Finished the Family Book!



Family Book - Sunni's Photo's

 

All I can say is yippee!  What an ordeal!  I don’t know if I would ever take on another project like that, but I’m so glad this is finished after ten years.  It looks terrific too!

 I didn’t want this book on Amazon because it’s just stories about our lives as kids growing up on a cotton farm in the south.  My sisters and I have been burning up the phone lines over the last month to hash out the rest of the details and get it all in order.  I barely stayed under my cell phone minutes, which is a good thing, but I used lots of ink and toner on this book because I had to make eight copies once it was proofread several times, corrections made, and then all the old B/W photos put in. 

 Once the printing process was over which took me several days, I bound it myself using my comb-binding machine.  Naturally, I had to order supplies from Amazon because the office stores here didn’t have anything the right size.

 I’m very happy with the way it turned out, but its one big book.  Each one weighs over a pound and is 324 pages long.

 This was a rush to finish because my mom is losing her memory and I want her to be able to read it before it’s too late.  I’m going there for a few days to surprise her.  I’ll post again when I return.

The First Leg of the Project is Finished



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OMG!  I have finally printed eight 324-page books.  I can hardly believe that I’ve finished that part of the family book.  All I can say is, don’t do it if you’re even thinking about undertaking something like this in the future.  The enormous task has cost a bundle in ink.

 I ran my printer out so went downstairs and started using my husband’s small laser printer.  It’s a lot faster than mine is, but it gets hot so I had to quit about every thirty minutes letting it cool off.  Because of that, it’s taken me several days to do all the printing.  I’ve also had to buy two toner cartridges for his printer.  In the meanwhile, we were playing musical chairs with the computers because I had to keep unplugging the printer and moving the laptop so he could use his computer in the cool-down times.  I’m glad that phase is finished.

 Now the next part is punching all the holes so I can put in the spiral binding.  I also expect that to take me the next two days or so because there are 2602 pages to punch and I can only do 18 at a time.  This doesn’t include the covers, which I have to punch separately.

 No one in town had the binding supplies so I ordered that from Amazon and they came today.  Now looking at all this I hope the spirals are big enough.  These are some hefty books and weigh over a pound each.  There is also a matter of time involved here, as I have to have this completed by next Monday at the latest.

 Yes, it most definitely would have been worth it to have the book printed by my publisher, but I really didn’t think it was a good idea to put this family book on Amazon.  I’ve written about a few of these stories in earlier blog posts, but I don’t see this as a book that the public would want to buy.  It’s mainly stories about growing up on a cotton farm and has many B/W photos that I’ve collected over the last ten years.  There are recipes in the back.  I’m actually very pleased with the way it’s turned out so far.

 Tomorrow the comb-binding machine comes out and I’ll try to figure it out, so I can get started on this next phase.

 I’m running around in circles here trying to finish this so I can take a couple of days to relax and chill out.  I’ll post again after I’m finished.  That’s why I’ve been absent from here for a bit.  I've also had cat helpers so that isn't helping speed things up.

In Loving Memory

Tracy Lynn Wooley

1962 - 2013

 

I live in a small town and we have a neighborhood market here.  Several markets have come and gone, but this one has made it, which is a good thing because the closest store here is about eight miles away.  The fellow who opened this one has another one that is very successful in a town about thirty minutes away, so I guess he knows how to run a business.

 

Many of the people in our little town shop at this market.  It comes in handy when you don’t want to drive to the nearest chain grocery store, or run out of something you need for dinner.  The prices are competitive and he keeps the store clean and stocked well.  It has a nice produce section as well as a deli and everything else you’d expect to find in a larger chain grocery store.  The staff is wonderful and friendly.

 

I wanted to acknowledge a sweet girl who waited on me and my husband at various times since the market opened two years ago.  She has recently passed away, leaving me feeling stunned and very sad.  She was so friendly and always smiling, knowing all the customers by name.  This was a shock since we’d seen her in the store a few days before.  We will miss her.  I’m writing this post as a dedication to her, someone who should still be here.  She was only fifty-one-years old and left us way too soon.  May she rest in peace.

 

I’ve had such a week with trying to finish up my family book, keeping in touch with an ailing friend, a cat with allergies, and taking on another bout of taking are of my neighbor’s cats and garden again so she can go hiking.  Sometimes I wonder why she can’t stay home more and what she’ll do once I move.

 

This news about Tracy was such a blow.  I always enjoyed going in the store and chatting with her a few minutes.  You never know how short life really is and the last time you’ll see somebody.  Give thanks for your friends and loved ones.  No one lives forever, not in the physical sense anyway.

I’ve been giddy writing this family book



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I’ve fallen behind with my posting here because I’m so caught up in a family project.  I don’t know how many of you have reminisced about your childhood, which is what I’ve been doing a lot of with my sisters lately.  I forgot about some very funny moments.  When they remind me, we have a good laugh over the phone or email.  On the other side, some events that make us mad too, but most of them are funny or appalling.

 Sometimes I look back at those times and wonder how we all survived into adulthood.

 I’ve been working on this nonstop for the last couple of weeks now and have one more chapter to write.  It’s been an ongoing project for the last ten years, but was put on the back burner to pursue other projects.  It will be good to see it finished up.  So we’ll have it done soon now except for corrections.

 I’ve decided to do the binding here with my binding machine instead of sending it out to a POD.  It is for family so this will do to give out to my siblings and to pass down to the next generation.

 It’s amazing to see how we all started out on the farm before computers or even TV and all the other technology we have today, and how far we’ve come over the years.

 Happy Labor Day everyone.

Beautiful Photo of the Milky Way

We rarely see the Milky Way because of so many lights, unless you’re lucky enough to live in the country or somewhere that lights aren’t visible at night.  We used to see it on the farm as kids growing up, but of course, I didn’t have a camera in those days so the images are only in my head now.

 I’ve always been interested in the moon and was reading a site about what determines a “blue moon” when I came across this beautiful photo and wanted to share it.

 

 Photo by Steve Zigler Crater Lake National Park - Oregon - May 2013

 Maybe some of you have been to this national park, but if not a few facts for you.  This lake is the deepest one in the United States at 1943 feet (592 meters), and the ninth deepest in the world.  This clear fresh water lake used to be a composite volcano called Mount Mazama. 

 

Geologists believe the creation of this lake occurred thousands of years ago.  Founded on 22 May 1902, Crater Lake National Park seeks to preserve these natural and cultural resources.  Parks are always good to see because people have a way of destroying the beautiful works of nature.

 

I’ve been to this lake a couple of times with my husband who grew up in Oregon not far from here.

 

On another note, I’m still taking care of the cat and watering the garden across the street.  I’m lying off tomatoes for a few days.  It’s obvious I’m eating too many when I get those ulcers in my mouth.  I hate that but I love tomatoes, especially homegrown ones.  They taste better.

 Garden - Sunni's Photo's

 

I’ve become a little lax with my posting of late because I have too many irons in the fire again with working on my mystery book, trying to finish a family book, the new writing group, taking care of the cat and garden, along with all the other daily things that life offers.  I have cat and garden duty until the end of the week.

 

 

 Snuggles - Sunni's Photo's

 

I may be going to visit my mother and part of my siblings the end of September, if I can get a decent airfare.  I haven’t had time to look yet.  My mother is getting so forgetful that I feel I can’t put that trip off much longer.  I’d like to take the family book with me to give to her, if I can get it finished.  I have a binding machine here and intend to bind it that way with old family stories and recipes from the farm.  I won’t be publishing that on Amazon.  I wanted to get it finished by Christmas, but now I’m trying to rush the job along.

 More later everybody.  Keep smiling, writing, and reading.

Miss Personality



Snuggles - Sunni's Photo's

 

I’m cat sitting again with this adorable little creature.  She is always so delighted to see me when I go over twice a day to check on her, pet her and chase her around a while.  She likes to hide around corners and jump out at me as I go by.  If I let out a yelp, she really goes crazy and starts bouncing off the walls and grabbing my ankles.

 When I’m outback watering the garden, she watches at the backdoor and paws at the glass.  I know she misses her ‘mom’ who is out hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada’s in CA right now.  So I try to spend about 45 minutes or so with her each time I go over.

 She’s really a joy with so much personality, but I’m not getting much writing done with this and everything else I have to do.  That’s why this post is late.

Remembering Woodstock, the greatest music festival of our time

Poster Designed by Arnold Skolnick

This was a noteworthy time in our history.  It’s hard to believe it’s been 44 years.  For anyone interested, here are the bands that played for your review.  This schedule is from Wikipedia.  Even though the world was in turmoil with the Vietnam War, it still seems like a less complicated time than we live in today.

 I get nostalgic over this event.  It brings back many nice memories.  I still have bellbottoms and tie dye from that era that I still wear.  Things like that I will never throw away.

 I’m posting links for the opening and closing songs for anyone who wants to listen and reminisce this event.

 For Richie Havens click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA51wyl-9IE

 For Jimi Hendrix click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU5zxEFq4wA

 

Friday, August 15 – Saturday, August 16
Artist	Time	Notes
Richie Havens	5:07 pm – 7:00 pm
Swami Satchidananda	7:10 pm – 7:20 pm	Gave the opening speech/invocation for the festival
Sweetwater	7:30 pm – 8:10 pm
Bert Sommer	8:20 pm – 9:15 pm
Tim Hardin	9:20 pm – 9:45 pm
Ravi Shankar	10:00 pm – 10:35 pm	Played through the rain
Melanie	10:50 pm – 11:20 pm
Arlo Guthrie	11:55 pm – 12:25 am
Joan Baez	12:55 am – 2:00 am	Was six months pregnant at the time

 

Saturday, August 16 – Sunday, August 17
Artist	Time	Notes
Quill	12:15 pm – 12:45 pm
Country Joe McDonald	1:00 pm – 1:30 pm	Joe later performs with Country Joe and the Fish
Santana	2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
John Sebastian	3:30 pm – 3:55 pm
Keef Hartley Band	4:45 pm – 5:30 pm
The Incredible String Band	6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Canned Heat	7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Mountain	9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Grateful Dead	10:30 pm – 12:05 am	their set was cut short after the stage amps overloaded during "Turn On Your Love Light"
Creedence Clearwater Revival	12:30 am – 1:20 am
Janis Joplin with The Kozmic Blues Band[27]	2:00 am – 3:00 am
Sly & the Family Stone	3:30 am – 4:20 am
The Who	5:00 am – 6:05 am	Briefly interrupted by Abbie Hoffman
Jefferson Airplane	8:00 am – 9:40 am

 

Sunday, August 17 – Monday, August 18
Artist	Time	Notes
Joe Cocker and The Grease Band	2:00 pm – 3:25 pm	After Joe Cocker's set, a thunderstorm disrupted the events for several hours.
Country Joe and the Fish	6:30 pm – 8:00 pm	Country Joe McDonald's second performance.
Ten Years After	8:15 pm – 9:15 pm
The Band	10:00 pm – 10:50 pm
Johnny Winter	12:00 am – 1:05 am	Winter's brother, Edgar Winter, is featured on three songs.
Blood, Sweat & Tears	1:30 am – 2:30 am
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young	3:00 am – 4:00 am	An acoustic and electric set were played. Neil Young skipped most of the acoustic set.
Paul Butterfield Blues Band	6:00 am – 6:45 am
Sha Na Na	7:30 am – 8:00 am
Jimi Hendrix / Gypsy Sun & Rainbows	9:00 am – 11:10 am

Inspiration comes in all Forms



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If this guy doesn’t motivate you, nobody will.  Watch this amazing video of a ninety-year-oldpole-vaulter.  It’s astonishing that anyone would even be thinking of doing this at this age, but it goes to show you that you’re never too old to go for it.

 

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Wouldn’t it be nice to have this kind of attitude at this age?  I hope I can be this inspirational in my later years.