Daily Notes for Saturday May 2nd. Rain, clouds and a new desk calendar page.

 I've spent some time pasting a few things on this new calendar month. some line drawings I made and a few other things....

I love the simplicity of this kitchen.  I'd get rid of the small carpet.  I'd like a window over the sink. Or across from the sink like mine is.

I had a whole post written and decided I didn't like any of it.   I'm at this point...where I dislike almost everything and think most things are too tedious to actually get involved in....... or are so beyond my physical capabilities that sitting on the couch is all I can do...safely.

I haven't chosen a book to read as yet.....I did get a Baker and Taylor book off the FREE BOOK cart.- a book the library "rented' instead of buying...I guess they decided not to return it to its owner either. It's  a mystery thriller type....I have a few in the bookcase- not this author though.  I checked out two Linda Howard books yesterday...both are creepy.  But I know what happens  (read multiple times) no one dies. so I am okay reading the safe pages and skipping the not safe ones.

I bought Tessa Bailey's new book...Catch Her If You Can...  got to page 31 and that's as far as I am going. I had high hopes for it being as great as the earlier books.....not happening.

So that's it for today...

Daily Notes for Friday May First. Sunshine here in Maine but CHILLY.

 Yellow flowers today.  I'm not a real fan but husband liked all things yellow.

Grocery Shopping and dropping off books at the Library.  Regular Friday stuff.  Warmer weather is always a nice addition to Friday Chores.  Figuring out what jacket to wear is the most difficult part of Friday.

I've been adding more cheese to my regular Toasted Cheese Sandwiches. More pickles as well.  That's about as interesting as my day gets......and it's really topped up the interest for me.

I should stop typing right now....but I did read my two favorite Devereaux books back to back... and stayed up past midnight with both...good times.  Very very good times.

So I have been asked about my "energy levels" post oatmeal and I replied they are excellent...so we'll be leaving for the grocery store in minutes......I have on a cotton shirt and not a fleece or sweater today.  May prove to be TOO SOON and I might need to change over to something "warmer"..... one never knows here in Maine as the OCEAN sends a Chill Air over us even in July and August.  Certainly in May.

Well, I have to get my brain in gear for grocery shopping....so I have the correct amount of food in the fridge to keep me happy.  Bananas this week???...Potassium. I have two pears and an apple in the fruit bowl... left over from other shopping days.  I might check out the oranges....... I always like them.  

My Annual Flu shot may actually have a positive effect on Dementia...good news.

I got Bananas and some salted mixed nuts....as a "treat".  Skipped the ice cream.

Daily Notes- Thursday April 30th. It's RAINING...48 degrees.

 Soup is in my FUTURE.   I have everything I need to make a nice pot of vegetable soup... I also have a can of Split Pea Soup....open, heat, serve...... either way- It's soup on this chilly wet day in Maine. Perhaps with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich on the side.  Extra pickles.

I have the furnace going...was 61 in here and hope that in another 30 minutes we get a bit warmer... I never go above 65.   My neck feels the chill.  Usually.  Before I do.

Well, I took the deep dive into the Girl from Summerhill and read until 1 am.  Ending was and always is--very very satisfying.    I save favorite books for rainy, cold days.

Daughter dropped off Library Books after work yesterday....I have a new Tessa Bailey.. Baseball Pitcher.   Her books are often "sporty"... I also have a Jane Harper which if I recall are TERRIFYING...I haven't terrorized myself since reading the Snowman.  (Jo Nesbo). I sent the entire collection of his books to the resale shop.   I am shocked that I actually read them ALL more than once.

I also own the entire Louise Penny Collection...which I haven't read in YEARS.   I do read Linda Howard's books and they are BRUTAL.but only once in a while and only because I know how they end.

My daughter is positive that Tru Green is guilty of "elder abuse" in the repeat calls to me regarding Lawn Care and my "stubborn choice" of cancelling service with them.  Next call from them...I'm  hanging up. It's times like this I wish I had caller ID so I wouldn't have to EVER say "hello" to people I don't want to talk to.

So....I think it's time to tuck myself under the down lap comforter and READ.  About going back in TIME and making a few slight changes......for a happier outcome.  As You Wish.  It's gonna rain all day.

Daily Notes for Wednesday April 29th...Cloudy here in Maine...55 degrees

 What I am hoping to order and get...soon.   Says it is also now a movie.

The book I usually get from the library does't look like this- it has a really old cover.  I'm happy the publisher updated the book.  Her husband isn't actually "lost"....he's dead.  Had a great deal of debt and the widow lost everything...house, furniture, wedding china etc. when he had a car accident and died.  But she had her two children and one beat up car.  And an aunt who owned a goat farm.

We'll see how it goes getting the book home to me.  I may try the book shop around the corner from the grocery store....I'd like to say hello to the guy who owns the place....my age.  I like to buy local. Maine is a hard place to make a go of a business...too few people living here year round.

The Donut Shop people should be getting back from their Florida house soon and making Jelly Filled Donuts again.  So I can have one.  They close up shop for almost 6 months.

Well, that's about it...I had to docu-sign a few things this morning.... on the computer.

I type and delete things that I want to say about what is happening in America these days.....but I think it's too dangerous.... and the "good plate" on the "Ballroom"  will be 100% FAKE.

Prince Charles hit one out of the park yesterday.  Good Job!!!!  KING CHARLES!!!!!

Daily Notes for Tuesday April 28th. Sunshine and 54 degrees

 Vegetable Soup.

I haven't made any lately ...but my soup looks just like this.  Right now I have Broccoli but zero potatoes or green beans...And suddenly I want both..

I feel like I slept quite a bit last night but when I woke up it was 6 am...I never get up that early so I think my internal atomic clock is way way off.  I need a reset. Or a fresh battery.

I deleted all the deleted stuff on my Tivo.   179 things.  None of it of great interest and most I had already watched and actually thought I HAD deleted....TiVo always tells me not to delete....they say they will take care of it when "space" is needed....

I am watching very very old CSI programs-- Vegas and New York.  I hardly pay attention to the stories. But do enjoy the lab work. The Miami and Vegas Crime Stories are very very ORANGE. Like the soup.

Tru Green called yet again.....why did I send the guys away who were going to spray my grass????? That's what they wanted to know...I said because I did NOT want them to spray my grass.....That wasn't the right answer so they kept asking.... Why did I send them away.......????  Isn't this the definition of insanity????

 I looked up the book seller you all recommended and they had several books by the author I like.... books I didn't know existed. Strange pricing...18 dollars or less for some and 49 dollars for others.  No reason.

I also printed off invoices for the latest oil delivery....no address.  None.  This new company gets weirder by the minute. Everything seems to be getting weirder by the minute and by the day.

Daily Notes for Monday April 27th. Sunshine so far today and temps in the low 60's

 Spring might actually have arrived.  No heavy coat needed.   Dentist This Morning...early.

Have been watching CSI: Miami and getting tired of all the ORANGE so will be watching something else today.  CSI: New York with dark shades of black and grey..........and the billion episodes of Law and Order as a fall back position....book is The Girl From Summerhill.. I surrender.

I have left over Rice and Peas still....I also could open up a can of Split Pea Soup.  Grilled Cheese Sandwich is also available.  Or I could have breakfast.....second breakfast.

Not sure what I want to do.... but the second breakfast appeals to me...

Strange to open the two large closets and look at all the white linen shirts this morning when getting dressed to actually LEAVE the HOUSE..  Lots of them. It didn't seem like White Linen weather as yet.  But I love them all and they eventually all get worn.... I have a navy wool blazer in there as well.  A different more serious me....in the past.   Only two skirts. I wore them all the time in Germany.  Kept them but rarely if ever wear them here in Maine-

 Now the waist is too small for me.  

No newspaper today as we don't get one on Monday anymore... that's it for me today..

Daily Notes for Sunday April 26th. Sunshine here in Maine and 51 degrees- cold in the house.

 Shits fired at the Presidential whatever it was...they had on Tuxedos.  Okay that was a mis-spelling for "shots" and I started laughing when I spell checked...  It stays.

Sunday Pizza today....already looking forward to it.

I am considering ordering some books from Amazon.  I am compiling a list.....slowly.  Only one book so far and I don't think it's in print anymore. Daughter has had no luck finding it. The Lost Husband. Author is Center.

Luck...I might just read the three Luck trade paper books....About the three friends who share a winning lottery ticket. I sort of liked book one.- I didn't like book three... never bothered to read book two.

The trade paper books I bought at the music store- are not looking great.....I started one and had to STOP.....absolutely NOT what I like to read.... ICK.

I do have the Vancouver Police Procedural Series in the book case.  Gritty but Cozy.

Watching 3 to 5 episodes of CSI Miami and/or CSI New York these days... Recorded so I can fast forward thru the boring stuff.  Yesterday was not a great day--I fast forwarded thru All the recorded episodes.  I've actually seen them ALL- in the past with Riley...sort of like what we did with Law and Order. There were some episodes the Dog really got into....past life experiences I think.  Growled if I tried to fast forward.

Perhaps some recorded British Soccer.  Today. Always a "good thing". To watch.  Then Pizza.

I found a fabric to cut into squares to add to the small rectangular finished quilt I don't like....It needed something "light" as there was way too much DARK blue touching....is boring.  Or off center-- it's something this Virgo finds annoying.  I have the new squares pinned to it- no final sewing as yet. Just occasionally looking at it. Moving things from here to there......again and again. Eventually, all the new pieces will work or be removed......

That's it.  I need to tuck my coffee into the microwave for a re-heat....  turned up the heat...bit of a chill in the house.  10am....I've done quite a lot and it's only 10 am.  Today is going to be ENDLESS...

Daily Notes on a Sunshine Filled Saturday In Maine. 50 degrees

 We were going to have an image of the old quilt but it seems to have gotten lost....if it shows up I'll add it.  (by the way--there are three more-- but this one is the one I like best.)

Sunshine today and a good sleep last night....I was going to read yesterday but...after a few pages- I put two books in the return book bag and took a "time out" or the rest would have also gone in the bag. I think I will read Eligible again...eventually..   From my bookcase. Been awhile. It's on the Jane Austin reading list. I liked it enough to buy a copy.  Years ago.

I really don't like books with ghosts in the story line. I also do NOT like violence. That Devereaux book went directly into the return bag. I have a feeling more of last Friday's selections will end up in the book bag..... before next Friday. I may be forced to read the Swampy Alligator book.....oh, please no......... 

April is almost complete.....Birds are visiting the backyard bird bath which is filled with leaves etc. I should go out there and dump out the mess and fill the bath with clean water....it's been a really really long time since I went out in the backyard.   Possibly when the guys were here for the Generator??? The back deck has no railings and I am not steady on my feet......especially carrying water.

As with any super large purchase (the whole house generator)....the power went out ALL THE TIME- well, frequently- before we decided to buy the generator...after it was installed the power has gone out once...for a very short time. Not like the days it went out before the generator.  It will be an added perk when we sell the house. Not that we are seriously ready to be moving or anything.  Well, I'm not.  We still have moving boxes to open up in the Attic. From three or four previous moves. Or more.

The photo... It arrived.   I have two brown strips ready for hand sewing.  Turned edges etc.  I didn't have any dark red with dots in the Sewing Room.....so chose the best I could find.... next up will be the whites and pinks and some very light yellow...then I refold the 30's quilt and move on to the next section.  I cut the strips wider so I can double fold the extra under.. where there is still some original batting...in other spots I have to add batting.

It's a lovely quilt.  At first I was reluctant to use modern fabrics but.....I recalled the women in the Gee's Bend book talking about using what was "to hand" and that they had little to choose from...and those quilts are amazing.  And when this one is repaired it will be amazing in a new and different way...better than hidden in a bag in the closet...

Daily Notes for Friday April 24th....Sun and then no Sun here in Maine and 47 degrees

 I don't have an image for you........I stayed in bed a bit too long and just finished my breakfast and the newspaper.   Son is ready to go to the grocery store and I have a book to pick up at the Library.  I may also get to pick up the large art book I ordered. I feel like painting.

I have to decide on what to buy for my lunches this week....something my digestive tract likes.

I should turn on the house lights....The living room and TV area get very dark on days like this. Ah.Sun.

The back lawn looks strange.... at some point the Guys will show up and mow the grass.  I "electronically" signed a contract....with supervision.....

At Some Point. I will call and have the Septic Tank pumped out.

At Some Point.......stuff will get done around here.  Don't hold your breath...I'm not.

I found the receipt for the once brand new Washing Machine/Dryer combo.  Taped it to the door where the machine lives.... was expensive...but a great improvement over the old one.....I do miss the Washing Machine Pages though.....written while watching to see if the old machine overflowed....which it did do. when I wasn't watching....Machines....strange things.

I found the receipt in the large bag of papers sitting next to the paper shredder.  Which means I need to look before I shred from now on.  

Daily Notes- Thursday, April 23rd....Sun and clouds and clouds and Sun. Here in Maine- 46 degrees.

 Grape Hyacinth, Viola, Forget Me Not, Donkey Tail and Spurge.  I feel a Blue Summer Coming. When- ever I skip past the Home Shopping Network (while going other places) I see plants....often blue.

I have on Winter clothing... I turned the heat up...the HUGE Oil Delivery Truck was leaving as I walked into the living room....Best window view of the front of the yard and drive.  No longer get a paper copy of the amount of oil...have to wait for an email.  Surprise!!!!!  Not as huge a surprise as Tucker Carlson dumping Trump.....but still a SURPRISE.

I'm losing my mind"grip" on Time....I am drifting....I think it's what happens as we approach our 80's???? though I think by the time I get to my 80th Birthday Cake- I will have already finished my 80th year. And will be embarking on the 81st.   

Time has little meaning for me.... these days... I seem to drift....and that's okay and even very nice.

I have nowhere to go- well next week is the dentist...  I'll go there..... I have a baked sweet potato for lunch....hours from now.

And will look up Donkey Tail....see if it grows in Maine.

I want to go looking at the supply table in the garage....but I'm a bit "tippy" this week so I'll wait to be supervised.....I want to see what supplies I have there....I also want to find the long handled rake with the very small head.....for raking between things.  Out back. Perhaps from a seated position.  Slowly.

Oil was $765.....

Daily Notes Wednesday April 22nd, Missed a Day. Called in sick.

 Hyssop.   I'm seriously considering buying some for the left side bed out front.  They get tall. and would be nice to have some tall stuff growing over there....Also buying some as a companion for the grapes...which have returned, yet again to the back garden.... supposed to do well together.  And some for next to the back deck. Let them spread.

The blue is quite lovely.

I spent some TIME looking for something yesterday...got me off track..... I found a few things but not what I was looking for.   Finding Your Roots was pretty good.... other than that TV was slim to none.

I don't have great hopes for today either.  I will eventually give up and return to Law and Order. And to mending that antique patchwork quilt.  Replacing frayed rotted out cloth strips with new strips that play well with the old stuff.. not an easy task. I have given up on "matching" other than color.

I had GREAT DIFFICULTY choosing a book to read yesterday which took a chunk out of my scheduled. reading time....I NEVER did pick one.  There was the swamp and alligator one...sigh.  I don't recall ever actually reading that one.  The filthy castle with animals living inside? ...that was okay.  I recalled the ending so I must have read it once before.   Quite a few of those books turn out okay once the woman cleans the place up......but read one... etc..... Daughter bought me a three book series....I liked book one. Before she went and bought all three....not sure about book two...three was difficult. Beginner's Luck (book one) was great.  

I have soup for today's lunch... Yesterday I felt "under the weather" all day- not exactly "sick" but not great.  I had chills and was under a quilt with a heating pad...tried to sleep but I just can't during the day And today?  So far okay.   But already tired at 10:30 am. 

Daily Notes for Monday April 20th....The Sun is shining here in Maine...45 degrees???? Clouds arrive after I typed this.

 I have used up all the images on the desk top.  Need to find new ones or skip the photo.

My hair is behaving...curling under....not quite long enough to gather and twist into a messy bun. Another month.  My Dental Appointment is coming up soon....I got an email.

I woke up tired.  It happens.  Perhaps not physically tired but emotionally tired if that makes sense. My LIFE HISTORY is unwinding and repeating itself endlessly in a LOOP while I sleep.......I see where I messed up....again and again. I can't go back in Time and make different choices.... so why keep showing me my mistakes??????  At least it's not that ride in the dark empty bus....that dream was endless and very disturbing. I finally stopped having it........but remembered it this morning.

And at almost 80-...what new things are there?   None. I used to wish for a new cashmere sweater. I got two hand me down acrylic pullovers..with a zip necks....wear them every day now....good enough.

Some of the grass....here....is greener than the rest.  Gonna be an interesting Summer. For a Perfectionist Lawn Owner.   I have Guys who will mow....I could mow myself..... but starting the mower is way too confusing for me. Husband always got it going for me and I mowed the grass...then he forgot how to start the mower......and I hired guys.

I woke up tired....I'm still tired.....Monday so no newspaper. So I stood and looked out the window...no news outside either.  And here I am with nothing to type.  Well, my oatmeal was very good.....I have an old book to finish reading....and I am searching for something else to read. After.

I have a long scribbled list (on the desk calendar)  of Jane Austin read-a- likes...mostly modern. Unmarriageable might be in the bookcase.. NO.. Curtis Sittenfeld's  Eligible is there all alone.. I also have Longbourne....incredibly sad....  I might also have the Other Bennet Sister....lost somewhere in the bookcase.  But I have other books to read.  Pride and Premeditation?  Sense and Second Degree?  No... I might see if any Library in Maine has these....laughing.

Daily Notes for Sunday, April 19th. Raining here in Maine and I had to turn up the furnace.

 I have raised beds like these out back (just dirt no plants)....fenced in because Maine has lots of foraging deer.  I have hoops also to pre heat the soil so I can defend against the cold Maine Spring.  The cloth that goes over the hoops is hard to find...we sold it at the greenhouse where I worked but in the my final years there- not always in stock.  Clear plastic is on option but...not sure where to find it or who would help me spread it over the hoops. And then in the heat of Summer-- it would be a disaster.  Watering back there is also a problem I have to think about.   Would have been nice to have dug a DEEP trench and run plumbing out there.  Could still happen.

The rain we are having has "'greened" up my over fertilized lawn.  It has been brown since last June. The green is still a bit splotchy and sort of yellow......but I will take whatever I can get.

I have a book on the table next to my bed now....for reading.  Usually in the morning.  No rush to get out of bed.   Each day is pretty much like ALL the others.  Seen one...seen them all.

I just finished reading a Devereaux book that comes before Met Her Match....but AFTER the Girl from Summerhill.   My intention today is a book about "wishes" where three unhappy women get to make a wish on how they would have made a different decision and changed their lives.  The Girl From Summerhill is actually my favorite book....Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice is the backbone of this story. I always keep it for the LAST book I read.....when doing the series.

I know for sure I haven't found or read all the authors who take Jane Austin's books as a framework for a modern book....I have found several different modern renditions of Jane Eyre. And like them even though I have never read the original Jane Eyre.  Or ANY original Jane Austin.  

After book reading stops in a few weeks--I plan to paint a watercolor or two.... The urge to paint is getting stronger as the Winter turns to Spring.

Reading and British Soccer today....Pizza after 4 pm.  My Morning Coffee needs a reheating.  Even though I just had my oatmeal I am feeling "snacky". but not a clue what to eat.

Daily Notes for Saturday April 18th.....Sunshine here in Maine 57 degrees.

 National Library Week- Coming Soon.

Okay here I am on a Saturday needing to type this quickly so I can get on with the Saturday Cooking Shows.  See what Lidia is making.  "Just like that". She says that all the time.

I am past the midway point in my book and then I have to choose another book.  I watched some CSI: Las Vegas yesterday....Not my favorite version- Too Orange and Way Too Creepy.  I think I prefer the darker colors of CSI: NY.  I visited Vegas once or twice- not my kind of place. I did enjoy the free drinks up on the roof- that's where the pool was.....and that's where I was. Alcohol Free.

I have two small cans of baked beans on the counter....at some point yesterday I thought about opening the cans and having baked beans with a nice Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  OR Macaroni and Cheese. I think one small can is enough....

I bought Apples for the Fruit of the Week.  Change of pace. But had an orange yesterday

My book is Deveraux's Ever After.   I like it....every time I read it I try to find reasons NOT to read it.... Ghosts......not a fan of ghosts and most of the Nantucket books have ghosts. Old Dead Sea Captains.

After the Deveraux Book Fest I will move on to some Dee Ernest and visit Paris. Been awhile. OR I might swivel over to some Police Procedurals I have stacked up...Quebec. Sort of "cozy" until the shooting starts.  I haven't read  Louise Penny in AGES.......I have her newest book....I have ALL her books.

We'll see who wins- more Nantucket or some Quebec. Or neither. Perhaps "Love Lettering". Been awhile. Or I can CRY my way thru My Heart Will Find You.... by Deveraux. Or I can sew.  I have all the "right" substitute fabric for mending this antique quilt.....and I can watch tv while sewing.  It's full size, old and needs quite a bit of mending..... Nothing matched in the first place so my"mending" doesn't even show.

But I can see where it doesn't match...cause that's how I roll.

Daily Notes- Library and Grocery Shopping...... no COAT!!!!!

 Produce.....

I went into the Library and actually had two books on hold.....to pick up....so that was a pleasant surprise. The other surprise was NOT NEEDING a coat.   

The lawn is TRYING to Spring into Action....All that excess fertilizer is making the transition from Winter Brown to Green even slower than usual.  I won't fertilize this year at all... and with the blockade fertilizer is going to be very very expensive.  

I do have two three by three by three foot bins full of compost ready to sift and spread.....last time I turned it- there were so many worms I ran back into the house.  Worms make fantastic compost.

If I could put weight on my knees I would go out back and dig up the hyacinth bulbs and arrange them in an area together..they are NOW being pushed around and covered up by Daffodils. I wonder if they sell long handled tools for people with bad knees????  I imagine they do. A shovel is too wide.

Birds have come back to visit the center garden bed out front...looking for bugs and worms. 

No Berries yet and No Bird Feeders anymore.

I just polished off a peanut butter wrap....now I need a beverage.  Nice cup of tea.   Take care.....

Daily Notes for Thursday April 18th. Cloudy, no Sunshine and 55 degrees

 I don't remember where this came from.  But I like it very very much.  Makes me "happy".

And "happy" is not something I feel, much at all, these days.  When was the last time I laughed????

I may draw this on cloth and drag out the thread and stitch while watching CSI:NY. I need to have something...anything to get me going again... I am at the halfway point in my book.  They haven't begun yoga as yet and they haven't traveled 'back in time" yet either..

I have a full bolt of white COTTON...waiting.....to be re-purposed into something new. I WISH, in retrospect, I had purchased a bolt of white LINEN.  I do have LINEN sheets but they are better used on beds until worn thin.....and then...I can stitch on them.

I moved my watercolor supplies to the new empty space in the cabinet across from the table where I eat breakfast and read the paper.   The computer typed words it liked while I was typing words I liked.  That has never happened before...and all the words were spelled correctly.  Strange Day so far. Perhaps a message from a ghost.

I have three new to me Devereaux books to look for in the Library catalog. "Someone to Love" sounds good.  Montgomery/Taggert fictitious family living on the coast of Maine.  I may have dismissed this book in early days....I'm older now....it makes a difference. Well, I need to order those books....read and finish my decaf coffee....perhaps watch some Soccer.  Perhaps...what is that Shakespeare quote that begins with Perhaps????

Daily Notes for Wednesday, April 15th. 56 degrees and 99% humidity. Zero Sun. Dismal.

 All the images are now here.   I deleted them from the desktop.  I like the wood surface in this image. I didn't notice it on the original...but see it here on the screen.  It is always fascinating what the eye notices and doesn't see.

I am still pleased that I washed Three Loads of Laundry.. fresh sheets on the bed...I turned a corner figuratively......getting a bit of myself back... I stayed up late to read that last pages of True Love. And am eager to begin reading book two... there's a bit of Time Travel in the second book...but the rest of the book makes up for that.  The Third Book is really strange....but also worth slogging thru to the end.  Lots of the same people in all three.  Nantucket.

Nantucket is close by but I don't think I'll ever take the bus/train to Boston to catch the Fast Ferry.  Though I would like to people watch while enjoying an ice cream cone. I'd most likely twist an ankle on the cobble streets. All my clothes would be the "wrong" clothes.

Son emptied another section of the cabinet across from the table where we eat and read the paper.  We still have a pile of husband's papers on top.....he says we might need them.  But all of husband's things in that bottom cabinet are now in a storage tub.....and I was considering filling the space with Art Supplies. Which are now in the hall coat closet.  There is also an unused very very large tv on top of the cabinet.... Husband watched things on it while eating or reading the paper or doing word search puzzles..  He liked Wipe Out and the hidden cameras watching pets home alone.  I'd like to see the TV find a new home. At Goodwill.

That's it for today- the dampness outside precludes a walk for me...to the end of the street and back... I'l wait for warmer weather and some sunshine.....a shower and three loads of laundry yesterday was enough. For this Old Woman.  And I have book two to get involved in.

The Sun broke thru the clouds just a moment ago...what a delight!!!!!

A Sunny Day in Maine but still a chilly 64 - outside and in the house.

 The second pear.   A bit lighter with extra yellow..   

The exuberance of yesterday has worn off.... or I just wore myself out with changing the sheets etc. I have a tremendous amount of laundry to do.  Hours.   But it's far better to spent time doing laundry than discovering what Mr T has done overnight.  It's amazing......his capacity....

I keep checking the fridge hoping for a miracle-- like something in there to eat. Even the freezer is BARE. There is aways peanut butter....but will it last until Friday shopping?????  I also have one "trial" container of yogurt....the trial is seeing if it produces acid reflex.  It's a brand I used to eat long ago and far away. I also have canned baked beans.... a  Sad Empty Pantry and Fridge.

I have oatmeal.

I have nothing more so you get another painting

Daily Notes- Monday April 13th. A bit cloudy here in Maine, 51 degrees and high humidity.

 Ask and you shall receive... this is  5 by 8 inches and is in a frame with another pear,  A Pair of Pears.

I'll take a picture of the left hand one for you tomorrow.  Watercolor.

I have acrylic paint if I want to use it....I never could AFFORD oil paints...in college..so that was a real disappointment.  Acrylic is nice but nowhere as nice as oil paints (it's shiny).. Oil moves smoothly and mixes on the canvas.  

In college I received an A in my one watercolor class.  I brought in only one painting...the professor looked at that one painting for quite awhile and then looked at me....He never said anything....I found out about the A when the grades were posted. Weeks later.  Unexpected.

The painting got lost .... the watercolors were in my parent's home and were stolen one day when a cousin came with a truck and loaded furniture, paintings, collected Christmas ornaments, vintage toys--everything in the basement workshop and drove away....leaving my demented mom (his aunt) with an empty house. He sold everything.  This sort of thing runs in the family DNA.

Well, we got off onto a different tangent here.....I lost quite a few things in all the moves husband and I made.  When daughter was bringing down boxes I had hopes of finding even one or two of the missing pieces of my Life.  Hasn't happened as yet.

I have one more thing to share- it will be political so stop reading  if you need to do that......

Tucker Carlson lives here on the coast of Maine..broadcasts HATE from a bunker like garage..I have always been ashamed of that....but yesterday on MSNBC (of all things) Tucker took down and sliced open Donald Trump and his VP like he might with a deer he shot.  Well...it was something I never thought to see or hear.  Wish I had recorded it.

I need to hydrate and eat.....I took a shower after my oatmeal and I did okay.  The shower head is still leaking...no one is going to try and tighten it.....I asked...I tried to do it myself but I'm too short to get a good grip.  And I am SO NOT climbing upon anything in a tile-lined shower to reach it... no death wish.

I finished Met Her Match and am now reading True Love. Devereaux.   Only book in the series I do NOT have a copy of.....all the others were picked off the Discard Cart the Library used to put outside the front door.  I just counted 23 hardback Deveraux and Lindsay books I got off the Discard Carts over the years.   I always called it my Retirement Collection. And...it's been a great joy to have books I love available- especially during the Pandemic when the Library closed down completely..

Daily Notes for Sunday April 12th. Sunshine here and 46 degrees. House feels chilly.

 Grass and weeds.   Well, they cut the weeds down to make a path.  Not my yard. But the back acre does look like this and if they don't mow it- a path would be nice..  Ticks.  The Lawn Guys haven't started mowing as yet.  The back is fine but the front lawn is still struggling to recover from Too MUCH Fertilizer and not enough water.

My constantly multiplying daffodils out back are doing what they do to cheer me up.  I promised them some mulch...but finding some and ordering it and getting it delivered is holding us up..as it does every year...until it's too late and I give up.  I give up earlier and earlier these days.

April.  I can't actually figure out what's happening....time moves at a different pace these days..the closer I get to my Eightieth Birthday (which is still 5 months away)...the slower the days go by.  It's like I'm dragging my feet to slow myself down.  Same with my book...I stopped reading so I could make the book last longer.   

Sunday Pizza today....no football but I have two British Soccer Matches being recorded.  I tried watching CSI:Miami but all the ORANGE put me off as usual.  I like the darkness on CSI:NY.

That's about all I have for you this morning...it's what happens when I get up too early...and have sad thoughts and cry ....then I get over it and get out of bed.  I wonder if that's okay???

I watched the new Storage Locker show....new people.  The regulars were getting OLD.  The lockers they bought were full of dust and dirt.....  or it could have been sand.

I have, for the past few weeks, been considering watercolor painting....just something small.  I have framed paintings I did years ago....I see them often...on the shelf above the fireplace.  Next to my bed (daughter sprinkled them around the house)....the very last thing I painted....a red apple...flat topped and wide.  I see it before I climb into bed and in the morning when I get up...... reminding me. 

Is there anything you stopped doing that you could start doing again??????

Daily Notes on a cloudy damp day in Maine....The Sun came out while I was typing. April 11

 A Polish Cake... Karpatka.   I want one.    

The Sun comes and goes......daughter is having trouble with getting LAST YEAR'S tax refund. Due to Trump firing most of the senior tax employees.  

Anyone out there understand what MRS TRUMP was actually saying with the walk in a tight suit????? If you have any information..please share????  WAS VERY STRANGE. At first I thought she was going to run for President.......because why not?????  Being Qualified Be Damned.

Today is Saturday and the Cooking Shows are all mixed up.  On PBS. Foraging....Wild Blueberries. In Maine. Next up is something that they eat in a "Bacon Lettuce Tomato: sandwich which is not bacon. I rewound to see what it is.   The Town Commons is behind my house....who knows what sort of things grow there. I used to have wild blueberries but the deer foraged.  The "bacon" was flat leaves of seaweed.

So today is Saturday.   A few Cooking Shows...Some Reading....Some Soccer.  My book is still Met Her Match...lots of stuff still has to happen.   Well, the Wild Cooking Show is done- next up? Who knows.

Jobless Claims jumped to 219K last week.

Gotta watch Lida now and then British Soccer.  And perhaps stitch strips of torn cloth into a square or rectangle.  By hand... and read my way to a very happy ending of "Met My Match". And then start in on another Deveraux saga.  

Daily Notes for Friday, April 10th. My Mother's Birthdate...why I remember that is beyond me.

From the images side of the desktop.....I need to stock up on new images.

Today is grocery day.  We haven't made a LIST.

Not much to say here....not much going on...I could describe the plots of two CSI episodes from yesterday??????  The living room thermostat needed fresh batteries.  My bedroom clock in the shape of an Apple Computer needed batteries a while back... I Swiffered my bedroom floor yesterday- especially under the bed.. PLENTY of dust bunnies.

My hair is undergoing a transformation- I look like a 1980's woman (again).  It happened overnight.

There are two books I want-  True Love and As You Wish... I am reading thru the "Library Discarded Books Collection" in my cupboard.  And I am missing these two.   If my energy levels are up enough...unlikely...I will walk to the Library and see if they have these two on the shelves......I have a feeling they got discarded years ago with the others........on days I wasn't there to save them...... 

I'll check the catalog.   Well, I need breakfast and the newspaper.  Some coffee.  I did remember to put my socks on.
 

Daily Notes for Thursday, April 9th...sunshine here in Maine and 44 degrees.

 Not seeing any birds here in Maine....yet.  The shrubs have their overwintered leaves but the trees are all bare. None of Maine's leaves have COLOR other than tan or brown...yet.  The grass is brown or tan on ALL the lawns (not just mine).... I haven't decided...yet...to start walking...but I know it would be a GOOD thing to do.  Wearing a heavy coat while walking would be a very BAD idea.  So warmer weather.

Tomorrow is Grocery Shopping Day....I might try and walk to the Library to return books. It depends on my Energy Levels.  I do not think I will enter the Library.  But things might change.  I have two books I want to read.....and they are NOT in my bookcase.... Deveraux's True Love and As You Wish.

I cooked yesterday...boiled water.  I find this amusing........ I made boxed Kraft Mac and Cheese....added frozen peas.  I remembered how to do it.  Laughing.  Today is Grilled Cheese with Pickles.  Might as well keep going.... It felt good and after eating I washed the dishes.... "normal" activities.

Well, It's getting late and I need to eat breakfast.......read the paper...suffer thru the Suduko puzzle. After that- the couch and the book I am reading..... and channel 1177 for more dead bodies..

I am BACK to reading a book a day.   Which I have been TOLD is best for Brain Health (screens are bad).   Along with a daily walk. SOON. And LARGE AMOUNTS of WATER (drinking water)......the remaining Attic BOXES will still be there in November.......when daughter's Gardening Season Ends.

Breakfast......the Paper....the Suduko....the book I am reading..... and then LUNCH!!!!!!  A FULL DAY.

Daily Notes for Wednesday April 8th. Sunshine and Visible Grass here in Maine.

 Advertisement offering me these lovely flowers.  Deer Food here in Maine.

I haven't seen any of the deer outback as yet....last year the street behind me was being paved and the deer might have gone swimming over to the islands early.   In the early days of living here my backyard was full of black crows and a multitude of deer.  I live very very close to the ocean and the small islands where people spend the summer months.

Too much traffic now.  For deer.   The back acres are in desperate need of a major cleanup.  The fenced garden- left unused for quite a few years now- is a terrible MESS.  My late husband used to spend days back there slowly weeding...there was no hurry back then.......

I am happy to see the Sunshine again....Snow was an unwelcome guest yesterday.

Re-reading a favorite book yesterday.  Anyone But You.   Today I am looking forward to Met Her Match. In case the TV series I am watching gets dull and boring.  1177  on the TV dial always has something interesting and often icky ways for people to die..   I set a few educational PBS offerings to record.  And I have MANY Law and Order episodes waiting.  I watch and miss my dog.

Well, I need breakfast and an update on the NEWS.  Whatever happened while I was not watching. Interesting that MORE people got tax refunds....I did not.   I lost my visitor counter for the blog so have no idea if anyone is even reading these posts....perhaps I should just stop??????

Daily Notes for Tuesday, April 7th. A Still, Cloudy Day here in Maine.

 I've lost track of the carved wooden cats and dogs. Which ones have been here and which ones not.

The morning paper had images of the dark side of the Moon.  I wasn't watching the right channel when the images arrived on TV.  But the newspaper had a large photo.  Past visits were in 1969 and 1971..So I was correct in thinking I had been in the hospital with the delivery of one or the other of my babies watching them drop down to the surface of the Moon.  They aren't leaving the capsule this time.

The days all seem the same right now--is that how it is as we get really OLD?....

I have gathered my longish hair into a small knot at the base of my head and neck and secured it with a few pins.  It's escaping.  As it always has done. I skipped a morning shower again as I was a bit shaky this morning....not a good time to take a fall. Naked.  After breakfast is a better choice or mid afternoon.

CSI has been both disgusting and entertaining.  And I recall the episodes as I have watched them many times over the decades.....Riley and I.  Good times.  Same with Law and Order.  Old Friends.

Cross the street neighbors are back from a long vacation.  Lights on in the house last night.  Theirs is the only house I can actually SEE on this long dead end street.  All the others are too far away or blocked by lots of tall dark trees. Or.... on the bedroom side of the house with the blinds closed.

If Son asks if I am feeling ABLE to do the walk to the end of the street and back as yet...my reply would be No.  I have to work up to it again and not go far in the beginning in case I need to sit down.  And there are no places to sit down on my street.  I've considered carrying a folding chair....no..stop laughing.

Chair would have to have wheels- continue to stop laughing.

Daily Notes- Monday April 6th. Cloudy. 44 degrees..Cloudy with a chance of Sun- like right now.

 I'm trying to remember to slide the dog pictures into the trash can after using them here.  I like the west facing dog .  Quite a bit.  Reminds me of one of our dogs.  Rusty. A Red Lab.  He retired here from North Carolina. 

 Here in Maine we tilt a bit to warm and then back to cold. It is Maine...It COULD still snow. There are a few unmelted patches of snow out front.

Sunday pizza was excellent- we are trying a new pizza sauce- it was tasty....and after the pizza my two sweet potatoes entered the still very hot oven....I have the cheese I like to stuff into the reheated potatoes this week. (I remembered to buy it)... it melts and is stringy and gooey. Lovely with the soft baked sweet potato.

Yesterday I watched the Miami based CSI.  Usually I don't like it...but it was fine- no alligators..  AMC has a series I enjoyed once before so I set the TiVo to record all six episodes...clipping something else on the 6th episode.

 I found "Met Her Match" in the bookcase.  Hard cover and trade paper. (belt and. suspenders)  Looking forward to reading it after finishing Bad Luck Bridesmaid...I am half way.   We haven't gotten into the best parts of THAT book yet.  The "set up" for what happens next takes TIME.........almost Too Much Time. and then it simply slides into a crash landing. I am never quite sure it's a Happy Landing.  Depending on my mood when I read it- can go either way.

I may catch up on any "breaking news" I missed over the weekend.  Or I May Not.  We don't get a Monday newspaper so I just "don't know"....what's happened or did not happen. 

I know there is a recorded Soccer Match in case I need a Soccer Match..  

Daily Notes for Sunday April 5th. Raining... Hallmark has made a movie of one of my favorite books.....

 Happy Easter.....

I had to check the wall calendar to make sure of the date.And the Holiday.  I have Zero of these sweet nest treats here...I have zero Easter anything here. Sunday Pizza. After 4 pm.

Tried watching the Birding With Benefits Hallmark Movie (of a book I love reading)....just NO..... I can't even try imagining these two doing what the book characters did.  There were a lots of "benefits" in the book.  Quite a bit of serious unhappiness also.

The actress in the woman's part is one of those chirpy chatty people.  In EVERY HALLMARK MOVIE...same performance.....never changes.  The book's female character is depressed. Not one chirpy anything. Barely makes conversation.  I understand her. 

I am not in a "place" where I can read the book. 

So....what will I do instead of watching the Planned Hallmark Diversion????  READ????  Yesterday I sorted fabric scraps.....rock bottom here in Maine for activities.  

Well.....Library Items are close to being due.  A few reminders in the emails.  I can renew the ones I  am still thinking about reading,.....I have books.....I am considering Met Her Match..  It has its moments. I also am considering hand sewing a square together.  I have collections of fabric strips ready to go. 

I'll let you SEE what happens.... I hope it's not cold and wet where you are...It is here in Maine.

Daily Notes. Saturday April 4th. It's not even 10 am and I have. gone thru everything I can think of doing.

 I love the stripes.

I had difficulty falling asleep...for the past week or even two weeks (it seems)...the Full Moon has been shining into my bedroom windows....lighting up the room... and now people are up there..in Space.  Near the Moon. I thought they were going to visit the surface but they are not....just a fly by.

I have been watching CSI: Vegas.  Vintage.   I slightly remember each episode as it evolves. I watched quite a bit of CSI re-runs when I had the Winter off from the Greenhouse Job.  Time to Fill. Acres of Time to Fill....and no one to talk to.  At work I talked to so many people each day....at home...just me and the dog... he got tired of me talking to him when All He Wanted was to watch tv.  Yes.  My dog watched tv. Disliked the commercials more than I did.  And eventually he fell asleep. With his head on my feet so he'd be "notified" if I was getting up.  In case that meant food or a walk.  We walked a lot. Together.

My new desk top calendar has only one headline pasted down.  Lunar Voyage.....April is going to be a Politics Free Zone....this includes MSNBC which I haven't watched in a really really long time.

I am thinking about recording Rugby Games.  I do not understand anything about  Rugby even after watching MANY games...it's more like "hide the ball and call the medics".  Watching makes me want to find the Rom Com in my bookcase with the Rugby Guy staying in the wrong house.   I actually haven't seen that book in a very very long time...Met Her Match.  Might try and find it..read it. Today.

My Taxes have been electronically filed.  It's a miracle of "techno" whatever.   Sigh.... No refund.

Daily Notes for Friday April 3rd. Clouds....Broken Space Toilet.....

 Making.  Not me. Not now....but "before"...... I would have hauled out the felt.  Made the cactus. My straight pins are in a pale cream pear shaped felt object.  Needed to have a more "dense" filling inside...if I find something or one of you has a suggestion--- I'll unsew one side and put something better in.

The little FOX is adorable.  (Not as adorable as Dee's Mice).  I might buy the kit.  

Son says "not enough water" as I am being very forgetful today.  I had the regular amount.  With my vitamins.  BUT we were ready to go shopping so did not finish my one cup of instant decaf coffee. I have a tea bag and hot water here to the right of myself- sugared....sigh.  Plus I have HAD two 8 ounce glasses of water.   A bit of acid reflux as well.  

Growing OLD is really the pits.  

Two more sweet potatoes...will get baked before or after Sunday Pizza while the oven is hot. I have the cheese I like to add to the baked sweet potato..... Oranges are fluctuating in price as the weeks go by. Going higher.  At one point in Time- one dollar each.  I eat one every day.

In the book I am reading two people meet and share dinner (repeatedly) and really like each other.. never run out of things to talk about...I've read the book before...HIS mother doesn't like the woman and that's that......end of story.  Bad Luck Bridesmaid.  No wedding actually takes place if she is a bridesmaid.

Channel 1177 has been serving up some bloody story lines.   Not exactly a replacement for British Soccer but keeps me OFF the NEWS channels.  I will try some Law and Order today.  Daughter has gone back to Landscape Work....Spring Clean Up.  So I need to "amuse" myself.... but there are STILL MANY BOXES up in the ATTIC to sort thru......when Daughter comes back.

Daily Notes for Thursday April 2nd. Almost noon and I haven't eaten breakfast. Liftoff to the Moon!!!

I give up....I'll start typing from the midline.  This computer has often decided to do this for reasons only IT knows. Cloudy this morning and still needing the furnace running.

Well, there we go..it fixed itself.   Kristi Doom....well well.  And the Big Guy sitting in on the Supreme Court.   MSNBC showed a close up of Trumps ankles- swollen WAY over the top edges of his shoes. Tick Tock...time is running out...for his kidneys.  My own ankles do this every so often.

I had one of the baked sweet potatoes yesterday with butter and some Parmesan cheese... tasty.  Tried a few books..nothing was interesting....just not a Reading Week. Perhaps next week.  I did collect a few black and white prints to make a new square....missing "something" to make the other cloth sparkle. Will keep looking.  Channel 1177 has been entertaining.  Today I'll give Missing Without a Trace a chance.....- where they look for people who just disappear.   Hallmark- is a disaster....15 minutes of one movie and I went back to dead bodies on CSI.

No Soccer on USA which is SAD.  I do have Soccer on one of the four digit channels.  But players are like tiny tiny and not all that great to watch..  Furnace is going.... at some point I'll be asked to sign my Income Tax Paperwork.  

Okay...I haven't had breakfast as yet or read the paper or tried the Suduko....So much to do... I have to also put on socks...I turned the heat up as it was feeling cold in here....I feel cold most of the time these days. Spring...?????

 

Daily Notes for Wednesday April First... Oh what Fools we are.........

Let's name him or her... SPOT.

I ruminated on my Life before getting out of bed this morning....mistakes I made.  Ways I could have improved my Life...changes I could have made.  Too late now...and actually now...I am feeling good about my Life.   Wish I had friends.  People to do things with...but almost everyone I knew is my age and moving on to the Retirement they dreamed of.  Elsewhere.

Mainers look forward to Elsewhere.

I relocated the channel with the good shows. 1177.  I'l be watching stuff there.  Until British Soccer resumes.  

Daughter took my overdue books back to the Library and checked out a bag full of my favorites.  I have checked them out MANY times this Winter...... read and repeat.  Sigh.  Most have some sort of complicated love story in the plot.   Often making me cry.

I am finding myself being tugged reluctantly to the Art Supply cabinet.  Wanting to paint or draw or something.... more than likely watercolor.  I have a small collage I found in the Art Cupboard here my the desktop...an index card....I have it where I can look at it when I am on the couch feeling sad.

As to Streaming....The Computer Engineer said there was ZERO possibility of streaming of any sort here. Now or Ever.  The TiVo is a no go...The TV is a non starter.  So ALL of you telling me I could.....I can't.

I can't.

 

Daily Notes- Tuesday, March 31sr. Dismal, Damp Tuesday here in Maine.

Things are going on...but I managed to ignore the BOTS and get to my blog.

Not much to report.  Daughter brought down some artificial flowers- colors I asked for and I washed a  German crystal vase and have what I consider a lovely arrangement.   Daughter thought it needed "more". she took the remaining flowers back upstairs to the "Sewing Room". The only finished space upstairs.

She also took my books back to the Library and got me some old favorites...I think she knows me better than I thought....comfort books.  Always do the trick on these cloudy, damp overcast days...... at some point in Time it will be "safe" for me to walk to the end of the street and back......until then the Twin's Mom brings the old dog over to visit with me and daughter......giving the puppy time for a long nap.

Artist continues to be Manuel Jiminez.  On Facebook?  I really like this one.

Watched some vintage Law and Order yesterday......ones I didn't recall...watching...years ago.

We unplugged the porch/sunroom fridge...Lowes neglected to pick it up years ago.  Any water is draining into a restaurant sized metal pan.  I mentioned calling Loews and getting them to come pick it up....

The freezer was full of Black Walnuts....great for dyeing cloth to a sublime earthy black.  Which I did do several times.... disposal of leftover water is the problem...and the use of a pot you never intend to use again for people......  Pour the water out and kill any plants nearby. If I recall the warnings correctly.  They can't be put in the regular garbage.... hazardous waste??????

They are in sturdy freezer bags on the porch...I am doing research after I press publish.

I continue to watch the bombing........I saw that a multi billion dollar plane of OURS was bombed as it sat on the ground..... just waiting for a bomb to hit it.... why are Republicans so STUPID????

I went to the recycling site and black walnuts are okay to dispose of in the weekly garbage bags.... Heave Ho.......next Tuesday.

 

Daily Notes on a half sunny Monday in Maine. March 30th. April begins on Wednesday.

 Trump's Ballroom.

Twice as large as the White House- over to the left.  When are WE going to STOP HIM???? 

My desktop calendar is FULL...no room for today and tomorrow... well, three inches by 1.5 over to my lower left...another 2 inch by 1 inch space above Us Stock Market Remains Calm (it tanked).

When we last visited the moon neither of my children were newborns...I finally did the math.  I am miss-remembering things.  Looking forward to Artemis II next week.

Baked my two sweet potatoes after the pizza came out of the oven yesterday.  I will tuck butter and cheese into them....when I warm them up for lunch. Usually Swiss but do not have any so American...it might be good????  "Try New Things"

Reading:  Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone's "Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl".  Not what I expected but certainly what these two are "known" for.....I have ALL their other books.  I began reading them with Dumplin and If The Shoe Fits....and kept right on going...This one is hard cover and everything the others have ever been.  The first two were in the Young Adult section not regular fiction.  I am not positive but I think there was a book between Dumplin and If The Shoe Fits but my library never added it to the collection.

Repair Work on the Vintage Quilt has stalled out....reading has replaced mending.  I don't have enough fruit to get me to next Friday..... I have three oranges.   I can pretend the Sweet Potatoes are a "fruit"????

Yes, that will work.  The entire country is pretending everything is okay...

Daily Notes- Yesterday's post was actually written on Saturday. Today is Sunday.

The Library renovation.  Nothing is where it was...  I usually enter opposite the big red rectangle.

My book by Quinn is..not what I want to read this week..I have five more from that book shopping trip.. so I will pick one of them....I was not in the Danielle Steele Book Wheelhouse this time around.  I usually enjoy them...but not right now.   There's a second one that might have Time Travel. So I'll give it a go.

There is a little note to remind me to ask for Margaret Renkel's book the Weedy Garden.  

I told daughter I was okay with Time Travel but NOT the other weird stuff Deveraux gets into.

Watched the No Kings demos and parades.  Daughter usually goes to the ones here in Town and has very very good posters and signs.  Ny participation is left to voting and headlines glue sticked to my calendars. My desk top calendar is fully encased in newspaper headlines....as is the wall calendar across from where I eat breakfast.  I think I might need to crank it down some so the calendars look like calendars.  

Astronauts are going the Moon again... been 53 years since the last visit.  I think they were on the Moon when my son was born (but I am always WRONG).  I'll ask him how old he is... skip the Moon business. Perhaps it was when his sister was born????  

Being old is annoying but often amusing but only to myself...the amusing part.  I am almost aways annoyed so a good laugh evens things out. (Lucy would be my cartoon character in Peanuts)  Today is Sunday Pizza.  I have lettuce for a big bowl of salad. While the oven preheats my two sweet potatoes will be baking... I reheat them during the week for my lunch...Son remembered to buy them. For me. If I had gizmos I'd add a heart image.

I also got Corn Chips (made in the store) and dark chocolate chips so I'm significantly happier.....this week.  They DID NOT have the Lara Bars I like. Chocolate Chip so that was a bummer.  Must be the most popular ones??????  That's it for today.... on to the Steele book to see if I can stick with it.

 

Daily Notes- Saturday, March 28th. Chilly in the house- furnace running...bit of sunshine.

 Not another Dog. (but I have half a dozen more). Still Manuel Jiminez.

I found a spot on the internet for Egg Substitutes.   I don't like real eggs in the shell...so Ick.  And Egg Beaters is now available only in a QUART...not the small sized PINT.   We waste half or more of each quart we buy....as we are not doing Christmas or Holiday Baking....just normal once a week something or other.  So Substitution.

Mashed banana can be an "egg" with..1/4 cup of applesauce. ( no bananas and certainly never any applesauce)  Plain yogurt can also be a nice egg-  1/4 cup with maybe 1 teaspoon of flax seed (ground up). Sweetened condensed milk can also sub as an egg- using less liquid in the recipe.  

The odd ones are one tablespoon  of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of baking SODA.   Or one teaspoon of oil, 2 teaspoons water and 2 teaspoons of baking POWDER.   For cakes one teaspoon baking SODA mixed with 1 teaspoon of vinegar-also used for muffins and quick breads.

I was planning on an 8 inch square pan of cornbread.

Two episodes of Law and Order yesterday....both very old... Vintage. Clothing.

Today (and yesterday's) book is Till Summer Do Us Part.  Meghan Quinn.   Two unsuitable people (strangers) are matched up to do a Marriage Camp to iron out their "matrimonial difficulties"....Same author as Runaway Groom.  Writing is choppy...in Runaway- smooth.  I've closed the book twice...has one more chance and then into the Book Return Bag.  I do NOT suffer thru a poorly written book....EVER.

 These two (in the book) do NOT know each other, are NOT married to each other or anyone else and one is only doing it for shits and giggles (the guy) and the other (gal) to SAVE her JOB. As far as I can tell...on page 60-- the guy has zero employment ( but I suspect... lots of money)...and is the recommended brother of Girl's Favorite Bartender....already it sounds stupid. Even to me a dedicated Rom Com Reader.

At this point in the book the Therapist and the Guy are tossing a basketball around while the girl- losing her employment-- is watching them and concluding they are both useless. Page 60.

But then the Runaway Groomsman didn't have much going for him but he did know everything about construction, plumbing and wiring. And hardly EVER wore a shirt.

In other news I finally figured out how to  get my new PIN number attached to my library card number... Let's just say- when Library says it's "easy" they are so NOT telling the truth.  I got into my account...I saw what I have checked out and what is now overdue and needs to be returned..... considering it a victory.. I need balloons and streamers!!!!!!. 

Today and tomorrow all parking at the library will be closed as a very very big truck ( Library's Word Choice) will be removing the enormous "chiller" from the roof- three stories UP and installing a new one..... they go on to say all the "new" is being funded with DONATIONS.  PRIVATE ONES..........ENTIRELY.  I am guessing there were some QUESTIONS.......... some complaining.

Daily Notes for Friday March 27th. Sunshine and bare brown grass.... I think I liked the snow better.

 Two dogs.

Tried to use my Library Card in the NEW SYSTEM...no....just plain no- it would NOT work.

I will read the bookcase books that I own...

Son has not come down stairs....today is Library Grocery Day... One of the only highlights of my week. So I am wondering if there is something wrong.....  

We don't have much on the shopping list.  I need milk.  Dark Chocolate Chips, Oranges..(down 25 cents each).  

He came downstairs, we shopped and we are now back home... looking forward to grilled cheese sandwiches and baked beans.  Hope your day is wonderful...

Daily Notes for Thursday March 26th. Clouds here in Maine. Rain and Puddles.

 Red Dog. 

Well, my taxes are ready to be filed....electronically.  Zip and they are gone. I wouldn't want to step back in time and be using a small calculator and a pencil with good eraser.....like I did back in the day...stopping to give small under age toddlers a snack every so often.......and truth be told NOT owning prescription eye glasses.....so seeing was difficult. 

I am calmly waiting for better weather...so I can resume my walks to the far end of my DEAD END street (there's a LARGE sign that says that at the end by the two lane road)......first thing we see when turning onto our street coming home.  Dead End.

Quite a few things bother me.  Not the best day for writing a blog post so I'll stop.. Sun is out a little, daffodils my brother in law sent me as a gift long ago are up and looking good,  I have bread, cheese and pickles for a Grilled Cheese Lunch.   It's actually a great day....well, until I face plant in the Daily Suduko Puzzle.   Snow will melt, the sun will shine and SPRING will actually arrive in Maine'

And the local bakery people will be back from Florida and make Jelly Donuts again.!!!!!!!!!!!

Daily Notes- Wednesday March 25th. Sunshine and Melting Snow. 47 degrees

 Green body and red ears.

Well, I had to sort thru some papers to find the missing stock document for the taxes.  I found it and lost it twice.  My mind is not functioning well today.  I might actually NEED to be placed in Assisted Living..... BUT I found it....

I found lots of documents... which need to be sorted and perhaps even put in ABC order???  

You would never believe that I was once in charge of the entire advertising "document" department of a daily newspaper... I would NOT believe it either.  And I FOUND anything that could NOT be found.  I'd like to be that version of myself every so often.....  find stuff.  Like today finding a tax document.

It's Wednesday.....no clue it was Wednesday.  But it is.  I really am off "my wheels" today.

Iran said No to Trump....good job!!!!   Let's hold up signs that say NO. Just that one word.  NO.

A Democrat won something Political in Florida that includes Trump's Vast Tacky House and Golf Course. Gotta love that.....  I'll say YES to that.

I need to finish a book... watch some TV......watch the snow melt outside.  The grass is still TAN or LIGHT BROWN.....sigh. The very MANY daffodils (over the Septic outflow pipe) are getting taller. Spring in Maine.    I am starting to wonder what LUNCH will be. Good Sign....

"Interested in Food" gets a check mark today.

Daily Notes... Tuesday. March 24th. Sunshine and Snow. 32 degrees

 Colder..  Sunny but colder with snow on the ground. I'm not sure this is typical March weather.  Even for Maine.  

I have five more carved dog images for the posts...just so you know.

Dinner down the street with Good Neighbors was lovely as usual...and the food was excellent. Dessert was ice cream sandwiches out of the freezer... quite delightful...everyone really enjoyed them... The Corned Beef was super tender and delicious.  

I have a half dozen or so index cards here on the actual desk covered in ideas..  for a "maybe" vegetable garden. Out back and also for the decorative flower planters out front.  The largest problem out back is watering. Late Husband's  arrangement of hose connections up by the house and then over the lawn is no longer usable. Never was that easy to use and leaked quite a bit.  Almost all the hose connections leak. 

I might use the connection from the garage instead... or just use containers on the driveway. And a watering can.  I did do that in the last few years....that I grew tomatoes etc.

Finished the Paradise Problem and I am now reading  Runaway Groomsman.  Listening to the furnace go on and off.  The sunshine outside makes me think it's warmer than it actually is...the house itself feels rather "chilled" but eventually we will reach the temp I chose.  64 degrees. 

The morning paper was enough bad news for an entire week.... so..I think reading, British Soccer and some hand sewing of squares and rectangles in assorted fabric will keep me occupied.  I will bury my head in the sand - no news is good news?????

Daily Notes for Monday, March 23rd, Clouds, Snow. Son hopes he shoveled for the last time????

Stealthy.

Well, Son is not a "Happy Camper" after shoveling snow yet again.  Late March and one would hope the snow would transition to Rain by now.  But nothing in 2026 is "as one would expect it to be" especially the Government.

My oatmeal this morning was quite good.....it happens all by itself...being good.  Nothing I did to anticipate a better outcome.  Just oats and water in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Has to be the random amount of oats and the even more random amount of water.  Random should be my middle name....if I had a middle name.  Which I don't...

Watched some "Talking Heads" discuss the "Mess Trump has Made".......and if there is a way out without a huge death toll for our military.  Trump's entire cabinet would have to come down with stomach flu and the trots in order for someone SMART to get us the hell out of this war.  Use up Trump's diapers.

Perhaps that dog up top is also looking for a "way out".

I have my book to finish reading before we go to dinner....down the street.  I also need to wear something green....and will need to iron it before wearing whatever it is.  

I found some more art supplies...in a drawer while looking for something else.  Nice stuff.   Art Supplies tucked away in every drawer and closet.

I still haven't written to Gretchen for a list of things she will have in her new garden.  That big old fenced garden out back of my house is sitting empty and needs a few things....herbs????  New Blueberry bushes?  The ones back there aged out.  Rhubarb never took hold.  Grapes?   Still covering the wooded frame with leaves but stopped making grapes long long ago.  I used the left over ones to make a very very nice blue dye bath.....such a lovely blue.   Well.time to reheat my coffee and get on with reading my book,

 

Daily Notes for Sunday March 22nd. Sunday Pizza is in the line-up. Clouds and Snow Coming Down.

 Winter is holding on with quite the grip.  I see green grass every other day it seems and recently two days in a row.   British Soccer games cheer me up (green turf) and so is the book I am reading again...but with fresh new eyes....I am recovering..I am happier, less angry.  It's a relief to let it all the unhappy stuff go...little by little.

Today is Sunday Pizza.  With some sort of Sport on the TV--- usually, for me it's British Soccer.  Which is on the telly right now as I type...   The crowd is departing the stadium....before the game is over.  Soccer Despair.  My son tells me Soccer is the most popular of all the SPORT.   In the World.  

I like watching with my daughter who played College Soccer...she explains what they do right and what they do wrong.... which helps in my enjoyment of future games...

Storage Wars last evening....I know it's all fakery but it's so darn weird....  

One guy on the pitch on his knees and a good long look at his muscular tattooed thigh.  Usually I just admire their haircuts. For some reason I don't get to see any of the Irish games.  Liverpool.  Son says it might be a licensing agreement.  Oh,   They missed the goal yet again.

We are having dinner out tomorrow down the street....an invite came in the emails... more Corned Beef.

Well, I have coffee to drink, soccer to watch and a book to finish reading.  The Sunday paper was good enough and the Suduko and Jumble puzzles above my pay grade.   As usual.

The one team just got another score and it's being described as an easy, too easy score.  The crowd is SINGING!!!!!!!