Daily Notes--Friday, October 31st. Sunshine...64 degrees..... Heating Oil Delivery.

 Bird of Paradise...Connie I looked but none of the grocery flowers "spoke to me".

Stopped into the Post Office for "Cute" Stamps....  customers discussing Halloween Candy ...how much they need to have ready.  I'm giving out quarters....last year no one came... Stamps I got are okay but not cute.

1.  I got Apples as my Fruit of the Week.  Baked Sweet Potatoes for Vegetable of the Week. Skipped the Meatloaf Dinners and plan to make another batch of Vegetable Soup.  I have a bag of mixed vegetables in the freezer and two kinds of beans in the pantry. And two small potatoes. Plus celery and carrots.

2.  Library had only two of the books I ordered.....the other 8 are "in transit"

3.  I'm feeling like I need a nap......the muscles in my neck feel tight....hurts.

4.  TiVo....is shutting itself down- a friend in California sent me a newspaper article...Son says not to panic until TiVo sends me notification....and then he says we get the Comcast Version. or one of the others..... TiVo is the only way I watch tv.....record, play, skip all commercials, delete.....some items I've had stored for YEARS...Hallmark Favorites.

5,  Before Tivo I had Netflix....it was great at first and then.....like all shiny objects...it wasn't.

6.  I have more books by Beth Kendrick....I am reading the Week Before the Wedding right now. Wasn't my favorite when I read it years ago..but might be ..now. Book stayed the same but I changed... And four by Elinor Lipman. 

7. I had on my orange fleece pullover. and brown pants....in the Holiday Spirit (Accidentally).

Daily Notes- Thursday, October 30th. 43 degrees, Damp and Cloudy.

 The internet gave me orange flowers.  So I am sharing them with you.

What I miss most about my husband.... the flowers he used to bring me- for no occasion except that he knew they would make me happy.  And they did.  But then he forgot. Along with forgetting everything else.  And then somehow my brother and his wife began sending me flowers.   Each day I changed the water and cleaned up any wilted leaves or petals.... they lasted many many days.  And now...no one sends me flowers....I look at the bouquets they have at the grocery each Friday when Son and I shop...

Just thinking about buying one of them makes me sad.  Flowers should make you happy.

1.  Finding things to watch on tv...difficult these days. My fallback is old vintage Law and Order.

2.  Finished the last of the homemade vegetable bean soup...not enough here in the fridge to make another pot of it.  So I have to add things to the shopping list. (for tomorrow.)   Already the end of the week....how did that happen??????  

3.  Finished reading Put a Ring on It and will search the bookcase for another by the author...the flight attendant and the mayor .....  Cure for the Common Breakup....brand new condition out of my bookcase.-- and never read by me as yet.  I don't even recall when I might have purchased the two books....so I am set for the day...this one is actually my favorite.   And that's a good thing as it's very dark outside and inside the house....no Sun...well, I need breakfast.....and the newspaper...which gets more depressing each day.

4.  And I need socks as it's cold here in the house even with the furnace going.....Oatmeal.  Coffee.  Vitamins.   Inhaler.   Newspaper.... that order every morning.

Daily Notes on a Cloudy 45 degree day in Maine. And just now- The SUN!!!!

 This cloth image reminds me of a bookcase (or bookstore) full of colorful books.

 1.  My Wonderful Son (MWS) raked leaves on the front lawn this morning.....  I used to be able to do this...rake leaves.  But I can't anymore- well, not safely. And not while having trouble breathing.  Getting old is incredibly stressful. No acorns so not a mast year. I know the word not the meaning.  Not a terrible Winter?????

2.  Quite by accident  (or magical thinking) I checked out a favorite book last Friday.  Put a Ring On It.  And just out of curiosity I checked the bookcase.....and there was my very own purchased copy. This book is about the recently dumped Actuary and the very rich reclusive man with a great big dog and an Antiques Roadshow Worthy Watch.   I am very very happy to be reading this book today.  I do like the second book with the Mayor and the Flight Attendant better....but..this one is first up.   

3.  The reclusive man likes buying and putting together IKEA furniture.  My brother likes doing that also...it was beyond my husband's abilities so my brother's surprise visit (Frankfurt Germany) and assembly was appreciated..  I'm pretty sure my Son would absolutely hate doing it but would be very good at IKEA furniture assembly.  Closest IKEA is in Boston somewhere...Patty and I did a road trip.  ONCE. was enough.  My nervous system wasn't prepared for Boston Driving.

4.  One more Prepared Meatloaf Dinner today...I finished the homemade vegetable soup yesterday. I also enjoyed the final yogurt frozen bar and the last of the Swiss cheese.  I have one banana for today or tomorrow and my reserved leftover pizza wedge from Sunday with a salad.. My son got me French Fries when he went out for lunch yesterday.  Quite Wonderful......salty etc...I ate them very very slowly.

5.  So..a book that I love to read....the Sun shining.....the furnace running......a fresh cup of tea..Life is very good today....I've survived the Medicare Cold Call that wakes me up EVERY morning.... I told the woman  (same woman every morning) there was ZERO chance of me EVER buying what she was selling...ZERO...even if she called every single morning.  I'd hang up...every time.

6.   The other  Elinor Lipman book was Every Tom, Dick, And Harry. I ordered it from my Library. Pick up on Friday.  I asked for another but have forgotten the title...Ms Demeaner I think.  I have 7 or 8 reserved for Friday pickup...all coming from different libraries and NOT my own library in Town.

7.  I'm making a list and checking it twice.....thinking about bringing the cabinet my husband made me into the house.... it's on the sunporch right now.---fill it with books. For when I get TOO old to visit the Library.

Daily Notes for Tuesday, October 28th. Sunshine here in Maine - 47 degrees

Auditioning the next border strip.  Brown with black dots.  Halloween colors.

1.   Watched several recorded Law and Order episodes and did ZERO reading yesterday...and had basically forgotten what day it was......

2.   Moved a rolled up small carpet into my bathroom...on the black slate tiles...it's fine since I have forgotten how to turn on the under the slate warming coils.....yes, heated bathroom floors.  If we had ever gotten the kitchen done- would have also had black slate with heating under the tiles.  (warms your entire body from the feet up)

3.  Ordered four books off the book title list I write on the index cards, FROM THE LIBARY.  I got the list off an Amazon site...and then they KICKED me to the curb yet again...before I could get all the titles...

I was making Future Plans to order books from them in my 80's.  Now I won't. Unless they send a nice note and welcome me back. Laughing.

4. I remembered to assemble the garbage and recycling for Son to haul out to the curb...Gold Star for Remembering.  

5.  One more serving of the homemade vegetable soup.....it's actually pretty darn delicious......I have the Meatloaf Dinners to work my way thru first.....And MORE Law and Order has been recorded for today.

6.  I'll be giving out Quarters to any Trick or Treaters...Son said NO to buying candy this year- we had zero  kids ringing the doorbell last year....so we "had" to eat the candy ourselves....he doesn't want a repeat.  The Quarters belonged to my husband... he won't miss them....he was collecting them for something and needed one from each year.   Sigh.

 

Daily Notes for Monday, October 27th. Clouds. Damp. 49 degrees

Well, I give up...some days the starting point WANTS to be in the center of the page..  and now it isn't ....I had to re-learn the little items at the top of the page.  I wanted to have an image of the new Obama building in Chicago here but it refused to come over.

1.  I have a Grocery Store Meatloaf dinner for my main meal today.....does NOT look like this.  The green beans would be welcomed by me.... Sunday Pizza was delicious as usual and the crust was better than it's ever been.  Crisp.  On the bottom.  Like on the PBS Cooking Shows.

2.   Watched two or three British Soccer matches before Formula One racing from Mexico yesterday.  A very "sporty" Sunday.  Way better than watching any "news"........

3.  Reading Rachel to the Rescue by Elinor Lipman.  Trump in the White House and Melania on the run with a huge truck filled with stolen White House items.....  So delightful.  Commentary from FOX.

4.  I've been trying to do "computer things" and having zero happiness.  So I am going to end this post before it even has a chance to be interesting....and find my socks....the air around my bare ankles is chilly. It's dark and dismal here in Maine and will be needing to turn on all the table top lamps.... possibly read all day....well, until I need to take a nap.  You all have a good day, hear?????

Dailey Notes- Sunday, October 26th. Clouds, Moisture and Possibly rain today.

 Well, it seems like the weather has decided to prepare for Winter.  Got the last lawn mowing bill in the email and printed the invoice off.  I should have made two copies- I always forget. One for the bill box.

1.  I did a small art project yesterday....I'll take a picture if the light in the house improves as the day goes on. 

2.  Football today and British soccer yesterday.  I watched some of three or four soccer matches. Might watch the same number of American Football games today.   It's something to do..I hardly pay attention. Law and Order wasn't interesting.... I have possibly seen all the episodes "too many times"...

3.  Son has been taste testing different brands of Sour Dough Bread.......thumbs down on the two he has tested so far....means I get to make TOAST with the loaves..for myself.   I reheated some of my SOUP and ate that for late supper.  Today is PIZZA.

4.  Reading...well nothing so far has held my interest past 20 pages......I skipped ahead to the end of the Danielle Steel- Without a Trace.  Whining Rich People.....gag.  I have some scary Howard books to re-read. If I can't find anything in the bookcase here at home....there are a few new items in the bookcase from a recent shopping trip.  And old favorites.  I moved some books around- I actually have no space left. 

5.  And my eyes are tired....very.  I think my age is creeping up on me---I have seen it happen to friends over the years...like overnight they get old.  Look and act old. Tired, bored, etc.  I get the tired part and I'm starting to notice boredom but I have so many various interests to keep me amused.  I have actually NOT sewn any strips together in the past few days.  I blame it on the lack of the "RIGHT" fabric colors and patterns.  And need to get "over" that.... Also, the house air is DRY and that wrecks the old eyeballs.

6.  Breakfast Oatmeal and the Sunday paper.  Some Coffee....Socks....Suduko....get on with things... World isn't Going To Stop Turning...Yet.

Daily Notes for Saturday, October 25th. Clouds with perhaps some much needed rain.

 Lego for adults...out of all the space ships etc- I chose this one...just for the image...I never was a fan of Lego but my two "kids" did love to build things.

1.  I found an Amazon site with lists of romance novels... four index cards- both sides- plus one card with only one side filled....I got shut out at that point... looking and not ordering....sigh. I had 300 some pages  of lists to go.  I kept writing down titles because so many of the books on the listing were ones I had read and really really liked....so I knew the ones I was writing down were also going to what I liked.

2.  It's too bad they shut me out- I was just about convinced that having an Amazon Book Account was the way to go....in my 80's.  Finding books in the Library with fiction and mystery smushed together in very tight shelving- it isn't fun anymore....and I rarely find more that 2 or 3 books...and that doesn't get me thru the week.  I was thinking an Amazon Package every month was the FUTURE for me.

3.  I stopped here first to write to you....and now I am going to make oatmeal and coffee and read the paper...put on socks. my ankles are getting chilled...  it's dark, damp and cloudy here in Maine.

4.  I have a big container of  homemade vegetable soup in the fridge....Life is Good.

5.  Maid for Each Other by Painter--her newest book...was okay- not great.  It could have used another re-write with perhaps "someone else" adding comments.  The end was hurried and not in any way convincing. And I am left with actually nothing new to read.....I have a Lipman and two Linda Howard's I've read many times already. and one Beth Kendrick, also read many times. But all of them never disappoint.. I have books in the book cupboard with tiny print...light ink.  Sadly, I can't read them. Well, I Can but it's not worth the eye fatigue.  Which lasts for longer than I like.

6.  In answer to the query:  Yes. they do deliver... Pharmacy and the Groceries.  But going to the actual Store and Library is my ONLY "outing" each week.... so I have to wait till someone offers to take me in their car.  And yes, I have heard of a Taxi.   I believe my Town has ONE.  Though I have NOT seen it  recently.

Daily Notes for Friday, October 24th...Sunshine here in Maine...49 degrees and Wool Socks.

 Something colorful and cheerful.  Rarely seen in the newspaper headlines. My husband often came home with flowers like this for me.....and my banker used to send them on my birthday...no one bothers anymore.  

1.  No square was made yesterday....no pages in my book were read........no soup was reheated and eaten... Today I will try and DIG myself out of this murky sadness.  About what has happened here in America.

2.  I don't see myself having any success.

3.  I watched all seven episodes of something  just because the guy walking around and talking was nice to look at.  Six foot seven. He mentioned it in the final episode as he squeezed thru the door of King Tut's tomb... It was a productive way to spend an entire afternoon into evening.   National Geographic.

4.  I also found a site (accidentally) where I read obituaries....some of my own family members.

5.   Library and Grocery Store today....I need to be quick about getting some breakfast into myself.. Before we go.  I have a short list of what we need....I have given up with adding things I want to the list- usually shortbread cookies.  The dog shaped ones.  Thought the ones daughter found in Freeport with the jam in the center- fantastic.

6.  I am having to answer the phone more than I want with Medicare offers.....I hang up before they even get to the end of their first sentence.  Enrollment Month is a real pain in the you know what.   

7. Finally picking up my new inhaler today (if the drug counter people kept it for all this time)....I used the last dose in the inhaler I have about 15 minutes ago. And also have been using the rescue one as it gets cold outside...will need a new rescue inhaler when EVERYONE starts using their fireplaces and the air is full of SMOKE.  Deadly Air for those with Asthma. Like me.

Daily Notes on a Sun filled Thursday in Maine...October the 23rd.

Now doesn't this look fantastic?  I wish....... it was actually here in my house.

1.  I made the soup...and it's delicious......well, one doesn't actually say that about soup????? but I enjoyed making it and eating it....I used things in the pantry, fridge and freezer.....also the onion that had been rolling around here for awhile.....  I have enough soup for MANY days.

2.  The West Wing.   There are no words for this....... that I can type here.

3.   I made an orange dotted square... I had to make several trips to the fabric storage bins and plug in the iron to flatten things and I used the ruler and the rolling sharp blade to even out edges etc....it felt like I had fallen back in Time... 20 years....to when this was a normal regular thing I did....it isn't anymore.... regular or normal or a thing I do.

4.  I have two British Soccer games lined up- not sure what day...and I am nearing the end of season one of Law and Order.......new  major characters will show up in Season Two.  One character already got shot.

5.  I noticed- while looking for SoupThings in the Sparsely Filled Freezer- emptied during the Great Freezer ICE Maker Collapse. -that I might have one more chocolate covered ice cream bar...... I also noticed just now I forgot to put on my wool socks.....Ice cream and wool socks......not two things that go together.

6.  I really am gob smacked by that wedge of cheesecake and cherries.  I have to go sit quietly...and get over it.

Daily Notes. Wednesday. October 22nd. Damp ,Cloudy and Cold. Here in Maine.56 degrees.

Work Shop.

Auditioning fabric for a red square.  This is the portion of my creating where the Virgo Perfectionist clogs up things.  I work better and more creatively when I have the fewest choices available Negating Virgo..  Use what's here. I ran out of the tiny brown dots on black already.  And not a Fabric Shop Left anywhere locally.  Don't send fabric-----I need to use what I have........that was the PLAN for this Project.

THERE IS an entire double shelving unit with huge tubs of cloth down the hall.  I just have to talk myself into a NEW Plan.  The use what's here even if it doesn't match Anything plan.  The Previous Plan was don't go looking in the tubs....didn't last long.

1.  I will be checking the TV to see what's what for the Day's Viewing....then either Make Soup or settle for a Toasted Cheese Sandwich with pickles later in the day.  I'd really like some Sweet Potato Fries with a side of .........I wrote something political and deleted it. 

2.  Here in Maine NO SNAP funds for groceries today.......Starving the POOR. Without Warning.  Nice.  And the President etc sat down to burgers and fries. My Town has a Generous Food Pantry- across the road from the grocery store.... I have always wanted to volunteer to cook a meal there.  Might be time to DO rather than THINK about doing....

3.   I haven't a clue as to what has or has NOT happened to my Medicare Advantage Plan.  My Plan has divested itself of 36,000 plan members......I haven't been notified that I am one of 36,000...as yet.. In a STATE with 1.5 million souls- 36K is a huge amount. Since most of us are OLD.

4.  There was NOTHING WRONG with the TIVo... Operator Error.  It was ME.  It's always ME.

5.   Book Report----Lynn Painter's Maid for Me....different from the others...but I like it.  We have lots of pages before the "misunderstanding" ruins everything......she bakes blueberry muffins.  Now I want one. Gonna check the freezer for berries......never know what's in the freezer....past it's use by date.........

6.  AFTER I make SOUP.
 

Daily Notes- Tuesday, October 21st Sunshine here in Maine. 57 degrees.

 I finished reading Nora Goes Off Script. (love)

1.  Haven't chosen a book for today...I might sew small strips of cloth together into a square.  Find out what has gone wrong with my PBS connection...... I can no longer record episodes of Antiques Roadshow or delete recorded things I no longer want.  It could just be me...but that seems like too positive of a suggestion.

2.  It was bound to happen- the TiVo becoming too old. To function properly.  My Son has a friend with a couple of old TiVo's in a closet-  he keeps them when he has to replace his old TiVo....which is what I am going to have to do....I just hope the Tech Guy who lives upstairs orders and installs a new one.  It's beyond my 79 year old capabilities.  Way Way Beyond.  WAY.  I'll never get to see what's on the TiVo again.  My favorite Christmas Movies....but Hallmark repeats nearly everything so it might be okay.

3.  Or I might just need fresh batteries in the clicker that changes channels.  (head slap)

4.  I still have NOT made the Soup.  But did eat the Meatloaf Prepared Meal.

5.  Today's Book---- Maid For Each Other- Lynn Painter author of my all time favorite book- Mr Wrong Number.  Well, I actually love all her books, but Mr Wrong number is pretty darn great.  This is her newest book.

6.  And that's all the news from here today... no one has gone by to pick up my new inhaler. Or taken me to pick it up.....sigh...I would like to have it....

 

Daily Notes for Monday, October 20th. Dark and Dismal with more than a bit of Chill here in Maine.

 I have the knife...need the bread.   (not really- acid reflux)

There was art...drawing on index cards etc.....but no pictures were taken with the iPhone...it's only real use with me....while watching Soccer and then Football and then Soccer with a palate cleansing Thomas Jefferson. (so not cleansing)......

1.  Heat is on and thermal shirt and fleece pullover....wool socks and corduroy pants-loose for the first time this decade.. Zero Sun makes it feel colder.

2.  Oatmeal and.......crap...I forgot to make myself a cup of instant coffee.  Water is heating up. House lights are on, temp got moved up on the kitchen radiators...remembered to take my pills ( Tylenol, tiny statin and Vitamin)....at 79!!!!!

3.  My black and white squares- four- are done- so I searched the cloth tubs for the same fabric pattern as the black ones- in colors...pink, orange, green and blue. Black dots on white for the center squares in all of them. I'll work while watching vintage Law and Order...just like I worked when Riley was my co-pilot. Throw Back Days.

4.  Hoping the repeat of the pattern (not the color) holds the piece together.  A Virgo Gee's Bend. We just gotta have control....

5.  Today I have Grocery Store Meatloaf Dinner....to heat up in the microwave.

6. Timed it right and saw the last 10 minutes of Sixteen Candles.  Where she comes out of the church, sees him and points to herself and he nods YES.  

Daily Notes for Sunday October 19th. Cloudy with 43 degrees.

 A darker image as I have no lights on as yet.  And no energy to replace the image.

1.  Today we make pizza and watch football..  I didn't make the soup.

2.  I didn't actually do much until later in the afternoon- after the two British Soccer games... then I started reading the hard back library copy of a book I have in Trade Paper in my bookcase.  The larger book is easier to read (and hold)...   I'm getting OLD.  My brain cannot work with Large Print Books so I will need to move to books on tape when I can't read a regular print book.  Getting old is very depressing.

3.  My Medicare Advantage Program seems to be warning me that the "end is near" ....36000 are losing coverage in tiny Maine.  What will I do now???  Along side the eviction notice was a welcome to Martin's Point letter.  My Advantage Program... Up Is Down.

4. I seemed to have erased the Radio Station program ....and can't watch the guy sing about the Rain Storm..  Ever Again.  A devastating loss. Really, I am that sad.

5.  I made a fourth square with the very last bits of matching cloth.  Nothing in the bins..that was it. Four squares of slightly different sizes...... and the sewing room tubs are mostly on the floor.  I can get them down but not a chance of lifting them back on the shelves.  The Shelving Project ...well....I'm too old for it.   I'm feeling too old for almost everything this month.

6. Had to turn on a few lights in the living room....other rooms have sunshine.

7.  Well, I have the Sunday Paper to read, I will be tucking a bowl of water and oats into the microwave to make my breakfast....also a cup of tea.  The Sunday Suduko eventually.  Then the couch and my book.  Sunday Pizza and some football.....then just me and the couch...and the walls. And the Sunshine outside.

Daily Notes- Saturday, October 18th....Sunshine and temps in the low 40's this morning.

 Unfinished art.  Any ideas regarding what I should draw in the open white space????  Roots?

Also could be forecast as SNOW.  42 degrees is cold....and I need to add socks to the daily outfit.  The furnace (boiler) is rumbling.... I set it for 65.  I never get much higher than that.  Bedrooms at 60...why we have down comforters.  One year when we had zero cash-- I got the temp down in the 40's at night.

1.  Soup Making is on the agenda for today....just a simple soup but needs knife work.  Chopping things into soup sized pieces.  And also some pasta pre cooked to add to the soup when served. I have several boxes of pasta shapes to choose from.  BUT...I have A potato so that might preclude the pasta.

2.  Cooking shows on PBS.  I never make anything they make.  But I always want the pots and pans and tools they use.  And I have most of that.......

3.   I pulled 75% of the plant material out of the Annual Planters out front.  I also cut down one more tall green bushy thing.  My Garden Gal pulled them out with her hands- roots and all last year....and they came back even larger this Spring.   The Lawn Guys didn't come yesterday to cut the grass...which is growing and very nice and green these days.

4.  I watched Firing Line last night....retired Supreme Court Justice.  Had some terrifying things to say. About the Present Situation in the Court.  Like that's a surprise.  Trump Appointees.

5. Also on PBS a program on artists and their work...made me want to "make something". Other than my index cards art- something with beads and stitch. Could happen unless there is Soccer game on today-....there should be a second World Cup semi final before the big game.......unless I missed it.

6. I spent yesterday with Vintage Law and Order... A day well spent.

Daily Notes for Friday, October 17th. Chilly with Sunshine...50 degrees

 Another index card... my color choices gave it a vintage look.

I have on a thermal shirt, a fleece shirt, corduroy pants and wool socks....and I still feel cold....

1.  Some items are getting taken care of....daughter will help with putting my annual containers to bed.  My Son also offered to help with them..

2.  Today is Library/Grocery Store Friday.   I have only one book to pick up and I am returning most of my selections from last week-- unread.  I'm reading a Danielle Steel right now and it feels "tedious" so it might go back early.  I think I am at the point I reach every year...when I get so bored that nothing makes me happy.  Even coloring the index cards.  I was briefly interested in the sunken find of Cleopatras's palace..but it didn't last long.

3. My Son surprised me by looking for Mont Blanc pen refills at Staples....he did find a refill with black ink to replace the refill that had blue ink.  I like black...I like black on white. Only two pens have refills... The hunt continues.  I have bold black ink Pilot pens from the Grocery store to keep me happy. To use on my Index Card Art.

4.  Medicare sign up and all the phone calls is wearing on my nerves...as soon as they start talking I hang up.  I tried in past years to ask them to remove my name and number from their lists....it didn't work. I have and have had from the get go--a FANTASTIC Medicare Advantage Plan.  I'm keeping it.

5.  I called the Chimney Doctor and asked him to...someday...come by and clean out my chimney... I  told him about the squirrels carrying branches and leaves into the chimney....setting up Winter Housekeeping. He said he'd never heard of squirrels doing that....I said lots of things happen to me that have never happened to anyone else......I also mention the neighbors had a screen placed on top of their chimney and wondered if that could happen on my chimney to keep the animals OUT... He told me he had met Aerosmith Band Members when he cleaned their chimney.   

This is how Maine Conversations go...... no clue as to whether he's coming to clean out the chimney....no appointment etc. Used to bother me and now after so many decades....I'm as weird as they are.

6. I called in my inhaler prescription..for a refill...it will be ready tomorrow...I still have 7 left on the  inhaler I am using...so no hurry.  And I need to ask my doctor for a script for Rescue Inhalers....since people will be having fires in their fireplaces and...the smoke does very very seriously bad things to my breathing....

Daily notes for Thursday, October 16th. Cloudy with a chance of what????? 52 degrees

 I'm not going to even try to rotate the image.

1.   I drew this and many others the other day and finally colored them yesterday. Have forgotten how to rotate the image so .....

2   Watched the World Cup match last night.  Excellent.  Final is possibly on the weekend.

3.  Ate regular meals yesterday also....Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  Might be a problem today as I don't actually have much in the fridge to eat.  Possibly a Cheese and Ham sandwich. Leftover pizza.

4.  I could always FINALLY decide to make SOUP.   I have everything that goes into the vegetable bean soup I always make myself.  I just need to peel and chop and sauté and simmer.  Will I????

5.  I tried to make two more of the square I liked...now I have three squares and they are all different sizes. I measured but obviously not well enough and not with a ruler..  I will be adding spray starch and a hot iron to them....possibly adding more strips.   Letting them get as large as they want until I run out of matching fabric- and that is possible with half the fabrics.   One fabric --already used up.

6.  Cloudy this morning...an Oatmeal Breakfast Day.   I'll update if the Soup Gets Made.

Wednesday, October 15th. Cool Sunshine. 47 degrees and 94 percent humidity.

 I colored this index card drawing yesterday.....and a few more...I don't have a great selection of coloring pens...I prefer pastels and husband purchased the LOUD color selection.  They show up....so it's okay even if it hurts my eyes and sensibilities.

1.  Lunch with M was lovely.  She is Such a Great Human Being.  Hard Working also.  There was some  extremely sad news but I am going to put it out of my mind.......

2.  I started the day with a nice hot shower.....most mornings I defer on the shower because falling and hitting my head on hard surfaces etc etc do not interest me.  Today I felt like I could manage a shower. And I did...it must have been the chocolate cake and whipped cream I had at lunch yesterday- and the potato chips.  I had a Lunch Date.  None of that food exists here in my house.

3.  I am faced with the TASK of emptying my two large plant containers out front and hauling dirt and the containers back to their Winter Abode.  I keep hoping for a "hero" but there isn't one coming to help me. I feel like my adult children are trying to teach me a lesson...on what I CAN have going forward and what I have to GIVE UP.   I think I can safely remove the dead (almost dead) plants......and get those dead flowers into the compost bin.  I did get them out there...with a wheeled cart of some sort......oh, getting old is really the crappiest part of Life.  Unless you purchase a cruise on a boat with free cocktails.

4.   I read the morning paper....big mistake.

5.   Well, the TiVo has finished recording one billion Law and Order episodes...no, 20 perhaps. I have what looks like an actual GOOD book to read....my score on book selecting this week is more minus that positive.... and my coffee needs to be reheated...then I will settle on the couch for a few hours (or more).

6. I happened upon a Soccer Game last evening....all the players were absolutely gorgeous. This is not normal.  And, the game itself wasn't very interesting.  So I went to bed early.

7.  I thought about it---nice hot shower this morning and the dirt outside?????  I'll stay clean and do a Scarlett O'Hara and "think about it tomorrow" while watching Antique's Roadshow...

Daily Notes on a Wet Chilly Tuesday in Maine. October 14th.

 No image for you today..... and no newspaper to read with my morning oatmeal.

I worked on the index cards a bit more yesterday but didn't take pictures of them....

Going to lunch today at 12.

Have to choose something "nice" to wear....not this old mended ragged red sweater.  Which I love.

I need to turn on some house lights.  You know the weather has changed when you need house lights.

And socks...when you need socks. And when you fuss with the thermostat.

I woke up crying.  So there's that to think about.

Or not think about.

Hope your day starts better than mine did.

Daily Notes- Monday October 13th. No wind, No Sun, No Rain. 51 degrees

 Your Daily Art on an Index Card

Emails from my Lawn Guy.   Going to be my Future Snow Plowing Guy.  Measuring my driveway etc on GOOGLE.  Fascinating... if I had grandchildren they would be around his age......but I don't.

1.  I made my "former" Lunch Buddy smile the other day....it felt good to be able to bring a smile to her face.  She looks tired and sad....we are not having Lunch Dates as she is fully booked with husband's medical appointments and care these days....

2.  I am finding Lady Bugs up along the ceiling of my master bathroom... Son was tall enough to reach them without climbing up on something....I took the four of them outside and relocated them on a Peony leaf.  I was going to have to climb up on something....."we" do not want me doing that. Another one is up there this morning,.......

3.  It's past time to empty and haul away the Annual Containers on the front sidewalks.   I had hoped for help...  sadly...no help is coming.  If it isn't raining  I might do it tomorrow...  today is not feeling like an Auspicious Day.

4.  I watched pieces of EVERY football game yesterday...while drawing on my index cards.  Even the Kansas City game. Yep.   There were some good parts to every game I watched. There was also the poor sportsmanship that ruins the game.  No clue as to who won what besides the Patriots game... we won.

5.  I am watching Season One of Dark Winds...repeats I have watched before....then I will watch the new Season Two episodes.  I might stop watching at any time and return to Law and Order.  

6.  I recorded a 30 minute program on PBS about a radio station in Maine...WMPG 90.9. 104. I rewound and listed and watched an unpaid guy doing the afternoon slot and rocking his heart out to a weather report of "We Are Having A Rain Storm".  If you can find it- it's well worth the effort.... if I was the sort to have things on my iPhone this is what I would put there first.  I would also have it here...but I would need help.  And no help is coming.....

Sunday, October 12th... Cloudy and cold this morning. 58 degrees

 I've been entertaining myself by drawing on index cards.  I had been coloring the drawing in with colored pencil...but this one hasn't been touched with color as yet.... I send some to my brother for his birthday.

1.  Arrangements are being made to take care of the Snow Plowing for the Season. Our biggest issue is the huge pile of snow deposited at the end of the driveway by the Street Plow... It's usually quite heavy and gets stuck in the snowblower.  I used to fill the shovel and then walk (shove) it across the street and dump it there..   Was younger then...

2.  Son collected the Lady Bugs setting up housekeeping in my shower.  Son thinks they got in during the window AC unit usage.  

3.  We are making an additional visit to the grocery store....I am out of yogurt, Bran Buds and the Strawberry Rhubarb Jam I add to my yogurt. And a replacement pizza dough.... the one we bought on Friday had a hole in the plastic packaging.  I also need mouthwash.  My list making capabilities suffered....

Daily Notes- Saturday, October 11th. Sunny and 57 degrees here in Maine. Wool Socks.

 Well.   Another Saturday without British Soccer.   what will I do with myself????

1.  I have recorded the two Saturday Cooking Shows I watch.  And I stockpiled some Law and Order as one would stock a pantry before a pandemic.

2.  My shots had little to zero effect on me...no aches, no fever etc...  I noticed the person doing the shots aimed higher on my shoulder than usual.....which might be the best placement ever.

3.  Finished off the recored episodes I had of the PBS series of Professor T.  I now have vintage Law and Order to watch.  I also have two different editions of recorded Pride and Prejudice... which I may have outgrown.   

4.  Today's book is "definitely not mr. darcy". by karen doornebos....the author uses no caps.  A  modern reality show set in the 1800's with all the smells........no cell phones, no indoor plumbing,  no deodorant. The comment blurbs are by other authors of similar books- PrIde and Promiscuity, the Jane Austen Handbook, and the Lost memoirs of Jane Austen.   I have in my bookcase Austenland...same idea.

5.  September and October have become very Austen here at my house (this year)....I also have recorded three Hallmark "Austen-like" movies which I watch....in one that I particularly like...the Librarian who Loves Darcy hits her head and goes back into Time and finds Mr Darcy to "not be her actual "cup of tea"'. I'm not sure I would actually like Darcy......how about you?????

Daily Notes- Friday, October 10th. COVID Booster today.

 Not much to say this morning... sunshine here in Maine.  But a chill in the air.  All good weather must come to an end.......

1.  Emails regarding Snow Removal for Winter....a heads up that all this nice weather is short lived...

2.  Cookies.   Like real cookies- I had two of them yesterday- shortbread.

3.  My Lunch buddy ordered me a book and it's arrived and I can go pick it up from her house. The first book in a series of four- I have the other three...now the set is. complete.

4.  Reading a book about rich people who lose everything because the husband had a secret second family I realized when I read the final few pages before returning the book unread....that I had read it before.  I know these things happen and it's always a "surprise" until they really think about it...then it's NOT a surprise.  At all.

5.  I was always mystified by the second wife- (Trophy Wife) worrying about her husband straying ....noticing younger women etc....of course he's going to leave her.......he left someone else he said he loved- for you!!!!!   And the guys did leave the second wife for the third wife etc etc.  Just like in the book I am returning to the Library.

  

Daily Notes on Thursday. October 8th- 48 degrees and Sunshine here in Maine.

Well. as it is almost "All the Time" around  here- I have plenty of the fabrics I don't want to use right now and very little other than scraps of the fabric I actually do what to use..Right NOW.. 

I made one small square and wanted a few more- well, that isn't going to happen...so I watched Law and Order.  I wanted NINE... that's my happy number....I can make ONE more.  Two is not a great artistic number.  Three could work.  If I could make three by sewing tiny scraps together.  The real thing isn't this dark.  (I don't have any lights turned on as yet)

1.  Stopped looking in the storage boxes, stopped reading, stopped paying attention to Law and Order and just felt like kicking something really hard for a long time.  I have enough of the shortest supplied fabric to make one more square.... a few other others are enough fabric to make the nine I would have liked.  

2.   My own solution is to take the square apart and use another fabric that I have in abundance. Or have the other eight with a  different fabric... second from the center.  This was NOT a problem when I was making each square different from all the others.  Not a problem until I want NINE of them. And NINE could still be a number I can't manage......THREE might be what I end up with.

In better news.... this book is on its way from the Big A...via my neighbor's account.  She tucked it into her shopping basket.  So Life goes on....

I also emptied a few things out of the fridge....and discovered enough bread for a toasted cheese sandwich...with pickles..... (possibly two) and possibly some additional vintage episodes of Law and Order later today.  I wanted to comfort myself with potato chips...but thank goodness there were zero chips in the house.

October 8th..Dark, Wet with Rain.

 I have a bunch of chair images so we might be having those for a few days.  Or not.  For a while I was cutting out images of chairs....I can't recall why...but I like chairs.... I do recall- I was using the images to draw the chairs in my art notebook freehand....and then I stopped.  Easy enough to return to doing the drawings.  And I can put THOSE here....  I think I would have liked owning the chair in the image here. Midcentury modern-ish.

1.  It's very dark in here....very wet outside.  I got up from the desk to turn on MORE lights.

2.  My neighbor has ordered the book daughter and I were searching for- from Amazon-- as they are having their usual "big sale" and she was filling her basket.  Six dollars less than the price on the book jacket.  I was tempted to also ask for Mont Blanc pen refills but do not know which ones I need. Book will arrive by end of the week.

3.  None of the Lunch Offers have been followed up on.... I was starting to want Sweet Potato Fries....

4.  TV- Other than British Soccer games in the RAIN-- has been dismal.  I watched a few things but got seriously depressed by all of it.  Even Finding Your Roots.

5.  I used the heating pad to ease up the tight neck and shoulder muscles...right side.....I believe it's tension.  Even right now the neck and right shoulder feel stiff.

6.  I sorted thru a few storage tubs of fabric to make some additional squares...the ONE I made during the Soccer Match was exceptionally GREAT and now I want all the others to look that good. I even turned on the iron and pressed a few scraps of fabric.  I should have had that here instead of the chair...tomorrow for sure. and perhaps a second one....I also got into a huge bag of cloth I had dyed and black cloth I bleached to a spotty white and black....some grey.... I sorted during Law and Order...  

7.  I could just make three more that look like that really GREAT square and sew them together... I doubt I have enough of any of the fabrics to make it into a 36 or 48 inch square ART Quilt.  but a nice 12 inch square could be framed...under glass.

Daily Notes for Tuesday. October 7th. Sun is shining here in Maine- 62 degrees.

 Banana Halloween Pops.  I asked if we should make some- he said no.  So....Plain Bananas are just fine. As is.  But these are very cute.....

1.  ...read the newspaper....now trying to cleanse my mind.......the Suduko wasn't going anywhere and the internet was giving me a tutorial on bar soap this morning......I actually do not use bar soap....so that was today's personal update....continue to not use bar soap..(now)  I do have a stack of bars somewhere.........

2.  Watched a very long program on a guy from Tennessee who pushed all barriers (brains but zero cash to get into college) and get a degree and head up Moderna and develop the COVID vaccine and many many other wonderful life saving things.  It was a very very good thing to watch.... I get my COVID shot on Friday.  I signed up on the internet.  Successfully.  Which is a Major Victory..... (balloons, confetti and a parade)

3.  Previous to the medical program I watched different teams in Egypt digging up old tombs looking for...they never actually say for sure.....what they imagine finding....one guy was over the moon about finding broken pale blue pottery bowls.  Which "proved" something.  I get all nervous when they shimmy into very tight spaces that could fill with sand.....I would NEVER.....

4.  Yesterday was a Road Trip with daughter....first she had to move all the landscape tools out onto my front porch so I would have somewhere to SIT.  Then the Town Office to pay Property Taxes... BIG CHECK.........THEN down the hall and I voted absentee (in person)...I found that amusing. Then to the bookstores to buy books.   And a new wall calendar for 2026.  I very nearly bought the identical one to the 2025 on the wall....ooops

5.  I looked over the Art Supply section but didn't feel the need for any supplies of that sort...I have husband's colored pencils and pens and my own sets.....and the pencil sharpener from Germany is still working to capacity.....all is well in the colored pencil area of my Life.  Wish I could say that about other areas of my Life.

6.  I also visited two books stores and purchased BOOKS which are now residing in my bookcase. Two favorite rom com authors had new books....we are still looking for Pride, Prejudice and other Flavors by Sonali Dev.   I had just finished reading Birding with Benefits - Sarah Dubb and purchased my own copy. just because I often forget I like the book....I also purchased a hard cover of the Love Haters..... Other new titles are Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver,  The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell, Maid for Each Other by Lynn Painter (of Mr Wrong Number FAME) and The Launch Date by Annabelle Slater.

I was looking for something new from Tessa Bailey but....no.   I might do an internet search after hitting publish......then move on to Antiques Roadshow-  TiVo recorded quite a few yesterday.

Daily Notes- Monday October 6th. No Newspaper Monday.

 Three sets of dots- might need one more.  Notice how the colors are identifying with my emotional state???  We won't be seeing pink or bright yellow in the near future.  Or cooler blues and greens.

1.  British Soccer was good....American Football was almost good....my book finally got to the best part.....and now we have to get thru the typical "misunderstanding" part of any of these rom-com books. I've read this one before so...this dull part of the book. ...was something I was not surprised by.  This Time. I'm going to skip ahead while the mom tries to totally "manage" her daughter's choices. (because mother had made all the wrong choices).

2.  Still waiting to see if either friend is actually going to have lunch with me. Unless they decide to have lunch with each other and skip my participation......which could happen.  But it is Monday and a great day to go out and have lunch....the sun is shining here in Maine.  No Military Take-Over as yet.

3.  I Swiffered the wood floors yesterday....easier than dragging the central vac hose around the house. The Swiffer picked up quite a few VERY large dust bunnies.

4.  Sunday Pizza was great....  I just wished I had eaten some of the birthday ice cream after........

5.  Monday and zero newspaper...zero news...  which is beneficial to my mental health these days. And I have a stack of partially finished Suduko puzzles to work thru while eating my bowl of oatmeal. So..Life is okay...''not watching news on TV" really helps me get thru the day.... and not having a newspaper on Monday is also helpful........bad things happen on the weekends.....

6.  Was America always like this?  OR was it just not as loud and in our faces????????

Daily Notes- Sunshine Here In Maine on Sunday, October 5th.

 I bit of this and a bit of that....hasn't been sewn together as yet.  Still playing with color and fabric. This looks very Halloween (ugh).   Not a Great Fan of Orange...but do like Halloween Candy.

1.  The Sunday Newspaper........not much there....and the Sunday Suduko- not much there as well. Just when are we going to stand together and overturn this particular government???????

2.  Perhaps none of us actually care?  I do but...I'm old.  And I do vote. Every Time.

3.  I am going to attempt to use the internet to make an appointment for a Covid Vaccination.  I did this once before- in the very beginning of needing a vaccination (years ago).....and it was difficult.  I might not need one as I go No Where and No One Sneezes on Me.  

But I do Touch Surfaces..... I'm more concerned about the Flu-- I got REALLY sick one year--with the Flu.  Back when I worked at the Greenhouse. My husband never noticed I was very sick........what a guy. Never even made me a cup of tea.  This was YEARS  before he forgot who I was.

4.  My former cross the street neighbor sent an email....I sent one back.  This is a second person wanting to have lunch with me... but that is as far as it goes (we never actually set a day and time)..... my Lunch Buddy..sigh...we haven't had lunch in a Great Long Time......so many other important things on her calendar... I have only Library and Grocery Store on my calendar....Town Hall is added this week to pay taxes on my house.

5.  Two British Soccer games yesterday- one in the pouring rain,...another one today. Possibly two. And later Sunday Pizza and American Football.  I have salad to go with my slices.  I'd like to also have a glass of wine...but I don't have any......that I can open.  I need twist off caps not corks.  I do have ice cubes, a cold bottle of Gin and tiny bottles of Tonic. (in the fridge). But wine (whine) sounds better.

Daily Notes Saturday, October 4th. Sunshine here in Maine and 66 degrees

 As you can see....added strips.  I like the keyboard squares under it also.  White makes everything better.

1.  One more day of Hot Dogs and tomorrow is Pizza.  I've run out of Antiques Roadshow episodes. Today is cooking shows which I have recording.

2.  Ran thru the cable channels I have (yesterday) and found exactly NOTHING worth watching.  I've already  missed two British Soccer Matches....I did watch one late yesterday in the driving rain...had to be miserable for the players...

3.  The Newspaper continues to infuriate me....why are we allowing this to continue????? Countries have overthrown insane dictators for decades....why can't WE?????

4.  Putting the duvet cover on the king sized down comforter was easier than I imagined it to be... and I was nice and warm all night long.

5.  Yesterday's and Today's book is. Birding With Benefits.  First time around I missed quite a bit...so I am enjoying the banter this time.  Sarah T. Dubb is the author.  And I might retain some bird info.

6.  Only four days in and the October Desk Calendar is filling up FAST.  And that's it for today.

Daily Notes from A Chilly but Sunny Day in Maine.

Stitched while watching TV.

I gave up on finding something that worked with that blue square and made this out of a long strip of cloth cut into rectangles....now the difficult part of adding another color.

1.  Today is Library Grocery Store....And it's also Stuffing the King Down Comforter into the Comforter Cover Day....this activity closely resembles turning the mattress- not flipping it- I used to do that but I was much younger---I turn it clockwise  so I make sleep dents in both sides of the mattress....while still only sleeping on my side of the bed.  I have a tall four poster bed- so the turns have to work with the four posts...  it's a geometry puzzle.  And only once a year....

2.   I haven't decided on a Luncheon Choice for the WEEK and we are going to the grocery store today.. Hot Dog Week was just "okay".  Perhaps it was my choice of hot dog brands.....I usually had lunch while watching a repeat of Antique's Roadshow.  Repeat Show and Repeat Lunch.

3.  I will be looking at the bottom shelf in the hallway of the Library today for a nice book to use as a canvas for some ART.  Removing the pages from the cover...using the inside of the cover as a canvas, If it actually turns out to be a workable "thing" I will take pictures of the progress.

4.  The majority of last week's books are going back unread...well, I read 10 pages...each...then gave up. In the final book, yesterday...I lost track of who was who and what was what and actually...didn't care. And the husband who was supposed to be "training to live on Mars"?????? whoa.  And there was an entire family speaking German.  It was "a lot".

5.  I am going to grab a few Danielle Steele books...they require very little on my part to keep up with the plot lines...

6.  I discovered- while looking for replacement ink cartridges...that the fat Mon Blanc fountain pen husband bought me in Germany is now worth 1K.  It's now "vintage:.

 

Daily Notes on Thursday, October 2nd- Sunshine..62 degrees

 Austin Read-a-Like booklist.... tomorrow you get a Rom Com List. (the Decoy Girlfriend sounds interesting and I've read or own most of the others).  I love when a book list matches my bookcase.

Horoscope- Don't Live Someone Else's Dream when you have Your Own Dreams to Pursue.

1.  Son says ignore that little blue icon in the top right....

2.  My neck aches..Son says it's from turning my head sideways while watching tv...  I recall this happening in other years when I stayed on the couch for weeks- once with what we thought was COVID. that was long ago and it wasn't...it was the FLU.  I now get an annual Flu shot....well, I did before Trump said NO.  I'll try again tomorrow at the Grocery Store Vaccine Desk.

3.  It's getting cool enough in the house for me to wear wool socks....so it's the right TIME to start making pots of Homemade Vegetable Soup.......

4.  Lynn Painter has a new booklet....Maid For Each Other.... Gonna look for it....

5.  Law and Order episodes yesterday were dreadfully upsetting...I deleted most of the ones I decided I could NOT watch.  Will set 10 more to record today... still season one.  The CSI series  I like is still showing in the square box format....eventually- it takes months.. but they will notice and go to full screen again...... maybe.

6.  Well...that's it for today...Heating Pad, Book and Law and Order ....I also have cloth here to sew into very strange squares........nothing goes with anything else and there isn't enough scrap material to make a second one of any of them........ah...add HOT DOGS to the list......and some more Tylenol.

Daily Notes- Wednesday, October First..... with some unwanted blue extra. in the right top of this post.

I have begun reading Alexander McCall Smith's Emma.  Two pages so far and he is describing a field. An actual field.  Which I have little to no interest in.  The book has about 15 more minutes and then it goes into the return to the Library Book Bag and I read the Lottery Winners three books.  (daughter found them)...

1.  I watched a few not very good Law and Order episodes yesterday....by that I mean I watched a few minutes of each. I need to find something new to occupy myself... the last of the modern takes on Jane Austen was read and finished yesterday..... the World Cup Soccer- the camera work is not good...so I deleted the games.  I am used to the British camera work which is so so much better.

2.  The Computer Engineer doesn't know what that new blue icon in the far right top corner is....it showed up when I opened this page....he tried to remove it but it's still here.

3.  I have a few more books on the Library shelf....one of them is certainly NOT going to be describing a field.  I hope.  But then I will return to my bookcase here at home....select something I have read before... a sure thing.  Or draw things on index cards.  I did some of that yesterday... flowers.

4.   Jude posted that TypePad is gone.....I recall that they did warn people.  Jude was worried about all the years of content on her blog...... I can see all the decades of my posts...all still here on NOT Typepad-.... that would bother me a bit but I actually NEVER go back and read any of it.  I know Readers often mention reading from the beginning.  I think I have enough words written to create a large BOOK.

5.  blogger.com......free and secure...   Well, I have the desk calendar to work on- getting September off and uncovering October... the monitor is quite heavy......Son got me the larger one...I better get started.