Today my blog will be a word-for-word  copy of the "Dear Abby" column that appeared in our most recent Sunday paper. It contains some of the best and simplest advice i've heard to help parents keep their children safe. I know that millions of people probably already read "Dear Abby", but since not everyone gets a newspaper, and since i know hundreds of millions read my overwhelmingly, awesomely popular blog, i consider it my civic duty to pass this on. *koff*

   But seriously. This is terrific advice:

   "Dear Abby: I have an idea that may prove useful to parents. I have worked in law enforcement for more than 18 years, including as a state police dispatcher. There are often stories in the media of children lost or abducted in the blink of an eye.

   Because of the proliferation of cell phones with cameras, there is now a way to help law enforcement officials get the word out via Amber Alerts and news bulletins.

   Parents should take advantage of these photo opportunities. Before leaving home for the day on a shopping trip or family outing, take a picture of your children in the outfits they are wearing that day. Once you are all back home safe and sound, you can delete that picture, and the next day take a new one. That way, you'll always have a current photo of how your child looks "today", not six months or more ago at a special event. You also won't have to rely on your memory of exactly what your child was wearing if he or she should go missing.

   Time is of the essence, so take advantage of the technology that's available in today's world." 

   Once again, one of those things that make you scratch your head and wonder, "Why didn't i think of this before?". My children are grown and married, but i'd love to see them implement this incredibly easy safety trick for their families.

   How about you? Would you consider doing this? Please do!

   Today's blog was brought to you by the letters D and A. Thank you, Abby.

   Grandma Kitty

   "It doesn't matter how slowly you go, as long as you don't stop." - Confucius

   I am so HAPPY! It finally rained! We've been dry for more than two weeks here, and it's really beginning to show. My green beans are dessicated (time to pull 'em up and add 'em to the compost pile), the zucchini is looking parched and has slowed production (sort of a good thing, since we can't keep up with it anyway), and the sweet corn is getting all spikey-looking. The weird thing is, it seems to rain all around us, but somehow it's like we're chopped liver or something. But last night between 10:30 and 11 we had a nice hard rain, complete with The Celestial Light and Sound Show, and this morning our rain gauge had recorded .5 inch. Not a lot, but finally, a recordable amount. The lawns and trees have that freshly-washed look, and the green hues actually look green again. Ahhhhh.....

   I've been keeping busy with various projects that've been neglected for a long, long time. This week i replaced four screens - the one in the sliding patio door to the deck, the two kitchen screens and the one in our downstairs bath. I plan to do the two upstairs baths this weekend. We have those black fiberglass screens, part of the storm windows we had installed shortly after we moved here in '88, so you have an idea how old they are. The black has worn off much of the screen, and there were even a few holes here and there. The sliding-door screen was in terrible shape - years ago a friend of ours had accidently tried to walk through it, so the frame was bent and the screen popped out at the bottom. We did what was supposed to have been a quick temporary repair with duct tape and straightened the frame enough to get the door to close... and it's been like that ever since. Within the last year, our Kitty has begun pawing at the bottom of the screen, making it holier and more ragged.

   I didn't want to do the job, 'cause i know nothing about replacing screens, but the one in the kitchen door to the garage was also shredded by the cat, so i started with that, since it was smaller. I approached the task with fear and trembing and much gnashing of teeth, but - it wasn't that hard at all! That was months ago, but it gave me the courage to go ahead with the sliding-door screen. It looks so nice that sometimes i walk into the living room just to look at it and smile.

   There's a problem, though. Now the screen is so perfect, with no tears or duct tape, that it's hard to see! I can understand now how our friend didn't realize the screen door was closed and walked into it. I have to come up with some way to make the door visible. I've thought of painting something on it, like a flower or ivy or something, or maybe doing a small plastic-canvas-like design woven right into the screen mesh. Any ideas, anyone? I'd like to come up with something before another episode of attempted defenestration....

   Sorry i don't seem to be able to keep up any more... maybe winter will be better, when the weather forces me to stay inside more. I know i was saying how dry it's been here, but the weather has been very comfortable this July... usually several degrees cooler than average, nice breezes, and the humidity has been fairly low. That makes the biggest difference! I've been eating all my meals outside for the past three weeks, at least, and it's been lovely so far.

   Hope you've all been well and are enjoying your summer, too!

   Grandma Kitty 

   "Patience is often just a case of not knowing what to do." - Unknown

Whoa.

It's been two months since i last posted!

I don't even know what to say. I'm almost embarrassed to come back after neglecting my blog for so long, but my mom and one of my granddaughters kinda scolded me for not writing.

So i'm back.

Oh, it hasn't been because i lost interest in Xanga, or i haven't been wondering how all my Xangamigos have been doing (you ARE all well, aren't you?). I've just been busy. Lame, but true!

I've been  away at my daughter's for a week; at the beach for a week; hubby and i are building a new deck to replace the old one we tore down last Spring; we've been putting in some raised beds for veggies; some walkways between the beds; and planting beans, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, parsley, onions and swiss chard. Oh, and spinach. We've already dried some oregano and some mint for meadow tea.

The patio behind the house was in deplorable condition, since we've basically neglected it for years. There's a six-foot fence around it on which ivy is growing, and the ivy has all but taken over the patio. So we spent several days trimming it, raking up the trimmings to put around the poplar trees in the back yard, and sweeping up all the litter to use in the compost piles. (I got three nasty bee stings from a nest hidden in the overgrown ivy. Sons-of-a-gun are still red, swollen and itchy, and i got stung on Saturday! Bob took care of the rascals -- they weren't honeybees -- so i was able to finish the cleanup. My hero... : ) )

And then there were the flower gardens, the weeds, staking up the peonies, the weeds, mulching, trimming, and the weeds.

And ya know what? The housework never went away during all that time! Not once. Bummer.

So... that's why i've been MIA.

Anyhoo... i hope to be able to get back to Xanga at least once a week if i can. Summers are always full, and this year seems especially so.

Does anybody out there remember me?

I miss my friends...

Grandma Kitty

"Elderly is when not feeling like yourself is an improvement." - Anonymous