had been "stolen" and used for a wondrous glorious song: "GOING HOME". Here it is as sung by Libera. https://youtu.be/TvThHk-wMRk

    GREAT  My locally owned Pet Supply Center where not only do the staff know my name; they also know Cooper's Name; and the brand of kibble he eats.    SHOP LOCALLY! ---------------------------------------------------------------- A NUISANCE  They called me to advise that my Aug 7th PET SCAN had been postponed. I called back to re-schedule. You know the game: "our menu has changed".  "All of our reps are busy".  "Your call is third in line". "We are short staffed (as if that was my problem!) I was patient (truly) as I listened to the jingle/jangle music.  (Oh for Mozart!) After about fifteen minutes I connected with a member of staff.  "Oh no" she said. "That message was sent in error. Your August 7th appointment still stands". BLAH! =============================== A DANGER/DECEIT? As I browsed the net this morning I read a warning that a tropical storm/hurricane could hit Florida's west Coast by Saturday. "Be prepar...

  Cooper loves his (expensive) beef femur bones.   My bright idea. I fill the empty bone with C's wet food.  Then I freeze it.  Once the bone is frozen Cooper has great fun,  as if it were the real thing.

 

  Who doesn't like soft serve ice cream, the kind that used to be sold from ice cream trucks (have they gone out of business since Covid?) In the U.K.  they are often served on a cone (sometimes called a cornet) with a Cadbury's chocolate Flake bar inserted - known as a 99 Pinecraft, Sarasota's Amish/Mennonite district has its own Ice Cream Shoppe ( why the extra "pe"?)  where soft serve is available in a cone or in a bowl to be eaten outside at the tables and chairs. And there is takeout.  Yum!  I sometimes allow it to liquify and use it instead of milk on mu morning granola. Mr. Cooper loves the beef femur bones which I buy at the local "Butcher's Block" store. Give one to Cooper and his tongue works overtime to get every bit of the delicious bone marrow.

  I saw Dr. Dorsay my Vascular Specialist this morning. We are dealing with the caudification (?) of veins/arteries which send blood to my right leg. This sometimes makes it hard to walk; when and if my right leg "seizes up", with a profound ache. Dr. Dorsay had analyzed the pros and cons of surgery to right the matter. He cannot recommend it for the while.  Such complicated surgery might be necessary/beneficial should the leg have wounds which would not easily heal; or in the worst case be gangrenous. I am spared the worst case. Dr. Dorsay has recommended determined and regular walks to refresh and enhance the blood flow. Walking with Cooper is never hard core walking.  He is a wanderer, ever looking for the perfect spot to lift his leg. So I'll take advantage of the Treadmill in my Community Club House

  He looks like Cooper's younger brother.    Better still his name is also Cooper!

  Mum, with a bit of help from Dad, gave birth to ten children. My sister Sylvia died within 24 hours of her birth, her tiny body horribly mangled with Spina Bifida. My twin (Elizabeth) was married but never conceived and gave birth to a child. This old coot never married. THAT LEAVES seven married siblings who produced a host of nieces and nephews; and great nieces/nephews for Uncle John (Michael) in America to love at a distance; and in person during my recent visit home. That was the reason for my visit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After my holiday I made a list of all those (from three generations) who could trace their history to Mum and Dad, (who never met most of them). I traced  the history through  birth, marriage, and adoption. I came up with fifty-five persons. There are certainly even more.  It was my greatest joy to visit with many of them: from a nephew aged sixty to a great-niece aged four months: and...

  Mentioned in Pepys Diary no less! A relative was Lt Gov. of Massachusetts. The Pepys Povey was not "all that"! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Povey

https://www.preservationartisans.org/2016/10/12/povey-brothers-studio-the-art-of-stained-glass/

 Bread and Butter Pudding h ttps://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/279519/bread-and-butter-pudding/

 KEFIR WATER All natural ingredients.  So refreshing!  So good for gut health. More healthy than G-torade) Kefir Water and Kefir Milk are grain based beverages  known chiefly in eastern Europe and South America. I sometimes use Kefir Milk with my breakfast granola, or (for instance) when making Rice Pudding. AGUA KEFIR  ( a trade name)   brings both healthy hydration, and health to the gut. ----------------------------------------------------- ( In a similar field  Kombucha is a tea based healthy beverage.)

 

 

  On the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bradford on Avon, Somerset. There I had a canalside breakfast with my beloved nieces Cheryl and Clare  w ith their partners Chris and Jamie Clare and Jamie's son Riley enjoyed an ice cream after breakfast

Whilst in the U.K.  I took an Uber Ride to visit my good nephew Daniel with his wife Chrissy and family. Despite my protests the UBER driver dumped me at the wrong address.   I was looking for a house number 32; but not the number 32 where he left me. I was on a busy urban road.  I was stuck without wifi - or so I  thought. Nearby was a semi crescent driveway with three houses. An owner wondered why I was there. I explained my predicament.   This good man had a hot spot setting on his phone, the use of which enabled me to call Daniel who rescued me! My helper was from India, and the State of Kerala.  He is one of the many Christians in/from Kerala.  We shared fellowship as I waited for Daniel. I think that a Hindu, Sikh or Muslim would have come to my aid; but there was a sweet poignancy in that short time of Christian Fellowship.

  In the early days with Cooper he made a dash for a rabbit near my home.  I held onto the leash, fell to the ground and could not get up.  I was rescued by the mail man who heard my plaintive cry and helped me to my feet. Not long after I made the same mistake when Coop made a rabbit dash at Arlington Park.   I sat helpless on the soggy ground.  Another walker helped me to my feet and walked me to my car.   He happened to be Hermann, a parishioner at St. Boniface. I learned my lesson and dropped the leash yesterday when Cooper went on a rabbit hunt.  A different mail man said that he'd never seen a rabbit run so fast. The rabbit won!                                                                                         ...

  She was a handful when first adopted. Now, in her adoptive home she has found peace.   Just a week ago she and I had a gentle encounter. Martyn and have a fraternal rivalry as to whose dog is the finest. 'Tis simple.    In Sarasota it's Cooper In Pucklechurch it's Nala In this shot Nala is watching a T.V. programme "Dogs behaving badly"   Say no more 

  A couple of years ago my b rother Martyn and his wife Wendy moved from their home which was on an increasingly busy urban road. They are now in a countryside village with the interesting name of Pucklechurch.   There they have created a peaceful placed of respite in their garden.  Oh to be there.

Was I nine years old or was I ten?  A skinny skimpy lad I was, whose puberty hit late.  With a bunch of boys my age I rolled down Roundway Hill in Devizes, Wiltshire. Such fun. Except that I had some coins in my trousers' pocket which spilled out, never to be found. The adults had a whip round to replace the money I'd lost. I received more money that I'd lost,  but never breathed a word. Last week two lads (maybe ten and twelve) stood outside my Bristol hotel alongside their bicycles. One asked "excuse me sir, do you work here?"   The other was on the phone to his Mum. Both lads were distressed.  I told them that I was a Hotel guest, not an employee. I  asked their story. They'd had a wee "fanny pack" attached to one of the bikes. It was fallen off "somewhere" It contained Twenty GB Pounds - the spending money for their jaunt. I asked to speak to the Mum.  She affirmed that their story bore weight and that they should learn to be more caref...

  Cooper is not spooked by the 4th July fireworks, but he doesn't like the noise. He is happy to be near Papa

  I was scheduled for a Pet Scan this afternoon. There are important rules to be followed before having such procedures. One is no caffeine in the prior 24 hours. The Scan dilates blood vessels. Caffeine constricts them.   To aim for a clean and clear report the blood stream must be free of caffeine. Thus, the twenty-four hours ban on coffee (or chocolate &c).  When at the clinic I was asked about the use of Coffee. My mind went into a fuzz. I know that I was tempted to cheat yesterday afternoon, and again this morning. I simply could not remember:  Had I, or had I not cheated? On the basis of my fuzzy memory the Scan has been postponed until Aug 7th.  Better safe than sorry. Some friends (Laurie R and Ashley L) will insert themselves into my radar on Aug 5th.  re the Caffeine ban before the Aug 7th procedure

  When I arrived at Cooper's "Luxury Canine Hotel" on Monday morning the first words from the receptionist were "everyone loves Cooper"; followed by "he is awesome". Dear Cooper won the hearts of the staff, and of the other canine residents. But of course! My dear boy is awesome! That being said, when he was brought back to me he jumped up (usually not allowed) and placed his paws on my shoulder so that we could snuggle for a season. We've stayed close since then.  So many snuggles.  I am so fortunate. Who could ask for anything more.

 

On Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. I set off by long distance coach ('bus) from Bristol to LHR for my flights back to SRQ via ATL. En route I rummaged through my carryon bag only to discover that I'd left my passport in the Hotel room. Gadzucks; my flights home were under threat. At LHR at the Delta reps. told me that the cut off for boarding was 10:30 a.m.  NO PASSPORT?   NO FLIGHTS HOME! (for days?) I 'phoned my brother Martyn to relate my tale of woe. Dear Martyn raced to  the Hotel (six or so miles west from his home); and grabbed my passport. Then (breaking speed limits) he drove like Jehu on the eastbound Motorway from Bristol to LHR There he handed me the passport, at about 10:15 a.m. Then the DELTA staff surrounded me with what I can only describe as tenderness and efficiency to make sure that I boarded in time. The team of Martyn Povey/Delta staff be praised!