Could it be?  Is it true?  Yuppers!  Time for a Photo Safari Report!  Yayayayay!   It had been awhile so we thought the first time back out ought to be a smaller hike, therefore we hit Curry Creek Preserve yesterday. So I reckon I will call this one the Curry Creek Hike. (not very imaginative or creative I know but hey...)

 I honestly don't know what the square miles of this preserve is or how many miles of trail it contains and it doesn't matter anyway.  I do know that there are two parts and you have to cross a creek to get from one side to the other.  There is no bridge so either you are going to get wet, are an Olympic level long jumper or you wait until the creek is lower or dried up to cross.  We opted for the third option which means, we only explored one side.  And that was just fine for the first hike in awhile.

The last time we were in this preserve was before the big Hurricane.  Which is a fact we realized very shortly after arriving. So Many Trees Down!  Wow! And I'm talking BIG trees. Huge Trees!   In some places, there were entire sections "roped" off for safety reasons.  It was sad to see the amount of damage that occurred, but as Joy wisely pointed out, nature adapts.  All sorts of woodland creatures will make homes in those felled giants.

And speaking of woodland creatures,  we saw  all sorts!  Some we even managed to get pictures of.  It was very overcast when we started the hike and the sun only came out as we neared the exit (of course) so most of the pictures I got were not quite as bright and shiny as usual.  Just something to keep in mind.

We saw many others like cardinals, hawks and those tiny songbirds that don't stand still long enough to get there picture taken drat it all.  Also saw a Raccoon!  Also didn't get a photo of him. Oh well.   I think I'm still a little rusty.  BUT I did get a few other critters:

And for some reason, for a change, I captured quite a number of fungi.  Not usually what draws me but I don't question a muse.  Here are a few of the cutest ones.

And of course, flowers .  Keeping in mind that this is November and that is not our most prolific  blooming  month.  Still,  I was impressed with the variety.

All of the other photos I took are rather rando.  But we all know that is my favourite category so here goes:

I think for the first Photo Safari in awhile, it was not at all bad.  Hopefully we will be able to head out again soon, Somewhere else.   Who knows what we will see?

​Hope you enjoyed coming along for the Curry Creek Hike!

I know you are madly busy today, getting ready for Turkey Day, finalizing plans or perhaps even travelling! So I will only take a quick moment.

For a day that really began only as a rather humble Harvest Celebration, Thanksgiving as a holiday has grown to be so much more.  For some people it's all about the food. Well, that makes sense, harvest is literally connected to food so there ya go!  For other's, Thanksgiving is mostly about family and friends  coming together. Sometimes family and/or friends that rarely gets to spend time with one another, which makes it extra special.  Other people focus on the football games or the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special.  You will hear no argument from me.  You feel the way you feel and I support that completely.  Personally one of my favourite parts is the pie. I'm all about the pie.

Usually, amidst all of the eating and talking and general merriment, somewhere along the line during the day, the literal name of the Holiday strikes most people and they take a moment to, at least quietly to themselves,  make a mental list of the things for which they are most grateful.  

My list is a long one.  And the longer I am on this planet, the longer the list is.  And it goes from the expected things like: good health and beloved family to perhaps less expected things such as the sound of a cat's purr and the magnificence of sunsets to absolutely ridiculous things like being thankful for the existence of ice cream and the invention of lip balm.  

I guess the point of the holiday is yes, to enjoy the gathering of family and friends, to savour all of the wonderful food, to have fun watching football and having a great conversations but most of all, to be appreciative for all of the good in our lives.

And one of those things in my life is all of you.  I am grateful for you!

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Forsooth!  Behold, yon Medieval Faire.  

So yeah, that's what we did on Saturday.  Spent a little time at Renaissance Festival.  I don't know how you feel about them, but we had a great time.  It's like stepping through a portal to an alternate reality.  And sometimes, that's exactly what we need.

Our Local (ish - it's in Sarasota so not too far away) Ren Fair is unique because it's a permanent encampment.  Or town. Or collection of structures. Or, well, I don't know exactly what to call it.  It's only been in place for two years so it's still just a baby town but it has that feeling of permanence that helps to "sell" the story.  The buildings are a actual buildings, the fences built to last,  and while there are loads of tents for the retail portion of the fair there is still a feeling of 'forever' about the place.  As the years go by, I'm sure it will only get even better.

As an unabashed people watching, I was in my glory.  When I got a little tired, I could find a comfy spot to sit and just watch the cast of characters go by.  For some people it was very low key costuming.  Maybe a little girl wearing fairy wings or a woman sporting a circlet of flowers in her hair.  It could be a man wearing a kilt or a leather vest, or it could be that massive sword at the waist of his jeans. (?)   But some people get full on into the role, just as a visitor, not one of the paid characters I would like to add. And I am here for it!

There were animals of course.  Not just the native birds and butterflies and squirrels, silly, I mean Ren Fair critters!  That was fun too!  There were also baby pigs and a donkey. No photos, sorry.

And of course, the actual paid performers. They were awesome!  Easily the best part of the entire experience. Mostly because these guys are so into what the are doing!  This is not just a job, it's a lifestyle.  Love it.  Ready?

I'm trying to decide what my favourite part was and I am just not sure.  Was it the human chess game where the king arbitrarily pitted Danes against Brits, clergy against soldier, man vs woman in a sometimes amusing, but always beautifully choreographed battle?

Or perhaps it was the traditional jousting?   Well it began with the tradition of armoured men atop massive horse thundering down a track toward one another, each hoping to spear the other with their lance.  But at some point it devolved into sword fight on the ground.  Terribly exciting.  Please note some of the attendees, just as beautifully and fancifully attired as the players.

Or maybe it was the music.  The drummers and the bagpipes played both traditional and non-traditional tunes, occasionally accompanied by a saucy dance.  Or maybe the Hokey Pokey really is from Medieval times?  At one point flames shot out of one of the bagpipes.  Seriously it did!  I didn't expect it so I missed the shot but whoa!  Cool!  Even if you weren't standing right next to the performance stage watching the musicians, it was an awesome backdrop whatever you were doing because you could hear it all over the Faire.  Perfect.

It could have been just walking around seeing the people show before me and checking out all of the amazing little shops where they sold pretty much everything.  Corsets and swords and flower crowns and armour and fairy wings and elf ears and bird whistles and all manner of clothing and jewelry and well, the list just goes on and on and ON!  I could not possibly list it all.

The last one we attended was here in Florida five or six years ago.  And the one before that was in Colorado probably ten  before that, so it's not as if we go regularly.  But every single time we've been, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.  There is a little something for everybody.  You don't have to dress up and you don't have to be very participatory.   I didn't take them up on their offer to teach me archery, or  how to throw axes or spears.  We did not ride the horses or the camels nor did we attempt to eat giant turkey legs.  But what we did do, was have one heck of a great day.

​If you have the chance to attend one, and have not yet done it, go.  It's a good time.

I've had a number of magazine subscriptions over the years, "Highlights for Children" when I was very young, "Mad Magazine" when I was a little older and then "Tiger Beat" in my teen years.  But I wasn't the only one in our family to subscribe to a magazine.  I think everybody had at  least one, sometimes more than one.  The house was littered with reading material.

I know that "National Geographic" and "Life" magazines were always on our coffee tables no matter what our address was along with "Time" and "Readers Digest."  There were others of course. Some fell out of favour along the way and others were experiments that only lasted the length of one subscription and were not followed by renewals.  But there were always new ones coming along.  Didn't matter to me, I read them all.

When the boys were younger I would try to find a new and different magazine every Chrismtas for each of them to subscribe to them and the first issue went right into their stockings.  There are a LOT of  magazines out there so there was never an issue finding a new one. Needless to say, I am a fan of magazines.  However, somehow, I never buy any for myself.  I guess I never needed to.

Once Joy and I were out on our own, our Mother succumbed to the siren call of every single child who came to her door selling subscriptions and suddenly at least one magazine was arriving in nearly every post.  Everything from magazines about birds, to decorating to 'ladies magazines' such as Redbook and Ladies Home Journal.  Eventually Mother discovered People magazine and other similar publications were everywhere in the house.  I don't know that she actually read any of them, but she definitely flipped through at the very least and looked at all of the pictures.  And then when she was ready, the best part happened.  She passed the magazines on. First to Joy and her girls because they were local. And then eventually via the mail to me.  I loved mail day!

At some point, Mother began getting a magazine called, Reminisce and I absolutely fell in love with it.  It was about history and people's stories and I love both of those things.  Old photographs and the paragraphs that describe them comprised the bulk of the periodical and I am all about that.  There was always a section devoted to a particular year, let's say, 1942, and it highlighted all sorts of things that happened that year.  From historic events, to most  popular entertainer to slang words that came into being that year.  There might be personal stories about childhood memories (and accompanying photos) or a collection of "how we met" stories from long married folks or tales of camping adventures.  Every issue had different stories and different photographs and I loved them all.   I cannot say really, why this magazine in particular spoke to me above all of the others, but it did.

I looked forward to the  arrival of these pre-read magazines in the mail with great eagerness.  Sometimes Mother would put little stickers on certain articles with notes on them. I could rarely actually read the notes, but I loved that she bothered to try to point something out to me.  (her handwriting was worse than mine and that is saying something!).  There were usually crumbs from whatever she was eating as she flipped through in the creases of the pages and sometimes a tea stain here and there.  Didn't matter to me one bit.  I poured over every word on every page and nearly memorized each photograph.  

Eventually the monthly manila envelope stuffed to over flowing with magazines and notes and stickies stopped coming.  Mother had reached that point in her life where just making it through each day was an accomplishment and when she was gone, I certainly wasn't thinking about magazines!

But eventually, maybe a year later, in a grocery store of all places, I saw an issue of Reminisce and of course, immediately it reminded of my mom.  So I treated myself to one issue.  Which lead Tim to buying me a subscription (my one and only subscription)  and I've been reading my own copy with no notes, or crumbs or illegible stickies in it.  I always save each issue and pass it along to Joy and Bob who also enjoy it.  

I guess I assumed that as long as Tim continued to renew the subscription, that it would continue forever.  Turns out, not so much.  In yesterdays  mail, I got a postcard from Readers Digest saying that Reminisce magazine is no longer being published.  Dang.  There was no opportunity to linger longingly over the last issue - knowing that it was the final one.  No warning, no goodbye, no nothing. Just, "it is no longer being published".  Not even an explanation as to the why of it.

I am unaccountably sad.  Oh the post card went on to say that for the remainder of my subscription they will be sending me Readers Digest. And thank you that's very nice. But it's not the same. Readers Digest in no way resembles Reminisce.  And there isn't that connection, the reminder of generations past. The history lessons, the photographs, the personal stories are gone forever.  And never again will I open the mailbox to find an issue and immediately link it to memories of my mother.  

I know that more and more magazines are disappearing.   Most  people would rather read it on line, they say.  Well, I don't want to read it on line. I want to read it in the bathtub. I want to literally turn the pages and fold it backwards, not click the mouse.  I want to write my own illegible sticky notes before passing it on to someone else.    But that's not happening.

I am usually pretty adaptable. I ride with the tide and go with the flow.  I learned how to use a computer and a cell phone. I love having a dishwasher and a Ring doorbell.  I applaud many of the modern conveniences and inventions and especially medical advances!  But some small part of me longs for a connection to the past and the 'olden days'.   And now it's gone.

RIP Reminisce Magazine.  I will miss you.

So this is what's going on at our house today.  Tropical Storm Nicole, which we are told arrived on the East Coast of Florida as a Category 1 Hurricane.  Delightful.  By the time it got over to our side of the state it's a mere Tropical Storm. Which means wind and rain.  You know, like a heavy duty rain storm.  I see some palm fronds down (they are such divas) and our sail shade tried to take flight but otherwise, it's all good here. Not a great day for a walk but otherwise, fine.

For some reason, while I was starring out the window watching the rain a little bit ago, in my  head popped the old  Julie Andrews song from the movie Sound of Music, "My Favourite Things".  Oh you remember it, 

"Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens
Bright Copper Kettles and Warm Woolen Mittens
Brown Paper Packages tied up with String
These are a few of my Favourite Things"

I haven't thought of that song is a VERY long time. So long ago in fact, that I couldn't tell you when it was that I last sang it.   But most likely I sang it to my children when they were small.  That kind of long ago.

Anyway, as the lyrics were rumbling around in my head it occurred to me that while I do not dislike any of the things Julie sang about, it is not necessarily My list of favourite things.  So I thought perhaps I would take a crack at creating my own list.    FYI you will not be able to sing it to the tune of the actual song and it will not rhyme unless it's by accident.

Some of Sam's Favourite Things:

Baking.  I like cooking but I love baking.  Somehow Friday's have become my official baking day here which now makes Friday's my favourite day of the week. So I guess that's two favourite things in one go.

Having someone reach out to me that I haven't heard from in a while.  I recently got a post card from an old friend, out of the blue, while she was on vacation!  What an absolute delight. Lifted my spirits for days!  But it might be an unexpected howdy do phone call, an email, a text, a letter or just crossing paths in the grocery store.  Makes me happy.

Flowers. Any kind, anywhere, anytime,  I love 'em.  They could be fancy flower in a formal garden or wildflowers or anything in between. Fields of flowers or one singleton in a pot.  Botanic gardens or a daisy growing in a crack in a sidewalk.   I don't need to own them or grow them or even know there names.  Just seeing them makes me smile.

The sound of children laughing.  Always makes me smile.  Well, anyone laughing is delightful but children laughing is, somehow, pure.

Photography.  I am not an especially accomplished photographer but I am an enthusiastic amateur. One of my favourite ways to spend time is tramping around somewhere, camera in hand, snapping away as the spirit moves me.  But I also like those unexpected moments here at home where the light is just right and I grab my camera to preserve that moment. One shot. Just the one.  Fills my soul a bit.

Music. Well of course music.  Playing it, listening to it, writing it, singing it!  Most kinds of music reach me on a level that is so elemental and basic that I think it may be printed right on my DNA. 

That moment of satisfaction when the jar I'm struggling to open finally pops!  I feel like Hercules in that moment!

The first bite of a long awaited food especially if I'm Very hungry.  All  of the bites are good of course and I enjoy them all, but that first bite, is the best. That one, the one I longed for and eat slowly to savour, that one is my favourite.

Organization and Tidiness.  It's not quite a compulsion. Probably because I'm rather lazy. But I do love how it looks when things are sparkling clean and lined up just so.

A particularly good hair day.  It doesn't happen often so when it does, I do the happy dance.

The written word: Having a stack of unread books on hand.   Discovering a New wonderful author.  The books that I love so much that I read them once every year.  Reading along and then having to pause and re-read and marvel over one perfectly constructed sentence.  A quiet, probably rainy, afternoon curled up with a book and a cookie to spend some serious time........

Learning.  I adore learning something new. And since there is always more to learn, I will never run out.  It is a bottomless well and that is delicious!

My family.  It goes without saying.  Sidenote here:  Some friends are really unrelated family.  I include them.  Our hearts are magical and expand enough, always, to make enough room to fit them all in.

Old movies.   I like some of the new ones too, but my favourites are the old ones. Black'n'white. Glamorous ladies with dramatic eyes and nattily dressed men in fedoras. I love the old cars, the clothes, the vocabulary.  It transports me to another time.  Speaking of which:

Time Travel.  I am fascinated with the concept.  It started when I was a youngster, around 8 or 9 years oldand I read H.G. Wells,  "The Time Machine" and that was it, I was hooked and it never left. Movies, TV shows, books, anything that smacks of time travel and I am there for it.  Never mind that science declares it improbably except in theory, it's still one of my favourite things.

Contrasts.  Like........blue walls with white trim, or wearing an all black and white outfit but with bright red shoes. Eating snappy apples with gingersnaps or wheat thin crackers with grapes and chocolate cake with white icing or hot apple pie with a big spoonful for cold vanilla ice cream on top. Being bundled up toasty warm on a very cold day.  I like things that contrast.

Home made gifts.  I have very limted talents so the only home made gift you could possibly ever receive from me would be edible but I so admire clever, talented artistic people who can create things with their own hands. It's magic to me! Alchemy!  Wonderous!

The Seasons.  While frankly I'm delighted to never have to shovel snow again, I am so happy that I have lived in places with snow...lots and lots of snow!  I'm happy that I have experienced all of the seasons, Sunny Summers and crisp colourful autumn and crystalline winters and the joys of blooming spring.  It is forever in my memory even if I don't live it anymore.



Hmmmmm I'm not anywhere near done and this list is getting long. Perhaps I will continue it another time. Meanwhile, what are some of your favourite things?

Ready for my annual rant?

So the time changed again over the weekend.  I'm sure you noticed.  And like most people, I am not happy about it.  To be fair, this is the change that gives us an extra hour of sleep (in theory) which I suppose, makes it marginally better than the one the leaves us one snoozy hour short.   I didn't actually get the "extra" hour becoz my own personal body clock woke up at the same time it always does. I'm sure I'm not the only one. 

Like any good little humans who have absolutely no choice, we did what we are supposed to do and adjusted any clocks that do not automatically adjust themselves and now we will spend the next few weeks trying adjust ourselves to match. Grrrrrr.    I noticed how dang dark it was last night when I finished cleaning up from dinner .  It was 6:14 exactly, full dark outside and I am NOT happy!

In the past week the news feed on my computer has posted many articles and commentaries regarding the issue of Daylight Savings time, both pro and con.  I actually read a few.   Here are the top three pros and cons:

• Pro 1. Daylight Saving Time's (DST) longer daylight hours promote safety. ...
• Pro 2. DST is good for the economy. ...
• Pro 3. DST promotes active lifestyles. ...
• Con 1. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is bad for your health. ...
• Con 2. DST drops productivity. ...
• Con 3. DST is expensive.

Let's address these one at a time:

PRO 1:   Daylight Savings Time promotes safety.  Hmmm.  I would like to see the stats from Arizona and Hawaii - the two US states that do not observe DST to see if that is honestly true.  If it is true, it's only true in the morning because since it's darker earlier at the end of the day, wouldn't it be less safe out then?  What about places that have months of darkness, like say...Alaska.  Do they notice a lot less safety going on in their darker months?  I am dubious of this claim.

PRO 2:  DST is good for the economy.  In what way?  Because we are using less power when it's light out?  Well, once again,  that only applies to the morning.  I see only a shift in the time of day when the extra power is being used.  

PRO 3:  DST promotes active lifestyles.   Once again, if you go running or biking, outside,  early in the day then I suppose yes, you would be more likely to do it in the lighted part of the day.  But if you generally get your aerobic exercise at the end of the day and it's darker  earlier, then perhaps not.  Or maybe you do your workouts at the gym in which case, it makes no difference at all. OR you don't run or bike at all in which case....moot!

CON 1: DST is bad for your health.  A Resounding YES!~  When people go to work in the dark, work inside all day and then come home in the dark, that just cannot be healthy.  Same for kids going to school.  Most of us appreciate the light.  And all of us need the natural Vitamin D that comes from exposure to the light. So there!  To say nothing of the fact that the loss of sleep from adjusting to the time change is never a good thing. Ever.

CON 2: DST drops productivity.  What?  The exact opposite of the Pro claim?  Interesting.    You mean to say that people who are sleep deprived and lacking natural exposure to light are less productive?  Well that is shocking, simply shocking (not). That is certainly not promoting a healthy lifestyle either is it!

CON 3: DST is expensive.  Once again, the exact opposite of the Pro claim.

What does this tell us?  Well mostly that a smart person can take the number collected by any poll and tweak them to suit their own purposes.  

The fact is that reports state that at least 70% of Americans do not want a time change anymore.  And yet we still have one.  It isn't as if it were a simple matter of just everybody in each state getting together in one place, raising their hands to indicate that the no longer wish to observe DST and then somebody counting those hands and the majority wins.  Nope.  It's much much much more complicated.  Why?  Because it has to go to congress.  Sigh.

The state of Florida actually did petition to stop observing DST way back in 2018.  And the bill languishes, waiting for someone to actually move it forward while we wait, bleary eyed and cranky.

We aren't the only ones either.   Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are also patiently, or perhaps not so patiently, waiting.

And if it actually (eventually) happens that the law is finally in place (hurrah!), it will be another full year before we can stop changing the clocks twice a year.  But it will be a huge step forward.

And you know what?  I'm not even certain which is the real time?  Was the the real time before this weekend when we "fell back"?  Or is it the real time now?  Either way, I don't care.  Just fix it, for heaven's sakes.  Pick one and stick with it!!!!!

 The above photo is of some nice lady in....perhaps Italy?.... wearing a rain poncho.  One of those nifty little disposable things that they sell in touristy places such a Disney.  They are fairly inexpensive, very one size fits most and most importantly, they work.  They keep the wet out.   

And what on earth does that have to do with the price of potatoes?  Well, nothing to do with potatoes, I assure you!  But it does figure as a main character in an amusing tale of achievement. So here goes:

This morning, I took my first full shower after this most recent surgery. And only people who have had to forego their daily shower for awhile will appreciate how glorious it is when the day finally comes.    Up until now, due to all of the surgical wrapping and strapping, I was warned, quite strongly to NOT GET IT WET!  I felt like either the Wicked Witch of the West, who as you may recall melted when she got wet, or that little Gremlin Creature, Gizmo. Nobody needs more than one Sam, seriously.

So in my effort to NOT GET IT WET, I've been cat bathing for ten days. Ten Long Days of not feeling truly clean. Oh I know that I was clean. I was Very clean.  But it's just not the same thing.  And of course, the worst part was dealing with my hair.  Tim, because he is the nicest husband on the planet, has been washing my hair for me so as to NOT GET IT WET.

During all three of these dang surgeries there have been segments of time when I had to NOT GET IT WET!   And all three times we were given different advice on how to make sure that happened.  Things like   "Use dry shampoo".  Humph.  Dry Shampoo indeed.  I will say this, the concept has improved a little over the years. It's not as bad as I recall from childhood when 'dry shampoo' was just baby powder sprinkled on your head and worked in with your fingers, combed through and..........you overwhelmingly smelled by baby powder all day and honestly it did little good. The hair still didn't look or feel (to me the most important part) clean.  Now it's in a spray can and the instructions say to spray at the root of the hair and work it through.  The Fragrance isn't bad at all but the results are much the same.

Other suggestions that we actually tried, included wrapping my torso thoroughly with cling wrap, which sort of worked. Sort of.  The human body is not a surface that cling wrap  sticks to very well. It does, however, stick to itself Incredibly well, which was the most frustrating part of this experiment.  Also because the human plane....the surface of our body.... curves and dips, there is always a little teensy gap somewhere, no matter how hard to try...where water trickles in.  Yup, I got wet.  Not soaked, but still wet.  And because of that, the hair washing sessions were spaced out as far as I could stand and when they happened were Very Brief.  The faster hair washing in the South!

Another methodology we tried involved contortions. Me, basically doing  a near backbend to keep the water as far away as possible. I am flexible but it's still a difficult position to maintain, even while sitting on a plastic chair (which I was) and in a slippery shower, potentially dangerous. And, as it turned out,  water bounces off any surfaces it touches, including walls and shower curtains and, because it's the same sort of geometry that is involved in playing pool, I still got a little wet.  

So this time around, Tim came up with an idea on his own that was nothing short of brilliant.  He found a rain poncho and put that on me and then using several chip clips, fastened a towel around me over it.  Now I could sit on that little plastic chair facing away from the shower and he, so very gently, washed my hair for me.   We have are lucky enough to have a shower wand.  It has a clever little button that turns the water on and off as the hair washer ( in this case, Tim) wishes.   The result was Brilliant!  My hair was clean and nothing under the poncho got wet at all!

Well after a  few days of being waited upon like a Queen and having someone else wash my hair for me, I decided that I am an independent woman.  I can take care of this my own dang self.  I would take a page from Tim's book and put on the poncho and clip on the towel of course, but all  by my own self.  I eyed the plastic chair in the tub. Hmmmm.  I wasn't sure how this would actually work in the tub since the  shower is behind me now.  How could I hold it behind me?   And then I realized, yes!  The kitchen sink!  

It's a nice big farm sink with plenty of room and the faucet has one of those clever sprayer thingies.  That'll work!  I got all excited :)  I was ready for my mission.  I brought out my shampoo, a couple of big towels, the chip clips and the poncho! I was ready to roll.  I put on the poncho,  clipped the towel in place, turn on the water to let it get warm and dived right in.

Almost immediately I realized that I had done something terrible wrong.  For convenience sake, I clipped the towel in front of me, not behind as Tim had done which meant that as soon as I leaned forward over the sink, I nearly impaled myself on the chip clip!    Bright red spot under the chin.  I readjusted the chip clip to the side and gave it another whirl.  I leaned forward, grabbed the faucet sprayer and totally soaked myself because the poncho hood, (without me realizing it) was standing right up like a basketball backboard just waiting for that first spray of water which pooled in the hood and then trickled down the inside of the poncho.

Naturally, in shock,  I stood straight up which sent the pool of water in a gush straight down in the inside.  Dang!   Clearly, without me realizing it, Tim had been tucking that hood down inside the poncho.  Okay.  First I took off the poncho and the totally soaking wet clothes underneath, dried off everything as best I could, and put on a dry shirt.  Using one of the big towels I mopped up the pond of water on the floor so it wasn't a slip hazard.  Then I put the poncho back on making it a point to be absolutely certain that the hood was tucked inside.  I clipped a fresh dry towel back on with the clips to the side and thought, "Three's the charm" and ducked back under the faucet.

This time worked much better, or so I thought.  My hair was washed and rinsed and after I turned the water off and stood up and opened my eyes I saw that the counter top, the backsplash and everything in it's vicinity was also wet.  Dang.  Apparantly, I wasn't aiming that sprayer nearly as well as I thought. Ooops.

Took awhile to mop everything up but eventually it was done, my hair was clean as was the entire kitchen.  BUT the most important things was that I did it.    And with each hair washing session after that, there was less damage than the time before.  By the time I was able to go back to a  full solo,  near normal shower/hair washing today, I had it down cold.

I feel very accomplished and proud of myself.  And today I also feel exceptionally clean.  And I have the strongest urge to take a bow and say.  "Taadaa!"  And so I shall.