Marsha's Amazing Blog

2009-05-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

Today is the legal holiday of Memorial Day. I woke up this morning knowing I have to bake my Famous Chocolate Cake for my family get-together. I'm stopping for a moment to think about that freedom to do so has been taken too much for granted. Right now I think it's necessary to think of ALL the freedoms we American take for granted were won by men and women who fought and died for. We all need to stop and tell these guys past and present "Thank you." I know that there are other out there thinking like me, but here goes. Let's thank and give these people a hand, Folks!

2008-12-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

2008-12-21T05:01:00.000-08:00

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

2008-09-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

I went two dear friends on a photo shoot outing to Georgetown. This is a statue of Jesus near Santa Maria on Hwy. 285.
This is a zoom out of the same statue.

Geneva Creek runs along the Guanilla Pass road. We stopped here because of the bridge.

Geneva Creek.

This is the only "wildlife" I got to take a picture of. My friend Barbara was trying to get a picture of a chipmunk, but it wasn't cooperative at all.

Sometimes Aspens turn scarlet. It really is a pretty sight when you see gold with a littl bit of scarlet.

I like to take picture of the sun shining through things!

Take pictures of the pine trees while you can. Drat those pine beetles!

On up the road we came upon a lovely waterfall.

Lovely view, isn't it?

On the Summit. There's a little dusting of snow.

Coming down the other side I found this lovely Aspen grove on a sunny slope.

Now we're approching Georgetown.

Here we are!

2008-08-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

8/8/08 was spent at Fox Hollow Golf Course Club House Patio.
Yours truly is not in the ANY of the photos because I was behind the camera.

Everybody has to get signed in and get their nametag!

Lori Siskel and Rhonda Knard saw to that!

My dear old friend, Kayellen Daily, has a little chicken while we talked of old times.

Yvonne Shreck Liverant talks with Corrie Gilmore.

Everybody is asking each other FAQ's. How have you been and what do you do now?

Kayellen chats with Kim Gammil Davis and her husband Mark.

Uh-oh! It's going to rain. I heard the thunder and saw some lightning!

Jana Williamson Todd poses with another old classmate.

Jana's husband, Dale Todd with Joe Martin.

Julie Williams chats with Janet Dwyer while Kayellen chats with Corrie.

Lon Brehmer gives me a smile!

Jill McFarland chats with Kayellen and Corrie.

Doug Dinsmoor talks with Barry Janelle and EJ Boillot.

John Stitka poses with Barry. Okay, okay! There's my shadow!

John Maslanik chats with another classmate.

Julie Williams, Lee Monson, Ron Barron and Mike Fay.

Steve Mueller joins the party!

Janet Dwyer talks with Dana Weddell.

Lynette Thomas and Debbie Orndoff dine with another classmate whose name I can't remember. Readers?

EJ and Doug

Raul Alderete and friend Cindy Beeks

Gale Shelley

Paula McNutt and Yvonne

EJ and Kerry McCoy and another classmate.

Steve gives me a smile!

It's been quite an evening.

It's starting to get late.

Lynette, Debbie and ?

One more, said Lynette. She blinked.

2008-06-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

The Boardwalk Resort at Walt Disney World. This is where we stayed.

A pretty Magnolia blossom. One thing about the Southeastern part of the country is that they have millions of these lovely trees. I love Magnolias!

This elephant statue is also a shower at the swimming area of the resort.

Merry-go-round hippocampi grace this unusual, but beautiful chandolier! This was in the Boardwalk's lobby.

I decided to go over to the Magic Kingdom that day. Here is Mary Poppins on Main Street.

The Haunted Mansion was one of the many rides Robert and I rode.

The Liberty Belle

Big Thunder Mountain

Old Hearse at the Haunted Mansion's exit.

A Florida Thunderhead

Cinderella's Castle

2008-06-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I just got back from an incredible journey to Florida.
On May 31st, 2008, we witnessed the launching of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The weather was just right for a launch.

The Discovery blasted off without a hitch!

There it goes!

Godspeed, dear Astronauts.

2008-03-06T09:16:00.001-08:00

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Sky Plume by codfishlady
Get this custom profilecard at Zazzle

2008-03-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.zazzle.com/codfishlady*/product/240340950794497866?CMPN=ltt

2008-02-06T07:22:00.000-08:00

2008-02-02T03:25:00.000-08:00

make custom gifts at Zazzle

2008-01-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

I took a stroll through the Butterfly Pavillion today.
I took a lot of pictures. That was my intention.

Butterflies and moths EVERYWHERE!

These two were drinking out of a rotten banana (Yuck!).

They misted the whole conservatory every ten minutes to give it a tropical rain forest effect.

That seemed to give it a mystique aspect.

Nonetheless, I had fun. It was nice to see kids enjoy it too.

2007-12-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays, one and all!

2007-10-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

2007-10-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

2007-09-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Charles and Aunt Nancy have been visiting my folks. They live in Little Rock, Ark. Uncle Charles (Right) has a conversation with my dad.

Stormy, my folks' dog, just isn't used to other dogs at her house. She spent most of the time inside my folks' house.

This is Buddy. He's not used to Denver's high altitude.

Neither is Princess.

Buddy takes an afternoon nap.

2007-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

make custom gifts at Zazzle

2007-07-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

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The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Digory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

2007-06-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

U.S. 24 is a lonely highway.

This stretch is between Limon and Colorado Springs.

I love to count windmills when I'm on the open road.

Between Denver to the place they buried Robert's friend, I counted 32.

Inspite of the wind these pictures came out nice! I'm surprised! I'm sure Robert's friend, Clay, was looking down and smiling at me.

We'll all miss you, Clay!

2007-05-27T20:10:00.001-07:00

Over by Teiko-Loretto Heights College is a place called Iris4U. The white with darks blue is one of the colors I ordered yesterday.
This the other color. This is called "Hook." I know what you all are thinking! Just right for the ol' Codfishlady!

These are a beautiful orange! I wish I could remember what they called them!

This pic I got rave reviews on Zazzle!

This one's got an odd coloring!

2007-05-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

I decided on Saturday that I would take a little stroll through Hudson Gardens.

This looks like Liatris.

Colorful Lupine. Looks like pink and white.

I always think blue is the prettiest!

I thought this was a very nice setting with the Yucca on the rocks.

Ah! One of my favorite hang outs!

I sat down at the snack bar and happened to see these poppies in the morning sunlight.

Clouds are starting to form over the mountains!

I love this water garden!

There were a few Water Lillies in bloom. I thought these were the prettiest.

The clouds are REALLY billowing!

There were at least two goose families there.

My very favorite flower! The Bearded Iris.

Hudsons' has a beautiful variety of these beauties!

2007-05-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

2007-04-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

It was a nice and warm day for my husband and I's 29th wedding anniversary. We went to eat out at The Fort for dinner that evening. Before we went out I got to take a few pictures of my neighbors' flowers

Basket of Gold

Creeping Phlox

My Tulips

More of my Tulips

2007-04-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

I took a little time to visit my folks. Of course I brought my trusty camera. Here is my dad putting the tarp back on their motorhome. Mother said as long as she wasn't too overcome from her chemo and she stay out of the hospital, they could spend a day or two up in the mountains as they have before.

It officially become spring shortly before noon. My folks' lawn used to have millions of violets! I remember many an early spring there would be patches of purple here and there! Mom and Dad got tired of it and nuked most of them. Still a few have prevailed. "Violets in the Lawn." Sounds like a title for a poem!

This is Stormy, their dog. She is an Australian Cattle Dog AKA Blue Heeler. She's a good dog, but she tends to be hyper.

Mother is a gardener. She always has lots of pretty flowers. These are primroses.

These are Glories-in-the-Snow.

I had a nice visit with my folks. Mother was doing fine considering. I had a nice lunch with them. It wasn't much, but satisfying. I live ten miles away from them. I would have seen them again because my aunt and uncle from Amarillo were in town, but I was under the weather this weekend. So the next best thing was to talk on the phone to my aunt. It was only a few minutes, but it was nice to hear from her. I am going to send her some photos and a Mother's Day card. She's on my Christmas Card List. I know she and my uncle will appreciate them.

2007-04-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

2007-03-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

The Wonder of Nature

I had a great weekend this week. Even though I went through a spell of worrying all turned out well. My mother has cancer and was in the hospital. She had a reaction to new chemotherapy. That is cleared up now. She'll go home as soon as her blood count is back up. But enough of that for now. From late Wednesday evening to Thursday afternoon two pairs of my angelfish spawned. So on Saturday morning I saw that the eggs of one pair hatched. I waited nearly all day Saturday for the other clutch of eggs to hatch, but they didn't do so until Sunday morning. Now I am waiting for a third pair to spawn. Right now they can't seem to make up their minds on where to lay their eggs. For the new babies I will have to wait until they are swimming by themselves. At this time they are in a stage called "wiggler." That's all they do right now. Just wiggle. I cannot feed them yet because they are feeding on their yolk sacs. When their yolk sacs are used up they will be able to swim by themselves. Then it's time to feed them after I transferred them to A 2 1/2 gallon tank. I had the eggs hatch in half gallon wide mouth Mason jars with air stones bubbling in them to keep the water turbulent. They need turbulence because stagnancy will only cause them to die.

The parents are already in their separate tanks. They laid their eggs on two by ten inch slates. I take the slates out and place them in the waiting jars. A drop of a solution called acriflavin to keep the eggs from getting fungus. It turns the water into a greenish yellow color. Some angelfish breeders use a solution called methylene blue, but I have always preferred acriflavin. Methylene blue just turns the water blue and just doesn't do any good for me. Even if I used a whole lot. All I have to is put in one drop of the acriflavin and that does the trick!

I will not bore you any further with the technicalities, dear readers. Therefore I will end this blog with a fond good night and see you all soon.

Miss Stanford"s Friend

2007-03-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken recently.

Mourning Dove

Antoinette

Eight Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly

Trees Reflected in Bear Creek

Milkweed and Cattails

Milkweeds and Milkweed Beetle

Wild Plox

Hollyhocksks

Moon Flowers (Flowers from Hell)

Thunderhead Taken 8/30/05

2007-03-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

I see hints of green!

Daffodils are in bloom!

A lot of geese on the lake.

There's still a little snow left

There's DEFINITELY a hint of green in a Weeping Willow!

Here's a white duck turned wild.

A little walk on shore.

One fisherman takes advantage of the warm weather.

So does a woman and her dog.

Waiting for Mommy's return!

2007-03-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

A SILVER Dragon Lies Beneath!

My inner dragon is to dragons what the Ranger is to humans. I possess considerable intelligence and self-confidence. I live by my own code of ethics and I stick to it at all times. Click the image to try the Inner Dragon Online Quiz for yourself.

2007-03-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

My husband's family just buried Uncle Bill yesterday. He was a good man. He had a great sense of humor even to the end. He made the most of his life. He travelled the U.S. with his wife, Ginger until she lost her life to leukemia. He then travelled the world with woman companion named Dodie. He farmed and ranched when he was younger. He was a regular cowboy. He was a great gardener. He liked to make things out of wood. He had a lot of woodworking equipment. He liked to work on antique autos and tractors. His family had a Model B Ford truck with he kept in very good condition. I'll never forget the good times we had with him. Now he is with Ginger in a better place. And in the honor of Bill and Ginger I named a breeding pair of angelfish after them. I am sure they would happy to know that. I always name angelfish pairs after relatives who have passed on. It's my way of remembering them. We will all miss you, Uncle Bill. You are now with your beloved Ginger. We'll all see you again when our time comes. Rest in peace.

Bill Schweger(Center) at his last family get-together.

2007-03-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Something fishy's going on in my basement!
In my fish room, anyway. For the first time in a long time, I have a pair of angelfish spawning! I know some of you are wondering what the hell is this gal talking about? Those who are fish enthusiasts know! For the rest of you guys who are not I can tell you that this is a wondrous act of Nature. I have raised angelfish for the twenty-some years. You can ask the priestess of nothing about what her folks used to be into. I once was a member of the Colorado Aquarium Society. Now back to the angels spawning. Mommy Fish looked like she swallowed a fish-sized basketball. So I provided a 2X12 inch piece of slate in her and Daddy Fish's aquarium. After a while she laid her eggs on the slate and Daddy fertilized them. They took turns. She laid. He sprayed. When I got ready to take away the slate they pitched a fit and wanted to peck me! No way would they let me take away their eggs! I won out in the end. I placed the slate in a jar of water that had been treated with a solution to keep the eggs from getting fungus. Hopefully in a couple of days There will be some wriggling little babies no bigger than the head of a pin!. I could have Mommy and Daddy take care of them, but there might be a chance they might eat them. So I find artificial hatching a lot better. If I can I'll try to take a picture of them as they develop. I'm keeping watch on the other angel fish I have to see if more fish "pair off." I have schools of angelfish! Most of them I raised from babies myself. Now I have plans! I have at least 30 fish tanks!

2007-03-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

I'm a beader! This is a new hobby I just recently started. Two years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to make jewelery. So nowadays you can see me frequently visiting Micheal's and Hobby Lobby stores. I will occasionally shop at the local bead store. Even though I have fun doing it, it gets frustrating when I accidentally drop the whole strand and my beads fly EVERYWHERE!!! I have to get up and try to find them all! Then I have to start all over again! ARRRRGH!!!

Here's my craft table. The three Capt Hook dolls are my mascots. Hence the nickname, "Codfishlady!

Here are two of my latest creations.

Here I used my flash to make them show up .

I had recently obtained several pounds of assorted beads from a gal through e-Bay. With some of them I made this bracelet.

This is my "Jingle Bell" necklace. I used jingle bells and candy cane beads.

Left to Righy: Crystal; Red, White and Blue; Miscellaneous necklaces.

All I did was take some beading wire ( Two 6" lengths), clear AB beads (Aurora Borealis) and some size 6 seed beads.

Crystal (Top) and Bronco (Bottom) earrings.

You ask if I sell them? Only if you want. For the earrings alone I charge $10.00. Necklaces are $15.00. Bracelets are $12.00 each. A set of earrings with a matching necklace will be $25.00. E-mail me at marshapurser@comcast.net with your request and mailing address if you would like to purchase any of my jewelery. Please let me know on what color scheme you would like.

2007-02-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

These are the states I have visited. I was born in Wichita, Kansas and grew up near Denver, Colorado.All the rest I visited while on vacation. I have a lot of relatives in Texas and Oklahoma. I'd like to visit some more of the U.S. bfore I die. I hope I can go soon. My husband and I haven't gone anywhere since '01. He's been on contract work and feels he cannot get away. He has no paid vacation time. The best we've done is go to Ft. Collins for a picnic. My sister-in-law and her husband live On the Oregon coast. That is a perfect excuse for going back there. The last time I was there I was eight years old. I had a great time there. I visited Oklahoma with my folks 3 years ago. I got to see my great uncle one last time. He passed away last winter. My great aunt is in a nursing home nearby.
I've been to California eight times. Four times we went to L.A., twice we visited Chico, once to San Francisco, we went to Yosemite National Park and the Sequoia and King's Canyon Nat'l Parks .
We visited Salt Lake City once. We went to visit the Golden Spike Nat'l Historic Site. We went to Phoenix ten years ago October. In Nevada we went to Las Vegas nearly half a dozen times. I'm "gambled out" now, but Vegas has quite a few sites to see. Fun shopping too!
As the map shows, I've been more in the west than I've been east. I really haven't any burning desire to go to places like NYC or Chicago. I might like to go back to visit Wichita one of these days. It all remains to be seen.

2007-02-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

2007-02-24T03:35:00.000-08:00

Spring is just around the corner! My crocuses are in bloom!

There is one lone, little yellow crocus peeking out to tell me Hi!

These are some geese hanging out in the parking lot of the mall where I like to hang out!

Pansies grace the flowerbed near the mall's entrance by the food court.

Antoinette doesn't know whether to play with her toy or pose for the camera!

2007-02-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

2007-02-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check out my Zazzle Flash Panel! I've got a lot of items to sell and the inventory is growing! Need gifts? Zazzle will be happy to help! Along with my gallery, there are a whole lot of "Zazzlers" displaying their items.

2007-02-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

2006-11-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Miss Stanford has been away lo these many months. She wishes to apologize. Me too. My friend suggested I do a blog. So far I have not been very good at it. I wanted to post my story, but the pictures never showed up.

I have been busy the past couple of months working on Christmas cards. the picture on the right happens to be one of them. This one is titled "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." I also designed some new ones as well. On the left is "Peaceable Kingdom."

These cards can be found on zazzle.com/codfishlady. Zazzle has expanded its variety of new items to design. Now I am doing calendars, hats, aprons, buttons, mousepads etc.

I joined Weight Watchers in late January and so far I have lost 50 lbs. I just got fed up with how I looked in pictures and also thought about my health. I have mostly been walking in the local mall five mornings a week. The pic of me above was taken when I was at 205. Now I'm 155 and moving right along! The next picture is me in my Halloween garb. I call it "bats and bling." The jewelry I have on I made myself. I want to get into more jewelry making as soon as I'm done with the cards. I will close for now, readers, and will be blogging some more in the future.

Miss Kitty and Miss Stanford

2006-08-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hi!
Miss Stanford and I would like to introduce you to my Zazzle Gallery. You can find it at zazzle.com./codfishlady
Check out my cards, T-shirts and mugs I created! Great prices!
Miss Stanford will present a special story that some railroad buffs might like. Even some who are not "rail smart" will enjoy this tale circa 1869. Pacific(one of Miss Stanford's fellow locomotives) will narrate this tale of the Golden Spike. We'll see you soon!
Miss Stanford and Marsha

2006-07-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

JULY 30, 2006

Starting a is just not easy for me, but hopefully I can get going. It's hotter than blue blazes here in my house. No A/C. Just fans. All they do is blow around the hot air in here. I went to the mall to beat the heat for a while and to write in my log book. It's fun to observe people sometimes. I saw one family dressed in the same kind of outfits. Mother must like to sew. She and her daughter wore a blue and white dress while her husband and son wore the same shirt with off-white pants. Must have been a nice Sunday outing for them!
I bought my usual latte at the food court's coffee bar. The barrista complimented me on how great I've been looking theses days. I started Weight Watchers back in late January and have lost 36 lbs. (I was 205 when I started.)
I would love to go out and take some pictures, but it's just been too hot for me to do so. In a few days maybe can if I remember to. I will post a few, dear readers, soon enough. For the past three years I have been hooked on digital photography. I started with a little Fuji 2 mega pixel and now I recently received a Panasonic Lumix 6.1 mega pixel for my birthday. Now I can get up close and personal(so to speak) with Nature! Add Image is just not cooperating with me!
I'm going to get this thing's bugs worked out yet!
Miss Stanford and Marsha