Daily Notes for Tuesday November 3rd, I wish I had French Onion Soup...

 November and my "landscaper" is out back doing things.  Cutting back the False Indigo and hauling it to the back property line.  For starters.   It's a real mess out there.  Grass needed one more cut. Didn't happen.

Son is doing the thermostats as I either do them at the wrong time or wrong temp...  which is why I wear thermal socks,  a nice warm wool sweater and a scarf.in the house....  we are being frugal with oil...for heating. We have no secondary heating source.  We got Trumped yet again.  We have Auto Delivery so when we get low enough...we hope the truck comes.  

A SURPRISE in the mail yesterday...a hardback copy of Fast Women.  Thank You.... Thank You....Thank You.  It fit so perfectly in my bookcase.  I'm trying to like Don't Look Down from the Library but it's not what I want to be reading this week.....so I'll select something else... I chose old favorites from decades ago on yesterday's Library visit.   And I few other's I'll name as I read them...  Next visit I am taking my Library Notebook with me- has lists and lists of books.  One's I've read.

I grabbed my shawl and have it wrapped around my neck.  Heating pad is on my couch if I feel the need.  I did late in the afternoon yesterday,  At 80 I get cold sooner and take longer to warm up.

Answering questions on my Peonies...daughter is using their Latin names...I once did that...Wo Peng is the kind that doesn't get cut back. He's out front.  

Connie we both have Landscaper Daughters!!!!!

Well, that's about all I have for you today...I'm going back to Don't Look Down... there are things about that group of people that I like.  I am going to check in on the TV listing for Storage Wars...see what I can record for later.  A grilled cheese sandwich for lunch for me with extra pickles or Hot Dogs....Daughter brought a container of Hungarian Soup for her lunch.   We all three of us are individual in our likes and dislikes.  Husband liked chicken noodle soup... We three do not. 

Daily Notes for Monday November 2nd. One More FULL TV Day of Political Ads.

 Batwing flower. Interesting.  Sort of a cat vibe also.

So furnace is running...it's comfortable in here right now now.....I have had my pills, oatmeal and Electrolyte water.  My hair is combed (extra points), I have proper (leaving the house) clothing on (triple extra points) and only need to add my socks to the ensemble.   Library to drop off books and pick up new ones.  Perhaps even find a fresh old magazine to enjoy on the free magazine rack,

I watched almost all the football in the afternoon yesterday.. witnessed some season ending injuries, Sunday Pizza was excellent as usual.....I had mine with a nice salad.  What we need here (I can imagine Son cringing) is DESSERT.  We don't have it because he loves dessert and refuses to give in to it.  So I have these tiny toddler cups of ice cream in the freezer.....for emergencies.  Not very often.

If it was a box of shortbread cookies????? Lifespan of the cookies would be very very short. Indeed.

I have been coloring my Autumn Pumpkin with multi colors of Sharpie.....When it''s complete I will share it with you....for sure by Thanksgiving.  Each color needs to dry before the next one. Consumes TIME.

The top right of the computer screen is tempting me with an offer to learn how to take a screenshot.  Really?   That Batwing flower is a screenshot if I ever saw one??????? correct me if I'm am wrong.

Well time to tempt gravity and pull on wool socks without face planting on the wood floor.  Always a scary situation.  I would really hate smashing yet another pair of eyeglass frames.

RE: political ads...we get one that mentions a candidate who had two children with his 2nd cousin. Here in Maine that's not a surprise. It's not even news.

Daily News for Sunday November 1st. Son said it was okay to turn up the heat... We are conserving heating oil,..

 A secondary photo.   I like the leaves on this one on top... useless but decorative.  And I have a tub of felt plus a hand full of felt scraps...never throw felt away.

So...as I wait for the temp in here to go above 60...... and settle into the couch for football.......and later Sunday Pizza plus a handmade green salad for me.........I wonder about the NYTimes Recipes I copied down for SOUP.  The most likely One to try is the Italian Pasta and Chickpea Stew.  I have cans of white beans and boxes of small pasta.  I also have a can of tomatoes.  The freezer still holds a few cheese rinds.  I like to toss them in.  I will skip the rosemary as I have never liked it and do not have it in the spice drawer.

Once upon a time the garden to my left...now TALL weeds crowding the whole house generator--- was supposed to be a Herb Garden with paths etc.  Daughter might want to rearrange a few things and pull a few wheelbarrows full of weeds...to get the Herb Garden back in shape. Maybe Six Perennial Herbs. I can buy the Annuals at the grocery store.  Or grow them in a medium pot on the back deck.

So...Son has found me a channel to watch FOOTBALL.   49ers and Broncos.  Right now just talking heads and an empty stadium...  we have TV on "mute".  We don't actually realize how large the football players are until they are handing out candy to the kids in the crowd (while eating a huge burger) in a very tight suit..

The room is warming up... the couch awaits....and my coffee needs a warm up. Sunday Football.

Daily Notes for Saturday, October 31st. Sunshine here Maine.

 I purchased a red felt heart that resemble these hearts....long ago in Europe.  Perhaps Sweden Or Norway.  It is here somewhere now..  I like the speckled ones in the top right side.

Well, the furnace is running, the sun is shining, I haven't pulled my wool socks on as yet...(balance issues as I might fall forward and hit my head on the floor). .......I have to let the bowl of oatmeal circulate... and then pull on my socks.   I am also trying to moderate the temp in here...so I use less heating oil.

I watched some news yesterday before starting in on my Crusie book....Don't Look Down.  The big tall helicopter pilot is staring into the swamp...and the big alligator is staring back.  Book also has lots of Barbie dolls.  And Parties....to keep the 4 year old happy.

Saturday Cooking Shows... I watch but never cook.  Well, I do make Soup. But not today.

Cross the Street New -ish Neighbors still having things done to the house...yesterday men in white plastic hazmat suits doing something...perhaps in the basement????  Which is only a crawl space.  That side of the road is still pretty "swampy" when it rains a lot- and it did rain a lot in the first 10 years we lived here...often flooding the yards and the road.  Former cross the road  neighbor was lucky the big tree next her house tipped AWAY from the house and fell into the swamp.  If it had fallen toward the road we'd all have lost electricity for a good while.  And we would not have been able to go anywhere... trapped by the tree.

My side of the road is sandy.  The benefit of being the first house built...they brought in sandy soil to even out the lot. In the first decade I lived here the side yard out back was filled with water and ducks.  And Eagles flying over to snatch up a duck for lunch or dinner.  I have seen two young deer and one mature  female deer in my front yard last year eating my ornamental flowers out of the containers....-  No male with wide antlers in quite a long time.......  Son thinks they moved elsewhere due to heavy traffic on the road  behind my house....after one walks thru the swamp and the nasty thorn plants..on Town Property.

Well, I need to pull on socks, watch cooking shows and read...  I'm done with politics for the day unless "someone" has a sudden health issue and faints or "soils" his pants.. or both.

Daily Notes for Friday October 30th. Grocery Shopping Day....????

 Witch Hazel.  Halloween.  

So...here we are ....almost November...  but still October.

It's Grocery Shopping Day and I should be considering my Lunch Choice for the week. Son goes out every other day but I eat here at home everyday.....and it's a very sad commentary (on my own process) when I have nothing interesting to eat.... I am sort of thinking Hot Dogs since it's been quite awhile......not Soup as I have had enough of that..... Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Pickles is always my fall back position but last week it was baked sweet potatoes (with melted cheese and butter) and they were wonderful. Vitamin A.

My fridge holds pre cooked bacon and two jars of sweet pickle chips.   I never got around to making Steamed Rice with frozen peas.  I talk about it often but then stay seated on the couch reading,......  I read Welcome to Temptation cover to cover yesterday and will read it again in the next few days.   After reading Don't Look Down...another Crusie written around the same time as Agnes and the Hitman. Which might be nice to read again..

This Morning's News was more of the same....Vote for Me.....I already voted...and NOT for whomever paid for those ads.  Heating Oil is climbing in price here in Maine and I am cold most of the time..."add another sweater" is going to be my motto.

I tried watching a favorite Hallmark movie yesterday.  Could NOT make it to the 15 minute mark.  So..sigh..I have outgrown them.  I had sort of had them in mind for my Retirement Years

Daily Notes for Thursday, October 29th. 10:37 am.

 Not sure where this image is from or WHEN it's from.  But I enjoy it. Use it whenever it shows up.

Today is Thursday and the Sun is shining there in Maine....Voting is still taking place... Medicare enrollment is still taking place.....oldest state population in America here in Maine????????

I've wondered about that oldest population thing ever since I first heard it mentioned decades ago. I at first thought it was the average temperature here...the cold air keeping germs from multiplying etc. But now I think it's just hard wired stubborn-ness.  And the very cold winters.  So many people live well into or close to their 100th birthday.  Many of them friends of mine (who I miss every day).

Each asked me to take something of theirs (after they died) that meant so much to them....a quilt, a chair, a sweater, a cast iron casserole....all here and touched and used and worn everyday.  Mended as needed. I also took home their fabric and unfinished quilts.....and sort and box and use it all.....to this day. 

So....... watched a bit of chat on MSNBC yesterday....but made sure I stopped myself from making it a habit.  The talking people were churning the same facts over and over and..well, that has no real purpose does it????? Doesn't change anything....  Same with Storage Wars and Hallmark Movies....Doesn't change anything..

So I went back to my book.  And with every page I hope someday I will Own a copy of this book... Crusie's Welcome to Temptation.  Until it's due at the library I will pick up the book and randomly open to any page and start reading. (for the next three weeks)...all the pages are a delight.   The pages also make me want a Dove Bar. I think my grocery has them somewhere in the Ice Cream Cooler.... I recall them being expensive and the box containing only FOUR.  I should get a box on my next birthday.  Or for Christmas.  Both.

Well, I have oatmeal to microwave and socks to pull on- gets more difficult to do the socks every day!!!!! Keep worrying I'll tip over and land on my face.

 

Daily Notes for Wednesday, October 28th. Sunshine, a Chill in the Air and furnace going.

 Monhegan Island....where it looks like it might be damp and cold.  Pretty sure the houses are empty and only used in the summer months. Possibly with no insulation. Sits right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

I just deleted everything I had typed here because I was positive it had all been written before and possibly more than once or twice etc.  This happens when you go nowhere and see no one and re-read the same books over and over again. Even the Storage War Lockers are starting to look the SAME. To me.

The only NEW stuff is what is happening at the White House....or the Cheesecake Factory as Obama now calls it.  Gosh I miss Obama. The stick on gold stuff was a bit too tacky....for all of us.

I keep my living room fire place plain.  Just a few pictures up top.  Well, more than a few. But none of the glued down cheap plastic gold stuff.......

That's it for today....I have a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese for later.... Soup might actually get made tomorrow or a few days from tomorrow.. I have everything (which is actually not much)- onion, carrot, celery, canned beans...I forgot to buy a potato and don't want to bother the neighbors asking if they have an extra to share with me. Friday is right around the corner and I can buy one potato.. 

I did bake two sweet potatoes and can have them warmed up with butter and melted Swiss cheese later today..... sounds cozy and warm.

 It's been quite awhile since I spoke to any neighbors (or borrowed anything)...  now it's colder and well, not a chance of seeing anyone outdoors now.  That Monhegan sky is pretty much our Maine cold weather sky. And it's as depressing as it looks.

Daily Notes for Tuesday October 27th. Almost Halloween. A VERY Sunny Day here in Maine.

 

French Onion Soup.....I wish I had some for today as it's a chilly morning and probably the same for the remainder of the day.   

Well, the furnace is running. (noise)....I am at the tipping point in the book I am reading.....this is where I skip quite a few pages (over 100 of them).....- but this reading I may just move ahead to the last 50 pages. (not a fan of the rundown apartments and the swamp portion of the book).... and call it good enough. And then start in on a new (old) book.  Welcome to Temptation.....I had to wait for it to be available as it was in "repair" for a few weeks. 

Yesterday was one of those days when things I thought were lost forever showed up again.... I was using only one of the painted bookmarks I had made for myself because the other FIVE were missing...well, I found them yesterday and now have them in a secure space here on the desk.  Painted watercolor paper.

I also pulled a few art supplies out and looked at them for a while. Then put them away.

I selected a few very very old favorite books at the library and they haven't been read in many many years....I do have paperback copies but love the hardbacks so much MORE.  

So Storage Wars continues to fill any open spaces in my day....but not for long... I'll have to find something new (Law and Order???). But right now...I need to pull on my wool socks and reheat my breakfast coffee- one more time..... take care...... thank you for reading.....

Daily Notes for Monday October 26th. Clouds and a bit of a chill on this October Morning.

 I have the backyard looking like this but not the chairs.  And wouldn't want to sit outside anyway.

I have yet to pull on my wool socks but I have had breakfast (oatmeal) and my electrolyte water and pills. My hair is a wild wide mess....uncontrollable.   Election news continues to bore me senseless with name calling and lies.. I all ready voted.

I am reading an old favorite book and skipping the plot points that have aggravated me from the beginning....the remainder of the book is quite lovely.....as are the characters...but the subplot stinks. When we roll off the main plot into the swamp.....omg I skip ALL the pages.....  But he hasn't swung by with the new AC unit as yet.... so I continue to read.   Agnes got a new AC unit from the Hit Man.  

There was Football yesterday...I have no recall of who played whom and stopped watching when my sweet potatoes were ready to exit the oven.   I will be having the sweet potatoes for lunch today.  I do not recall if today is grocery or library...I know...I should make an index card....to remind me.  There was no newspaper today as it's Monday....would be nice if there was also no news on tv because it's Monday.

I need to pull on my wool socks... Maine has decided Summer/Fall is over....Winter is next up..  There is zero sunshine.  As I proofread the Sun has arrived....very bright.  All the dew on the grass is sparkling.

I seemed to have discovered (yesterday) several packages of very very nice cards- the sort one sends to friends with a nice written letter inside.  I used to do that. I stopped because I got fewer and fewer letters in return...until I got NONE. And actually never heard from people again.  I often wondered what happened to them....still no clue. Letters I wrote started being returned by the post office.  I was getting the feeling  everyone else had MOVED on and left me behind with no forwarding address..  

Here, too, on the posts I write. People comment for a few years and then poof...never to be heard from again.  I feel like the fictional character in One Day in December who sends letters to dead people- no stamps.......in December.  I send all year not just in December.

Daily Notes for Sunday, October 25th. Pizza Day....Lots of sunshine but only 46 degrees.

 Camden Falls.. enjoy the Maine Sightseeing.

The Sunday newspaper was full of political opinions...Susan Collins isn't faring well.  Lots of negative opinions about her "Trump Butt Kissing"....... she does what she needs to do to keep the job I guess...only that has flipped and is no longer working for her..... I'm not saying the other option is better.. since he is what they call "a complete unknown".   I already voted.  Weeks ago (it seems)..... for the  "Complete Unknown".  I have NEVER voted for Collins in all the decades I have lived here in Maine.. I have never trusted her....to tell the truth.

The Sunshine is lovely today even thought it's not a warm sunshine.   The back lawn is getting overgrown and very very GREEN and the front lawn is NOT... Deer keep foraging in the back yard even though acorns are still abundant out front.  I had hoped the guys would come cut the grass one more time...but I guess not. Son has told me the lawn mower is in the garage.....when I asked.

I need to up the room temp..nope...I already did change the temp..  I'll just pull up the collar of my sweater.  As soon as I hit publish I'll go bury myself into the couch and the down lap blanket.  I used the heating pad to warm my legs up yesterday. 

A very very interesting (to me) article about Van Gogh's Starry Night.   Vincent painted what he actually saw in the night sky- not a product of Vincent's imagination as we had been told it was. A South Korean team reported their findings after years of forensic astronomy.  I have always loved that particular painting and thought it was in an Amsterdam Museum..  But it resides in the Modern Museum of Art in New York,

Close enough....that I might someday actually see it in person.

Daily Notes for Saturday, October 24th. Sunshine here in Maine... 47 degrees.

 I selected a white and yellow small flat decorative "pumpkin" yesterday while grocery shopping... I plan to use a nice black pen to draw designs etc on the surface. A different design in each wedge shape.

I have a number of Kid Friendly recipes to look at...they are usually simple and easy to prepare even for older people...some are eaten with a spoon...which is also easy for older people to manage.  And none of them require a knife.   The only thing easier is a sandwich. I finished the soup...need to make more.

Politics are cluttering the TV choices... reading helps fill the days.  There is often some British Soccer. And now that I am 80..I find napping so much easier to manage.  Just sit still and close my eyes. Done.

I continue to enjoy (I don't think the word conveys the cringing I do while watching). Storage Wars.  Big Heavy Men in Tank Tops???? cough. gag...... this is when I change the channel......

I am recording three Saturday PBS Cooking Shows for later.  Right now I am going to read until it's time to watch British Soccer.  That's my day.. I have some sorted piles of scrap cloth ready for stitching into squares.  Which involves threading needles....I might enjoy reading more.....  than sewing today.

Heating Oil is now over SIX DOLLARS a gallon- My tank holds 400 gallons. And doesn't last all Winter.  And I wear wool socks,  thermal shirts covered by wool sweaters and a nice down lap quilt when I sit on the couch with the heating pad going.  Reading a book.  From NOW (today) until April.  I haven't gotten the furnace past 60 in decades.  But the Sun is bright and warmish today. 

48 degrees. Outside. Grass is nice and green and needs to be mowed....

Daily Notes for Friday October 23rd, Grocery Day.....I need more food.

 Rockland, Maine Fall Foliage.  Not much color.

Another path in the woods reminding me of the area behind my house.  And the Daily Dog Walks. which always brings tears to my eyes....like right now.... I loved that dog. Always will.

I have lots of Thanksgiving Food images to the right for the Holiday Week's Posts.  Not sure what Son and I will actually make.  But we do agree on using REAL eggs this year... we used a liquid egg sub last year... and nothing turned out as it should...our pumpkin pie was a LAKE.  I ate the crust...Son was disgusted. by me eating the crust. It was a really good crust.

So grocery shopping today and I am....new to me....hungry.  I seemed to have outlived the lack of appetite  (it's been 3 years since he died) and now...will eat ....and actually enjoy food again.  I was surprised it had been 3 years..I was NOT keeping track.  The Lewiston Shooting had a story in the paper....I do recall that vividly.  Same time period...Same days and nights.

Heating Oil is going to be super expensive here in Maine.... all because Trump started something he couldn't or would not stop with Iran. Canadian Oil is available but Trump has screwed that source also. 

So...we are going to the grocery store as soon as my Son thinks I am sturdy enough.  Then home again. I have Fast Women to finish reading.... we haven't opened all the freezers as yet.... and the office couch hasn't collapsed as yet.....I'm telling you...... this small book has so much going on....... I intend to keep the book for the entire lending time of three weeks....keep reading it.  Sigh. And hope it's still on the library shelf when I want to read it again. Let's all hope it is!!!!!

Well, I should attempt to contain my hair and put on my wool socks...be ready to go when Son comes down the stairs...... the 25 cent fresh LL Bean pants I have on have a loose zipper... so I need to pay attention to that.... really!!!!!

Daily Notes for Thursday, October 22nd, A bit more chill in the Maine Air...

 Oatmeal, Newspaper and Suduko....  one bill but it was just a warning..the real bill comes a few weeks from now.  I had one check to write- son is carrying it to the mailbox as I type.  

A lone deer was out back eating things off the grass.  We looked at each other.  I tried for a photo but..it wasn't clear what I was having you look at.

As soon as my breakfast circulates.....I will attempt a shower.  There is nice shower chair so I can sit down if I get shaky,   I left my hair wide and curling this morning...didn't bother with it much.  I was happy to see that it still gets curly.

I am eating my way thru the food supply in the fridge ...things purchased for me.  Today might be the Pot Stickers.  In honor of book I am reading.

I am reading Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie (2001). and eventually Gab will start bringing Chinese food to Nell's house.  When I read this particular book I wish there had been a man like Gab in my Life.  Daughter keeps trying to find a copy of the book for me to own and keep in the bookcase...so far we haven't had any luck.  The Library copy was a gift... the library didn't buy a copy.  I might be the only person taking it out as it remains in like new condition.   In the recent "purge" I expected it to be gone.

The sun has come out...well, I have nothing more to type...going to shower and wash my hair...I will be back to tell you I am okay and nothing bad happened....like a slip and fall.  I have grip bars and a chair... and my iPhone near by to call for help.....getting old is so labor intensive.  I recall falling down my Grandmother's steep stairs and no one even came to check on me.  They did slap a bandaid on my bleeding nose. I was two or three years old.  I always felt like I was easy to forget....

Daily Notes for Wednesday October 21st. Sunshine here in Maine- 53 degrees

 30 second chocolate mug cake.

Long time Readers will recall my many experiments with the  30 second microwave mug cake.  I'd really enjoy making one in this blue mug but...sadly I do not own one.  So my mug cake later today will be made in  some other mug..which you will see. Daughter has gotten me quite a few mugs. To replace ones that slip off my fingers and crash to the floor.

I am still being awakened by phone calls that begin with "Can you hear me?"  I say NO and hang up. I doubt that will have any effect.. I used to suggest they find a better job...that got me repeat harassment.

Which was really so bad I stopped answering the phone.. this is what you get for having a land line... Which we need here in Maine because other phone types used to stop working when the power went off as it did frequently.  Land line needs no electricity.

Well the Sun is shining... that makes it a very good day by Maine standards.  I need something to eat.

and then...I have no idea...

Tuesday, October 20th. A nice chill on my neck so I upped the thermostat. Sunshine in Maine. 58 degrees

Blue Hill restaurant photo.  Like eating on my porch. Absent the orange window trim.

So...what's going on here in Maine....still focused on the election and voting.  Still some name calling..also interest in why Trump is feeling up all male guests to the White House....he used to feel up the women guests....now men?????   I enjoyed tv more when Trump was accidentally pooping his pants. How did they get him to stop?????? Question of the Day.

I experimented with the dining room tv...it was the one my husband used to watch strange shows about people shoving each other off inflated objects in a pool.  Sort of like Wipe Out but NOT.  And the tv works.. So I could possibly sit there while eating breakfast and watch tv.  Instead of reading the newspaper.

Newspaper seems like the better choice for my remaining brain cells.  Son says  "Do Not Watch That TV"

It's getting cold...or my old age is making me think I am getting cold.... I might start wearing a scarf in the house- something tasteful and nice.  I might actually own something like that...unless the children gave all of that to Goodwill.  In the "First Clearing of Household Things".  I had them cancel any further clearing......and started taking things out of the box.

I now get to say yes or no to things going in the Goodwill Box.  I do take items out of the box... when no one is around.. Both of my children are really quite intelligent....they know.

So...nothing is new here...  I have books to read and a nice down lap cover to keep me warm.  One more serving of homemade soup and two supermarket meat loaf dinners.  Left over Sunday Pizza.  Son has left to go out for lunch.  I am having a Meat Loaf dinner mid afternoon. Looking forward to it. 3pm?

Well..that's all for now...I have a great book to finish reading and my comfy couch to sit on...if I find some British Soccer I will watch that but so far I have had better luck watching Storage Wars. Hallmark had a movie I thought I could watch...didn't make it to the first commercial break..... I have set 10 to 15 Christmas Movies to record (an exaggeration but not by much).  I can stockpile them until December. When daughter brings my table top tree down stairs..... and plugs it in by the front room windows. And Christmas Begins.  Last year she also brought cookies. Very good cookies.

But first we have Thanksgiving...we are hoping for better results this year.  Our Pumpkin Pie was a disappointment last year (the crust was good).  I also have two sweet potatoes to roast in the oven this week with the Pizza.. I have them for lunch with melted cheese tucked inside. . very nice.

So.......Couch, Book and Storage Wars on deck for another very pleasant "politics free" afternoon. 

 

It only took four tries to get here today....Monday, October 19th...A Chilly but Sunny day in Maine.

 Sun coming up.......somewhere in Maine.

I sorted thru the channels and found nothing of interest to watch...so then I sorted thru my bookcase but wasn't in the mood for reading.   So FOOTBALL.  Some very very interesting games....

Sunday Pizza was most excellent as well.  

I might need to start wearing a scarf around my neck- so I stay warm...the tendons in my neck are stiff and the neck bones make cracking sounds....getting old.

Yesterday I was hunting in the bookcase for something to read and forgot I had library books on the shelf. Son might be correct...my Attention Span. is not what it used to be. Books on the shelf on actually GOOD ONES.  Books being held at the Library for pick up are also very good ones.  I can tuck the baseball one back in the bookcase.

That's all for now....I discovered I do not have a tub filled with the nice batting I like... .... Son went up and found batting...not my usual but........it's how quilting began...use what you have. And be glad you have something.

Daily Notes for Sunday October 18th. Happy Birthday Bill.

 I cut out a recipe for Crock Pot Chili.  After reading the comments I decided I wasn't ever going to try making it.  Lots of cans.  Two kinds of beans etc.  Several comments as to why they used a crock pot..... the New York Times recipes are always wildly commented on...no one agrees on any thing.

I then watched the Saturday Cooking Shows....not going to make any of that either.  I had peanut butter on white bread instead.

I sorted thru the Christmas Movie LineUp on Hallmark....I keep looking for the ONE Hallmark Christmas Movie I adore...I cannot find it.  I ended up watching a few hours of Storage Wars. And then Swiffered Up all the white old lady hair that covers all the floors these days.... It's falling out....but it's curling.

I sorted thru books to find a really GOOD one to read....And just now realized the one I chose is a hot mess...so it's goes back and another replaces it.  Tomorrow is Library Day...I have quite a few holds...

I selected Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey....  she usually writes three books in a set.

Well, Football is on today and after that Football Pizza....  A full day of entertainment.  ZERO Chili.

Daily Notes-- October 17th..Sunshine here in Maine but only 49 degrees.

 Rangely Maine.  I don't think I've ever been there.  

Telling people you ARE a Lawyer even if you were NOT able to pass the bar??????  These are Trump's People...... Perhaps she could now TRY to become a Bitcoin Saleswoman????  Or sell Pillows for the Pillow Guy?????

Today's most important job (for ME) is choosing a book to read.. off the library book shelf or out of the big German cupboard. (which is packed FULL of books.). My very own Retirement Account.  There are books waiting at the Library but..they have to wait till Monday...

I received a post card in the mail telling me I am above average in my stellar Voting Record. I wish they had sent a pin I could wear on my coat....

And another piece of mail cancelled my Medicare Provider Account. Son is hoping he can find me another provider. 

Another piece of mail was almost hilarious....my one share of stock (from my dad) is suddenly many many more shares...  They even send me a LARGE dividend check...... some one somewhere has gone insane.  It would cover the Medicare Payments... for a year or two.

Other news is that even though the Library knew the present Director was leaving in October of this year.. a YEAR AGO...... they are scheduling interviews this month for a new Director..  And this month is half over.  I think whomever they chose decided it was "not a great job for them"......and declined recently. And finding new choices is not going well.  Are we surprised???? No.

Or perhaps they are following Trump Hiring Rules????  Hired someone who was not qualified as a Librarian?   Well..I have little else to report.  Homemade Vegetable Soup will be served for Lunch... There's plenty if you happen to be walking past the house.......and not trying to scam me with house repair deals??????  Son swept the acorns  off the driveway....so walking is safe right now.

Daily Notes for Friday October 16th.... A Cloudy Damp (wet) day here in Maine.

 In the past when I had a big Black Lab to walk...this is where we went.  Onto the Town Commons.

Those many many days are in the past now....I could NOT do that walk...I would WANT to do the walk but..not far into it I would be having trouble breathing....that's how I'll die- not being able to breathe. So I take it easy these days..... enjoying each day..... happy to be able to breathe.  I am repeating myself...

The Couch.  A Good Book.  A nice warm cup of vegetable soup- homemade. Wool socks and a Down Lap Quilt.  The content of my cable provider is quite dismal.  Even Hallmark disappoints...even though Hallmark had Hudson from Hudson and Rex in one of its lame "romances" yesterday.   I almost watched ..but remembered I don't care for Hallmark this year...  I wanted  Storage Wars...

So...Zero Sunshine for Maine Today....we needed this RAIN in the Summer not now.  But the lawn is enjoying the moisture...the news of the School Shooting was so very very depressing- Five Dead (at least that is what the news reported..).  I recalled another similar shooting.....it actually felt like a "repeat" when the Principal reported she was driving from Portland to the school...I recalled that exact thing happening the last time.

I have a set time to be ready to go grocery shopping....no Library....just Groceries.  What do I want to eat next week????????  When the Soup is gone.   I don't know.

Daily Notes for Thursday October 15th. Sunshine with a bit of chill. 56 degrees

 I cleaned off the desktop..... I had images that I was using for the blog posts....was getting crowded.

I slept well but woke up tired so I reclined on the couch until I felt okay to make my breakfast ...oatmeal. And then I read the newspaper....OMG.....I have already voted so the amount of lies and fabrications in the commentary for Maine's Senate seat fills the pages without purpose. If anyone believes Collins votes for Mainers and not with Trump...bless your stupidity.

So sunshine and a chill.  I have to find something for my neck.. possibly the heating pad. Neck is making those bone crackling noises.... always shocking to listen to my bones moving around.

Daughter has dropped off a Roof Rake for use when the roof has a lot of snow on it.  She bought a new one for herself that she likes better..... son will try it out once it snows....see if he likes it.  Right now we have green grass.  

I have been eating my way thru my large container of homemade vegetable soup...nice to eat something warm when it's so cold in the house.  Son is leaving to have lunch.  He drives someplace and tries different restaurants.

I am strongly hoping that there are some Storage Wars episodes to watch today.  Nothin political or heavy or needing thoughts.....or decisions.  Just listening to people discuss storage locker contents.

I am reading Bet Me.  Just getting started.  Watched a Hallmark movie yesterday about a Philly Mechanic who discovers his real father is a Royal.. the father has a red convertible the mechanic repairs...  And then some Antiques Roadshow.   

Door bell with a shifty guy wanting to do a "thermal scan" for my house.... I don't need any repairs as I won't be here long enough to enjoy them.  Clock is ticking.

Daily Notes f0r Wednesday October 14th. The Sun is shining--54 degrees outside and 64 degrees inside.

The Androscoggin River Turbine Project between my Town and the one across the river had a  problem recently and the fish that usually cross over  were in, most cases, beheaded by the blades. The newspaper had photos...I didn't think I needed to share them with you.....  it was all very sad.

 After I paid my Property Taxes yesterday My daughter and I visited the Library... I also looked at some art and crafts books daughter thought I might like....but I told her I wasn't "ready" to start "making stuff" yet. The fabric strips are still to the left of the couch where I sit....I admit to not being able to find the right patterns or colors to work together as I would like.  Crabby Joanne.  Becoming Extremely Crabby Joanne.

Actually yesterday's activities made me REALLY  tired.   Tried reading. TV was abundantly political yesterday so I turned it off BUT thought Trump's problems with his relatives and relatives former significant others was pretty amusing..  Later I watched recorded episodes of Storage Wars.. I'm hoping I set the TiVo to record more for today's entertainment.  I really have no need to pay attention to Storage Wars...just watch.. I have my own storage locker intrigue in the Attic. Daughter and I keep hoping we'll find "lost treasure".

I have been turning the thermostat up on heating the house but I am still COLD..especially the back of my neck... so I am going to find my scarf and add it to the day's clothing.  I used the heating pad yesterday to warm up and will  do that again today....I'm realizing how OLD I actually AM.  I look forward to late lunch and a bowl of my vegetable soup...... until then Storage Wars or Antiques Roadshow.

 

Daily Notes for Tuesday 0ctober 13th. Chill in the Air here in Maine. 45 degrees and Rain,

 It's raining,

I made vegetable soup yesterday....every vegetable in the cupboard, in the fridge, in the freezer I could find plus a can of white beans  and some tiny pasta.  I had a nice bowl for supper and today is REALLY SOUP weather..  Dark and Wet with nice chill in the air.  I spotted two short squat deer in the back yard yesterday...dwarf somethings.. could they have been goats????..eating things- things that don't matter in October... so I left them to it.

News....well I am going to start blocking the News channels and just read the paper.  Discussing things you can't do anything about is a true waste of time. That's like talking about starting a diet while eating donuts.  I'm not starting a diet and I have zero donuts (which is incredibly sad).

I wrote checks and balanced my checkbook.......like being smacked around with wooden stick. and I have a HUGE Property Tax Bill to pay this week....... and VOTE.  That's this week also.

And a wake up since I was actually reminiscing about the olden days when companies sent out catalogs of all sorts of things I liked to buy... I have a stack of 25 cent LL Bean corduroy pants in the closet...all good..never worn by me or anyone else. Sometimes one leg is longer than the other???? I can hem... Sometimes there's a rip.  I can mend.  And since I wear them in the house....or in cold weather under a long black wool coat.....no one sees them...or cares.  I recall ( early in my time here in Maine) seeing old women shopping in the grocery in their nightgown and a coat.  I understand..now.

Daily Notes- I skipped a day and didn't even notice........also my stats went up. Today is Oct. 12th.

 Every so often things happen here that I have to find and delete... Stats..

Readership beginning with yesterday (going backward)....114,146,234,55,72,93.  Look like lottery numbers... last Tuesday was a Big Deal!!!!

My usual Readership Numbers are single and double digits... And the double is usually in the teens. So I'm referring to these number as Lies. Shameless Lies.

I woke up yesterday and the arch of my right foot was very very painful (perhaps I've already told you this--if so know that it's still painful today)..I hobbled around and then gave up and sat down on the couch with my foot up on the ottoman and read my book and watched tv. It was a decent day.  Son and I also made Sunday Pizza and it was fantastic as usual... I tried to watch the Saints play Atlanta but that match up has NEVER been anything I want to watch...so I looked at the ceiling for awhile and then got back into reading Agnes and the Hitman.  

Things are happening in the book...not any of them being "good things" but Agnes keeps cooking....making batch after batch of pancakes.  She's making ribs for supper while the guys are in the cellar trying to blow open the heavy bank vault style barrier to see what's hidden behind it.   Never a dull day.....  I'll end your suspense... No I won't.

The conclusion of this epic tale of bullets and bombs is real close now....  And really it's my favorite part.

So...Monday....I have on a sweater and wool socks....  I'm still cold.  Winter in Maine is really terrible.. It's why everyone moves to Florida and stays there until April or May...sometimes April is no weather prize... We've shoveled snow in April.  The bakery that makes the wonderful jelly donuts is closed for the Winter...  I had hoped for an October Farewell donut...but no such luck...... My grandmother made me jelly donuts....I watched her fry them....it was like watching magic happen as they puffed up.  She made her own jelly also. 

Daily Notes and an Update.... Got my vaccines- Flu and COVID. Yesterday.

I woke up with a stiff neck, a painful arch on right foot and neck bones that are snapping and popping.. welcome to being 80 in Maine,..it's also cold here this morning...Sun is shining.  I have on a nice red wool sweater..soft and cozy- but I need something on my neck as my neck is very cold.

Daughter stopped by to tell me her house and pet sitting job is NOW completed....so she will be over to take me to VOTE...and pay my Property Taxes.  She also has three VERY good Landscape Jobs to keep her employed Spring and Summer of next year..  She looked happy..Which is a very good thing.

I've just taken my three pills with lots of water... My right shoulder was painful this morning...I think that was the Flu shot acting up...yesterday the COVID shot was acting up in my left shoulder.  No fever this time around.  My right foot is not doing good this morning.....bones are noisy and painful. My neck hurts.

My hands are freezing cold.  House is at 60 so I added a few digits to the thermostat. 

I am excited about dumping myself onto and into the couch....PBS has stuff to watch...Cooking. And then I'll read. Perhaps to sleep????  I got myself into a repeat reading of Agnes and the Hitman.  He just found a ticking bomb attached to the underside of his black Defender.....I had one of those....loved it. And then POOF it was gone..... the Defender not the bomb.

So...it hasn't snowed as yet.....the sun is shining but cold.  The new guy across the street made a big pile of leaves for his toddler grandson to jump into.... I laughed....
 

Daily Notes- Friday, October 9th. Grocery Store list to get two shots...Flu and Covid

 Image from the sidebar file.  

I'd like to be wearing my thermal long sleeved shirt but..."shot day" so I need short sleeves.  I may add a warm vest to my outfit.   I had the flu once...long ago when still working at the greenhouse.....once was more than enough..... not sure about having COVID...ever. My Lunch Buddy had COVID several times and it was awful. She said. Mostly because she had herself and husband to care for....alone. I'd have been in same situation with husband and myself if we'd both been sick.

The news lately has been terrifying....which we should expect with a mental case in charge. Now he wants to put people on boats (ships) and send them out into the ocean. Never to return, I guess.  I think he should send himself out first as a sort of trial run for a year or two.....if he likes it...make it a regular thing. Could glue fake gold things all over the boat. Fancy it up.

I had more to say but I doubt ...with the way things are going...that my comments would be welcome.

I.haven't been up long enough to have any interesting thoughts.  And it's very very cold in my house and I just turned up the temp on the furnace.  It will take quite a while to warm this large open roomed house up. Should have had more doors installed.  It's more of a warm weather place than winter place.....cause Mainers go to Florida in the Winter.  Almost all of them...the bakery people making the fantastic jelly donuts go to Florida every October and come back in April.  All tan and happy. Son gets me a jelly donut on the first day they have them after getting back. From Florida.

A very very large building on Maine Street (across from the donut place) is being taken down....a Dry Cleaning establishment.  So many tonic forever things having to be taken care of.... It's a very large building...and was doing dry cleaning for decades before I moved here 20 years ago????  I think apartments are going to fill the space in a few years.  With under the building parking?????  Plans often do not work out.... the area is very close to the river.....under water parking????????

Well, an hour or so under my down blanket before going to get my SHOTS.....to warm up... I might fall asleep.

Daily Notes for Thursday October 8th. Clouds and Damp here in Maine...49 degrees

 I'm okay with Damp.... we needed rain here in Maine...   the front over fertilized lawn is still brown. Might actually be quite dead. Tru Green Hell. Covered in acorns. Back yard is very very green and lush.  Has more shade as there are lots of tall old trees out back. Zero acorns. 

No matter what I wear or how I set the temp in here..I am cold.  I have a thermal long sleeved shirt on. Corduroy pants and wool socks...  I'm going back to my room for a sweater. After I write to you.  Because writing to you is my favorite part of the day...until lunch..... very late lunch as I just finished breakfast (11am).  I do enjoy lunch at around 3 pm.. Even though it's the same every day.  Peanut Butter Sandwich.  Never with jelly.   

Ah, the SUN has arrived.  (for approximately 20 minutes)

I haven't found ANY of my library books of GREAT interest to me. I am reading Ten Rules for Faking It right now ....I read all my Good Books once a year. So third or fourth year for this book.  As I age, different plot points are noticed....some irritate me...some surprise me.  I often wish the books could be edited again and re-issued.  Fresh.   2020 not that old. But old.

I am going to need to go back to my room and get a sweater....eventually. If I leave now, I might get sidetracked by something or anything and not finish the post....an 80 year old brain cannot be trusted to stay focused.  It goes where it goes.

So...The Sun is NOW HERE!!!!!!  Very bright .... Sort of blinding in the back yard. (now gone)

What do I plan on doing today?????? Glad you asked....Read.....Watch TV.  ZERO NEWS!!!!!. I have small piles of cloth strips that are color matched to look nice together....I might sew them...into squares. None of the finished squares look good together......that worries me.  But not enough to stop making them. It's Busy Work.....plain and simple..... Idle Hands and all that..... I refuse to turn the squares into potholders.  Been There Done That. Requires Batting...I have none... and no one sells it here anymore. 

Well, I have scraps that might total a square yard or more...that's it. If I piece them together.

Well, that's enough nothing for today's post...I need to go find my sweater as my neck feels chilled...and perhaps I should comb my hair again...try for some semblance of neatness.  Yesterday I inserted a handful of bobbie pins into the mass of hair....got it flattened....but needed to re-insert pins as the day matured. I do have a nice elastic band........that could hold the majority of the hair in one place for longer than the pins do....they give up so easily... perhaps they are unionized?????

Daily Notes for Wednesday October 7th. Chilly here in Maine....thermal long sleeved shirt and wool sweater.

 And I'm still cold.  There are no pumpkins here in the house..And I doubt we will buy any Halloween candy again this year....  The big neighborhood down the road is packed with houses..so the kids go there. This dead end street is just that...  any kids who lived here are grown and gone.

I set the temp higher so the furnace will go on.  One degree higher.... take the edge off the chill here in the living room.  The kitchen dining room is being warmed by the sun shining in the windows... this side of the house gets only shade.

I did sleep with my window open last night.  I don't think I will be doing that again?????  I have a deluxe down comforter....very very nice.

Political news is either mean spirited, weird or just boring...  I do plan to vote.  Not that it matters.  My politics and Maine are not a good match....I didn't match well in Chicago either.  Or Ohio....  I did have a chance in Atlanta, Georgia....... but also not a great match.

So that's it for me....I am shivering...in a thermal long sleeved shirt and a wool sweater.... I might have trouble being 80 in Maine...in the Winter.  Getting my first real understanding of why the older Mainers head for Florida.......or are already there by now.  But...not a fan of Florida.....been there done that...of course NOW I could afford central air.......and an ocean view. And I could spend afternoons drinking. But I think I'd prefer reading.

Well, I need to find a book for today and talk my Son into taking me into Town to pay my Property Taxes and VOTE......then come home and sit on the couch and read another book......out of the bookcase. Try not to read one that makes me cry.  I'd rather read one that makes me laugh. Yesterday's book made me cry.

Daily Notes for Tuesday October 6th. Sunshine, colored leaves on the trees and blue skies.

 A company sends me pictures of their linen clothing...endlessly.  So expensive.  Not sure I would be happy wearing ruffles along the top edge of genetically wide hips. I take after my European Peasant Grandmother.  And the wide scoop neckline does me no favors. I prefer a collar. I believe this top is $100 PLUS. Canadian.

Yes the Sun and all the colors of Autumn are making the outdoors very attractive this morning.  I have been refilling the birdbaths every other day now- not just once a week.  I have cleaned out the one in the back yard...it's nice and deep...good for splashing around.  Bird BATH.

Yesterday's start on a book....Definitely Thriving. Author from Toronto.  There is a British tinge to the dialogue.  I was wondering where the plot was actually heading....so moved ahead a bit...still not positive I will finish the book.   I have plenty more on the shelf..  no reason to suffer thru a badly plotted book. We know more about her ex husband than is actually necessary. She calls him Toad not Todd....

I tried out the Hallmark channel and they offered me two movies I have failed to enjoy watching in the decades of Hallmark I suffered thru....won't do it again.  I then watched ice melt on another channel.

My breakfast cuppa needs a warm up.....the sudoko was too difficult......I need to get moving on the Property Tax Payment and Voting....the two are next to each other at Town Hall. At my age I do not enjoy "pending" items....I prefer a clean slate.   Now...where are my socks??????

Daily Notes for Monday 0ctober 5th. Dark inside the house and cloudy and wet outside,

 A walk in the woods would be nice but I would be missing that old Black Dog. The ENTIRE walk.

Some additional problems with Blogger this morning.  I managed to get thru to the blog anyway..with out calling for Tech Support.   Yesterday's problem involved "my switch " to the Slovakian Keyboard.......I am..... was.... rendered speechless.. that he thought I could actually do that. Even by accident.

Football.  I watched as long as I could and then moved on to something else and then just gave up and turned the tv off.  

I have stopped talking Tylenol and today started in on plain aspirin.  I could ask for a repeat of the dangers of Tylenol (to share with you) but don't want to admit I forgot everything he said..but he'll read this and know anyhow.  Yes, I forgot everything.  Next time have me write it down while you are talking.  Son is sharing his Bayer Aspirin with me.  I should have better cognitive clarity from now on.  Whatever that means...  I'm expecting great things.

Today is supposed to be Library Day...  I haven't ordered any books.  I'll have to drift thru the stacks... which were..... once upon a time (a few months ago) crammed full of books and are now quite empty.  A million dollar upgrade of the building and no books.  So tell me...what is the definition of a Library??? 

Daily Notes for Sunday October 4th. Sunshine here in Maine but temps in the low 50s.

 May have had this one before or one like it....  Im trying my best to delete images as I use them... I am also having some difficulty with the keyboard and the Computer Engineer will have to be asked to fix a few things...if possible....  I really like this image....

So we have Sunshine and temps in the low 50s.  I might need to grab a sweater and actually put on my socks....hold on..I do have socks nearby....... it also might be Time to switch to long sleeve thermal undershirts and put the short sleeved ones away.  The cotton work shirt layer is still okay but will change over to a nice acrylic and then finally a warm threadbare cashmere sweater. With lots of mending. Especially around the elbows.  This is where I use your lovely thread DebL.  The variation in color is a delight on my old sweaters.

Sunday Pizza today.   A few Football Games.  The narrow confines of my daily life continue to confound me.  Not that I mind...as I am still alive and enjoying what I do.  I finished off my birthday ice cream yesterday...it felt wrong and also right.... I have quite a few items to include in my Sunday Salad Bowl.

So here we are...in October and I might be needing a sweater.....I have book lists here on the desktop...I ordered a few things...am returning..unread...a few things.  It happens.  I did a search of my two bookcases looking for one item in particular that a recall owning....did not find it.  Found the Hatting Game... but not quite ready to read that one just yet.... I am considering a very old paperback from decades ago....20 plus years ago or even more.  Yes, closer to 30 years ago.... itćs been a long long time.

Well I am now going to settle into the couch and eventually watch some football....I thought it was warm enough for a cotton shirt but will be going back to the bedroom for the acrylic fleece.  I'm cold.  Nope not fixed.

Daily Notes for Saturday, October 3rd. Lots of sunshine here in Maine.

Son has driven off in the convertible for lunch.  I am having some discomfort from an itchy leaking eye. I must have touched and had something on my Finger Tip the eye did not like. 

Not sure I have anything of great interest to share with all of you....I did make a list on one of my index cards of the Best Selling Romance Books.  Heartbeat by Danielle Steele has me interested and I donćt think my Library has a copy..  I have People We Meet on Vacation and Funny Story and Romantic Comedy in the bookcase....also Part of Your -World. Nora Goes Off Script, Spanish Love Deception,   Get a Life Chloe Brown along with the other two Brown sister books.  Beach Read was okay but One Day in December was a favorite of mine.  itćs a good list and I agree with most of the choices.

I have never seen Written On the Body, Mad About You, or Seven Days in June.  I did not like the Dead Romantics.

Today's book is Flying Solo-  Linda Holmes.  I enjoyed her other book Evvie Drake Starts Over very much and picked this one up for this week.  She is an author from Maine.  Book takes place in Maine.

The bones in my neck continue to make things very noisy.  I remind myself of the plastic Skeleton I hang on my front door for Halloween... clack/ity. clack.  I also buy Halloween Candy and Son and I enjoy the candy all of November.  I have a Dentist appointment in December....  Might keep me from enjoying the Halloween Candy.

Daily Notes- Friday October 2nd, Sunshine here in Maine and 71 degrees

It's a lovely day here in Maine.

Art above is from some place that serves up images every so often... When I see something like this, I wonder why I stopped painting....by now I might have been passably "not too awful".  I have no idea where my tubes of paint are... I do have the large tube of white acrylic handy...but only that tube.

Perhaps when daughter drags a few more packing cartons down to sort thru (this winter) we might find the rest of the tubes of paint.  The watercolors have always been close by.....

The weather here in Maine is just great...the weather channel made you all think it was terrible with eat "storm"...we didn't even have much wind and certainly high tide was up...but that's what usually happens when the entire east coast is on the Atlantic Ocean.  All in all it was "nothing to see here".... the lights didn't even flicker.  Well, one did but it was letting us know we needed a fresh bulb.

Contrary to what you are reading in your newspaper about drought.... in Maine......my grass has never looked greener or healthier than it does right now. Out back...the front lawn was over fertilized and still looks terrible.  I blame Tru-Green for that.

Grocery Shopping....

 

Daily Notes for Thursday October First. Sunshine here in Maine. 64 degrees

 We may have had this image before but I like it.. makes me smile...and that's a very good thing.

The Lawn guys showed up yesterday and mowed, edged and used the blower to remove any grass and leaves off the driveway and sidewalks and even the front porch.  Possibly some of the acorns as well. They have great attention to detail. Daughter will be starting work on the landscaping some time this month....rather than start in on more Attic Boxes right away... ease into it.

Son replaced a light bulb which was flickering in a very scary HORROR MOVIE way....new tech bulb he explained.  An older model would have just stopped lighting up. New ones flash to say  "get a new bulb".Exchanged it for a new out of package one identical to it.  I'm an old tech woman in a new tech world, I guess.

My hair, this morning' feels like it's 2 feet wide and scary as hell.  If anyone rings the doorbell they will turn and run when I open the door.

I put my new driver's license in my wallet...this morning.. checked twice.to see if it was the new one. I look exactly like I did three years ago.  Same soccer hair and everything.  Surprised Me.

Today was "replace the old desk calendar" with the new page for October.  October is usually when I start making Vegetable Soup.   It's an easy meal....I started making it years ago.... comfort food.   Back then I needed any sort of comfort I could get.    

I'm hoping Storage Wars is on today.... it's mindless entertainment and it's what I want right now...  I have books to read but that seems like more work than I want right now.....

Daily Notes for Wednesday, September 30th. Clouds here in Maine. 61 and 85% humidity.

 

Images of Winter Vegetables today.  Storage Vegetables.  Soup Vegetables.

Well, my brand new Driver's License showed up in the mail yesterday...  I had my hair pulled back Soccer Style...little top knot.  The WILD WIDE So very White look wasn't what I wanted for the next 4 years.  I save that look for in the house...... or answering the door when people knock...scary...it's a very scary look. Crazy Old Woman Look.

My son wanted me to have the license...not to EVER DRIVE but to have for Identification.  So now I can be Identified..... I guess.  Library Card isn't really an ID.

It's sort of dark, cloudy and damp here in Maine.  The grass continues to recover its green color. The lawn guys haven't been around in..it feels like ...a very long time.  They could come mow the acorns off the lawn????   That would be okay with me.

I'm going to spend the day reading and possibly closing my eyes and even sleeping a bit.  Or just listening to the silence in the house.  The house has really gotten quiet the past few years.  Anyway..my book is waiting and the couch also.  Cloth has been begging for attention but I'm just not interested.  I walk past the projects.....and stop to look.. then keep walking.

As for SOUP?????   I'll let you know tomorrow.

Daily Notes for Tuesday September 29th. Rain overnight here in Maine....light rain.

 Tortellini Soup.   A New Addition to my every week vegetable soup as we edge toward Winter? I think it would add 'bulk" to have tortellini in the mix and fill me up......

I have the House Lights on....we had rain overnight....things look damp outdoors and the birdbaths are full of water.  Even the one out back..... the lamp behind me started flashing like it was having a stroke or something,,,,none of the other lamps were affected.  I turned it off.  I will have the House Engineer take a look.  When I see him.

I read my book yesterday instead of watching tv.   This is something I will do more often...the TV I watch or can stand watching is really boring.  I watch ZERO news.  I read the paper in the morning and that's enough.  I still Try to do the Suduko and the Word Jumble....I'm not very good at either.

Tomorrow is the National Day for Truth in Canada.  Would be good to have something like that here ???

I got up to see if there was any tortellini in the freezer or pantry...NO

That's it for today....

Daily Notes for Monday September 28th....I'm up WAY too Early!!!!!

Maine is know for its blueberries....I used to have them in the back fenced garden...the birds ate half of them..I ate the other half...mostly in wonderful blueberry muffins.  The remainder mixed into my yogurt.

I had one bill to pay and walked the envelope down to the mailbox myself.  Navigating the acorns. We are going to have a horrendous Winter.....I don't recall the best way to get the acorns off the driveway and the lawn...husband used this awful loud blower thing... sweeping seems tedious. And where would I sweep them????  Into the street??????  Neighborhood would not be pleased. Rake seems tedious.  No squirrels or deer eating them. Hardly any wildlife.  And I sold the blower to one of daughter's friends so.....we'll have to sweep or rake. Or do nothing.

My money is on  ..Do Nothing.

Watched Football games yesterday...they weren't that good.  Then I watched something else but have forgotten what it was.  Some sort of crime thing.  I never did get to the book I had chosen.

I'm losing interest in just about everything..... even cloth. Even books. Even food...  I did see the ending of  Pretty Woman before moving to Storm Watch.....on the weather channel.  I think I'll watch the entire movie  today.  Well, fast forwarding thru the parts I don't like.  The creepy fat guy. From Seinfeld????

While I wait to see if we get POUNDED with rain today.  The Weather People....so much DRAMA.

Right now..couch and finding a helpful space for my neck....the heating pad for sure.  Tension is not my friend today.......and the guy is coming to service the Boiler in the crawlspace... and today was supposed to be Library Day.... next Monday will be fine for books.

 

Daily Notes- Sunday September 27th. RAIN!!!! We have RAIN!!!!

 It's a simple thing but so wonderful....Rain.

I filled the one birdbath the birds and deer seem to like best of the three.  Perhaps because it's under the Weeping Cherry Tree.  Secluded.  Daughter has been working two jobs so I need to wait till she is available to move a second birdbath to the front yard...or closer to a safe house exit for me out back. (I don't think there is one.). Nothing to hold onto when I step off the back deck.

So...the Newspaper.... I need a good brain flush to get all that "news" out of my mind. 

I still haven't found a book I want to read.  I have three contenders from my last Library visit...all excellent and old favorites.  The Hating Game, Anyone But You and Catch a Mate.  Of the three...Catch A Mate hasn't been read in QUITE A WHILE.  Either I forgot it or I outgrew it.  We'll see.... It was on the "new" book shelve in the middle of the fiction area.... it's old battered self ...selected by staff members????  Next to the New Bestsellers....which have been very very disappointing. And few and far between.  Library has Ice Cream Socials and Coffee Dates for the departing Director and no funds for new books.   Shoemaker has No Shoes??????

I usually check several other Maine Libraries for their top pics in Romance and Fiction... and then order their books..usually a waiting list.....Lewiston and Auburn Libraries are very very good at stocking great  romance books... so I always check what they recommend.  And add my name to their lists.

So that's all I have for you today....Football and Pizza.....cause it's Sunday!!!!!

Daily Notes for Saturday September 26th. Cloudy with perhaps a chance of RAIN? Or Sunshine?

 

So it's centered yet again... It does NOT look like this in Maine.   Leaves here are still very very GREEN.

The only things hitting the ground are acorns.  As to the RAIN there is a bad storm running along the Atlantic Ocean.  And we are close enough to the Atlantic Ocean...but all reports are that it will miss us.

I haven't much to report.  The cross the road neighbors are not doing much either.

I have a cough and son got me cough syrup..the same one as last year at this time. I think it's the dry air in the house.  Occasionally the cough is what my doctor prefers- "productive".

Saturday Cooking Shows?????  hopefully if PBS isn't begging today. If they are then I will watch something else or read a book.  Nothing is recording.

So...my neck bones are snapping and crackling.  My left eye is itchy. I haven't started coughing as yet. I misplaced my socks....no, I found them. And I plan to sit on the couch and watch cooking shows. 

Then I plan to read a new Abby Waxman book. One Death At A Time

I did enjoy the Bookish Life of Nina Hill and the Garden of Small Beginnings.

Which are in my bookcase.

My bookcase holds all my favorites in safe keeping for when I can't go to the library anymore. 

Yours too, Deb.

But now I must watch my cooking shows on PBS...unless they re fund raising (I checked..they are not) and then I will watch Hudson and Rex crime solving in New Foundland.

Daily Notes for Friday September 25th....Sunshine Yet Again Here in Maine.

Not a cyclone...just the accumulation of desk top calendars.. years worth. Lots and lots of years.  I've created my very own "black hole".... of words...and images.  A daily diary of sorts..

I was thrilled the day I found an empty box perfect for desk calendar storage.... Not too tall and not too wide.

So today I have a leaky, itchy eye....my own fault..It started yesterday and I rubbed it...never do that. and this morning it was stuck shut with crusty stuff...it's fine now. Well, as fine as it can be...

Okay...what's new?  Not much....it's getting colder each morning....the Sun is still very shiny...the grass is green in the back and yellow brown in the front.  Not one clue as to the WHY of it.  Though there is a septic tank back there and it could be providing moisture?????  Back in the olden days when this house was built on vacant land.....sandy vacant land.....they didn't add sewage to the amendments.  And the Town never has revisited that decision.

I continue to watch multiple channels of lame cable tv during each afternoon.  Evenings...I read.  But I haven't been reading.....instead I stare at the walls, ceiling and out the front and back windows... I close my eyes and think about the past.....how I would make different, better decisions if I had the chance of a "do over".  But only if I could remember what I did wrong this time around.  Going in blind I might make the same mistakes.

Well, today is grocery day....I still have a few things from last week that I never ate...  I did finish the store prepared meatloaf dinners...and will not be getting more of those in the weeks to come...I also haven't eaten the prepared Pot Stickers.  I actually thought I would have eaten those by now. I like them.....

So. that's me for today...  I'll change into to a better quality top before we go to the Grocery store.. these old stained men's work shirts are not up to grocery standards.  Though the one I have on is hardly stained at all...and the stains are from the old dye works/painting I did here back in the day. I tend to wipe my hands on my clothing when doing messy work......who cares anyway...no one notices old women.