Folks have been festing all weekend long !

Great day for enjoying life in general. 'Hippo' is spending the day attempting to catch up on some very important 'socialization'. We all know what 'Unshelved' is doing today as he will be home waiting for the family to call to take him out for his weekly walk. Unfortunately the 'outing' appears to be a little more of a duty for the family, rather than seizing the moment and enjoying our dear friend. Then again Unshelved' can be very 'closemouthed' about the rest of his active week. Goodness knows how 'Seahorse' is doing ....He could be going down a wrong pathway or two, but he will be able to straighten himself out to 'think before he 'speaks'. The others will be out and about the town for most of the day, meeting new folk as they see fit. and some will go to the park and maybe just sit.
Hippo had breakfast with a friend at the Inn and chatted a spell, then off to the fabric shop to redecorate for the fall. On foot for most of these jaunts ,one realizes it's so good to walk the mile instead of riding the bus. Home for a time to tidy the house for a jiff, and soon off to the 'Folk Fest' to listen to tunes, and of course to see and hear the closing artist, no less than
'KD Lang'
So now off to dreamland and picture, all that I've seen and places I've been............

'Gateway To New Memories' in blossom again today!

Oh,what a fantastic day. 'Hippo' and 'Mongo' were up early today,and a smoothie was prepared, devoured and shared. Mongo and Hippo went quickly to the 'cafe' to meet Hippo's friends, and to listen and greet. 'Unshelved' and 'Seahorse' were the next folks there, followed by several of the ole'girls all ready for chat with the gents and then on do errands until the need of a new event. Sometimes 'Seahorse' gets off on a track too intensive for some out for a Saturday whim.
All the fellers decided to eat, so off to the restaurant where there were old comfy seats in the booths.Hippo and 'Mongo' and four of my girl friends started off to the market,but passed a dress shop along the way, and convinced each other that a dress or scarf was just what was needed, before treking on to the market down street. 'Mongo' had acquired a 'Sudoko book' and a pen, and I noticed he sort of listened and grinned and then gave 'Grannie Hippo' a smile. Mongo's comment " women ,no matter how young or old ,take a long time to make a decision of choice, in a dress shop." 'Off to the market for essentials and 'frills' in the support of nutrition for the new week coming up... We all parted and went on our way for the rest of the day. 'Hippo' was hungry and 'Mongo' too, so off to eating at a shop, while using our heads.On pathway to home, 'Hippo' and 'Mongo' stopped to browse through the library and spotted a 'chess board' waiting for a pair to play. 'Mongo' asked if I knew how to play,the answer was no but I would love to learn so with that we began and had wonderful game and now I understand better how to play the game and lose or win. Home for a rest at the end of our day ....."We did wonder all the day, who was looking after whom? Mongo said "Grannie Hippo,I really like your friends."

Eating without our heads.....

It's Friday night in our town. Once a month, I try to spend time with one of the granddaughters or grandsons and this weekend is a visit from my pre-teen grandson. 'Mongo' is coming for dinner and a 'sleep over'. We have been planning for the past few days on what we would eat and also about what we would do for the evening, and also tomorrow. Suggestions submitted by both parties began with dessert. Strawberries, Apples, peaches, and bananas served with a wee dish of melted dark chocolate. This was unanimously accepted by both parties.Hamburgers and BBQ chips were included to add a little protein to the meal,but an awesome amount of sodium going grannie's way. 'Bob' suggested that we add cheese ,lettuce for greens, tomato/cucumber and the rest of the usual scene as that will appease his mother if she gets wind of our meal.Oh well-Grannies have rights as long as we don't go overboard. We have spent the evening chatting and laughing and 'bookmarking' a comedian / ventriloquist which 'Mongo' showed me a video or two. My endorphins certainly rose to the top and now I will follow this comedian along too.A 'sleep over' treat was brought in his gear so we shared a package of doughnuts and milk. Hippo is hoping that Mongo's mother will not read this short story for a day or two. We will rise early tomorrow and begin our day at 7AM and a homemade smoothie will help us to go along our way.
Tomorrow night our adventures, we'll share, and for sure we'll begin to 'eat with our head.'

Thinking outside the box...

Yesterday, during a walk around the park, we were talking about how lucky we are that we're genuinely interested in each other and genuinely care. 'Unshelved' had missed our cafe visit yesterday, so one of the boys gave him a call last evening to chat.He had forgotten due to a shorter week. On a higher note we find it most interesting on what makes us all tick... 'Unshelved' said "our 'joie de Vivre' is the difference between a memorable and a dull interaction." 'Seahorse' is excellent about refreshing us all about what's going on in the world yesterday & today." Hippo reminded us how multigenerational the cafe had become in the past few years. We all enjoy it and 'Seahorse' tickled our memory for us to tell us that we do learn from young people and it empowers our minds. Similarly, our experiences and wisdom enrich our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. (Cafe included.) The last topic that we chose was about 'Challenging old ideas.' We decided that we should make 'more' of an effort to listen to other points of view and engage in healthy mind expanding debates with our friends.
Hippo loves a challenge, so I am sure that the few weeks will provide very stimulating conversation. 'Hippo' is eagerly thinking that she will now learn a little more about our crowd and perhaps be able to have more healthy discussions in a more informative way.
This coming week would be great time to 'challenge some of our own old ideas.'

Places to go and things to do...

Hippo was the very first person at the cafe this morning and waited for the rest to arrive for some Tuesday morning socialization. Hippo always carries his 'suduko book' with him so in his idle time, he can give his brain a little shake."The rest of our chums arrived at the cafe for a quick cup of green tea/coffee. The only person missing was 'Unshelved' who sometimes gets his days confused. We'll check on him tomorrow to make sure he is not having any problems. His family checks on him every Sunday, just like clock work. Everyone seemed to have something to do today. Some of us were going to volunteer at places around town and others are tending to some necessary errands. Seahorse, our new friend says he is having a problem, since he became a widower, with keeping his apartment free of 'junk' that he really doesn't need. Today he is beginning a new project and he will take some of his things to a Center where they take donations of clothing and small household items. So we encouraged him, to perhaps keep up this regime, maybe on a weekly basis and then it wouldn't become a burden to him. Seahorse went away with the group's support looking very pleased with the way the chore now seemed more exciting than before coffee. Some had classes at their senior center which they were waiting in anticipation to begin learning a new skill. Hippo was so pleased that others were really working on maintaining and or upgrading their memory bank by learning new skills and applying them to their daily lives. Hippo's expression was worth a thousand words!
We all hope that you try something new in the near future.We would love to hear from you very soon.

Don't forget to smell the roses .....

Hippo would like all us to practice consolidating our memories including his own memory. So our assignments will begin with this blog unit.
"My goodness, that's a tall order." said 'Unshelved' "I think, I need to do some serious homework!"
"Sometimes my filing and sorting doesn't get into the correct piles." "Hippo explained that we would be now getting involved with the Hippocampus if we participated in the workshop. "the part of the brain called the Hippocampus is involved in Memory forming,organizing and storing." "Unshelved said he remembered from night class recently that the shape of the hippocampus was like a horseshoe."
"It's particularly important to connect our emotions and senses such as smell and sound to memories.
Oh, I forgot to introduce you to 'Seahorse.' He is going to join our group of pals and will be a welcome addition to our group. He was extremely intelligent in his younger years and proved to be a wonderful high school teacher. He has maintained a great attitude and says "that it is okay to fail sometimes and that many successes have come from failure. So this is a great attitude wouldn't you agree?"
Don't forget to 'smell the roses', so that you don't have to search for your 'memories' too often in the 'Lost and Found' department. Your 'Memory Gates' will open more often...

'I wonder what it's like to be a 'Wild Wacky Woman.'

Hippo went to the cafe this morning and as the saying goes 'Socialization' is the way to go. 'Unshelved' was there also and several other people that we know quite well. We shared our story about searching for the Drive-In (like it used to be). Mind you, if we had found the Drive-in and as with several of our friends, many of us are experiencing poor night vision which might have made it a chore. Some of the folk wondered and suggested that next time, we go on a hunt that we
should check the computer listings and or pick up the phone, so we can make plans to confirm at least a presence of the location at the right destination and perhaps a time.
"When I returned to my home, there was a wee gift at the door in a pretty 'green'(environmentally that is) envelope. I love 'anticipation' even though I am a little older, but I am not extremely older. At first I thought that one of the widowers had asked me to go out for tea .I couldn't wait until I got inside,to open it and it was a 'membership card' welcoming me into a group called 'The Wild Wacky Woman's Club'." Just think of the new folks that we are going to meet. Oh,my I can't wait - maybe there's "A Wild Wacky Men's Club",oh what a thought! I bet that you can't wait for tomorrows' version of how we're going to spend our next day .