Update

Intensely cold outside and the car is blanketed in snow.   

 

I've heard of orphans turning up on doorsteps in driving snow but when I opened my front door to look out this evening, I found my neighbour's missing cat, who has been AWOL for days, mewing pathetically and trying to skirt round me to come in (what does she think I'm running here, a hostel for homeless cats!!)  

 

I think said neighbour Donna had me on top of the suspect list - and admittedly me and my partner-in-crime, Jay, did once contemplate finding a good home for Chaos - but failing me Donna became convinced that Chaos had been kidnapped by a gang from OK City, and was holding her against her will, otherwise Chaos would have found her way back to her home and Donna.   I refrained from pointing out that gangs from OK City are too busy ferrying drugs up the north/south interstate from Mexico for distribution in OK City, they don't have time for kidnapping cats.

 

Anyway I rang Donna and told her Chaos was on my porch.  I'm not sure how escaping her captors and making her way to my front door went down with her.   I hope she came and got her and Chaos isn't wandering about in the snow.

 

Last night, or Thursday night, Bruce and Rosalyn invited me to the local Little Theatre which was very kind.   It was a musical 'La Cage aux Folles'.    This is a synopsis of the plot -

 

 Renato is the owner of a Saint Tropez nightclub, where the main attraction is a nightly drag act performed by Renato's lover, Zaza.     Renato had a son, Laurent, who became engaged to his girl friend, Simone and he lied about his father's profession and "persuasion" so as not to offend Simone's father a member in good standing of the Union of Moral Order.    When Laurent announces that both his fiancee and her father are coming for a visit, Renato and Zaza desperately try to "butch up" their relationship.

 

I enjoyed it, and thought it was a very brave topic to stage in as conservative a place as Shawnee which might account for the fact that the theatre was barely half full.

Friday afternoon

It  has been a rather concerning couple of days.  My friend Louise has congestive heart failure, and I noticed she has been even slower than usual lately, but she took a sharp downward turn yesterday and was admitted to ICU.   I visited her yesterday afternoon, and again this morning when I was at the hospital for my chaplaincy round.   This morning she was moved out of ICU but is still looking very frail.   I can't imagine she is going to be back to turning out all the cakes she used to make for Kiwanis.   I think I chose a rather bad time to bail out of Kiwanis, and wish I'd hung on a bit longer.  I will ring the President shortly to see if there is anything I can do to help.

It is intensely cold here.   While I was having lunch with Bill just now at the hospital it started snowing, so I hope it doesn't get too bad.

Wednesday 25th February

The weather has veered from freezing to summer.  Lovely blue sky, sunshine and in the 50s.  That doesn't sound very warm, but it feels warmer than that.

 

Finished the crochet project this afternoon and took it to the Senior Centre.  Kate was very appreciative, she is not sure whether to raffle it, or have a silent auction.  I think she would like to have it herself and has a greater chance of getting it in a silent auction.  But someone who also liked it and could afford a raffle ticket, but probably not a silent bid, walked off looking rather disappointed at the notion of a silent auction.  I don't get involved in that, I just hand it over to Kate and leave it to her to decide how best to raise some money with it.

 

I like to crochet in the evening when the light is not good enough for cross stitching.   But the Mother's Tree is coming on.   I think the end is in sight, I've done the outline and am just filling in the tree.

I was off the hook tonight for dessert as it was team Taco, or team Mexican.   Speaking of which - they have outfitted themselves - if that's the right word - with their own special tee shirts.

And this is team Mexican.   On the far right of the picture is Beth, the associate minister and youth leader, she's a lovely person  (well they all are really).  Next to her is my friend Jack who is very kind to me.  Jack's wife, Tiffany, is on the far left of the picture.

And if you didn't get the pun - and it took me a few moments....here is another look

Then I snapped an informal shot when they weren't looking...

Tuesday - update

Well, the snow melted off the car by the afternoon, I think tomorrow the temperature will be in the 60s, then go back to freezing.

You have probably heard the verdict in the American Sniper trial.  I was riveted to the television waiting for the verdict.  As the guy was undoubtedly guilty the only two verdicts were either 'guilty' or 'guilty by reason of insanity'.    It just took the jury a couple of hours to bring in the guilty verdict, which means he will be in prison for the rest of his life, with no possibility of parole, and that was the verdict everyone wanted and seems to be satisfied with.  The 'by reason of insanity' means he would have gone to a mental hospital and at some time in the future could be released.

Obviously he had mental health issues but didn't meet the criteria for legally insane.  Just after his arrest he tried to pretend he was insane, asking if he was going to an insane asylum, but apparently no genuinely insane person would say that.

At first the reporters were referring to it as a capital murder verdict, as capital murder in Texas is two or more persons murdered in the same crime, but I was thinking it meant he would get the death sentence, and I think I read somewhere that there are more executions in Texas than anywhere else in the nation.   But I suppose because of the element of insanity - even though not legally insane - they can't execute him.

Chris Kyle is - quite rightly - a major American hero at the moment, and someone said that when the other inmates of the correctional facility  discover his killer is among them he is going to have a hard time.   I didn't think convicted criminals were so patriotic.

So all that has been an education for me this evening.

Tuesday - current situation

Still snowed in.  I suppose I could get out if I had to, if I scraped the snow off the car.  But I'll let it melt instead, the sun is shining outside so it might.   In the meantime I am back to the telly - and the computer, and Bubbles curled up keeping an eye on me.

Monday morning

It is BITTERLY cold at the moment.   Definitely freezing season.   I took this picture a few minutes ago.

Yesterday, Sunday, I was just so lethargic, I didn't make it to church.  I wouldn't have gone anywhere were it not for the fact that I needed to stock up on some milk, so went to Walmart in the afternoon and I don't think I have ever felt so cold.  It was 33 as I drove through town.  I was surprised I wasn't scraping ice off my car.   

I sometimes think, looking down the road, that if I ever won the lottery I would give cash handouts to the neighbours to do their houses up.  Even - and perhaps especially - them next door who called me an effing British bitch and told me to go back where I came from.  They're not bad people, and they are really struggling in a dreadfully dilapidated house to get by.

So I am sat in front of my tv with my needlework, nice and warm, and watching the evil Fox News. It was said recently that people who look at Fox News are 'News Junkies' - yeah, that's me.  The people looking at the news on the other networks are just listening to it in the background, while they're cooking their meatloaf.

And this is what is currently on said news.

Oh My!!!   Mall of America is the largest in the nation and is in Minnesota.

 

 

 

I know this forecast is Wednesday morning but it is pretty much the current situation.  Oklahoma is there between Amarillo in the Texas panhandle, and Little Rock, the state capital of Arkansas.

So that is my world this Monday morning.  Back to the telly and the needlework.

Saturday 21 February

I left  St Crispin's and the Popcorn Theology Retreat just after lunch. 

 

It was very good indeed, we saw two movies, last night it was The Hundred Foot Walk, which I had already seen but didn't mind seeing again, and the Monuments Men this morning, which I hadn't seen.    The first movie involved a lot of pausing and discussion, the second we watched without interruption.   The facilitator, I thought, was an Episcopal priest from Tahlequah, and she certainly is a priest, she celebrated Communion and is from Tahlequah, but looking her up tonight on the internet I was surprised to find that she is a practising psychiatrist.  Not that I am casting any doubts on her professional abilities, I just didn't realise that was her day job.   I can't find much - hardly any in fact - information about the Episcopal Church in Tahlequah. but perhaps it is too small to support a full time priest.    Anyway, she is a very warm, pleasant person and loves movies.  

 

The Retreat started with dinner on Friday evening, but a group got there in the morning to make pillowcases again for the children of incarcerated parents.   I was going to go and help, but didn't make it, mainly because I was at the hospital Friday morning and by the time I got home and packed a bag and pottered about it was the middle of the afternoon by the time I arrived.

 

I settled in a lounge/dining room and was soon joined by others who cracked open bottles of a fruit flavoured champagne, and opened bags of snacks, followed by a very interesting cheese board, so it was quite a lively pre-dinner cocktail party.

 

The pillowcases, are'nt they colourful.    I was telling  Bill and another chaplain about them on Friday morning and said I would have thought that there would be something else children would rather have,  but they said that poor people just don't have pillows, and for a poor child to have their own is a big deal. 

 

So that has been my weekend thus far.

Friday 20th February

I did post a blog on Shrove Tuesday, wrote about the nice pancakes I'd had at Emmanuel which the young people made in aid of their summer camp.   Also had a bit of a rant about ISIS, and Obama's  "pretending it is all not happening" attitude, but then thought you probably didn't want to read my rant so took it down.

Today I am doing my chaplaincy round this morning, then going to the lovely Episcopal Retreat Centre, St Crispin's, about 40 minutes away for an overnight retreat, the theme of which is 'Popcorn Theology' which I gather is all about God and movies.  It sounds just up my street.   I packed my overnight bag when Bubbles back was turned.   As I am only away overnight I haven't got anyone coming in, will just put down some extra food for her.

And will be in touch again when I get back.

Monday 16th February

Looked outside this morning, 8am, and decided I am not going anywhere, doing anything.  I had intended doing a chaplaincy round in lieu of next Friday, but everyone knows my uninsured status, and that if there is any danger of slipping or falling I don't go out.

 

Compare this picture with Saturday, when it was summer, and I photographed the new restaurant.  It is certainly true, there are 3 seasons here - tornado (which won't kick in until April) summer and freezing.  Today is freezing.

 

Bumped up the heating, filled the hot water bottles, moved the cat to the bottom of the bed (she likes to snuggle down where I am)  got the tea on the go, and plenty to read, not only on my C-Nook but paper books from the $1 store.

Valentine's Day

And I for one am glad it is nearly over.  I'm teed off with all the tv adverts for pyjama-grams; chocolate dipped strawberries, and four foot teddy bears which "she will love and is SURE to pay off for you, WINK, WINK".

 

And as you can see, tulips are the new roses....

 

 

 

Am I missing something here?   When did Prince William become next in line of succession?   Has Prince Charles died and no one told me?

 

This is the latest restaurant which opened in town yesterday.  It's specialty is a chicken sandwich, but who among us can't make a chicken sandwich.  I just stopped to photograph this on my way to the Mall this afternoon.  I might try it tomorrow, but I'm not over excited.  I don't know how many people were inside, there were a lot of vehicles queuing up for the drive-through.

 

I never did find Thursday's post which disappeared somewhere into cyberspace, but I mentioned the trial which has begun of the killer of Chris Kyle, the American Sniper, and his best friend Chad Littlejohn.  Chris Kyle's widow testified first, she was very upset and has every right to be, poor dear.  But apparently all the women on the jury were weeping as well, and I think they should brace up.  

 

It has emerged that Chris Kyle and his friend were texting each other in the front of the car, on the way to the gun range, and they were uneasy even then.   The killer was in the back seat,

'Six' is military slang for 'back'.

 

In today's hearing the killer said he shot them because they weren't talking to him.   The defence counsel is pleading insanity.   The killer will either go to prison with no possibility of parole ever, or he will be committed to a mental hospital, and in due course could be released.  If my understanding is right, they have the death penalty in that state, but it can't be applied in cases of insanity.

 

I think I should start a new segment called "The Presidential Campaign".   Scott Walker, the Governor of Wisconsin is this week's favourite candidate, edging out Jeb Bush, who was last week's.

But SHOCK, HORROR, Scott Walker didn't graduate High School!!!   If that is the worst they can drag up about him he's not doing too bad.

 

And all these other losers didn't graduate either.

 

Holding my breath while I hit 'publish' that this post is going to make it........

 



Friday 13th February

I don't know what happened yesterday, I did a long, full blog and thought I'd posted it.  It was there when I checked it, but seems to have disappeared.

Am off to the hospital, so can't look now.  But hope to get it back.

Tuesday 10th February

I tried catching up with this yesterday, Monday, but had a headache and went to bed.   I've said there are three seasons here; tornado (which will come in April, I think - that's when I throw the duvets in the bath, in the middle bathroom that has no outside walls) the other two are summer and freezing.  Yesterday was summer.   Cloudless blue sky, temperature 76 as I drove through town.  Today is bright and sunny, but going back to freezing.

 

I've had a couple of outings in the last couple of days.  Pattisue and I went to the China Buffet for lunch on Sunday.  It is a relaxed place for a Sunday lunch.  Just cruise around the buffet - and there is so much choice.  They have a selection of sushi, and after I've had some of that I move on to the fish.  The salmon, the prawns, the roasted crab, they have oysters but I've yet to have those; crab legs which I'd love if someone else cracked them.    Then there is a wide selection of chicken and beef dishes.   And finally desserts - dainty little cakes and pastries.   All this isn't too expensive either, all you can eat for about $11, which at the current rate of exchange of £7.22.   Goodness, that is reasonable.   

 

The only issue I have with the place are the Chinese staff who don't speak English.  When asked what I would like to drink I carefully enunciated "a glass of water with no ice".    But of course I got ice.  Pattisue said it is a cultural problem, EVERYBODY here has ice in their drinks.     

 

Speaking of Chinese.   A member of our church who speaks Chinese taught at Oklahoma Baptist University here -  and was responsible for the exchange of students they have - and he was telling me and someone else that he is about to go back to Beijing to teach for six months.   I was bragging about all the places I've been, The Great Wall, the sights of Beijing.    

 

I find somewhat curious the fact that there must be all these Chinese people on the OBU campus, but I never see them in the restaurants or around the town.

 

Last night, Monday, we went to the movies and saw 'The Imitation Game'.   It was about breaking the Enigma code in WW11, and I can't speak too highly about the acting, I believe the lead actor, Benedict Cumberhatch playing Alan Turing, has been nominated for awards for outstanding performance.    He suffered from Asperger's syndrome, and was also convicted of being a homosexual (Alan Turing was)   He saved hundreds and thousands of lives during WW11 and was convicted for being a homosexual,.......................................  How heartbreaking is that.

 

I can't believe I am so OLD I grew up in a world where homosexuality was a crime.  When I was a kid - I suppose about 12 - some friends of my parents took me to the Old Bailey because they knew someone there who showed us around.   And our guide opened a court room door - he didn't know the nature of the trial - and asked if we'd like to go in and listen.   Two men were being tried for sodomy.  I had no idea at the time what that even meant.    I remember being ever so confused and the people in charge of me being extremely embarrassed.  I don't know how they explained it to my parents.

 

I started this thinking I didn't have much to say, but seem to have rambled on.

 

 

 

Friday 7th February

Woke up this morning sniffling and sneezing all over the place so felt I couldn't go to the hospital, I rang Bill with my apologies,  then Bubbles and I snuggled down among the hot water bottles.

 

So as you might imagine I have been watching the news.   And the big item in the news is an address Obama made at the National Prayer Breakfast* telling Americans that they can't get on their high horse condemning Muslims because Christians have been just as bad in the atrocities they committed in the name of Christ, and citing the Crusades and the Inquisition.    But actually, bad as Christians might have been they did not perpetrate the unspeakable horrors on children that Muslim extremists are currently inflicting.

 

And he really should have known better than to cite the Inquisition in which 2200 people died over a period of 450 years, which is 5 a year - and yes, someone else did the maths.  Whereas, on 9/11 - in one day - 2996 people died at the hands of Muslim extremists.    I took the trouble to look that number up.

 

I don't know why he cited the Crusades either because, unlike the war ISIS is currently waging, the Crusaders met every criteria of a just war, in that they were defensive.   Basically, in a nutshell,  Muslims had taken over and were occupying all the holy places sacred to Christianity - Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, and in 1095 the Pope said "ENOUGH" and so began the First Crusade. 

 

*The National Prayer Breakfast takes place on the first Thursday in February and is hosted by the United States Congress, and is organised on their behalf by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christ centred organisation.   Since the 1980s it has been held at the Washington Hilton, and attended by about 3500 guests, including international guests from over 100 countries.

 

It was said that Obama was trying to salvage the reputation of Islam, but it would be more to the point if he were to fight those who are perverting it.   Christianity has reformed itself from its past, and it is time Islam did the same.

 

I said the other day that what ISIS is doing can be compared to the Nazis in the Second World War, and someone made the point today that the Nazis tried to establish a Master Race.    ISIS is trying to establish the Master Faith.

 

I think I've been on this soapbox long enough.   It's time for bed.

 

 

 

Thursday 5th February

Only 2 people read my blog yesterday, ha ha, am I getting boring?

 

After being all lyrical about Hobby Lobby someone said they thought Staples was my favourite shop, and Staples in Shawnee certainly has a lot going for it.  I would really like a new computer chair and I was swinging around on them wondering which one I would buy if money were no object, and a salesman offered to move it down to the technical department if I wanted to swing around down there with James and the technical guys.   I wasn't quite sure how to take that.     Anyway, I have just heard that Staples are being taken over by Home Depot - I am not really surprised, it must be the quietest store in town and  it ought to be bustling with shoppers buying stuff, not a home-from-home for batty old women who need to get a life.

 

The last few days I have just been about my usual routines - I bought some cakes from Kiwanis bake sale and took them to Emmanuel for dessert last night.   The meal was Jambalaya, a spicy southern dish, but nothing is too spicy here - even the kids are tucking into it.   This morning I did a stint at Emmanuel handing out lunches to the homeless, then went to Communion and six of us had lunch at a sandwich shop on Main Street.

 

In the news..............  (or rather, the more minor items, not the war raging in the Middle East)

 

 

As Putin wouldn't cooperate in a brain scan neurologists have been analysing the way in which he moves, which apparently is different from those who don't have a disorder.  I wonder if they informed him of their findings.   And what are they going to do with them.

 

Thinks "wonder if they are handing out tax refunds to legal immigrants.   As our Inland Revenue aren't handing out any refunds to me, perhaps I should re-think my UK tax status - perhaps even keep quiet about my residency, claim to be illegal".

 

 

Tuesday 3 February

I heard my favourite store was opening up a branch in Shawnee, and Oh Joy, Oh Rapture, there it is.  Obviously not open yet, I looked online but there isn't any indication at the moment when it is going to.   But I'll be there, one of the first through the doors when it does.

It is a family owned business, and the family is very much on the Religious Right.  They don't open on Sundays, and will not provide health care to employees which includes contraception or terminations.  A friend of mine on the liberal left, who knowing I loved the store - they have branches in Norman and Mid West City - once suggested I should boycott it.    Weeeeeellllllllllll.   Even if I agreed with boycotting, or the reasons for boycotting this store, that would never happen.   I think I told him that is where my principles would meet their Waterloo.

There's also going to be a Pet Smart, which is a HUGE supermarket for pet supplies.   Who knew there's so much that pets need that there are mega superstores to supply them.

I've just seen King Abdullah of Jordan on tv, at the White House.  He was born in 1962, he's about the same age as my sons, and I remember when his parents married.  His mother was English, she was Toni Gardiner, a telephonist from Suffolk.  She met King Hussein because her father was in the diplomatic corps in Amman.  I met her once shortly after they were married at a reception in Amman (goodness knows what I was doing there, I've forgotten) and she was very sweet and unassuming.  .

So I've always taken notice of King Abdullah when he has been about in the news, and I think we are just about to see a great deal more of him in the news. I understand he is spitting feathers at the announcement today that the captured Jordanian pilot was burned alive by ISIS, the terrorist jihadists, and is vowing swift and dire retribution.  I think he might be about to take out ISIS and not before time.

Ground Hog Day

 

Today is Groundhog Day, when a poor unsuspecting groundhog is dragged out of its burrow by men in funny hats, some of which are way too big.  Look at the guy at the back with it over his eyes.

In keeping with tradition, groundhogs across the country predict whether there will be an early spring or another six weeks of winter simply by seeing their own shadow while exiting their burrows today, and this groundhog, the most well known, is Punxsutawney Phil in PA.  And his prediction is that there will be another six weeks of winter.

HOWEVER, in Staten Island their groundhog, Chuck, who came up in a glass case on an elevator in the Staten Island Zoo, predicts an early spring.    I say they should ask a meteorologist.

And the rest of the news................

This woman went into labour, her husband was away, so she tried to drive herself to the hospital.  But she didn't make it.  She had to make an emergency call and the baby was delivered by a State Trooper.  That's the state trooper holding the baby; he looks like a proud father doesn't he.

This is the nation's chief rabble rouser,  the Rev. Al Sharpton, a Baptist minister.

Mothers have stopped vaccinating their children because of widespread fears of the vaccine, consequently there is now a major outbreak, which started in Disneyland.

Another Japanese journalist has just been executed by the barbaric ISIS extremists and Obama's four star generals are beside themselves with frustration and anger over his failure to even acknowledge that these Muslim extremists have declared war on the west, he pretends it is all just not happening, and if left alone they will somehow  just go away.   But you cannot win a war if you won't acknowledge the enemy, and I fear that by the time the enemy have accomplished their stated aim of establishing a world wide Caliphate in which everyone will be forced to convert to Islam, or die, it will be too late.   What is happening is precisely what Hitler tried to do in World War II and Obama just doesn't see it.    

Weekend

We are still in the freezing season, it has been bitterly cold with very strong winds.

Yesterday, Saturday, Bruce and Rosalyn invited me to go with them to the Shawnee Country Club where a local artist - a friend of Rosalyn's - was holding an exhibition.    Some of the paintings I liked, some were a bit too abstract for me, this is one I liked.

 

When we arrived there were a lot of young people there dressed to go on to an event, I think maybe a formal dinner/dance, and they were all photographing each other.  The girls were wearing pretty dresses but incredibly short (she says, sounding her age) they barely covered them.   Some of the guys were wearing strange patterned suits, an innovation I hadn't encountered before.  It was a glimpse of a section of society I don't often get to see, so was very interesting.  



 

Yesterday afternoon next door's tortoiseshell cat, Chaos, turned up on my front porch, shivering, wet and crying continuously.  Sobbing almost, like Bubbles does when she's in the back of my car en route to the vets.   My friend Jay knows someone who would give Chaos a good home, and we have talked of kidnapping her, so I rang Jay and alerted her to the fact that Chaos might be ready for her good home.  But I gave Chaos a big bowl of cat food which she wolfed down, and then she disappeared, and I haven't seen her since.   Perhaps it is just as well, I don't really want to be deported for the theft of a valuable tortoiseshell cat.

 

 

How on earth do they get these pictures?    One hopes they don't get back to the Queen, but I expect they do.   This was even on the national news here.