Field Notes- Monday, October 10- Clouds and Rain.

 Been awhile since we had a chair picture.  I clicked on one of the images at the bottom of the file.  They are so small- I can't tell what they are-so often I am as surprised as you are.........

Grocery today.  $163. And I didn't buy any meat or actually anything that looked like the five food groups. Oatmeal.  Only a small bag of celery. One quart of Lactate free milk. I did buy four boxes of coffee pods for husband's Keurig.  Candy Coffee.  I had to get the folding step ladder out to dig in the upper cabinets for a large enough GLASS jar for the pods.......anything left in cardboard is an open invitation to MICE.

I did buy a big bottle of vitamins for husband. $11 something. A new Washing Machine Pages notebook.

The Library was closed.  Indigenous People Day.  I had to look it up. I pushed my books into the return slot.  They'll get sorted tomorrow.

I am wearing corduroy pants.....not the ones that are heavily mended.  A different pair of green pants.  I have another pair of pants (why are they identified as a Pair of Pants?)  in the same green corduroy but one size smaller.  I used to wear them. When I was walking the dog.  I have on a thermal long sleeve pullover and the Kmart work shirt.  Not ready for sweaters...yet.  But it feels like a WHOLE NEW OUTFIT.

Husband cleaned out his coat closet.  Then put everything back in...... That has to be Man Thinking. I mentioned that I had ONE Winter coat (long black wool) for some reason I think of Johnny Cash when I wear it: ONE Rain coat (orange waterproof with a brown lining but no hood), Two LLBean lined vests---  for days, in Maine, when it might rain or might snow but then might not do either but I should still expect to get cold or wet.  I also have a pull over the head, no front zip, I don't know what it is called.  Has a hood.  One not lined and one lined.  Parka.  Word just popped into my head....so great!!!!

I have non skid slip on restaurant shoes for when there is ice but I still have to go inside a building with wet shoes......  I also have boots with no slip spikes on them for ice when I am not going inside a building.  And regular boots for shoveling the driveway.  When it snows. Extra warm as the driveway takes a long time to shovel.

Wasn't all that info so VERY Riveting????  My Life.  Should be a Movie.

The majority of my closet is filled with Art Supplies.  Yes.   One basket on the floor is full of scarves and gloves and hats.  I used to also have a reflective vest...for "last call" walks with Riley.  So the lawyer next door didn't hit us both (me and dog) with his drunken wide turn at the corner. Drunk every night.

Field Notes- It's cold in the house. G is rolled up in a down lap thing- asleep on the couch at noon.

 I have apples on the list for tomorrow.  French Apple Cake.  Includes Rum. And Butter. So why not. These are the sort of apples that taste good.  Banged up, not perfect, spotted.  Definitely not waxed. The kind you pick up off the ground under the apple tree.  Patty must not have gone apple picking.  One year the Twins brought me a bag of apples.  I know they went apple picking...but none for me.  Their dad bakes the apple cake recipe I gave him.  I baked it when I was a child. It's OLD.

I need to go down to the closet and pull out the red sweater.  And the corduroy pants with the surface over my butt worn smooth and shiny.  And thin.  At some point I will need to layer and stitch something over the seat of those pants.  Quilt them. Sam got me a heavy new pair of corduroy pants at Goodwill. I should start breaking them in.

I got the third and fourth........I stopped typing because my brain has forgotten the word for what these things are that I sew around the == border....  It came back.  It works if I just describe the word and it's use....mostly.  I think it's because I read, watch tv and sew.   I don't talk or write if I am not here with you or writing the washing machine pages once a week..  I've lost my "words".  I sewed the last two strips around the square.  This last border is finished and I ironed it all very flat with two applications of spray starch before going to bed..  There is nothing straight or uniform about this square.  Wonky.

All day, the only talking is inside my head.  Alone.  It's been that way for- well always.  Why?  Why do I do that?  Is that why I like books? Reading them.  Someone else is talking in my head?  And I can rest and just "listen".  Yes.  If I am describing insane...then yes... I am. It's my natural habitat.

We are having pizza.  With football. Like always. If G wasn't watching...I'd also have wine.  But he'll be watching.....  Too bad it's almost Winter.  Patty usually arrives with Gin and Tonics. In warm weather.

In winter it's a large bottle of red wine.  Which I appreciate.

Field Notes- Saturday, October 8th. Sunshine outside and chilly inside. Pancakes?

 Onion Soup.  Doesn't this look delicious?????  I've never been able to make a good onion soup.

There was a restaurant back over by the Old-now abandoned- Fire Station in Town.  G and I went once a week.  Onion Soup or Mussels in broth.  Then...I am trying to recall what we ordered but it might have been steak.  I was just off the diet Merry Go Round.  Mussels in broth and steak and salad sounds like what I might have been allowed to eat......not the onion soup.  But I had it and then didn't eat the next day.

I usually kept the weight off for a few years......then it came back slowly.  Harder and harder to do the weight loss thing.  I don't have a  80 pound dog to walk twice a day.  And no...it's so unfair to adopt an animal at the age of 76. I see old people with dogs.....It makes me cry. I see 50 year olds struggling to get out to walk a big dog right here on the street.   

Riley pulled me DOWN many times.  I wouldn't enjoy it at 76.  I doubt I could get up further than my knees and hands. Once I just stayed flat on my back.  Riley came over and stared at me.  Waited for me to get up the nerve to try and stand up. We walked on a short leash for a few days.......

Won't take much today...to make me cry.  I must be at overflow stage like the washing machine.  Overflow stage and the water keeps rising.

This post will be short.  I stitched two borders to the cloth I am working on.  They were going to be wide. I got two on..and wide was Not the way to go.  I watched law and Order while I stitched.  Dog on my mind.

COVID numbers in the sewer water getting higher in Portland. Flu season going to be BIG this Winter.  So far no mention of MonkeyPox in Maine.  24% of the people wearing masks.  Mainers never really adopted mask wearing.....MAGA.....but now even less.  Going out, into places......still not my favorite thing to do.

Field Notes- A strange day. Chilly, Clouds....like it can't make up it's mind.

 Gray.  Like the day.  I'm thinking these are all knots.  Or lines of short stitches.  

I sometimes save an image because whatever the maker did is of some interest to me.  Covering a cloth with lines of various length stitches in close lines seemed interesting to me.  I rarely quilt in a pattern.  I usually just make lines of stitch following the shapes when I do quilt.  I like quilting.  But most of my work doesn't play well with it.  

G has a new (well, we've done the puzzle before but it's still a puzzle) puzzle he is working on- doing the outer edge.  I dumped the pieces out yesterday and turned them all face up.  It's best when he has two to four activities to chose from in an average day.  Reading. Puzzles. Outdoor Chores (yesterday it was filling the bird feeders)....... Coloring and Word Search are his favorites.  

The Bird Feeders needed to be washed and filled so G was busy with that.  Birds don't like a dirty bird feeder or old moldy seeds or dirty bird bath/drinking water.

Also, as an instructor, I would caution all of you...if you start--continue.  The birds depend on you for food and water once they find your Feeder and Bird Bath.  Forgetting to fill the feeder or replacing dirty water.....these hungry thirsty birds will need to find a new source (when they find your feeder/bird bath.. empty) And that might not end well. I doubt anyone else on our street is feeding birds. And clean water is hard to find and the pools of water in the Deep Dark Woods behind the house- have hungry animals waiting..nearby.  We would find scattered body parts......on the daily walks with the dog.

Mostly I taught people how to ATTRACT Birds to their yards.  Water, food, flowers, trees/shrubs with berries.  Sustainable food.  

My classes were more about how to become a good person.....my employer put up with me. The classes were popular. Go figure, huh?  But George says everyone needs therapy.

Field Notes with a Cup of Tea. Rained yesterday. We were not expecting rain. Sunshine today.

 French Style Apple Cake.  Must put apples on the shopping list for next week.

I read most of yesterday- on and off.  Watched news.  Herschel Walker.  Georgia.  I am trying very very hard to think of the Georgia I lived-in years ago- even letting this guy VOTE.  But run for office??? Blowing my mind.  Georgians didn't even like Jimmy Carter. Then. Or me- "Who are your people???" Odd that my brother and his wife have lived in Georgia more years than we did.  We have people now.

I worked on my desk calendar.  I don't fill in each day's square anymore.  I cover whole weeks with art. Some of it Political.  Some of it just Art.  Some of it lists.  I have a clipping of a white chair with long thin black metal legs.......not pasted down as yet....... I have a painting of blue hands holding a green lawn and a white house with a red roof.  Covering the first Saturday in October.  Something.

A long time silent Reader has re-appeared.  ML.  I have missed her in the comments and in my email. Another blogger has lost her beloved husband.  It was a sad day..  Lots of tears.  There are many Readers who are silent now- surfacing only every few years to say- "I'm Reading" and that makes me very happy. Most days I feel like I send these posts out into Space.  Which is a delightful thing in itself. Space.

In todays' paper a local- just down the road- rocket company is going to send cremated remains into Space on their rockets.  Pets and People.  I am adding the article to the Book.  I want to be buried in Space out with the planets and stars. Take Riley and Rusty with me. We'll drift around.  Forever.

The bird feeders need filling every few days.  The deer are coming at dusk to eat acorns off the lawn. Five and sometimes more.  They summer out on a island.  Swim back over for Winter. All the females with one or two babies.  Mostly juveniles now.  But way cute bouncing around when very tiny.  They are eating the Peach Tree Branches but so far, haven't gobbled up the annual flowers in the containers...... but they will.  

Field Notes- Wednesday, October 5th. Raining. 57 degrees. Deer foraging on the lawns eating acorns.

 I showed you my bedroom and now you get to see the living room.  Husband is to the far left with his coloring table- hard at work on a new page.  The couch where he reads and naps. Further right is the first dining room table we owned- with the Puzzle of the Week.  Lamps.  No carpets.  No Chairs.  No curtains. As one person said- "no room for company".  Before.....lots of seating for company and lots of company- people died.......I gave up.

Better to not make friends than to forever bury them.  Same with cats and dogs.

Shiny gorgeous dark oak floors via the second owner of this house. The original owner and builder of this custom house- covered EVERY VERTICAL SURFACE with wallpaper and also off white cream carpeting.  Some walls with four or five different patterns of paper.  The second owner had almost ALL of it removed and she removed most of the carpet from the main rooms but not the bedroom wing.  I still have two bedrooms with carpet.  Because we had stuff loaded into one and slept in the other during renovation.

I emptied this room when the Painter did the ceilings, walls and trim.  One wingback chair went to the Candy Store for Santa.  The blue denim covered one and a half chairs (two) went home with daughter.  I kept the ottomans.  The coffee table holds plants in the kitchen window.  

I'm taking the picture from my vantage point on the second couch.  I bought two.  My butt is planted where I watch tv and read.  To my left is the old desk my former employer sold me, English. with little cubby hole places for index cards (I adore index cards), recipes and other little somethings.  Two ridiculously useless drawers on either side of me......sitting on my rolling office chair.  The tv is upper left corner just out of sight of the camera.

And yes, it's this dark here in Maine at lunch time.  And all Winter. I thought Germany was dark in winter, but Maine is so much darker.  Cold, Damp, Dark.  Sigh.  Half the population drives or flies to Florida. Usually.  But this Winter they will have to stay.  Oh...the misery of it........

Field Notes- Tuesday, October 4th. Very cold yesterday and in 70's today but still feels chilly.

 I folded the wash I did a few days ago.  Finally "got around to it".   Image French Apple Cake.

George came around to check on the garden yesterday afternoon.  I gave him two golden yellow large tomatoes.  I said I didn't like them because they were "crunchy".  I like a soft tomato that has no resistance left.  It surrenders to the knife or fork or teeth.

I forgot what I wanted to say about George's arrival- here it is- I asked  and he said yes to carrying the AC units out to the garage workbench where they "over Winter".  Husband had taken them out of the windows. So all George had to do was carry them.  Sigh.  Neither of us (G and I) have the arm strength/ hand grip we once had. I used to carry them......I used to do quite a few "heavy lifting" things around here.

Yesterday's book was Wicked Sexy Liar.  And I have no idea why that is the title. as no one was a liar and the sexy went cold real fast. Two recent college graduates- meet in a bar and we know how that goes......... Christina Lauren-two friends who write together.  It started out really strong and buried the lede, as we say in the print trade, when we got into the relationship building part of the book.  Book needed one (or two) really brutal edits.  I have another of their early books in the line up......... the later ones are all very good.

I have a new desk calendar here on the desk.  The entire first row of squares is blank as October began on Saturday.  The last week doubles up for 30 and 31.

Husband forgot he already had his COVID BOOSTER.  He said we needed to go get ours.  I reminded him- he was confused-- and then he remembered.  It's interesting and annoying at the same time.

 Like Science Class.  Interesting until the slowness of Science got annoying.  Think the rocket will ever go off in Florida?????  I don't.  Not this year.  The Lunar Opportunity Window is not a good bet.

Neither are the New England Patriots. Unless you bet they lose.  Then...a good bet.

Field Notes- October 3rd. Grocery Store Monday. No bottled lemonade. Library Books.

 This looks like my Vegetable Soup.  I don't buy this brand of cookware.  Always on sale.  The one I buy is never on sale.

Today I selected celery, nice carrots- not bagged- for my soup @ the grocery..  I have a few chunks of cabbage to add. And a can of diced tomatoes and another can of white beans.  There might be a small can of corn or peas I can add- unless I have something in the frozen vegetables drawer.  Not sure what those green leaves are.  But I do have a really nice Basil plant on the front porch.  I added a large sprig to the pasta sauce.  I also have small pasta.  I like adding pasta to vegetable soup. So wasn't that riveting???

I did a load of clothes yesterday.  Did the "new" Washing Machine Pages.  It's different writing and knowing that my kids wanted to read the Pages.  It changes things.  Do you tell the truth? How much?

I still have to pull the clean clothing OUT of the dryer and fold all of it.  I usually do this RIGHT AWAY but did not yesterday as there was Football.  I'll just give the dryer 5 to 10 minutes to warm the clothes up and get the wrinkles out???  Then fold and put them away.  Mostly tees and undies.

I am wearing my favorite black socks..  I mended them last year at the beginning of the warm weather when I stop wearing socks.  So..this is my first time wearing the mended socks.  Wow.  Just like new. I used white on the black socks because it was spring-y and soft.  Good choice. Not the color but the spring-y ness.  Feels good on the bottom of my feet. All that counts......

Field Notes- Sunday, October 2nd. Almost Cold. Football. Pizza. (I remembered) and Books.

 I'm thinking I should make a Chocolate Loaf Cake like this one.  But...I have been reconsidering that and instead make Corn Bread.  I have all the ingredients.  For both.  But the Corn Bread...I haven't had any Southern Corn Bread in what feels like YEARS.  Most likely is YEARS.  Decades.

I used up the remainder of the produce drawer- what hadn't started to compost in the drawer- and tossed in all the ripening cherry tomatoes from the garden I had on the counter.  Added some pasta water to thicken it up.  Celery (iffy), one solo carrot, an onion.  I cooked the pasta and removed a good portion and put it into a container for husband to add to his Daily Prepared Chicken Parm Dinner..  Every Day.  The same purchased prepared meal.  I had pasta and he wanted what I had made for myself to eat........even though he had a meal in front of him. He ate his additional pasta plain. 

We discussed his "current" interest (yesterday for 20 minutes) in me making him Chicken Soup this Winter.  I made it last Winter and he ate one portion and left the other three quarts of broth, carrots and noodles in the fridge- until Spring when I added it to the compost bin.  I asked and he refused to eat the soup.  Even went so far as to say he didn't like soup. Ever. Never. I had been making that soup for over ten years (even 20 years) and he always ate it.  Always wanted me to make more.

If you ever wonder what it is like living with the memory impaired........this is what it is like.

Damned if you do.  Damned if you don't.  I told him I was going to figure out how to record him on my iPhone and then play back to him some of the things he says to me.........and then decided not to. He'd say it wasn't him. And then forget. So who would it benefit???   And yes, son of mine far away from home..I still haven't gone to get a new iPhone.  

Field Notes- Saturday, October First. CHILLY- I had to get the furnace going. I need to be wearing socks.

 I wrote the names of the artist's on my desk calendar and then covered the writing with pasted art. I got the Art from Little Somethings in the sidebar.  Or Something.  I can't recall how it's listed.

I liked this because it used paper and print.  I like doing that in collage--mixing paper, print, oil pastels etc. so this is for you to look at and for me to remember.  When I get out paper and paste again.

The larger AC unit is out of the window in the dining room/kitchen area.  On the floor.  It can remain there until some strong person comes to the house.  Husband removed it himself while I was still asleep.  And it didn't fall outside into the dirt- as it has a few times....  I have the door to the guest bedroom shut- that room has the bedroom wing AC unit.

I changed out batteries in the thermostat units and now have the heat up to 60 in the bedroom/baths and 64 here in the living room.  Still chilly but that's why we wear socks and sweaters.  The Governor sent  G and I checks for $850 each to help cover the oil bill for heating this Winter.  It's something but hardly covers the 4 digit bill..  The guy running against her would have done nothing-- a Republican.  And a Lying Asshole with his Lips Firmly on Trump's Ass.  He's been Governor twice and wants to make it three times.  I am hopeful that he doesn't.  Voters in quite a few states are in the same situations.

All we can do is Hope.  And Vote.

After I hit publish I am going to go find my sweater and a pair of wool socks.

I am reading another of Julie Murphy's books.  She also wrote If The Shoe Fits (a Prince Charming and Cinderella story about a plus sized girl doing the Bachelor Type Contest on TV.  She also wrote some very nice YA books.  I just finished my second reading of Dumplin' about Misfit high school girls doing a Beauty Contest type thing.  It's a lovely book.  Both books are.  And so I picked up a Merry Little Meet Cute off the new book shelf by this author.

And what to my "wondering eyes did I find" but a Hallmark style Christmas Movie being filmed by half the regular Hallmark crew and half the crew from a Porn internet channel.  By page 83 I knew I would NOT have had ANY complaints about the "kiss" between the Duke and the Pretty "Shy" Female interest in THIS Particular Movie.  I am going to find a sweater, some socks and then sit down with a cup of something and read this book.  And then, next week, if it lives up to the expectations.....order the book from my independent book seller........onward- to the sock basket and the sweaters......It's Cold in Maine.

Field Notes- Friday September 30th. Cold. Might need to surrender and put on socks and a sweater.

 What I am making and eating Today.

I was (am) considering SOUP.  But if I start eating SOUP now....it will be a long slog this Winter. And I am seriously going to switch out the vegetable soup for lentil this Winter when I get a chunk of Baked Ham from the DELI counter.  I like Lentil.  I need to try and remember that.....I like Lentil Soup.  I had it every day on my 1200 calorie diet. Which worked.  Made me insane measuring and weighing all the food but it worked.

I made the last box of Kraft Mac and Cheese yesterday.  Ate that.  It was that or Pancakes. I forgot to buy bread so I couldn't make a grilled cheese with pickles.  I need to take better care of myself.

I went to sleep and was dreaming about after Florida.  When we moved to the burbs of Chicago.  When I was a volunteer helping out in the school my son went to "after" his bad experience.  None of the teachers in third grade wanted him after reading his inch thick student file.  The Gifted and Talented Teacher took him on. Gave him a chance. In gratitude, I helped out in her classroom.  Way over my competency zone.

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!!!!  First assignment was teach all the boys (bored) in the class the multiplication tables to 9  (it had NOTHING to do with ANY ability on my part)  Then I asked for quarter inch graph paper and taught them how to use their new skill to multiple a three digit number by a two digit number. Then we worked on long division. For some reason I had little contact with the two or three girls in the class ... they stayed close to the Teacher.  The boys were actually....well, I was exhausted after a few hours with them.  So I went home.  Then Miss V had the whole class to herself.

Miss V was always in charge of what I did or did not do in the classroom. The boys were 8 years old.   Lots of wiggling around, running around and picking their noses, asking "why?". Regular Boys. No. Not really.  But I had one at home so...what can I say.  I was used to it. Seemed regular/normal even if it didn't look or sound that way. It was a lot.......I think their parents didn't have great patience, time or parenting skills.  What with Doctorates in Science and Math and Physics and working all day and even weekends.  In comparison.  I was ordinary.  Mom-like. I wiped noses, stopped fights and asked the quiet ones- what's wrong?

I saw some of the boys ....after Europe when we moved back to the Chicago burbs.  After high school. I truly wish we had stayed put and I could have watched them all grow up together-- with our son. Amazing Boys.

Field Notes- Thursday, September 29th. Hurricane Watching Yesterday and Today.

 It was pretty EPIC yesterday.  Water.  Water is so devastating.

So that was that.  Plus homeowners insurance.  Florida insurance companies not covering Storm or Water damages.  Same here in Maine.  Special -very expensive- policies if we want "water coverage". Are you covered for Storm or Water damages????  Better check.  

I was trying to recall how many years we lived in South Florida.  Our son had just turned 4 when we arrived and in second (actually third) grade when we left.  It seemed longer.  The second/third grade was one of those things...his second grade teacher refused to have him in her class so a third grade teacher volunteered to "take" him.  She never had a moment of trouble with him.  

The second grade teacher was very very sure he was "retarded".  And said that.  The boy sitting next to my son in 2nd grade (in the last row at the back of the room) had a learning disability and my son helped him with his work.  The two of them were ignored by the teacher.

I actually wanted to go into the school and do bodily harm.  They had a professional man come in and give my son an IQ test. (even the Principal was positive the 2nd grade teacher was right)  I might have written about this years ago- it still makes me furious-- anyway the tester was in tears at the end.  He said   he never thought he would get to experience the testing of a child who needed, like two more seconds, to get a perfect score." He went on to say watching my son figure out the problems was so incredible.  The process of solving.

Not retarded.

I was miserable for the entire time we were there.  And this is when I started wearing my wedding ring on my middle finger.  I learned to drive, got a driver's license so I could cash checks, got a job and a credit card-same one I still use today.  So....the rock bottom-ness of it.....created the me you having writing this blog. Today.  What doesn't kill you..makes you stronger.

Field Notes- September 28th. Cloudy with a chance of Something.

 This looks like something Dee would make and probably did make..  Her Houses always call to me....... I would like to see progress images to see how it all begins.  The mid portion also when things have gotten out of control--fabric must be removed..... replaced...auditioned.

Sunshine.  Warmer.  Tru Green stopped by yesterday.  it's always unexpected.  The guy spreading fertilizer etc on the 15,000 square feet that is our yard (that has grass) the rest of the acres are covered in trees. Eventually the hurricane will reach us.  Unless it runs out of energy. Or leaves via the Carolinas.

Yesterday was quiet here.  Nothing happened.

Husband successfully arrived at his Cardiology appointment.  His diet of Fat and Sugar showed up in his bloodwork.  He then went to have his hair cut.  Then home with a bag of cookies studded with M&M's, frosted cupcakes and Keurig cups of Caramel coffee. You can see how much attention he paid to his cholesterol.. If he paid ANY attention. If he even knows about Cause and Effect.

It's like watching a movie in very SLOW motion.  And knowing How it Ends but left up in the air on When it Ends.  I may not even be Here when it does End.  That could be the Surprise Ending.

I gave some consideration and thought to the request my son and daughter have made- that I leave the Journals and Notebooks for them to read after I am dead.  They already read this.  I am thinking of loose ends. I am thinking, now that I am closer to death than to living....I should explain the choices I have made for 76 years. Inexplicable Choices.  Not to defend them.  Just to say I made them and then lived with the result.

I dreamed of dead friends last night.  Talked to them.  They didn't reply.   But they listened. I asked for forgiveness.  I though of ways I could have been a better friend to them.  It feels like AA.

Field Notes- Tuesday, September 27th. Looks like it might rain.

 Colors by Zodiac.

All the paint companies got together and decided what colors fit with what Zodiac signs.  It was a pretty lame idea.  I do like the zodiac art on the wall though.

Yesterday was not my best day.  I am not going to tell the story but it worked out in my favor even though it should not have because I ruined the day for someone else.  Shit Happens. From now on I am parking in the grocery lot and walking to the Library or having husband take me and he'll park in the handicapped spaces.  It's just easier.....safer.

I promised husband I would bake Brownies today.  I forgot to buy him cake at the grocery store. I just walked thru the vegetable/bakery section never considering the bakery.......I did get Chicken dinners and Pizza dough.  So...that was okay, but the "not buying" dessert was a sore subject.

He's gone for his Cardiologist Appointment.  And then a haircut.  It's all on his iPhone.. so, fingers crossed he gets where he belongs.  I'm going to wait on the Brownie baking until he gets home- he could arrive with bakery.  It's on his mind.

I need to turn on lights.  I guess that's how I know it's Fall/Winter.  Having to turn on the lights.

Husband finished off the puzzle I bought him.  Very fast.  And yesterday, at the library I didn't see any that looked good enough to borrow.  I could put out one we have already done.  It's not like a puzzle has a plot and is a mystery.  I'll do that.  It's good if he has several activities.  Word Search.  Coloring Pages.  Puzzles.  Book To Read with Dessert and Coffee.  Then it doesn't feel like he has "nothing to do".  I already okayed Cutting the Grass so he did that yesterday with the riding mower.. I okayed myself for couch sitting and staring  at nothing.  I had a book.  But I wasn't interested.  Yeah.  That's weird.

Field Notes- Monday, September 26th. What a Day so Far.

 Would this plate of roasted vegetables look as good if it wasn't on the black slate counter top?  I forgot to get Hummus.  Again.

Yesterday's Football.  Patriots Quarterback has possibly suffered a season ending leg injury.  On the Sports Radio Show (on cable tv) a retired football player recognized the injury and said the kid is out for ..possibly-- the rest of the Season.  Nothing is broken or torn- but it takes a long time for the tendons and muscles to heal.  He hopped off the field on one leg- couldn't put the other foot to the ground.

Brady got his Old Clock Cleaned by Rodgers.  HIS knee brace looked like it had been in car wreck. Let's just say- the two back to back games were less than thrilling.  Boring? yes.  Lifeless? yes.  Hard to be exciting when only one Team shows up to play and the other one hasn't got a clue..  

I actually went into our BANK today.  To deposit checks the State of Maine sent us to help with Winter Heating Costs.  This year. They didn't help us last year.  

Then I went and paid the second installment of our Property Taxes.  

Then I stopped in at the Library to return books.

Then the grocery to buy what was on the shopping list.  A Very Nice Tall Young Man helped me with the sliced packaged Pepperoni for the Pizza next Football Sunday.  He was probably over 30 and had muscles. Rather great looking dressed in all black. Possibly the Beer Sales Rep. The Pepperoni I wanted was on the highest level of tiny pegs.  

I could have gotten it myself......but...why????  

Field Notes- Sunday, September 25th. Sunshine but chilly. Might be Time for me to start making SOUP

 Interesting door--knob.

My hands are itching.  I have touched something with something on it...I have no idea what is setting my skin off.  But it turns red and itches.  At this moment- both index fingers.  And one thumb.

Husband is mowing the grass with the riding mower.  All the rain- the passing hurricane that hit eastern Canada- and the sunshine.  Grass has filled in and greened up.  

Acorns- the harbinger of Winter.  We have had none for possibly three years now.  This year they are raining down, causing foot pain if I walk on them etc etc.  Usually a heavy amount of acorns means a heavy snow type Winter.  I would be crabby but...we need water.  Ground water.  Deep into the Earth Water.  So, I am hopeful about the abundance of acorns.

If it continues to be cold in the mornings- I am switching from oatmeal to Cream of Wheat with butter and cinnamon for my breakfast.  I haven't had Cream of Wheat in a long time. We haven't had Winter.

I saw a NYT's recipe in the feed I am sent...I can't open it unless I send them money.  I looked on line but I couldn't find the Joan Nathan recipe for a Hungarian Honey Cake for Passover.  Hungarian because that is close to where my grandmother was born- and she baked some awesome stuff..........And the image of the cake looked very very delicious.  It takes 1.5 hours to make and 3 hours to chill and 25 hours to rest. A Project Honey Cake if there ever was one.

There was also a recipe- just the title and the photo- for Pasta with Butternut Squash, Kale and Brown Butter.  I like all those things............

In further Astrology News:  2023 (gosh that sounds so Futuristic) for me.  Introspection (already doing that), Awareness of Time (running out), Self Analysis (sounds like therapy?), Refining Talents  (work). Sounds like an Intense Year.

In Book Reading news-  Dumplin' a YA book by Julie Murphy.  Two kids in high school and one of those Southern Beauty and Talent things.  Texas.  Also the author of If The Shoe Fits a Cinderella type story with guy and a plus sized adult woman.  Dumplin has a plus sized YA girl and an interesting guy plus high school drama. Finished it last night and intend to read it again today.  Lots to unpack. I missed out on this aspect of high school.  Which is why I like reading Travel Back In Time Rom Coms.  Revisionist.

I also saw more of the end of Sixteen Candles.  I saw about 20 minutes of the beginning of the movie weeks ago the Ringwald filled out the questionnaire, dropped in on floor and the cute guy picked it up.. More than a month ago? Longer? And I saw 10 minutes of the ending....sort of recently while clinking thru channels--but I think I should really record the whole thing.  Fast forward past the cringe worthy scenes...so many...  I keep hoping they would show Never Been Kissed again.  I shouldn't have deleted it.  I have no idea- didn't look- as to when these movies came to be.  Whenever it was, I wasn't interested. I don't know.  We could have been living in Germany.

Field Notes- Saturday the 24th. Chilly with Sunshine. I might need socks and a sweater today.

 I mentioned yesterday- thinking about washing the kitchen rug.  I did.  With two pair of husband's gardening pants.  It went well (I was prepared for it going badly).  Most of the dirt was removed in the wash.  A few spots remain. But, it's significantly "cleaner" than it was.   I also dragged the central vac hose around the house.  Not enough to make my back hurt- but enough so that the wood floors are not dusty.

I freshened up (washed) the placemats at the table.  The daily newspaper reading tends to make them look dirty with the ink transferring.  Now they are clean as well.

I've been touching too many things today and this is the second or third time I have needed to wash my hands with Dawn.  They get contaminated easily and then have red itchy areas.  It takes a while for the red, itchy, irritated areas to calm down.  Contact dermatitis.  Usually, it's outdoor stuff I touch.  Now. it's inside the house stuff.

I feel like I am shedding layers.....is that what aging is all about????  I can't ask all my dead friends. Yes, most of my dearest friends and fellow quilters...have died.....already or disappeared.  I can imagine the stories they have stored up to tell me when I finally arrive.. to the refrain.."always late.......nothing ever changes with you, Joanne!!"  I usually handed them a cocktail or a warm homemade cinnamon roll to make up for it.   

They will also ask what I did with whatever was left behind in their houses......I have Gregor's red cardigan sweater (the one I wear and mend all Winter).... I have Judy's little golden embroidery scissors, Beverly's Japanese fabric collection (on my shelves), Joan in the art pieces we made and talked about, Barbara's bookcase now filled with my paperback romances..... I see my old friends, each day........ in their favorite possessions.  What will someone keep to remember me? 

Field Notes- Friday, September 23rd. Sunshine but still cooler than usual.

 A box of PURPLE from way out West.  Thank you Joan.  Now my Fabric Closet Color Collection is complete.  For some unknown reason- and I do have older quilts with purple in them--I neglected to buy purple fabric..... now I have some.  So..this is really nice of Joan in California.

I finished watching whatever season the Granchester season was on PBS.  Now I have the next season lined up on TiVo.  I record stuff and sometimes watch and some times not.  I do it mostly so I can fast forward and not watch commercials.  Like Hallmark Movies.  Record and skip the commercials. But I haven't recorded any of last year's and this year's Hallmark Movies.......I seem to have outgrown them as they get sillier and sillier.  I do keep the favorite Christmas Movies in the TiVo..  For December. Every December. Magical Shoes and the Christmas Waltz.  And the Christmas Bookstore. And a new one last year of a dead guy who comes back to Life for 2 weeks each December.

It seems strange to recall how I watched so many of them (the deleted ones).........a different Me?

I think that may be the case.  There are things I used to love doing that no longer appeal to me.  And watching a Sports Talk Show- well, I can't imagine me ever doing that......but now I do.  But the novelty of it is wearing off.  I will stay with it into December because I love the way they do Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Callers playing an instrument or singing a carol........ old women and old guys.....singing.  It's just so lovely. I imagine them home alone.......family far away or gone.  Having a little Christmas.  On the radio.  Because this is a radio show that is broadcast on TV.  I know....weird.  But sweet.

I don't think we'll have a tree again this year.  Christmas holds bad memories for my husband so it's for the best, I think--now.  With what he has to contend with memory-wise.  Not bring more into the mix. 

It's funny how in a few years, everything that you "always" did...is gone.  and how you don't really miss it.

I have a cloth piece on the ottoman- auditioning the next border.  I was up in the Attic and the Closet- looking.....but I can't find the fabric I used in one of the borders.  I ripped a strip off a larger piece and I can't find the larger piece......up and down the stairs......can't find it.  So VERY AGGRAVATING......

Field Notes- Raining. Dark. Cold. The Hurricane is moving north along the coastline.

 I don't think this in Jude Hill.  I think it's someone else in my sidebar-- I'll get back to you.  Hazel in Portland OR.  She sells these wonderful little cloth pieces.  But they are always sold out by the Time I try and buy one.  Just a small square of cloth and some embroidery floss and she creates MAGIC.

Handstories in the sidebar.

It's raining.  I have all the house lights on and all the windows closed.  It's also cold.

I cooked yesterday.  I roasted a small tray of the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes (from the garden) in the oven and then boiled pasta and mixed the two together.  Simple.  I added some Parmesan cheese.  I was thinking I should have added basil.  I ate a bowl of this while watching MSNBC and the charges again the Trump Empire.  Fraud.  He has always said everything was larger than it actually was........ bigly.

Later I watched Grandchester a PBS show I have recorded on TiVo over the Summer and never watched. It says it's new but it looks to be repeated "new".   I watched Endeavor.  I sort of wish we could see the much older Morse in the earlier series.  But PBS sold it to Prime I think.  I don't have Prime. I should have Prime.  I should figure out how to do these things but....I used to know.  Now I second guess myself.

Husband has gone off to see the Dentist.

A package is supposed to be arriving today.  Purple cloth from the West Coast.  Someone who reads my blog.  I am very very excited about this....... I love getting mail.  Either by post office or internet.

Field Notes- Wednesday, September 21st. Cloudy, Cool, Damp. Definitely Changing Seasons.

 This is from the internet somewhere.  If I woke up tomorrow morning and this was on the ottoman to my Left- I would be very happy.  I doubt I would have blanket stitched the outer perimeter. I really should think about a better way to do my straight pins..but right now...I have only about 12 of them....the rest of the container has gone "walk about" as they say in Oz.

I wind my thread on wooden clothes pins.  I saw it on a blog.  I liked it.  So I bought a bag of clothes pins and started winding.

Haircut. I began the day with a shower.  I should have waited and taken one now as all the tiny snips of hair are traveling inside my work shirt and cotton tee.  Itching.  Irritating.  Hair looks good.

After the haircut we went to the next Town over to Sherman's Books and I got three books.  Plus I used my Ten Dollars of Book Money (which was burning a hole in my pocket).  I got three books at the bookstore that I had forgotten I liked reading.  One is a Regency Romance.  Should have named the book The Widow and the Rake.

I picked tomatoes.  With the cooler nights and all the rain- not much happened out there. One not ripe but changed color tomato and a handful of the cherry tomatoes. Every other one out there is still solid green.

I invited husband to finish off my birthday cake yesterday evening.  Big wedge.  It was giving me acid reflux.  Daughter dropped off two boxes of Dilly Bars from DQ.  My birthday gift.  Plus a tub of cheesecake. To eat with a spoon (that sounds like FUN).  She found it at a small independent grocery.  Near the location of my new General Practitioner.  In Bath.  She'll be driving me there when I get an appointment.  A lot of changes happened in my Regulated Life this Year.  Losing the doctor I had for 30 years was one of those things.

Well, I have blogs to read.  Coffee to drink.  The Sports Show to watch.  Then MSNBC.  No Law and Order today.  Sewing or Reading.

Field Notes- Tuesday, September 20th. Overcast and 67 degrees. Summer might be Ovah!!!

 I cleaned out the picture file yesterday.  I'll be taking my own for a bit and then...who knows what I might find...

The weather has changed overnight...well, over about a week's worth of nights.  There are abundant acorns on the lawn and the driveway.  We haven't had any for three? years.  And no Winter snow.  I am hoping the abundant acorns forecast a white Winter.  We need the ground water.

A new (to me) friend is going to collect and send me some purple fabric.  I'm very excited.  It was quite a surprise to notice that I have a few small scraps but no other purples in either of the fabric closets.  The Magic Attic Closet and the Less Magical Sewing Room Closet. So......it will be fun.

The Football last night (intermingled with Law and Order) was SURPRiSiNG.  At least I was surprised. One Team in each of the 8pm games playing very well and the other Team looking like they hadn't done their homework.  Tennessee was a surprise.  Inept.  I don't like to stay to see people getting injured.

I can't remember who was playing in the other game at the same time.  But it was terrible as well.  One sided.  Law and Order was also disappointing.  The Harmon woman is one of the lawyers.  I never really warmed up to her so....she always wants the death penalty.

It's 12:30 and I need to turn on lights.  It's very very dark in the house.  And I might need to put on socks.

Field Notes- September 19th. Overcast skies but no Rain. House lights are on.

 It's a Pancake Day.  King Arthur Buttermilk Mix Pancakes.  I have a package.

The grocery clerk doubted I could carry my groceries in one bag. I have become OLD overnight. What a shocking change in 24 hours (birthday and all). I had even put on a fresh, clean shirt......... Pink.  And the shirt looks like it might even have been ironed...... not by me.

Perhaps I have never worn it? I plan to take it off and put it back in the closet and wear one of the really old (30 years) K-mart work shirts.  All the washing removed the blue from the shirts. Still have the original buttons.

Anyway.  The Patriots won.  Which was hard to believe. The Steelers.....missing the Old Fat Pig???

Tom Brady threw the last pass of (his) yesterday's game from near one end zone to the other end zone and the guy catching it caught it without ever looking back.  He just put his hands out and the ball fell into them. And Mrs. Brady wants Tom to retire?  He'll give her up first. 

I am reading a lovely book.  The cleaning up, patching up, fixing up of a VERY old French hotel.  Nothing has ever been thrown away.  It's a book I will order and buy at the Book Store.  I like it very much.  A wonderful present from the Universe for my Birthday.

I found an astrology website:  People born on my birth date are highly intuitive, helpful, natural teachers.  We worry and have self doubt issues in our youth but we get better with age.  I am peace loving, hard working and appreciate the comforts of Home and Family (so true).  But I cling to my lifestyle and don't make changes easily (very true).  The overall feeling of stability is VITAL to me.

It also mentions that in the past year I have questioned my Life Path and feel like I have no anchor. I am confused about where I am heading.  As Readers of this blog...you can agree with that.....but also some of my greatest joy comes thru attachment to others....(all of you) and my ability to share myself with you.

Field Notes- Sunday September 18th. Was just out picking tomatoes in the back garden.

 This is image #3008.  From my iPhone.  Next up are borders all around of the orange fabric.  I bought it in every color they had but not the purple and I am kicking myself about that.  I have almost nothing in purple.  The large rectangular shape in the new orange edging fabric (on the right inner square) should be at the bottom.  I'm deciding if the orange strips will be narrow, medium or wide.

Long, long phone call from my son out in California.  We are trying for a visit.  Or something.  Work is making it a bit more difficult than usual and the planes-- with new COVID variants etc etc. So nothing in the foreseeable Future.  He will renew his apartment lease for another year.

I am just in from picking tomatoes out in the back garden.  The only plants left are the ones I had on the Porch.  That I got from Allie.  They are producing large gorgeous tomatoes.  I intend to eat one today.

Husband has stopped working in his coloring book and is now going out to water the tomato plants- I told him they looked dry.  I had also clipped a good number of dry yellow leaves from the plants. they got wet when it rained and then the Sun came back out and that's what happens.

Football.  I jumped up to turn on the TV to see the Patriots get the crap kicked out of them. If they don't...I and everyone else will be shocked.   Patriots 3 and Steelers 0. Almost end of first quarter.  Interception.

No Pizza.  I forgot, again.  I'm Seventy Six Years Old. and I look AMAZING.  laughing.

Field Notes- Saturday, September 17th. Sunshine and still Cool Temps. Opened a window.

 The ottoman over to my left.  I am adding strips of cloth to a handsewn square.  To keep myself from snacking all day long.  The Handsewing Diet.  The listening to the News Handsewing Diet.

I was going to move this image from the mail section of the desktop to the desktop picture file and while doing this I was notified that my "desktop" was being used by a newly purchased laptop.  Somewhere. I have no idea if this is happening in tandem to me typing here- to you.....because I don't know anything about anything anymore.  It seems.  I may have been hyjacked.

Only 4 on today's Sudoko.  I could only pencil in four numbers.  

I need to add a few more straight pins to my pincushion.  As the square gets large- I am needing more pins to attach the new strip to the square.

I watched Ancient Aliens last night (while eating frozen yogurt) and there was this tiny woman- who visited the site of a NOW very famous temple in Egypt.  At the Time it was under the sand and no one knew it existed.  This woman told them where to dig and then when they  started to find building blocks- where to put them. She'd been given instructions years before- sort of like dictation from the spirit world.  She wrote down what she heard.  

For the first time in a long while they had a story that was obviously true and interesting.  Newspapers had covered the story as it was happening. And digging up a vast temple and reconstructing it took many many years. She was my age (tomorrow) when it was completed- 76.  Another reason it interested me.  She looked frail and barely alive at 76. 

One reason I haven't lost any HEIGHT as yet......we had soda (Coke) only on Christmas because Santa and Coke went together..  The rest of the year we drank whole milk.  Period.  Even in college cafeterias.  I got a glass of milk with any meal.  Only a few times a month did I have a Coke. Mainly because I had to buy it with my own money (cash) and I had very little money.  And no one sent me additional money. No one sent me any letters.

See.....the family was so very very happy that I was GONE.  Really. My mother even told me that.  So happy I wasn't living with them........ I've given up thinking I might be "normal"...... I'm not. This might be why I got married..after my senior year..  So I wouldn't have to go home.  Out of one mess and into another.

Field Notes- Friday September 16th. Sunshine. 63 at noon. I opened a window yesterday and the air coming in was cold but freshened up the house.

 I like the hanging light fixture.

So.  We did have cheesecake.  I went to the grocery and got the container with two slices and whipped cream.  They did have the same with cherries but they looked like pie filling cherries.  Too heavy and gloppy.  So I had my piece plain and I added rainbow sprinkles to Husband's.  Rainbow Sprinkles make him quite happy.

I was going to buy flowers but they were expensive and sort of wilted already.  So I passed.

The Local in Town Bookstore Owner called.  He was in a great mood and laughing as he told me I had FIVE BOOKS ready for pickup.  I might be his favorite customer this summer. Last time I was in.......A few customers were smiling as I kept pulling my zerox copies of books I want out of my book bag.

Yesterday I read Clare Pooley's Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting.  A group of people meet on the train each morning.  Become involved in each other's lives etc.  British.  It reminded me of the other British book- The Lost Ticket about people riding the bus together in London looking for an old man's lost love. 

I didn't realize I had read another of Clare Pooley's books- the Authenticity Project.  The one with the Green Notebook that is left around Town in places where people gather- the bakery, the pub etc..  Where anyone can pick it up and write down the things they regret in their lives and then tell what their deepest wish is for the future.  I  was on a book site and looking for new books to order and read and found a review of the Authenticity Project.  Most people disliked the book and found the plot depressing and unrealistic.  And most specifically disliked the character named Hazard.  I liked him more than anyone else.  He needed to be saved more than anyone else.

What does that say about me, I wonder????  I liked everyone equally in the Rules for Commuting. The very old people and the young teens in high school.  I imagined how the Rules Team could have been a great help to the Bus People looking for the lost love of the old man's life. Better organizational skills. More media savvy......

If you want to- read both.  Rules for Commuting and the Lost Ticket.  Love Lost and Found. 

Field Notes- September 15th- sunshine and cooler breezes. Fifty Fourth Wedding Anniversary Today.

 Would be lovely to actually have cheesecake today...but we don't.

Husband is out moving the backyard birdbath.  Making it easier for me to get to it for the daily scrub and fill.  It was behind a fence.  And now it isn't.  We can still see the birds who come visit. Mostly tiny ones. I don't know what happened to the larger birds- Blue Jays, Cardinals ...we still have crows but they rarely, if ever, use the bird bath.  Every so often a Goldfinch.

I always knew today was going to be our anniversary- husband found out because his iPhone mentioned it to him.

My eyes are tired today.  I am tired today.  I never managed to do what I wanted to my blog- even though I had assembled the thing myself years and years ago...without any skills....I can't recall how to get into the backside of it to remove things.  It's these moments when I feel old and useless.

I couldn't even put one number in any of the spaces on today's newspaper Sudoko.  ZERO.  I got 8 yesterday. The day before 3.  I gauge my day by the number of spaces I can fill.  This will be a day to go back to bed and stay there.

I watched news.... then looked up Nicole Wallace. She has gotten married. I was wondering if she was pregnant (the news people on the internet also are wondering if she is pregnant- and thus married) I didn't know she was divorced.  But perhaps she was never actually married to the father of her son?  The iPhone said they co-parented. It felt really sort of wonderful to know I had picked up on these "changes" in Nicole- all on my own. Like I was actually "observant".  It was the day I had 8 Sudoko numbers.

Field Notes. Wednesday, September 14th. 9:18 am. Impossibly true .... a message from someone.

 Chosen Randomly from the huge photo file on the desktop. I need to delete more images.

Husband is disassembling in front of my eyes.  He has screwed up his passwords (this event is regular in the rotation of upset)... He is going for bloodwork before his Heart Doctor visit later in the month...he just left.  I wrote everything down. Where he is going. Why...etc.   He might lose the note....  He refused to let me go with him.  

It begins.  Or should I say...it ends?

I can see why doctors fear for the health and wellbeing of the caregiver.

I am removing two and perhaps more blogs from my Reading List.  I like getting comments on my blog..even though I get very few.  Usually zero but on occasion one or two. I reply if there is something to say or add.  At times the commenter asks a question so I answer.  

On these blogs I am going to delete- no matter what I say- it is not welcome.  Another commenter can say the same thing- and that is welcomed with a warm reply.  I thought for years...it was the way in which I spoke...but now I realize it isn't....so I will delete them from the not very long blog list I have.  They came with a lovely class I took years ago......I should have known I wasn't welcome.

I am not very good at the social aspect of blogging.  I may not be very good at friendship.  I was greeted with delight by customers and friends at the Greenhouse and Library when I worked.  I must be different now.......Not someone you would want to know.   Perhaps it is easier for me to read reactions when face to face?  I don't know and I just have to let go......

I did laundry yesterday.  Twice.  I have work pants to wash.  But not today.  I made a pot of rice yesterday and added sun gold cherry tomatoes.  Stirred to break them up.  Salt. Pepper.  I have leftovers to eat today.  Also peeled and ate two cucumbers from the garden.  Reading The Spanish Love Deception. Same author as the American Roommate Experiment which I liked.   This first book by the author is also very good.

Field Notes- Tuesday, September 13th. Overcast with a street full of construction and grass cutting vehicles.

 Miss--aka. Or something similar.

A bit of a chill in the air.  Damp.  Overcast.  I had A Book to pickup but came home with two.  I might have had three but a very rude older guy asked if I was going to stand there (all day) blocking others from looking at books.......I just turned and looked at him for awhile and then reshelved my book and walked away.

Law and Order is on today.  For hours.  So..a Good Day.  A Riley and Joanne day- back when that was a thing here.  I took some things (cloth shapes) off a cloth I was unhappy with- went looking for another fabric for border strips.  I selected one but am having second and third thoughts.  It's not weird enough.

If there is one comment directed at my work- most often- it's "that was a weird choice of fabric".  I feel the overpowering need to continue that........noticeably WEIRD cloth choices. Well, actually I think some said So Ugly fabric choices.  They also said my work made their eyes and head hurt.  I'd nod and smile. 

Inappropriate Fabric was another complaint when I used Civil War fabrics in modern abstract fabric designs.  The stuff was made for abstract work in my opinion.

I also had to pick up husband's inhaler prescription.  I got to sit next to a well dressed and groomed older guy waiting for a prescription.  He had very hairy legs.  (wearing shorts- loafers minus socks).  I also watched an even older retirement age guy spraying and wiping every surface of the Pharmacy counter and wondered why he was still working......... perhaps boredom???  I was uncomfortable thinking it was because of need........

Field Notes- Monday, September 12th. Hot. Sweaty. AC units are back in business.

 A Really Fantastic Woman who just happened to be Queen because her Uncle wanted to marry an American.  Doesn't that sound a bit familiar???? A Prince who wanted to marry an American???

It's hot.  I am sweaty.  I went to the grocery. I went to the library. I walked to the Bookstore and spent $100 on books, a 2023 wall art calendar and my 2022 Christmas Cards.  So far...A GREAT DAY.

I'm going to erase all the football games..... yesterday from memory.  Especially and specifically OURS. The Patriots STINK!!!!! and now the Q-back has a back injury.

I bought over fried, very crispy chicken bits...for later. Like a Fried Food Tranquilizer Dart. I did not buy salad greens.  I bought Hummus. I like the stuff.  I don't know why. I forgot I was going to buy store fried corn chips.  Damn. To eat with the Hummus.

Lowe's has sent me an invitation- email- to come in and interview for a JOB.  I applied ONCE years and years ago.....they really wanted to hire me for the outdoor plant section- I was just applying for jobs so the Unemployment Police wouldn't take my weekly benefit away while the Greenhouse Job had me on Winter Furlough.  I didn't like shopping there even once a season so- every day????? No way.

After that- I applied for jobs I was NOT qualified for......Being old and all.  There was the EPIC interview in the local silk screen tee shirt  printing factory.  The first interview question should have been "are you high right now?"  They had never interviewed a non stoned old woman before.  It was AMAZING!!!

I need to hydrate........

Field Notes- September 11th. We've all started to forget haven't we? Overcast and in the 80's in Maine.

 My bed.  It's a high four poster from Ethan Allen.  Black.  You have to climb in or get a running start and vault into it.  Puffy down comforter.  Linen sheets- well worn after many many years. Like me.

My bones are sore today.  Hips mostly.  Not that happy to be walking around.  Aching even when I am sitting.  One week to go....Seventy Six.  Not that epic a birthday- 86 would be MORE of an achievement.  I would match my father.  I hope to match him, at least, as he was NOT in great health for the last 20 years...... refused to come live with me (us) and later ...when I saw him in hospital, he said that had been a mistake....... regret.  I could have gotten him into his 90's....

My grocery store as Pot Roasts on sale.  I am buying the biggest one they have.  I love pot roast and I especially love it on my birthday.  Mashed potatoes,  Gravy.  Cole Slaw (homemade). Cake and Ice cream. I might even have a green vegetable.

So those are my Future Plans.  Today...Football.  UGH.  The Patriots are going to be SO BAD. I may switch to other games--even though the odds of finding a good one are slim.  I didn't think ahead so we don't have a ball of pizza dough for Football Pizza.  Sigh.  I am not getting my ducks in a row this year...at all.  It's the Year of Being Taken By Surprise.  Rather than being forgetful.

I ate a carton of Chocolate Fudge frozen yogurt yesterday.  I watched the old fashioned mystery shows on PBS. Hamish didn't kiss anyone (he's very good at that) but he smoked a lot- I was going to look the actor up and see if he died of lung cancer. I also watched a movie with Drew Barrimore (sp and spellcheck refused to help) as a newspaper reporter undercover at a high school.  Great kissing at the end (especially when he said he was sorry he was late getting to her)- usually it's disappointing.  Then I watched the end of the Blind Side. Strange choices but...I enjoyed all of it.....I had a good book to read...but I watched tv instead.

Field Notes- Saturday, September 10th. I turned the AC unit on again. I wanted to keep wearing the work shirt.

 A bit later than usual.  I was talking to myself...and didn't want to stop and get out of bed.  Telling myself a very nice story.......Yesterday's book was one I selected at the bookstore- An American Roommate Experiment. Elena Armas.  I ordered her first book from my Library-  The Spanish Love Deception.

I selected it because the of the recommendation on the cover by Ali Hazelwood who wrote the Love Hypothesis.  I book I own.  A bit......."more" than the books I usually read.............very steamy, and not always light and funny........ made me cry a few times.......I got attached to the characters.

I made Kraft Mac and Cheese for myself yesterday and added the  remaining frozen green peas to the macaroni.  A green vegetable...... I also tossed in four or five Sungold cherry tomatoes.  An orange vegetable.  Didn't cancel out the abundance of Fat and Carbs....just saying.

Husband and I took turns working on the new puzzle.  It's not the one for 7 year olds. First of all- it's not square or rectangular- it's a freeform monkey with a garden covering his entire body.  There are some straight edge pieces but not where you expect them.

That's about it for today.  I got tired of watching the Queen stuff on all the news stations.  The few Law and Order episodes I found held my attention for awhile.......a rather dull day until I started reading that book.  I have the Crazy Aunts book next up......"where shall we hide the body?"

Field Notes- Friday, September 9th. A Cool, Sunny Day here. Clean Sheets Day.

 This has been here before.  But today already feels like this........."in the wind".

The buzzer has sounded and my oatmeal is done in the microwave- I heard the pot shut off signaling that the water is hot- ready to pour into the cup with the instant coffee.  Breakfast.

I changed the bedding this morning after getting dressed.  Took off the cotton quilt and stuffed the down comforter into the duvet cover.  Pink and white linens......it was cold in the bedroom over night.  The window is open.  No fans or AC units running.  The nights and early mornings are cold.  It's Maine. Our usual is usually cold.

I wanted to come here and post early.....some of you have worried...I am not showing up as I always have. Time is slipping away.  The longer I am away from the days when I had "work" the easier it is to not notice Time moving faster and faster and me...moving slower and slower.  Is this what growing old looks and feels like.......moving slower and slower.......

Mt oatmeal has beeped.  I need to eat.  I didn't have any dinner last night and I am hungry.  I am not cooking.  I had carrot sticks and hummus for lunch yesterday.  I wanted brownies.  

I baked another Peach Cobbler and I used the long flat baking dish and not the round deep one.  It was a better result.  Husband is happy to have cobbler with his coffee in the evening.  I used the last of the tree peaches and a can off peaches in light syrup (drained and rinsed).  It worked.  The cobbler is delicious.

So that's it for today.  Clean sheets and down duvet back on the bed.  Cobbler in the fridge.  I might check the fridge to see if I have what is needed to make myself vegetable soup- perhaps empty the freezer of half used frozen corn and peas.  Fridge Cleaning Soup.  Still not cold enough to add socks and long corduroy pants to my daily outfit.  I did add a long sleeve shirt.  Nine days till my birthday.  Counting down.

Field Notes- My apologies for missed two days this week...I'm getting forgetful. Laughing.

 Paper beads.  I made them from a glossy art magazine page.  Years ago. Used the paper cutter I own to make nice even strips.  Plastic Eraser.  So Modern.

I have been trying to get household chores done- early- like washing clothes etc.  And then I guess- because, usually, I go from breakfast to the keyboard, I have missed or posted later.....I'll try to do better.  Here it is 12:30 and I am LATE again. I am FINE.  PERFECTLY OKAY.  I have, yet again, NOT vacuumed.  Bad Joanne. I did scrub the sink. And I emptied the recycle container. We recycle almost everything these days.  And I compost whatever breaks down ....... like paper.  For a while there I was putting the newspaper thru the paper shredder and into the compost. I stopped. I might start again.

I stayed up late and slept even later as the 10 pm MSNBC last night had so many sharp minded lawyers talking (which I really LIKE) and before that I got to see Obama and Michele again.  Gosh, I have missed the gentle intelligence.

Here in Maine we have a Trumper- Paul LePage running for Governor--AGAIN (3rd time).  He's a Donald Wanna Be.  He hangs on his frayed Trump coat tails and....last election Donald kicked him to the curb as Maine is not even a fly speck to him.  But LePage is wanting to get kicked yet again.  I'm voting for Janet Mills AGAIN.  

I visited the large commercial bookstore one Town over the Bridge.  Got two books.  And at the Reny's next door, I got Fig Jam (4) for husband's breakfasts and Lemon Drops (6 bags) for me and two puzzles.  300 pieces (suitable for 7 year olds). For husband.  Any more and it's too confusing.  We put the 1000 piece puzzle away.  I think I did both those things early in the day. Two customers had on masks.  Me and one other person.  I'm going back to buy two books I passed on yesterday.  And I have one to pick up at the local independent book store where I order books.

I should get started on some of my housekeeping projects.  (who am I kidding?) but at least bake something.  I am reading Much Ado About You.  A Really Nice British Romance.  No library in Maine carries her first book  Fight or Flight.   I might ask the local Book Seller if he can find it.

That's that.  I'm going to finish my coffee and get another peach Cobbler in the oven.  Perhaps throw together a pot of pasta, vegetables and garden cherry tomatoes for myself.  Re- new my relationship with the stove.

Field Notes- September 6th. I missed a DAY!!!! Wow. Raining for the Second Day.

 Yoshiro Tachibana.

Might have already used this image-- but not going to check......

I did two loads of wash yesterday and forgot to post.  I was intent on getting the washing done. And after that... (the drying and the folding) I am getting used to the house being DARK as we have had rain for two full days and no sun and it's in the 50's at night and high 60's during the day.

I'm not complaining.  The sound of silence (no AC units rumbling) is delightful.

And.....we NEEDED the RAIN.  Our lawn was dry and crusty brown.

I need to slosh my way down to the garden to check on the formerly known as The Porch Tomato Plants. which are slowly ripening.  Mostly the Sungold Cherry ones.  The others may never turn red.  We've run out of TIME.  And I tried Fried Green Tomatoes once and they were okay but once was enough.

That's sort of the overwhelming vibe these days-----running out of Time.

I sorted thru Art Supplies yesterday.  I have quite a lot of them.  Art Supplies. I am trying to think of a way to use them- a way that has some sort of......well.. interest that will cause me to actually do the work of using up oil pastels, paints, pens and loads of PAPER.  I also have many unopened glue sticks.  And a big jar of white paste.  Not exactly like what I used in early elementary school but very very similar.  I used to get it all over my fingers and then wiped them clean on the slip I wore under my Daily Dress.  No pants when I went to school.  Back in the old days of the 1950's.

I have a strange feeling the Republicans are wanting us all to return to those Old 50's Days. No Birth Control. No Women's Rights to Equal Pay and Work. It certainly wasn't Leave It To Beaver at our house. And I wouldn't want to return to that......  I like having "no one being the boss of me"......and I think all of us (women) should be reminded of that in the November Elections. Vote for the right to be a Free Woman.