Rotary phones and party lines

Who remembers in the 1950s and 1960s when families in the USA had rotary dial phones? And I do mean "one rotary phone" as in one phone per household. Yes, those phones have a dial that rotates rather than the push buttons. In those early days each family typically had one phone.
When I was a child our phone number had only four digits, like 8379.
Now typical numbers have seven digits plus three digit area code for a total of ten numbers.
Those four digits were quick and easy to dial, even on a slower rotary dial phone.

Since I am talking phones here for fun I include this photo of what looks like the top of one of the classic British red phone booths. I have read that they are disappearing which is a sad story indeed.

As I recall when we first got a telephone we had a party line. That meant that whoever shared your line and was talking on the phone controlled the phone until they would hang up. So you would wait a few minutes and pick up the receiver again, hoping they were done.
It could be pretty annoying if your line sharer was a chatty Cathy type. If "chatter box" was on the line when I picked up the phone receiver I could hear her conversation.
A snoopy gal could listen in which of course is totally rude! Usually you could tell if a party line person was listening to your chat.

For those bloggers who have only known cell phones and their convenience and privacy, rotary phones on land lines are the way it used to be. Of course, there really is no cell phone privacy as the government monitors our calls and knows where we are as our cell phones ping continually, to stay connected. When turned off but the battery still in them, they continue to ping, even more, as the phone struggles to connect. Kim Komando has an excellent email newsletter which I subscribe to, which discusses all things tech, including this issue.
The ping tells the phone company and the government which cell phone tower we are near. This is true even when our cell phone is turned off.
I was going to just write about the old rotary phones but then I realize the shortcomings of cell phones so had to add that in.
One aspect of our family having one phone that was anchored to the wall was that you could not go in another room with the phone for privacy. When a call arrived for me, my mom, dad or sis would announce something along the lines of "Terra, call for you from Sandy". Or sometimes "a call for you, it is a boy!" Imagine trying to chat in those conditions! Teens today can have all sorts of private calls. Is that good or bad? Who can say? Change is ever with us, that is for sure.

Visit to wharf with friends in February

I enjoyed a sunny day on the wharf today (February 13, 2015) with temperature of 75 degrees F, and 4 friends and I had lunch at a seafood restaurant. After lunch we walked on the wharf and here is what we saw.

Sea lions floating and napping in the sun.

A restaurant with flags flying, at the end of the wharf. We did not eat at this restaurant but it is very festive.

Wei, Peggy, Terry and me after our meal. That is me in blue.

Wei, Terry, Peggy and Cynthia. We do laugh a lot. This world is a funny place sometimes and we like to celebrate that.

Daffodils Bring Me Smiles

This above photo is from day four of the bouquet I bought at Whole Foods, at a great price. No, they don't know I am blogging about this. The daffodils were grown in the USA which has many kind to the earth aspects. More environmental controls, less transportation, etc.

The above photo shows how the ten daffodil stems looked on the day I bought them.

The above shows them on day two.

The above photo shows the daffodils on day three.

Oh daffodils can give me smiles. This photo is from day four of them being in our home. I took them outside to the patio for their photo op.
"Of all the floral catalogues, the most exquisitely tantalizing is the daffodil catalogue. The further you read the deeper the gold." George H. Ellwanger, The Garden's Story, 1889.

"A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside. Daffodils in a green bowl - and let it snow if it will. " A.A. Milne

Cyclamen on Patio

These red and white cyclamen live on our patio and are happy to bloom even in February, as they are doing this week.
I admit I have a tender heart toward plants that look dead. All three of these looked completely dead, my fault because I didn't water them enough when they were outdoors in tiny pots. They just dried up. But I began watering them faithfully and voila, they are alive and giving me BEAUTY.
Bless their little flower hearts.
That makes me think of my prayer life and how I need to keep it tended and then it gives me joy.

Above is a photo of a cyclamen I posted in the past. It is happy on the kitchen windowsill between two cilantro plants. When cyclamen plants get tired of being indoors I move them to the patio. Thus the occasional seeming death of a patio plant occurs, which usually come back to vibrant life by my watering them. Yes, I live in a temperate climate where they can survive all year.
They also do well in your garden in shade or part shade, and do like to be dry very briefly and then watered.
Sometimes a friend will give me a cyclamen and I always put it on the kitchen windowsill for as long as it blooms and then I move it outside.
I often give a cyclamen as a gift, and this Christmas I gave one to our new neighbors, as a surprise gift, and a welcome to the neighborhood gift.
Do you like to give and receive plants? Do you have favorites?