Povey Prattle

...or could it be "dedicated raconteur?" or "chef extraordinaire?" Here he is with his good wife Donna and with me Photo' from a couple of years ago. We know each other from St. Boniface Church, Siesta Key, Sarasota FL Jack and I are Priests of the Episcopal Church, now retired. Jack is a talker (with many old stories).  So am I! Donna is one of the best listeners in the world.  She and I have great respect for his double career,  first in the United States Navy, and then as an Anglican Priest. I had lunch today with Donna and Jack (and with their delightful Westies,   Tay and Andi.) Jack Chrisman is also a superb chef. (is there anything this man cannot do?!) I tucked into his superb home made Quiche, made  with shaved Brussels Sprouts. I like Quiche.,     I very much like Brussels Sprouts,     So this was a double winner for me. Shaved Brussels Sprouts courtesy of "Trader Joe's" ...

She is such a gentle cat who will jump onto any willing lap for a bit of TLC. She and I went to the Vet's Office today. I described her symptoms:  - (a) weight loss (from 10 lbs to 5 lbs). (b)  drinking a lot. (c) eating as much food as I put out. (d) looking like a "raggedly Ann". She is not well. There are three possible reasons: (1) Hyper-active thyroid gland, (common in older cats). (2) Diabetes. (3)  Kidney disease. The Veterinarian is inclined to believe that she has a hyper-active thyroid gland, but he is a man of science as well as intuition. So he drew blood, and extracted urine.  These samples will be analyzed over the weekend.  We should get the results by Tuesday  (Monday is a public holiday). Ada was so gentle and cooperative as she went through the indignities of being shaved (for the blood draw); the blood draw itself, and the insertion of a catheter to extract urine. (Should the diagnosis be correct be correct ...

Distances Key West  (south) to Pensacola (north west)  524 miles Key West (south) to Jacksonville (north east) 397 miles Key West (south) to SRQ (west on Gulf of Mexico)  376 miles Key West to Havana, Cuba, 105 miles. Comparison Traditional longest distance in the U.K.   (Land's End to John o' Groats) 847 miles Projected route of  (now) Hurricane Hermine The storm is  very wide  - maybe as much as 125 miles from west  to east. So, because we are NOT  in the eye of the storm, but we ARE in the range of the storm, SRQ has escaped the worst.  We've had on and off rain all day long, with a few amazing windy squalls. 'Tis beautiful and amazing to see the flexibility of the branches of huge trees such as "Live Oaks"  as they are tossed to and fro by the winds. We've had some local flooding, with a few evacuations in the Whittaker Bayou area - http://wfla.com/2016/08/31/sarasota-neighborhood-evacuated-...

Dearest Ada is getting skinnier each day. She drinks so much water. Her pee stinks to high heaven. She sleeps a lot. I suspect that she has kidney failure. I will take her to the Veterinarian on Friday. I will not allow her life to be prolonged by the use of  medications. Skinny Ada In the meantime my equally dear Adelaide gets to be evermore plump. Chubby Adelaide 

I am a very restless sleeper.  I talk in my sleep, I yell out in my sleep,  I even laugh in my sleep.  (I once laughed so hard that I woke up, and then did not know why I was laughing). I also sleep walk.   The evidence is in this  eeew picture. It's not what you think!  On Monday night I sleep-walked, got myself some chocolate, went back to bed, held the chocolate in my hot little hand, didn't eat it, instead I let it drop onto the sheet. This yucky and chocolaty mess greeted me on Tuesday morning -  and I have no memory of my nocturnal wandering!

"Our Mum".  a great and gracious woman died on this date, fifteen years ago (at aged 89 years). I have been thinking about her all day, with deep appreciation, immense respect, and great love. I know that my sibs and their offspring think the same. Oh my beautiful Mummy.  I love you so much.

Aleppo As I walk Penne in the early morning I often encounter a very pleasant woman as she walks to St. Jude's Roman Catholic Church for daily Mass. On Sundays she walks with her husband for Sunday Mass. Se we neared each other this morning we heard a loud BOOM coming from the east, a boom which startled us (and Penne). We commented on this and I said  "can you imagine being in Aleppo where people hear such booms 24/7?". The man said  "I never heard of Aleppo, where is it?" "In Syria", I said "the city which is being bombed to smithereens" "Oh", he replied, "I do not keep up with the news, I have never heard of that place". I could scarcely believe what I heard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I should not have been surprised.  What passes for news in the U.,S.A. has to do with the Olympic Games, with the Kardashians, with ...