I Didn't Think It Would End This Way....

***Edit 7.30.2021:  This is more than just not being able to access my reading list apparently.  Saundra gave me the bright idea of adding the "Blogs I Follow" gadget to my blog so at least I could see some of the updates.  Not as convenient as the reading list for all blogs, and my gadget would only allow me to add a maximum of 10 blogs, but it would have been better than nothing.  So I added the gadget and guess what happened? Absolutely NOTHING.  The layout shows the gadget was added, but there is nothing on the blog sidebar as you can see.  In addition, I can no longer change my blog header photo.  Seriously? Who did I piss off??

Things have been a struggle these days for many of us, but one of my solaces has been the friendships and diversions I've come to know in blogging.

However, it looks like it's over for me now.

For months I have struggled with posting comments on your blogs....

As you know, I can tend to be a bit loquacious with my written words at least) and, after spending the time to write a comment and hitting "publish," I would inevitably get the following error:

"WHOOPS"??  Really? Trust me, I had a "choicer" word than "whoops" as I would have to retype the entire comment and cross my fingers that it would "take" the second time...or third...or fourth... (I usually never made it beyond 4 before uttering more "choice" words and giving up.)

After a while, I conditioned myself to taking a screen shot of the comment before hitting publish, but I would still end up retyping it....and usually had to change devices or it would just keep happening over and over and over.

Copying and pasting seemed like an option, but I still had the same issue and since I had to change devices, the copied text did not migrate to the other device.

I learned to live with it and usually just walked away for a day or more. (Now you know why I often am the last to comment on posts....)

But, now a new issue has developed:

I am not certain what the rest of you do, but I use my "Reading List" to display new posts from the blogs I follow...and, well, as you can see, nothing is displayed.  If I use the drop down menu (by All Blogs), I can select individual blogs, load them, and see if there is a new post....but that is just not a feasible option when you follow as many blogs as I do.  Yes, I can still post, but it is not fulfilling to me to merely post and not be able to read and comment on your blogs....

I have researched and found no cause, no solution...in fact, no one else seems to be experiencing this from what I can tell.  I have updated all my settings and apps but am experiencing the same issue on every single device.

I have no more things to try.

I have no more patience.

I have to try to figure out how to get a missing box ("3 of 3") containing my bed frame from a place in Milwaukee that doesn't deliver to Nod to which it was sent by the company from which I ordered it (Boxes 1 and 2 were sent to Minneapolis....don't ask...)

I have to try to dismantle, "disable," and photograph a non-working floor cleaner I used twice to the company before they will look at warranty coverage....(Pray tell how one satisfactorily "disables" a floor cleaner that doesn't function?)

I have to photograph a damaged rug that arrived yesterday...

I have to track down some bedding that was supposed to have shipped a month ago...and an order for linen that was shipped 2 weeks ago and was within 2 hrs of Nod, but is now heading in the opposite direction back to the state from which it was shipped.

I have a leaking skylight to get repaired.

I have to try to get someone to give me the results of an MRI I had done over a week ago.

I have to figure out how to redirect the water that is being pumped out of my basement's sump pump so it does not just keep "recirculating" and destroying the landscaping in the process.

I have to figure out how to get a garage door from continually opening/not staying closed before the next round of storms and monsoons hit.

I have no more patience.

I hope this is not a forever goodbye and someday someone messages me and tells me what can be done to remedy it but I have no more breath to hold, so we shall see.  

I hope you know how much I will miss you.

Be well and know I will be thinking of you.

The Cranky Crow

The Mind is its Own Place

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." 

This is one of my favorite quotes from John Milton. 

I typically dislike it when authors mess with perfect quotes, but Sarah Collins made me make an exception when she elaborated on this one in The Confessions of Frannie Langton by saying "How does it do that? By remembering or forgetting.  The only tricks a mind can play."

These words have settled in the hinterland of my soul and I know them to be true...so very true...both Milton's and Collins'...and on any given day, I can be both in Heaven and in Hell and usually am, albeit more in the latter than the former it seems.

Snowdog can no longer travel comfortably (even if I can get him in the vehicle), but I felt the need to take him to the lake he has come to love at least once more.  So he and I headed north last weekend.

{One of the eagles was waiting to welcome us...and all the time we were there entertained us by dropping from a tree far above us to snatch a fish from the water in front of us.}

There was both Heaven and Hell there as well.  Another story for another time...or perhaps not.

Other than that, little is new.  I have wanted to do a post for some time but it seemed I had no words.

It seems I have not found them still.

I have stitched only a little, and hooked not at all...and finish/finished anything? Ha! Don't bother wondering.

This is about all I have accomplished:

It is a quick little stitch from our own Marly of Samplers and Santas.  I need to antique/distress it some so the numbers stand out a bit more and then, yes, FINISH it.  But Independence Day is past and my mind and ambitions have already begun to wander.

I have little else to show or say, but wanted you to know that I am still here and think of you all often.  I will leave you with a few photos of some of the more "heavenly" moments of my days.

Otherwise, there are days that are someplace between Heaven and Hell...where we neither remember nor forget....we just are.

If only we could be whole there.