The National Library of Ireland tells me it is International Cat Day.

When I lived in Seattle for the first time in 1959-60, I lived in Magnolia on 28th Ave. NW opposite the school. I shared a house with 2 young teachers, Jody and Mary Ann. Jody handled matters relating to contacting the landlord who owned the house. Jody told us that the landlord had been a judge at the Nuremberg Trials. During that year in Magnolia I didn’t get to know any of the neighbors.

When I returned to live in Seattle in 2010, we bought a house in Ballard on 12th near Ballard High School, and also near Ballard First Lutheran Church. I wanted a neighborhood church, hence my choice of BFL. At Ballard First Lutheran I got to know Leota-Gail and her husband Gordon Kramer. Lo and behold as our friendship developed I learned that they lived in Magnolia on 28th Ave NW near the school in the family home where Gordon had grown up. Hmm……I paused to think – had we been neighbors all those years ago?

I began to dig deeper. Well, it turns out that in 1959-60 when Gordon was in 9th grade, the family home in Magnolia had been rented and the family lived in Olympia. But…..Gordon delivered newspapers to a judge who’d been a Judge at the Nuremberg Trials. It all fit together!!

Now Gordon and Leota Gail really are our neighbors here at Ida Culver Broadview, albeit about as far apart as possible in the buildings here. Nevertheless, I feel we really are neighbors this time, 60 years later.

This is a topic makes me get quite stirred up. For example, the power operated gardener – e.g. snow blower or leaf blower. There has been a very noisy leaf blower operating right outside our apartment for a LONG time this morning. It’s really doing a neat job of tidying up the grounds but oh how I wish I had a mute button for it.

And firecrackers – that’s another loud starling noisemaker. Just ask my dog or cat. I don’t have either a dog or cat now but I suffer for all dogs and cats out there in the big wide world when there are fireworks.

Molly of Denali is a PBS Kids program – it is marvelous, so clever and informative. I am in my 80’s and I’m hooked. It’s a program for all ages! Learn about Wood Carving for example. Or Ice Sculpture.

For a number of years, Airfield estate played an important role in my life.

This estate is within walking distance of my home in Dundrum Dublin Ireland. I say my home – I really should write my former home for 44 years. When we first moved to 44 Ailesbury Lawn, Dundrum, I was totally. unaware of Airfield nearby. I did occasionally see a very stately old car being driven up the main street but I had no idea that the driver was one of two sisters who lived just up the hill at Airfield. In the early years, I didn’t even cross that Main Street to go up that hill. But really that’s a whole other story of how I got to know Dundrum.

I like to collect postcards. In browsing the internet with a view to making some purchases of places I know, I go off on all sorts of tangents. Places I’ve lived, traveled, made friends, etc. And then there are postcards with interesting stamps – I used to collect stamps. And postcards with interesting messages. The list goes on and on.

Katerina will like this one.

August 7 was National Handloom Weaving Day. I think this might have been in India. India is a nation with many many handloom weavers – deserving of a Natioal Day. As a handloom weaver myself, I support this declaration. Once upon a time when I was living in Bangladesh I almost accepted a position as Advisor to a group of rug weavers. This was with a missionary organization. I thought seriously about this but in the end decided against it. The weavers themselves probably knew more than I did, and I didn’t care for the missionary organization itself.