Daily Notes- Wednesday February 26th. Sunshine melting snow- then freezing and Ice.

I went looking for an image.

I like this one and might actually try my own "color" spin on a heart shape.  (not orange)

I wrote down a NYT cookie recipe... Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies minus the egg.  Since EGGS are difficult to find....my grocery has lots of them here in Maine....organic ones.......but I am NOT baking so I didn't BUY any.  And I do have a ripe banana handy and a fresh jar of extra crunchy peanut butter.   Makes 20 cookies...  The NYT's recipes usually make a small amount of cookies....20....wow.

It warmed up and then rained and then went below freezing outside ... Sidewalks and front porch steps- very very slippery. Supposed to get up to 40 during the day....freeze overnight.  Delightful.  It was a day like this when husband slipped and landed on his face on the ice covered front steps....we drove to Urgent Care. Lots of blood......

Memories.

I finally (yes, it took weeks) made SOUP.  I had two bowls...very very delicious with lots of vegetables. I will have 2 more bowls today....watching British Soccer at 3 pm.  Liverpool...I hope the crowd SINGS..... Crystal Palace won yesterday's game.  A small amount of singing.

Yesterday's (and today's) book is The Summerhouse (Deveraux)...three women in Maine...They get to make one wish to change something in the past that they regret....... three women and a wish happens in another book also....I hope it's one on the shelf here in the house.  After reading I always thought about what my one wish would be.  What would yours be?  To change something you regret.  A choice made your regret.
 

Tuesday, February the 25th. Cloudy with melting snow- which means ice.

 No image.

Either I have to find some on the internet or I have to remind myself how to take and transfer images here.. the problem with that is that there is nothing here of interest to take a picture of........ snow?????

I've started to collect images of the man in the White House sitting in a chair with wide spread legs- like he's using the toilet.  My Portland Maine newspaper likes to feature these images on the front page. Daring behavior for a Republican State. (Laughing)

I clipped one and will have it here tomorrow- No...no image of him will ever grace these posts.

I had forgotten to do my one permanent JOB here--- collecting the recycling and garbage for the Monday Morning pickup....so I had to hurry. And managed to get it ready to move to the curb.  Son walks it out as he and his sister worry I might slip on ice and crack my face open again.  Me, too.

That's about it.  I picked up my prescriptions yesterday then sat and waited, daughter walked over to the Library to get my book (icy unshoveled sidewalks).  Only one... I have been reading out of my own bookcase- Jude Deveraux.  I have one more set of three and then I will be done with that. (unless there is  another set of three).....I always forget how much I enjoy reading Deveraux.  All the books came from the Library Discard Shelf.....Yes, my library threw away almost new copies.....I wish I had been able to snag more of them.  Daughter will make a survey (list) and then- in the Summer buy more at the various Library Book Sales.  The Bath and Topsham Libraries have Excellent Sales. 

I have one British Soccer game to watch today. at 2:30.   I am now going back to the kitchen and peeling and chopping things for  SOUP......I have procrastinated long enough.  Vegetable Soup.   Best Served on an Ice Covered White Snowy Tuesday in February.    Take care- stay warm.

Monday Morning....February 24th. 36 degrees.....clouds. No socks on as yet.....

Reading the recipe for Triple Chocolate Brownies.  I don't have any white chocolate in the house. And I'm not a fan of it anyway- too sweet.

My oatmeal is beeping....then...phone ringing- I have been selected to win a "valuable reward opportunity". Just a few details I have to give them...I hung up. I hope there is a special place in Hell for people making these phone calls....especially the "Grandma, Help me I'm in jail " calls.  I use my best four letter words when replying to those calls.

Moved from rom coms to Jude Deveraux.   From the bookcase.  Most are books that appeared on the Library Discard Cart.   I removed the Library covers etc and now have these discarded books in my bookcase.   Read the first one-  after watching Rugby.   The guy in the book is described as having a Rugby Body.  Love when things like that happen.  Next up, the injured doctor returning from Iraq.  Then the final book.....reading them in order.  The last one is my second favorite....My first favorite Deveraux's latest book....My Heart Will Find You.....I keep hoping a new book will show up.... Let me know if there is one?  Okay?

Oatmeal is ready to eat...no Monday paper so I'll go straight to Suduko Puzzles....I have three or four in different stages of fulfillment.  Have a nice day......now to pull on my socks without falling forward and hitting my head on the floor......

 

Good Morning- in the thirties this morning-- but cloudy- no Sunshine. (sunshine by the time I hit publish)

 No image. 

I woke up thinking dark thoughts......

I haven't put the oatmeal in the microwave as yet.   Watched three soccer matches. then watched something else and then finished off my book.  I had read it before...realized it when some events showed up..... I wished I had had a red pencil- because this book is the first where I can see the mistakes made during editing and publishing....dead ends that never got removed....characters that showed up for no good reason- a boyfriend that gets into the plot only to confuse us as most Readers had forgotten his name entirely by then.  I even said outloud- "who is this guy?". because he was a couple hundred pages out of place and the billionaire with the rancid shark meat......WHY???

Love by the Book.....Just say no.

I haven't had water or breakfast as yet...the Sunday Paper is waiting for me.... The Three British Soccer matches were interesting.....the middle game, I think- the visiting team got three goals right at the start and the crowd in the audience got up and walked out.....I'd seen a bit of that before but this was like everyone just getting out of their seats and leaving.

I have three delicious books waiting at the Library....

Well, not much I can do about any of that....so Oatmeal and Tea and five glasses of water....the morning newspaper....pizza later with no football.   

Well, if you needed any other PROOF that I have something wrong with me.....you got it now.

 I don't even have an image......I'm awake. I have eaten breakfast...Still need to drink my water and take my pills.  One tiny statin and one daily vitamin.   My oatmeal was "just right" today.  Not too thick and not too soupy.

I did a load of wash yesterday- I might have mentioned that????but I actually don't think I ever completed yesterday's post.   I'll try to finish this one.

I have two books to pick up at the Library and my prescription refills at the grocery.  Will anyone allow me to do that??????

I have the TiVo recording two British Soccer Matches....They started at 7 am.  

I seem to have decided to read books with red covers..... yesterday Kiss Me At Christmas and this one Love by the Book.  Oh and I seem to have bought the second book by the author of the Rosie Project.--a book I really didn't expect to enjoy reading--but  the Rosie Project surprised me.

I can't think of anything else to type..... I drew horns and fangs on a certain person's picture in the newspaper.  Well, I need to work on drinking my water- at least two glasses to get me hydrated....then a glass every hour or so.....I do feel more alert.... A bit more alert than usual.

And now I've begun to worry about the Income Taxes.  

It's REALLY FRIDAY. I woke up thinking it was Thursday. Sunshine, Snow and the Generator kicked on for a few minutes. (Power Outage was short lived) Possibly a Squirrel.

 It was this on repeat or nothing.

I think tiny four inch  pizzas are a good thing- more crusty edges.

So, nose is stuffy.  Still a bit dizzy on standing........hair looks pretty decent.    Reading Kiss Me @ Christmas by Jenny Bayliss.... British Rom Com.   I was put off by the first few pages the first time I tried reading this book... but too lazy to get up and look in the bookcase for another so I kept reading..... now I am wondering when this plot is going to heat up...........

Thursday, February 20th. I thought I had posted but must not have pressed publish. Thursday February 20

 I am fixated on loaves of bread.  One of the True Basic Items of Happiness.

I think I wrote a post but...it's not here- so I must have just written it inside my head....as I do- I live inside my head way too much these days.  It's safer than what's happening.  All around us.

We have lots of snow. sunshine and if I had a good view- perhaps blue sky....let me go look.... yes, not as blue as it could be but blue sky.

I am still "under the weather" as they say.  I am drinking plenty of water....I now have a shortened straw in my glass and that's an easier way for me to drink 8 ounces of water...over and over again.  I still get dizzy. so I try to stay on the couch and not wander around....I am also sleeping- napping I guess...so that is fine. the cough has gone away......I managed to get my new very short haircut into shape this morning....overnight things get wacky.

I made a large bowl of salad for my mid day meal....later I had a banana.  Today I have a prepared Pot Roast Dinner.  A try out of a different store's prepared meals.  I still haven't felt STURDY enough to stand and peel and chop things for home made soup.   Still have a feeling I might tip over.  Light headed.

So, that's what's what.  Reading the brand new Tessa Bailey...might actually have hit the stopping point. The Bounty Hunter mystery was. pretty good.... Dream Girl Drama......not so much.  I find myself putting it down.....looking for something else to do.  Hello Sunshine was 3 out of five points.  This one is 2 out of five--just don't like the main characters.  

So-- I need to eat breakfast....read the paper.....put on socks....have three 8 ounce glasses of water....

Daily Notes- Half Way into The Day....Wednesday, February 19th. Sun off and on.....

 Roses today... Brightly colored as everything outside the windows is white grey or black.

Daughter found me two new books....she enjoys hunting for books.

I am Still feeling off kilter....like walking on a gently moving boat.  But I am not coughing, my nose isn't running and I don't feel overly warm- feverish.   Like I was feeling the past few days.

And I've managed to stay wake until past 4 pm.

I am reading Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave- same author of the Last Thing He Told Me book I enjoyed reading.  This book "feels familiar" like I've read it before.  Time will tell.  California Wine Country and a Cooking Show....and a chef who doesn't know how to cook. An Instagram FAKE.

I haven't turned on the TV....4:30 and still no TV.  I saw some stuff yesterday, by accident, about the Orange Faced Imposter....so now I need a deep cleaning.......I didn't hit the clicker button fast enough. I did get to watch Will Trent and High Potential....... later yesterday,  That's about it for me....going to finish my book-- a little short of half way....then perhaps take my usual late afternoon nap.  I am sliding my way into Old Age. It's pleasant. Enough.  Plenty of Book Reading Time.

Pretty soon, I'll fill my pockets with candy to give to any children I happen to see.  And their mothers will say- "stay away from that weird old woman...and don't eat the candy".  Some things never change.

Daily Notes- Tuesday, February 18th-- Sunshine....Lots of snow and still a chance for WIND.

Cake.

Well, I know I have a cold and feel a bit under the weather...but I did a few things yesterday that I don't recall doing.   I was honest about the not remembering when my Son asked me about it.  

Could be the cold or could be that I am starting to forget.  I often wondered about what that would be like. Forgetting.....but it feels like nothing.  Just nothing.

The newspaper was dull....NO one has stepped UP to being our Government Hero as yet.. I don't expect a cape or anything but a sharp sword would be of some help.   A Mutiny.  That's what always worked when the Pirates took over a ship at sea....a mutiny...unless they were all thrown overboard.  I am thinking that would cause any Hero second thoughts.

Well, I am still lightheaded from my "cold" or whatever it is bothering me...  I couldn't read yesterday so I watched...well, I think I watched something....don't recall what and perhaps I did some reading but no book is sitting here with a bookmark....I do know that I fell asleep.  And I don't ever do that.

I also cooked something and ate it...meatloaf.  A precooked meal.  I fried the meatloaf patty in the pan..much better than the microwave.   I am now out of food so I should start chopping vegetables for SOUP.  I got everything at the grocery to make soup.  Sigh....This is a lot to take in.....forgetting.

Wow.

 

Monday Morning...February 17th. Sunshine, Snow, 20 degrees. I have a cold.

I adore baked potatoes....

Especially if the skins get all crispy.  So happy to see this image in the cooking feed from NYT.  If these were in the house I would have one or more of them for breakfast......

They aren't.

In the House.  so I will be have microwave oatmeal.....No paper on Monday....No clue as to if the generator went on last night....you know...a power outage from ICE and WIND.

I fell asleep at 4 pm and eventually went o bed much later and then woke up at 5 am.... and fell asleep again and here it is- 10:14 and I haven't made oatmeal yet...  

My nose is stuffy and I am coughing....I think I picked up germs at the grocery store yesterday- lots of people had on masks....but it's their hands that spread germs.....HANDS;

Generator didn't go on last night but this afternoon- 50 mile an hour gale force winds...Old trees- gonna be exciting.  I have to eat, hydrate and medicate.... and I think take a nice NAP.
 

Sunday. February 16th...20 degrees, cloudy......still have power....

Same as yesterday....

I watched British soccer games yesterday..  the crowd cheered until they realized they had zero chance of winning and then they got up and left......

I haven't found anything to read that holds my interest....I enjoyed the Laura Dave book- The Last thing He Told Me.  But Eight Hundred Grapes?....not so much.  Same author.  I got another of her books...after I try and slog thru another dozen pages of Grapes- I'll give up.

When I turned off the lights and went to bed last night I could see snow falling under the street light ... just really light snow ...perhaps the BIG HORRIBLE PART comes later in the day?????

I was up around 5am.... thinking I heard the next door generator which they thoughtfully placed near our bedroom windows.   I don't even think they are in Maine right now..last year they went to Colorado for the entire Winter and early Spring.  

After popping oatmeal into the microwave I will work On pulling my wool socks onto my feet....bending over and not face planting on the floor- it's my new routine.

I watched a science show on PBS about aging....it included an artificial heart that beats....they added human something to the materials used to build the heart and the stuff multiplied into heart muscle.  As my Son says- If you are really interested in something you should actually pay attention....and then I might remember- growth hormones.....see I did remember.  From a newborn, I think.  Not all hormones are the same...each organ or muscle group has its own...specific ones.  My body was programed to be as tall as I am- before I was born.  In fact, everything about me was pre loaded before birth.  I'm pretty sure that's what they said.  Nothing I did as a child or adult changed anything.

 

Daily Notes- Saturday February 15th... Sunshine here in Maine- Storm Approaching.

My desktop calendar,

We got The Saturday paper bundled with the Sunday edition....that's how BAD the powers that be think the weather will........this might be the Maiden Voyage for the new whole house generator.  Everyone reading this- cross your fingers!!!!!!

We have Sunshine right now and 24 degrees. Snow, Rain and then Ice.  Ice always knocks out the power as most lines are still above ground here in Maine.  Hanging near old easily busted up tree branches. Cause WHY put them underground like intelligent folk do??????  Why?

I have some Soccer games to watch....so this post will be short as I think I missed the first half of the Arsenal Match.   But...let's hope I set it to record.

I cooked yesterday.  Made a pot of jasmine rice.   Today I have a grocery store meatloaf dinner... includes mashed potatoes....I love mashed potatoes.  Sunday...with the Generator going-- pizza as usual.  Brave New World here @ My House.  Every house on the street--all 14 of us---have whole house generators now.  Gonna be hella noisy.........when they All start up.

So.....Arsenal....My book. Eight Hundred Grapes.  Down Lap Comforter.... Big hot mug of sweet tea. I might miss some of the PBS Cooking Shows or I can record them.....whatever,,,,

 

Daily Notes on Friday February 14th.... Cold, Sunshine, Snow Plowing.......

 For You ...from Me.    Happy Valentine's Day.

Sigh..Snow and more Snow...... if I wasn't aware of my adult son knowing lots of swear words- I know now.   The California Man has a continuous relationship with the Snow Blower and the Snow Shovel. And yesterday he ...well,  he wasn't a happy man.   The plow truck came and ruined his plan for the driveway NOT being ice covered..... this morning....and he needed to shovel out the entrance to the oil tank fill pipe. He also had to shovel out the generator and clean off the Propane tanks.

Okay, enough of that....the only color outside my windows is White.  The Bird Feeders are full and the birds are back- they had been missing for the last few days while it snowed.  Trails of tiny animal feet are on the surface of the fresh snow.

I watched PBS last night about the new Egyptian Burial places they are finding.  No Pyramids over the top.  Just a deep hole in the sand....

Son just dropped off the morning paper.....no 72 hour wait any more to buy a handgun here in Maine. Does it ever get any stupider????? Living in Maine????  But then the Police gave my husband an open carry permit........during the Trump Years.

So...Grocery Shopping later today....items for Soup making....I finished off my first Winter pot of soup and am now looking forward to making a second pot.

Jane by April Lindner arrived in yesterday's mail....a Valentine Gift from a dear friend.  She knows how to order things from Amazon....now I have four modern re-tellings of Jane Eyre.  I have YET to read the original.  I know.......so weird.  My son says I could learn how to order from Amazon....it's not that difficult.  He says.   

I am buying myself a bouquet of flowers today at the grocery store.  And Jelly Doughnuts if they have any.  I am also dropping off books and selecting new ones today.  I finished "The Last Thing He Told Me" by Laura Dave late last night...  I will see if I can find her first book at the library today. Eight Hundred Grapes.

Very very Snowy here in Maine. Cold. White........February 13th. 26 degrees and Zero Sunshine.

 I should have turned the camera sideways.  Learning curve here, Dear Readers.

But not much to see as everything is covered in snow--usually birds all over the feeders..  That  curve is the design detail of the porch and the thin black items hanging from the curve are the two bird feeders.  

I often wonder where the birds go when it's this cold and there is this much snow.  They were here yesterday eating.  But not now.

I was catching up on the Chicken Flu this morning and the Egg Situation in Morning Newspaper..   Daughter mentioned that a few people she knows (with chickens)- are having to lock the coops...Egg Stealing........is now a "thing".

The Geek Squad has sent along an invoice for Geek Squad Stuff- $799.  Husband Stuff.  Son will take care of it.  He's the In-house Tech Support so I might not need a SQUAD.

Daughter reported in that the large JoAnn's in the shopping mall on the other side of the River Bridge (under construction for a few years) has closed.  I would buy some things there but the NICE printed cotton fabric was in short supply- acrylic/poyl was what people wanted....nothing like wrapping oneself up in spun plastic.  I did buy batting... not that that matters anymore.... what I have left, not much, will be enough for this Lifetime..

The in Town Quilt Shop closed.  Daughter went by to ask if the owner would quilt our 30's antique quilts on her long arm......Shop was empty.  Everything gone.  We'll have to find someone else to do it. She was the only person I knew.

I have books to read....Tomorrow is the Library/Grocery trip.  My fresh haircut looks GREAT.

I watched a program on whales yesterday but once we got to the part where they were trying to get a seal off an ice float so they could EAT him or her.......I moved on to recorded Tracker episodes.  And then went to bed.  I need help getting my little pillow out from under the bed....it fell thru the headboard....Perhaps the long tongs... I could grab an edge....I could easily get the pillow if I got down on the floor but...easy going down and hell on wheels getting UP.   Tongs to the rescue.  I consider the day a WIN when I get both of my socks on my feet.  Without face planting on the floor. Perhaps I should have kept the walker husband was using?????  Just for getting up and down.

Cold and Colder here in Maine. Sunshine and 14 degrees.

 This image has been here before-- and this is the final curtain for it....the original went into the trash just moments ago.  I do not feel caged but when I cut this image for the desktop- I DID.  And today I noticed the woman is not IN the cage...the door is open.  She seems to be saying- "just TRY to get me back inside that cage"

Now that I am NOT the second member of an unhappy married couple--now that I am SINGULAR.  Not responsible for the care and safekeeping of another soul....I feel lighter and lighter as the months go by.  Shedding my  responsibilities.  Just as I am letting go of Gardening, Cooking, Decorating  and Quilting books.  And yes...I was unhappy. All those years.

Whatever knowledge and ideas I have in my head right now....those are ENOUGH.

I can work with whatever I have stored in my head.  Let go of anything else...things that were once very interesting but are now excess baggage.  I have a recipe card here to the left for Roasted Cauliflower Soup and halfway thru the instructions I stopped writing (whenever I was writing this card).......but my handwriting is very very nice.

As usual, my daughter has left the piles of books we are NOT keeping by the window on the floor... And as usual, I take one or two out of the piles, look them over and consider keeping them....

As we are going thru this- as we did with the tubs of clothing.......some stays and the rest goes. But we take our TIME.  So far, I have kept all the cloth...and all my FICTION books (I even have added MORE)...almost all are rom-coms.  I like the romance and enjoy the comedy.

Well, It's cold...here in Maine...and I need my first 8 ounces of water and then my oatmeal and tea.  And the newspaper where Susan Collins has AGAIN shown her true weak colors........but this is Maine and I am an outlier.....not a Republican.  And I have NEVER in all these years..... voted for her. Or respected her.

In the past 10 minutes, outdoor temp has gone from 8 degrees to 10. Tuesday, February 11th. Sunshine.

 Well, already the morning has been "not what I expected" but..in some ways that's good.  The expected can be boring- comforting...but boring.

I am clearing out the picture file....  I seem to not do that and then one morning- it all goes in the trash can. I would prefer my own photos...... my own images... here.....but I am hardly making anything besides oatmeal, pizza and sandwiches.  Yes, I could photograph them.

He Who Shall Not Be Named and the Other Genius- now think Social Security is their own property to take and spend..... I think that is called theft....as they please.  I have a feeling both men are short of cash these days....personally....so stealing from others....is okay.  Who will stop them....that is the better question to be asking these days......who will stop them.  We need a Hero.

I am getting my haircut today- a few days early as another snow storm is approaching the Northeast coastline.  Daughter took all my books to Goodwill....mostly Gardening (which I won't be doing other than a few clay pots on the back deck) and Home Decorating (which I also won't be doing).   The next bookcase...possibly today is Quilting, Cooking and some other stuff.   Letting go of things that you have collected...it's quite difficult at first.  The empty bookcases....?  Daughter arranges things in them.  They look nice.

Daughter and Son ask- when is the last time you opened any of these books?  Cooked any of this food? There are a few complicated quilting books I might keep......I have TIME, now.  Lots of it now but perhaps not for long....I should enjoy making....creating, sewing.....I should......I probably won't.

I always thought it was my husband's care that kept me from "doing" and "making".   I might have actually been using him as an excuse to not do any of the "things I loved".   This is a serious thing for me to contemplate going forward.....taking care of my Own Happiness as I grow so much older.

Well, oatmeal, tea, the newspaper and the Daily Suduko.   I have things to do and places to go.  I am grateful to be dressing myself, walking without assistance, using my brand new microwave....enjoying the Sunshine coming into all the south facing windows.  Yes, it's cold.  Yes, it lonely.  Yes, it the last chapter. But good things happen in the final chapters of my books...so why not for me as well.

Daily Notes- February 10th. Monday Monday. Not Snowing...but lots of snow on the ground.

Super Bowl Sunday Pizza.

It was fantastic....and the game was rather fantastic also...time flew by which I can't say has been true of past Super Bowls.... I was reading a book during half time (My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey).  While the pizza baked.  I lack enthusiasm for the half time crap.  Son went up to his room and did computer things.  Then the game resumed.

I would love to see some of Tessa Bailey's books made into movies.  Killer Vacation begins with finding a dead body in a Cape Cod vacation rental.  Then the motorcycle riding detective (ex Boston cop) shows up. They are going Scuba diving...when I start reading....the three characters are waiting for me to get back to the story line before they go diving.......and they are having waffles for breakfast and suddenly I want waffles for lunch..  I think I have everything to make waffle batter.  Will I?  Doubtful.

NO snow fell over the weekend.....PLENTY on the ground.  PILES of it-several feet deep..  A few Future Storms are lined up and coming our way this week...my haircut has been re-scheduled.   

I watched season one of Law and Order (several of the single digit episodes) before football... Like going back in time to the 1980's.  The hair....the make up........geez.

I cut (tore) a few pages of images from another book on the Goodwill pile...for my desk calendar.

Today I might make another scrap square.....will have to pick thru the scrap cloth pile to find a color family and a center.......I didn't plan ahead to have Valentines to send....Must try and remember for next year......well, I'll forget before I even hit publish.........

Trump wants US Treasury to stop making pennies. Good to know he has his attention on Important Issues.

 

Sunday February 9th. Snowed again- Sunshine now but.....lots of snow and more coming.

Board Talk Studio Image.

I feel this way most days.   Okay, I had to check and see if I had already posted.  Nope.

I read my book straight thru until (past) bedtime..... Mrs's Quinn's Rise to Fame.  The British Baking Show book. But it's more about Mrs. Quinn herself.

Super Bowl today....we'll be making pizza.  Son has made rice with his nifty little electric rice cooker.  I use a saucepan to make mine.  I still have soup.  I will be cutting or tearing strips of cloth for a new "square"....now that I am spraying the finished work with starch and then a hot iron.... and also using the cutting table to trim and straighten

I clipped a few more Sudoko puzzles from the newspaper.  I work on several whenever I sit at the table...  sometimes I actually can fill in spaces....most times- no. I was on a "roll" for a few days- not finishing a puzzle but filling in spaces.....felt great.  I keep trying........

Life goes on....If I was feeling stronger, I would help shovel...but I'm not.  So I don't.

I am sleeping quite a bit....tired.    I have a bag of corn chips and need something to eat them with....A dip of some sort???????  I have to check the pantry and see what's what.  We'll have Sunday Pizza with the Football.  I can look up "dips" on the internet.... I don't have any sour cream but I do have cream cheese.

Oh, and I have the green shoots from that onion....still growing over in the back sunny window.

Sour cream and onion...corn chips.  Maybe.

 

Sunshine- Plenty of it....On Saturday, February 8th. 22 degrees with Sunshine here in Maine.

 Image from Board Talk Studio on Instagram

This image makes me think of  "talking heads" when the Powers That Be in DC are Moving Their Lips. An article in the morning Maine newspaper details the complete Trash Can Fire of Musk when he destroyed Twitter in his "buyout".  He didn't "learn" anything (comment in the article) .....just moved on to the United States Government.

I recall someone saying. "If his lips are moving...he's lying"........ now who were they talking about??? Nixon?  Someone out there reading this knows who it was........let me know.

Oh and Twitter has never recovered.

That's it for any politic opinions from here....Sunshine and Cold. Another BIG Snow Storm scheduled for February 13th.  Let the Good Times Roll.  My haircut has to move to a new day and time.... I was going to have Valentine Hair....but now I'll just have regular hair.  I have to check the card drawer and see if I have any Valentine Cards....I think perhaps I used them all up.

Saturday Cooking Shows today so that is a "good thing".  Also found the phone number for the Coin Collector Guy..... cause daughter and I found more collected coins in the bookcase. Lincoln Pennies.

That's it for today....I think I slept for 12 hours yesterday........I hope it was because I was tired and not depressed.  Pretty sure I was tired.

Still Friday, February 7th.......Made soup

OMG it's Good Soup....

Brussels sprouts (sliced) instead of cabbage, one peeled white potato (diced), one large carrot (sliced into coins), three maybe four inside celery stalks sliced,  very well rinsed can of white beans, ketchup since I didn't have a can of tomatoes- and I'm glad I didn't just a big squeeze..  I didn't add salt.....but did season with Japanese Seven Spice Togarashi seasoning mix.

I COOKED.....wow.

Friday Morning (after the snow yesterday) Sunshine and 25 degrees.

Not my work but interesting.

Well, the plow guy arrived late last night to get the driveway cleared. (so over 4 inches of snow)....son is out there doing the sidewalks and decks this morning..  Looks like 8 to 10 inches of snow.  Looks dry.  Not the heavy wet stuff.   

Finished my book....before going to bed..  needs to be returned today.  If the Library is open- I will pick up my reserve books....never know after a heavy all day snow....if they will be shoveled out...open.

I looked thru some of the books in the book pile....to see if I wanted to tear out pages...just a few images interested me.  Otherwise I watched some Soccer- 0 to 1.   Then read my book.  A real lack of TV programing unless one wants to watch "news" which I do not want to watch.

Son has now started up the snow plow.  I recall the first snowfall after he arrived here in Maine... the swearing.  Now...he seems to just suffer thru it silently.  I liked shoveling snow on the sidewalks but he prefers I say safe and warm in the house.

I just checked my placemat.........the morning paper and my pill dispenser...  So I think I will complete the process and get my bowl of oatmeal in the microwave and my hot water pot boiling for my tea.  Read the paper, do the Suduko and be ready to go to the Library and Grocery....It's Friday.

Furnace just started up....did you have snow yesterday? 
 

Early, cloudy and 2 degrees here in Maine. We know how to keep the population down...

The book pile.

Daughter is visiting a friend from social work days.... there is also the possibility of more dog shaped shortbread cookies..... from a store in the friend's neighborhood.

Shooting at the Maine Mall...we have only  a few in the entire state (mall)...and every police vehicle and helicopter was on the scene.....no one wanted to miss out.  I'll find out the details in the morning paper.

In the mix of books a calendar type book with pictures and the days with room for a short paragraph scribble.  From before we moved here to Maine....I read the tiny paragraphs...husband was already on his way to whatever it was that killed him....accidents, dropping car keys into a river, speeding tickets etc etc.  Earlier than even daughter and I suspected....... the 1980's.  Well, that certainly gave me so much to think about. Too much.

I do recall driving from Maine to Florida a few times and....well, it was pretty much getting lost over and over and over again......until I said enough and turned off the messed up navigator system he had installed and we drove by paper map....and got there....finally.....and that was the last time we drove....to Florida..we did drive to Ohio when my dad was dying.  Big traffic thing near Buffalo- garbage truck tipped over spilling garbage all over both lanes.  Amazing.

So, the messed up thinking etc...goes back to the 1980's....sad but true.  And possibly was ALWAYS the way he got thru days.  Which is just so terribly SAD.

I have the furnace turned on and can hear it running....Son is up and having a bowl of cereal...he walked down to get the newspaper.....I knew better than to go out and get it myself...there is ice on the steps etc. Well, I am hungry ...so I am going to pop my bowl of oatmeal into the microwave and get this Thursday Started.......
 

Sunshine and ice covered steps- 20 degrees. I am SHOCKED...it's Wednesday. February 5th. Where has the week gone????

So....a late post as my Personal Assistant came over and we emptied my bookcase... Decisions upon decisions.....Keep or let go.  Since almost everything had to do with my Master Gardener Training (interests) and then the Greenhouse Job for 10 years (teaching classes every Saturday during growing season)......a lot of gardening books....I wanted to take some to my Library (the really nice ones) but daughter just looked at me and well, they would have tossed them all.....

So they are going to Goodwill.  Where they will have shelf space and a decent chance at a new home.

Other books were from the 1980's.... Martha Stewart.

I have lots of images for the desk calendar....pretty flowers. Folders of art to look at and cut into desk calendar sized pieces.  Pasting art on my desktop calendar is one of the things in my day that actually "sparks joy". A nice cookie does also.

That's about all. I did have a shower this morning and washed my hair.....also we found a wooden soap dish/drainer in the bookcase and now it's in my bathroom next to my orchid.....looking very Oriental. Peaceful. Holding my French bar of soap......

My bedside phone now has a longer cord and is on my side of the bed.....so I don't have to roll etc to try and answer the phone before it stops ringing.   My little clock has a fresh battery....so I know what time it is...once a day.  That's as often I as look at it.  When I get up.

I haven't actually sipped my tea and had it be HOT all day.   That's how the day has gone. I am thinking about a cookie.....I had lunch awhile ago- a tortilla wrap of ham and cheese...and now warm tea... I think a cookie would be nice.......

 

Daily Notes- Tuesday, February 4th, the February Days are speeding past.........Snow yesterday- Ice today.

 We may or may not have had this image.  It's just the little dish I broke, glued back together and now like to look at.  Nice dots...you all might recall that 9 is my number.  Upside down 6.  8 is also represented.

I watched Will Trent last night...and had somehow gotten all the episodes of Will Trent via Prime in my hand basket so to speak.  I don't have Prime and I wasn't in the mood to shell out all the necessary $$$'s to purchase all those episodes....  I might have wanted them but...not like that.  So. that was my evening.

I finished reading the space ship book.  And now I am reading Lunar Love about competing Chinese matchmaking businesses....are baking and matchmaking the only subjects for Chinese authors???? I am recalling the other matchmaker who baked.....something about red threads....it ended well I think- her and the guy with the red scarf.  Lunar Love is going into the Return to the Library bag 40 pages in....

So, sidewalks etc are very slippery this morning. overnight freeze and ice... no idea what I will be reading or sewing today....but it will be something. 

Cross the street had a guy working on their two chimney's all day yesterday.... standing on the slippery snow coated roof shoving this shiny silver hose thing down the chimney- in a short sleeved tee shirt.   True Mainer.  It was cold yesterday.

My bunch of bananas have finally turned yellow so I can eat them.  I have one orange left.  I need to buy some other types of fruit on Friday Grocery Day.  Cherries???  Pink Grapefruit??

Birds are eating seeds from the feeders....very quiet dismal day. I wonder if I have Kraft Mac and Cheese in the Pantry???????  YES!!!!!!!!!!  Or SCORE as they say in Soccer. Okay, this is going to be a great day.

Daily Notes- Monday February 3rd. It snowed overnight....Again.

 Yesterday's Square.  A bit rumply as I haven't pressed it flat yet.   The second one is still just the inside square....I haven't decided on what colors to make the borders. I sewed while watching European Soccer. I got to see the Manchester game as they were losing and the pay to view channel sent it over to the regular channel. They lost...again.... Score was only 1 to 0 so not that terrible.  Two Soccer games and one Rugby.

I ran thru the channels and watched some Law and Order in high def in the evening.  Then a few other things. Nothing holding my attention and I find it difficult to read at night...even though my book is getting very interesting... they have gone down to the lava covered planet looking for something....and the narrator has let us in on a secret.....her ship is not damaged at all...she faked it.  But she hasn't found what she is looking for as yet.  Only 160 pages in this tiny sized book.

I took the sheets off the bed this morning...I will keep the top sheet and pillow cases but cut the bottom sheet up into pieces or just throw it away..  My husband's long toe nails ripped the bottom sheet up.......Not worth patching up... I have sheets to last me the remainder of my life....I like the plain white ones best anyway.  This set was a rose colored linen.  Any takers for two king cases and one flat king linen sheet. Coral Pink. Daughter?

I haven't switched over to the February calendar as yet- this one under the keyboard is loaded with things cut from the newspaper and pasted to the page.  So I need to tear this page off and start in on February. Absolutely nothing on this calendar about He Who Shall NOT BE NAMED

I went out the back door at 4 pm yesterday and the generator was going....Sunday check up day.  Not the roaring sound it will make when creating electricity but the little purring motor sound....20 minutes at 4pm every Sunday.  Sigh.

Sunday Pizza was wonderful as usual.  Well, I need socks....Son is out shoveling snow- THREE Mornings in a ROW.  I had hoped it was deep enough for the plow guy?????  Daughter will be shoveling at her house.   I will be putting on socks and making a bowl of hot oatmeal...no paper on Monday.

Oh, I will be taking this square down to the sewing room, spraying it with starch and ironing it flat.

Later but still Sunday. February 2nd. Cloudy and SIX Degrees in Maine.

 I need to start using the iPhone (it has no other purpose) to take pictures for the blog- pictures of snow?? I do have a camera that is new- still in the box- purchased for blog photos...then decided the iPhone was good enough when husband gave me his old one and updated.... that new one is sitting useless on a table in the living room- in case we need something off of it.  His iPad is also useless as the way to get in was his thumb print...and that isn't here anymore.   I think I might like the iPad to carry around in the house... But I might not- as I do love my brand new desk top.  My Son selected the new one to be as identical to the old one as possible....and it worked out.

I gathered scraps and began two more squares (could evolve into rectangles-some have).  One in the yellows and orange family with some green and purple ( reminding me to visit the scrap tubs in the sewing room for some purple)....The other is mostly red at this point with green.  I have added a few strip borders to the yellow one.....I am auditioning colors to go with the one with the red and very dark green center.

I watched English Soccer....12:30 on USA....then the last bit of the Manchester game- they are losing quite often so  Peacock must have shuffled the game over to USA (otherwise I don't get to see the Manchester games unless I purchase Peacock.......

Daughter went over to Comcast and stood in line.....long line of people wanting a less expensive line up. They have shot themselves in the foot over at Comcast, so to speak, with price hikes.  Peacock is in the same elaborate line-up with my Sports Talk Show.  Out of the 50 or 60 "new" channels...I was only interested in one.  So.. not upgrading.  I will remain with Basic. Farewell Boston Sports Talk.

I recorded the PBS program on Appliqué for Quilting....whoa... I was hoping to see some new stuff. but what they had on this program was....so disappointing.....I deleted the recording after watching.it. I learned nothing.   Pizza is ready......

It's February!!!!! Daily Notes for a Fresh New Month. Snowed AGAIN= enough that the plow guy came...Sun and 22 degrees

Dumpling Week.

I wouldn't mind it being Dumpling Month!!!!!!   I Love Potstickers.

I have to sew the waistband button back onto my 25 cent brown corduroy pants.  One size smaller than I was used to wearing.  Bravo!!!!  Twenty five cent pants are always needing mending.

PBS Cooking Shows fill my Saturday and then Premier Soccer.  A full schedule.  Also I have the last very sad pages of my Jane and Edward book.  True to the original- the "wife" is about to die in a California wild fire- sounds like what just happened in 2024  doesn't it... in other books she dies in a fire in the Attic. I have ordered the Jane book with the rock star.....Daughter has agreed to drive me to the local bookstore where I will ask the owner to order me a copy of the book...for my bookcase. 

Lidia (PBS) is cutting up a roasted chicken... and dividing pieces into three refrigerator storage containers. Now Grandma is singing.......my favorite part.

Sara's Weekend Meals (Greek) is now on.  I visited Greece on a Women's Club Trip and LOVED the food. And the two guys on our tour bus-  A Pair Of Docs.  Paradox.  They loved puns.  I also loved the coffee. In fact, now that I recall....I would love to visit again.

That's it- the Sun is shining the driveway is plowed....I am sending an email to our Banker to say- we need to donate this Jeep NOW!!!! Son wants it GONE.  He doesn't like driving it and I would NEVER drive it. We have three cars and have to rotate thru them each week so they all get driven- battery charges etc.

My meatball and spaghetti idea got a bad review by me....I tossed the meatballs into the garbage bag in the frozen cold garage.....So the purchased marinara and the pasta with cherry tomatoes and onion that I made- quite good.  Good enough.  Enough for lunch today.  And perhaps dinner.  Tomorrow we make pizza.   I'm really wanting those dumplings.........

 

Cloudy, Cold Morning here in Maine. 22 degrees on Friday the 31st of January.

 Another square.  I have to get back into hand sewing pieces together....but first need to find something to watch on TV during the daylight hours (when I sew) that is NOT NEWS..  The top edge was the edge that needed a second patched together border.... it looks okay (dips a bit in the center).  Does the darkness suggest my feelings?????  I believe- somewhere - there are more 3 inch center squares- aching for borders and a starring role.  I recall sewing more of these 3 inch 9 patches while watching Law and Order with my Dog.  Years Ago.

After I hit publish I might find this image has already been on a post????  

The problems I find--using only three inch blocks as centers...finding fabric that plays well with the old stuff...old stuff I may no longer have?????  No longer can find?????  In the TUBS????

I finished Once Persuaded, Twice Shy and am now in the midst of Jane and Edward.- same author, Melodie Edwards.  This happens- that a book I had trouble reading before... now just seems to skip forward effortlessly.  Is it me?  Is it re-reading a book?  I ordered Jane from another library... Jane and the Rockstar.  Jane Eyre.  I might go looking for other books titled with the word Jane. Or other authors using Jane as a lead character.   Jane by Lindner...I need to buy this book.

When it arrives I will go to the local bookstore and ask the nice old man to order me a copy. He'll read the blurb and roll his eyes.....  Daughter will drive....and we will park nearby...Town is cold and the sidewalks slippery.   

Daughter purchased jelly filled shortbread cookies in Freeport...for me...the one I ate was so very delicious.  I will be investigating prepared meals at the grocery today....I do like the meatloaf one. I know I do not like the chicken one.  In another part of that part of the grocery store there might be a salmon one. Try New Things...???  I am buying a jar of spaghetti sauce today at the grocery and introducing my frozen meatballs to the sauce....then having it with the pasta I cooked.. Very happy about cooking something.

Well, boiling water can be construed as "cooking" because it involved the new stove....and not the microwave.  Induction glass top heats water so fast........magnets are magical.  I ma easily entertained.

Well, I will be looking for a tiny 9 patch to center and new cloth....Take Care. Stay Warm. Till Tomorrow.

Daily Notes for January 30th. Very cold last night, snow transformed into ice. Plane crash.

Another scrap square....shadow on the cloth- it's not this dark.

Well, it seems to have snowed again last night. Son is out there shoveling the thin layer up off the driveway.   Before it turned into a sheet of ice- but perhaps the surface under the snow is already ice. Twelve degrees here in Maine with bright sunshine.  My furnace is working to get us up to 64 degrees here in the house....I had it warmer for husband when he was alive..For me? I have wool sweaters and socks... Son has his second floor room much warmer.  I haven't been up there....Not supposed to do stairs.

I traveled to the four numeral channels on my tv lineup....HD.  And set several favorite shows to automatically record episodes.  This used to work and then it didn't......time will tell. Seems so unimportant as the families of 68 plus passengers on that plane have now lost people they love.

I am having a few back to back rough days.....I went to my room early and then got some duct tape to stop a draft from coming in the window next to the toilet....I seem to have gotten it from a breeze to just a light chill.  I slept well.  At least I have no memory of falling asleep- I just woke up realizing I had slept.

Son and I shouted at each other yesterday....I think we are too similar in wanting to have things our own way and to be in control.....it was bound to happen- it happened all the time when he was younger...he would get so ANGRY with me (at the ripe age of four).....and that is what is happening again...at 55 and 76.

That's about it...I was- momentarily yesterday ...quite proud of myself- I cooked a meal for myself and ate it. Washed the pots and pans and dishes..... That hasn't happened in awhile....I did get my days wrong on the Hydration Chart but I had had my water.... just not in the right block of the chart......I have had my morning water and made a large 10 ounce cup of tea... decaffeinated.... limited in the amount of sugar I added.  I will have an additional 8 ounces of water and then sit on the couch and read my BOOK.

I don't know why but my neck muscles are stiff and my right shoulder and arm ache ...tension..maybe? 

Daily Notes for Wednesday -January 29th. Snow overnight and 19 degrees- 89% humidity.

I imagine this is what it looked like overnight.... the street lights look like this. (they also shine in the bedroom windows which I don't like).  But perhaps that's the MOON.  Yes, the moon shines in my bedroom windows.....lighting up. the room..

I did manage to remember to have my meatloaf prepared dinner yesterday.....daughter sorted out all my pens and pencils (with my participation)......then she lifted the blue cloth container off the shelving and I looked for the cloth I wanted for a new blue square.   I didn't find exactly what I wanted.

In my LONG LIFE I have collected a large number of things- pens...pencils...brushes, paint ...paper...stuff.  And now I have to sort them and remind myself of WHY I have them.  Sometimes I recall and most times I don't...but it's nice to see the VAST collection of different kinds of art supplies......I must have been very excited about buying them....and truthfully.. looking at them again is exciting as well.

There might be a moment...hopefully....when that spark of wanting to make  ART happens again for me. Gramma Moses was in her 90's when she started painting....I have years and miles to go.......

I think I mentioned the cable tv listings....in order to get the sports talk show I have to invest in a list of many many channels that I have ZERO interest in...ZERO.  So....not happening.  I may have already written about this...so am repeating myself...I find that I do that quite often.  Repeat myself.

My desktop calendar will get it's picture taken tomorrow...It's filled with newspaper headlines and other stuff.  The Wild Seed Project sent me another email.....I had wanted to buy some seed packets from them and start the seeds in pots on the back deck like I did years ago.  It hasn't happened. 

Well, for once, I am actually hungry and need to take advantage of that and eat breakfast and read the paper.  We, as a Country, are going to Hell in a Hand Basket.  Again.  I guess we needed a second helping of incredibly stupid... the first helping wasn't enough..........

I started a new book... Once Persuaded, Twice Shy. Melodie Edwards.  A modern take on Persuasion. I really enjoyed this same author's retelling of Jane Eyre titled Jane and Edward.  In a Toronto high-rise office building.....I have a copy in my bookcase.   I don't think I actually read Persuasion as the type in the only book I could find was very very tiny....it's the same with another book I wanted to read....tiny type.

So..I can read the type in Once Persuaded and I shall read it today looking out over the snowy white landscape outside my windows.  And then I might pull Edward and Jane off the shelf and read that again. I finished The Royals Next Door...as always, I enjoyed every word. 

Daily Notes- Tuesday, January 28th. 3.8 magnitude earthquake yesterday. Daughter lives in Town and felt it. We did not.

 Well, if you read yesterday's comment on my post-- daughter described my "past use by date" soup vegetables.  The actual problem here is a TRUE LACK of INTEREST IN FOOD.

Oddly enough I filled the picture file with FOOD Images.  Cake.  Fruit.

Now, for most of my LIFE I have had a GREAT INTEREST in food....Eating is a way I had of solving problems. Making myself feel better... Comforting myself.... Perhaps what is happening NOW is I have no problems.....or none that cause me to want to EAT......which is all very very NEW to me.

I would need therapy to figure that one out....but really- husband was a problem. And not just in the last year...in ALL the years I spent with him......I think I am having difficulty letting go of something that isn't really a problem any more.... but that damage is done and will be with me.... as long as I allow it.

So...my new plan is not to allow him to mess with my Life anymore. Easier said than done.

It's snowing....Son says it's snowing a DAY EARLY.  Not in his Day Planner for today.

I got the garbage collected and it's out on the curb.....I have one more prepared meatloaf dinner for today's main meal....and I plan on having oatmeal for breakfast in a few minutes... Then if there are dishes, I will wash them....I did my laundry yesterday.... And I might make a new cloth strip square today.  Yellow.

Daily Notes from Monday, January 27th. No newspaper...Sunshine with 39 degrees here in Maine... Yes...39 degrees.

 I'll be spending some time today taking pictures of my scrap squares.   But I found this charming image  in the picture file...quite nice... for today.

I am reading the Royals Upstairs by Karina Halle....I've waited years for this particular book.  It follows up the Royals Next Door which I loved.... and have on my bookshelf.  There were some personal upheavals in the author's life that made getting this one written challenging.  In the first book, James was the secondary bodyguard in Vancouver and rarely had any dialog.  Just long silent staring with sunglasses.  Same in this book.  Norway and a different bodyguard situation.

Son and I made pizza and we watched football and then I put on my wool bed socks and rolled myself into my Down Comforter and fell asleep.  In the middle of the night I also rolled myself out of the four poster onto the floor....but I didn't.   Not something I want to do twice.....the first roll onto the floor years ago was enough.

The newspaper had an interesting soup made with a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.  The grocery chickens tend to be salty.....I try hard to limit really salty things.... so I might just make a vegetable soup....minus salt and chicken.  I have been saying I was going to make soup....for months...and Son has been discarding unused soup ingredients as they dry up and wilt in the Crisper Drawer.

Well, today is the day... S..O...U...P!!!!!   I plan to use the recipe I got from one of the bloggers I enjoy reading. (Dee in the Boston area). It's called Pantry Soup because everything is in the pantry....or the vegetable bin in the fridge. Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, Onion, Cabbage, rinsed can of white beans...  perhaps some canned diced tomatoes.  (never mind the soup- all the vegetables are no longer in the vegetable drawer- daughter or son threw them away......) I have one onion....and some potatoes. Period.

I am very very disappointed....very.  I have a can of soup but generally the canned soup is way too salty...

Daily Notes from the North Pole (Maine) 17 degrees...Single digits overnight. Sunshine. Snow on the ground.

This image feels "warm" in a very chilly Maine house.  Yes, it's 17 degrees outside... no sunshine. I am assuming the recent oil delivery was based on the forecast.  Top up the tanks.

One and a half hours and son and I will discover if the NEW Generator will go on for the five minute regular Sunday TEST......and on Tuesday Morning Rick is driving down to my house to see what's what with the Generator.  Rick said the test is set from somewhere between 10am and noon on Sunday. Every Sunday.  It's 9:30.  I got up early so I would hear it IF it actually happens.  My Lunch Buddy says when hers goes off it is seriously annoying.

Me?  How am I?  Not good.  I am tired but can't sleep. And then sleep too much.  I want to read but can't stay focused.  Things I want to watch are not in my cable line up..... British soccer is usually on Peacock... something I have to buy......But there is some Soccer at 10 am????   I am usually not awake at 10 am.

I'm COLD.  I'm OLD.  I'm BORED.  I couldn't LIFT the plastic container of blue fabric off the shelf. Just could not lift the weight of it. (my back was sending me warning flags and flashing lights) ..so I had to make do with a few scraps in the scrap box by my couch and sew a new wider border to a square.  So now I can also say I am WEAK.  

The SUN has broken thru and the Sunporch is SUNNY.  Freezing cold but sunny.  So bright it's hurting my eyes.  Good ( I hope) Football games today..... Buffalo and Kansas City.  Both Freezing Cold Weather Teams.  At 3 pm Washington and Philly.   Sunday Pizza.  My jar of dark chocolate candy is full.  

I need a fresh cup of hot sweet tea......then my couch and my down lap blanket and the TV clicker.  And the Generator to run its test.....I seriously doubt that will happen... seriously...doubt.

But if it Does go on for 5 minutes...I'll come back with an update.... 
 

Daily Notes- Saturday the 25th of January. Sunshine, snow covered grass and 19 degrees

 You get an old vase today- it was in the feed....

I'm having Shredded Wheat this morning for breakfast at. 11am.  I stayed up late to watch episode two of Leonardo.   It was worth it.

I really have very little to watch...even though I have acres of channels (mostly sports- as my husband chose what we got-years ago). Daughter is going to stop by Comcast and see what else is being offered. Perhaps they now- 20 or 30 years later have the Old Woman channels??????

I actually deleted quite a bit from the 3 digit selection years ago.... possibly an error on my self in Future Years.

We got an Oil Delivery yesterday.....it's so COLD here that I guess they wanted to be proactive.  We were somewhere around a half or a bit less.  Now...full.

Prior to Leonardo, I sewed two borders on one of the rectangular scrap pieces....now it's square.... It wasn't easy.  I had to unsew while unhearing  someone say he was getting rid of FEMA.  Lots of people who voted for the red faced gas bag...have been grateful for FEMA over the last 20 years....we'll see what the blowback is on this new "order".  I am thinking it was directed at the California Fire situation. All those rich "educated" Democrats who refuse to vote for him..  My breakfast is ready- and the morning paper...

Stay warm  today- where ever you are....who ever you are.....

Daily Notes- Friday, January 24th. Cold with Sunshine.....15 degrees

 Vase of Flowers by Sally Nullmeyer.

I found images for you all yesterday...because half the fun of visiting my Daily Notes is seeing the ART. I could easily SEE this painting in felt appliqué.

A Federal Judge blocked Trump's order ending birthright citizenship.

One step backward by "guess who" and then one brave step forward by a judge. Think of all the people coming thru under the Statue of Liberty in the late 1800's.....my grandparents and possibly yours... okay enough emotion and tears....(me)- a second generation American.

I have a very sketchy idea for meals going forward.  I enjoy the grocery store prepared Meatloaf Dinner. I also enjoyed the mixed greens salad but that seems too COLD for 15 degrees.  So perhaps two meatloaf and then...don't know what.  Soup is always nice but prepared soup is always too salty..

I have been saying I was going to make soup for months and months.....and I haven't.  If there is anything I need to WORK ON, it's following thru.....I don't know what it is: but I am just not functioning as I used to.  I mean....I used to enjoy chopping vegetables and stirring the soup...then eating it.

That's it.....I don't feel JOY when doing ANYTHING.  I have to look it up...see if that is an actual symptom of depression....I have a real strong feeling that it is....and with me- from past experience...forcing me to do things isn't a good plan....sigh...so I am going to have to encourage myself to make a tiny effort each day--to be normal.  Just one tiny effort.  I''ll start with once a week.

Today I am answering the phone....and the robocallers are trying to get me to say "yes" and record that yes...."Can you hear me?"  "Are you there??"  I say nothing- I just hang up.....

Oh for your enjoyment Ten MORE Things People Refuse to Throw Away.   

1. Cast Iron Rusty Pans.  2. Moth Eaten Wool Sweaters. 3. Quilts (OMG yes) 4. Vases from gift flowers 5. The very last tablespoon of whatever is in the container. 6. Glass Jars- 7. Broken Chairs. 8. Good Recipes. 9. Bread Twist Ties 10. Cookie Gift Tins.   So WHAT to do have trouble throwing AWAY???????  

I have three Slow Cookers so I would say...trouble getting rid of them.  Oh, I HAD three....daughter made me choose ONE to keep.  Goodwill got the others.   I would also add books......yes. Books.

Daily Notes on Tuesday, January 23rd

 Bookmarks.... I made them myself....added black to make them POP.

Sorry that I didn't post this morning....things going on here...bills to pay, phone calls, baking corn muffins etc etc.  I am Not used to so many activities on one day.  But two days in a row-whoo ..serious overload.

Well, The Man Who Shall Not Be Named has been busy.  Undermining Freedom, Truth, Respect and Responsibility. 

Daughter baked us both Corn Muffins... Mine came out a bit lopsided.  Still delicious.

Daughter was way up on a ladder cleaning the fan in the cathedral ceiling over the dining room table.

I don't have much to say...difficult to find anything to watch on TV....will have to visit Comcast and get those info sheets on what each package has to offer me.....program wise.  The Sport package was NOT my choice but I fear there isn't all that much to choose from....I doubt they have the 78 year old woman package....and really---I am not the 78 year old granny they would have in mind......just saying. Might ask daughter to drive past- it's close and ask for all the available choices (sheet of paper)...I'll study them.

So the TV is off, we discussed  our way thru the making of the muffins .. Gender identification and nouns and pronouns.... I also got a lovely bouquet of  flowers..... with some pussy willows.....if they sprout roots I am going to try and keep them going until Spring here in Maine and plant them over the septic tank outlet- warm dirt.  See if they grow. Secret to root sprouting is fresh water every few days... no fertilizer.

The Generater Company got my check and my note....and will be out Tuesday to check on the whole thing...  When asked if the generator had done the Sunday (weekly check for 5 minutes..I said I didn't hear it.  My Lunch Buddy said the five minutes are loud and annoying- can't miss it.  I sit 20 feet from the thing... should be able to hear it.  On a Sunday.  So...grateful I wrote the note and grateful he is coming to make sure things are okay.  I can hear ALL the generators in the neighborhood when we have an outage so hearing the one next to my sunporch should be noticeable......sad face.

Daily Notes- Just back from lunch at 3 o'clock.

 Well, it's bitter cold here in Maine but too cold to snow.  Seven Degrees.

Lunch was at the Tuscan Bistro.  I had the Eggplant Parm sandwich with spinach leaves. Potato chips. Red wine....I got a piece of chocolate cake to take home....gigantic.   Daughter was still vacuuming the family room (the ceiling).  So I asked her to do the wood floor in my bedroom- there was dust under the bed...

I washed a cashmere sweater in the sink with Dawn,.....it had white something or other spots on it... I am hoping the Dawn removed whatever it was.  Possibly food I dropped on myself that got moldy.... I'd like to have a third sweater to wear around the house and places I go where I do NOT remove my coat.

Daughter and I just had some of the chocolate cake I got at lunch.. very deep and dark. Now I need some water.   Some of my 8 ounces every 3 hours.  Daughter admired one of the last of the hand sewn square with borders...she said it looked "artistic".........I know what additions she was referring to (without asking) and I might just add some of "the same" to the others. It was the only item on that one that is NOT on the others.

I am thinking about starting a new book titled "Some Like It Cold".  Which is right on for the weather.

That it for now- 

Well, here we are on the First Tuesday....January 21st... 4 degrees here in Maine...with Abundant Sunshine.

 The MAGA men looking down into the front of this woman's shirt.......  I thought that was her hair or a weird hat- but it's a mike covering her face.. and yes...that is her bra....

So this image and one of the First Lady in that HAT.......is all I could participate in yesterday, I watched nothing...I heard nothing and my intention is to continue this way for four years.

It's VERY COLD here in Maine..... but the SUN is shining....I think it's MINUS FOUR outside.

My book is  Remember Me by Kinsella.  I have read it before.  A woman has a car accident and can't remember anything about her LIFE....   I also watched repeat episodes of High Potential and Tracker.

I cut this out of the paper "I think forest while HE is pre-occupied by HIS tree"

That about sums up the politics of the new administration.  The original was "she" and "her".

No newspaper this morning....so I grabbed a few unfinished Suduko puzzles to agonize over... Recycling and Trash has been picked up...by the huge truck.  I found a floor board just warped enough to catch my toe and encourage me to fall and hit my head....it's now covered in heavy duty clear duct tape.

My former across the street neighbor entertained family over the holidays and got COVID and a very bad Respiratory Infection... Multiple Urgent Care visits etc....the Texas family  traveled by plane- also known as a COVID  Transport System....... she is my age or a bit older. but not as "healthy" as I am (joking)... only ONE reason I would ever get on a plane- Suicide.  I have problems breathing in the safety of MY house.  Onward.....my book, my unfinished puzzles and finally, hand sewn squares.  

Tomorrow a long awaited Lunch Buddy Lunch....in a new venue...

Daily notes from Snow Covered Maine....Monday, January 20th. 26 degrees

 Apples.  Postcards from Provence.

Well...the football yesterday...the first game set me back and I watched the first few plays of the Baltimore game in Buffalo and then turned off the tv and read my book.

A Fun book by Sophie Kinsella (I've Got Your Number) about a cell phone mix up.  It ends well.  I might cruise the book list and order a few more of hers.... I read Remember Me and Twenties Girl a few years ago.  I do have new ones in a stack on top of the bookcase....ones I bought but not sure I will like them...

Son has shoveled the porch and the walkway...the Plow Guy we have under contract has not come past as yet....in 2024.  The once I did see his truck and plow drive past...we had already shoveled the drive. He usually comes after midnight.  After the snow stops falling.  But he did not last night.

There was another one of those white flashes last night (like the blinding one when they did the "test" for the new generator.)...and then out on the porch flashes of blue light. Very very strange.  That's when I picked up my book and started reading...and switched off the tv.  

I started my morning with a nice hot shower...shampooed and conditioned my hair...but I believe I forgot to comb it.  I just finger combed it a bit.....it's so short it really has no where else to go but where it is.

Nothing New to report.  I need to return to hand sewing my squares....but, you see, I listened to the Sports Talk while doing that...and. now.....no Sports Talk and no Sewing.  I haven't found ANYTHING on the tv to watch to replace the Sports Talk....Long Term Habits are almost impossible to break....Like watching Law and Order with Riley's head on my slippered foot.  For Years.  I have removed myself from News TV.  I will not watch anything regarding the transition in Washington.  I have gone cold turkey on MSNBC.

And now the Football is over.  I have never been a Super Bowl Fan.  Well, I need to eat something for breakfast.   There is No Monday Paper.  There are a great many small birds battling it out over the feeders on the porch.  Like old people at a all you can eat buffet.

Daily Notes- Sunday January 19th..... Sunshine and 40 degrees here in Maine.....6 inches of snow today???????

 Red.  It could actually be my favorite color.  Looks good with old woman white hair.

Football yesterday...I stopped watching the Kansas City game after a few players (on the opposing team) were injured-.   Then watched the second game... Washington and Detroit.  Again, a few injured players. Detroit was a favorite of mine until they had to play Washington...then I switched. 

I watched while recording other things on the TiVo.....more football today.   There is also the possibility of Soccer.  Rams and Philly at 2pm and Baltimore and Buffalo at 6pm.  At Buffalo which will definitely get snow today..

It's 40 degrees and sunny here in Maine in January. That's usually the weather in April or May....but daughter just called to say we are expecting 6 inches of snow today.  Enough for the Plow Guy to come by for the very FIRST time this Winter..... The grass is green and the bed by the front porch is filled with water....like a pond.  I saw the weather map on tv and in the paper this morning....Snow inland.  We are on the Coast.  I'll inform you tomorrow with the Actual Snow Results.

I sorted thru two plastic bags worth of torn magazine pages....ART for the desktop calendar.

No Suduko puzzle in the Sunday paper...I checked twice.  Not that I am ANY good at finishing them....I might switch over to the Jumble...I helped my husband with the Jumble words when he couldn't figure  them out.  I also had him use the tile holder and the letter tiles from an old Scrabble game to figure out the scrambled letters.  He never tried the Suduko.  He was terrible with numbers.

Okay....I have had my morning 8 ounces of water and am finishing my cup of very weak breakfast tea... I will go back to using two tea bags in the large cup.  Light brown water is not "tasty".  I might just write it down as a second water on the chart.  Lukewarm tea water.  I miss the Columbian Instant Coffee but doctor said no to caffeine ....so no more tasty dark Columbian Coffee.  Bad for my questionable heart. Makes it run too fast. Which seems fine as the doctor said my heart was actually running too slow.

Daily Notes- Saturday, January 18th. 38 degrees and very Dismal.Not a speck of Sunshine.

 So here it is Saturday.  I circled a few items in the TV schedule.  Tracker is back on regular TV- I am guessing the interval over on Paramount Plus wasn't a success. High Potential has two back to back episodes also. 9pm and 10pm.  An entertaining evening- ZERO NEWS.

That image furthest to the left reminds me of the Black Hole episode on NOVA this past week. Sucking in planets.  FOX TV reminds me of Black Holes also.  

The programs on World (PBS) are really very interesting....not All of them but some of them. There was one "artist" walking around her Town with a roll of toilet paper....making a toilet paper web of sorts.  Even attaching it to parked cars and people walking past her.  It was all caught on camera by whomever she had doing that from a rooftop.  Even when she explained it....it didn't make sense.

I am on day four of the Hydration Project.  The skin on my hands looks less wrinkled. And...to be truthful here...I feel LESS confused.....light headed... and I am actually interested in eating.....I had a very nice salad yesterday and later a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.....today I have vegetable sushi.......I also have a second meatloaf and mashed potato dinner. Tomorrow is Pizza. An improved interest in food.

I also dug thru the paperwork drawer and found my previous doctor visit info sheet....from when I lost ALL that weight (40 pounds)....considering I was wearing Summer clothing at that visit and corduroy pants, heavy winter shoes and a sweater on this current visit---the 2.22 pound difference leads me to believe I neither gained nor lost any weight between appointments.  I will file that in the interesting things that happen to me folder....I was pleased to learn I hadn't gained ANY of the weight BACK.

So...that's me...I have no other news....I did not stitch cloth yesterday or the previous day.  I also haven't done a very good job reading my books.....I did NOT return to my previous activity- staring at the ceiling so that's one for the Win Column. 

I really miss the Sports Talk Show- Now that it's gone- there is a vast amount of empty space in my DAY. I may have to upgrade my cable contract....sigh.  Just to get that ONE program.