Daily Notes- August 19th- Was supposed to be raining. Isn't.

 Article about the delights of linen sheets.  I agree.  These aqua ones- I actually don't own that color but I SHOULD own that color.

Watering.  The Almost Grass.  We are supposed to be having RAIN.  We aren't.  Cloud cover is getting darker.  I gave up thinking positive about RAIN this summer.  It isn't a sure thing.  Even in Maine.

I have my inhalers to pick up at the grocery pharmacy.  The Peaches on the counter are softening.  I will make a cobbler.  Southern Style.  Pizza tonight with Football. Oven Use in August is not my favorite. And I did not have even ONE Tomato Sandwich this Summer.

I have been watching baseball. Watching the Pitchers with their weird repetitive mannerisms.  Missed the game where the guy got hit in the face with the ball.  Breaking three bones.  Most likely in the shape if a crater the size of a baseball.  

I watched  NOVA last night. They (WE) sent that tiny orbiter to take a snapshot of Pluto.

Pluto is gorgeous. Silvery.  Metallic.  They think it's core is liquid.  Perhaps water.

Daughter brought over a very heavy bag packed with her co-worker's work pants.  The right knee busted out on every pair of pants.  I mended three pair of light blue washed out denim yesterday and drove to her house to drop off.  I passed his house but didn't stop.  He lives on the busy street and backing out into traffic is not my idea of a "good time".  And I have the feeling he would not answer the door anyway. 

I had saved up a pile of denim- old stuff.  Cut into rectangles- pretty large.  I was determined to make a denim quilt.  I gave up before even sewing two sections together.  Those pieces are worn and perfectly suited to mending this guy's pant legs.  He specified no "flowery" fabrics.  I use that on daughter's knees.

I wanted to stay on his "good side" as he carried the AC units in and set up our Christmas Tree. No flowery fabrics.  Straight up denim. He reminds me of our son.  A lot.

Daily Notes- FORGOT to hit PUBLISH yesterday so you have TWO new POSTS

 I forgot to press publish yesterday.  I think I got up to turn the water off for something and never came back to the desk.  It happens when one is 74.11.

Husband cut the new "Grass" yesterday.  Tall weeds, ferns and things.  So now it's all even.  And being watered. I picked the remaining peaches.  About 10.  Usually the counter top is covered with them. Only 10.

I called Appliance Service.  Someone will arrive on Monday.  For $189.  Either the gasket on the door is shot or something else is going on.  The ice maker is making tons of ice.  I dump it out.  Lots of frost inside.  I added a larger piece of tape to the door.  It's a side by side.  So the bungie cord idea- while EXCELLENT won't work here.  I may go ahead and use a bungie cord on the old fridge on the porch.  It has a top freezer section.  And is being held closed with a stick.  

I was cheerfully chatty with the woman taking information.  She said 2 month wait and then I have an appointment on Monday.  It's all good.  And I told her about the Bungie cord idea.

Husband has been asked to raise neighbor's street mailbox- the post office has sent a final warning.  If the box isn't the "new regulation height"- no mail will be delivered.  That new Postal Guy is trying very very hard to stop delivering mail.  Anyway.  It's a project and he has 9 fingernails that he hasn't sliced off as yet.

I need milk.  I forgot to add it to my list.  So I have to go buy milk.  And husband says he needs bagels. I don't know if that is true.  

I had steamed rice and frozen corn for supper with Sweet Soy Sauce.  Wow. That Sweet Soy- red band on the bottle- is fantastic on rice.  I DO NOT get the recommended amount of protein in a day.  I can't eat Soy.  I don't like Eggs.  I don't like Fish. I don't like Chicken. So...I eat fruit and vegetables and just exist unless someone offers me BBQed Pulled Pork.  I do eat peanut butter every once in awhile. Often.

When they do that test to see how strong your bones are- I get a really GREAT number.  Don't know how or why.  But it seems my body is doing something to make strong bones.  I will ask to be measured to see how tall I am next office visit.  See if I am shrinking.  Or ask daughter to measure me.

Daily Notes- August 17th. Watering the Trying to Be Grass

The watering is going.  the Garbage and Recycling has been collected.  The mosquitos have bitten my ankle- only the right one- never the left.

Yesterday I dropped off a paper bag of peaches to Ruth and Tom my next door neighbors.  ruth will have here 90th birthday soon.  Last year ruth didn't get Peaches.  I think they were at their oceanfront cottage. So this year, with my limited number of Peaches- Ruth and Tom got the first and most likely, only bag of Peaches. Only fair.

I am reading the follow up book to PS I Love You titled Postscript.  It's got a difficult to read first 50 pages that needed an Editor that could put their foot down and say- "no matter how much you like all these words- they are dull as the Death you are describing".  Some writers listen to comments on their work- others do not.  I was so close to not even reading the rest.....so close.  So I just decided to move ahead and skip reading the tedious, dull, awful pages.  Like that road Trip book.  Skip the first 50 pages.  Get on with it.

I have Hello Kitty duct tape holding the freezer door closed.  A bungie cord sounds awesome. I need to call for appliance support but not sure if they are entering homes right now.  I can see why the wouldn't want to.  There were people sans masks at the grocery giving me the stink eye for wearing one. Summer people.  Soon they will go back to wherever they come from.  Mostly Florida. They come here in August because Florida is too hot.  Well, they come from New York as well.  

The parking on the Maine street is filled with their luxury cars with New York plates.  Up in the camp grounds, it's all Florida.  Maine needs the money.  Maine is an August Whore. Two more weeks and everyone will go back to Florida or New York.

Daily Notes- August 16t Happy Birthday Sam

 I had to put this picture (from the clippings drawer) on the desk calendar.  In her double digit months she liked to cook the little Fisher Price Farmer and the Chicken in her tiny Revere Ware saucepan on her tiny tiny stove.  Serve him up with a spoon in one of her tiny bowls.  Her father and I wondered......

Happy Birthday. She already posted and seems someone bought her a frosted cupcake for breakfast.

I ventured out to the library and grocery.  Got books.  An old National Geographic of space.  Planets. Astronauts.  Good stuff.  Good books.  I hope.  

The employees at the grocery hadn't made up any chicken Parmesan meals.  They didn't want to commit to WHEN they might "feel like making them".  They had one in the cooler- so husband has food for today.

And my freezer door isn't staying shut.  It bounces open when the fridge door opens and shuts.  I guess I need to call for a service visit- if they are doing in house service?????? I have it taped shut now. Now I'll be checking it every 10 minutes -24/7

Watering the Might Be Grass right now and then I might pick Peaches for the neighborhood.   Not as hot as the prior days but still needed the AC on for the ride home.  

Daily Notes Sunday August 14th A Cooler Breeze is blowing outside.

 Yesterday's book.  I cried most of the last third of this book.  And...it's lovely.  Really lovely.  About giving Life a chance even when one is dying. And I am not ruining this for any Reader as it's made clear on the first 3 pages.  Takes place on the island of Elba and everyone is wealthy. Big big yachts.  Movie stars.  Celebrity chefs.  But not so you notice.  They are written down to the bone and blood.  I wouldn't mind renting a sunbed and umbrella on the public beach. And reading this book again and again.  I did turn right back to page one when I got to the end.......just to prove how good it actually is.

The fridge is getting to look bare.  I still have Romaine lettuce.  And a few old but edible carrots.  So today- the Big Salad with the seven cherry tomatoes that grew on the plants (on the front steps) I never put into large pots.. or Stanley Tucci's pasta sauce. And there are baked beans.  And baguette with melted cheese. 

I refuse to surrender and go to the grocery just yet.  There is also canned jackfruit that can be magically transformed into "Pulled Pork".  I always enjoy that on a big salad of greens.  I haven't sorted thru the frozen shelves to see if there is a package of meat.  I know there are packages of chicken thighs for soup.  And packages of dumplings to fry and serve with a soy mirin ginger dip.  There is Food.  Even flour and yeast for Pizza dough. Even cookies. And two full bags of bags of dry pasta in the closet with the vacuum.

I even have all that is needed to make New York Style Cheesecake.  Bountiful when one takes the Time to actually look at what is in the cupboards and fridge.

And a jar as yet unopened of Fudge Sauce.  Which never actually meets up with ice cream as it gets spooned out of the jar and eaten as is.  Tomorrow is daughter's birthday.

Daily Notes- August 14th

 Long ago and Far Away I was living in a small apartment in Georgia, two days shy of the birth of my first child.  Hot.  Miserable and the only food I wanted to eat- was Watermelon.

This morning in the newspaper:

British guy kills five.  He found it difficult to live as an "involuntary celibate" because of a lack of a love life.  This"incel" (online) movement justifies violence against women as revenge for men being rejected as sexual partners.  They feel "society" denies them sexual partners because it's not them personally being rejected.  This online subculture has been linked to deadly attacks in California, Toronto and Florida. Let's all take a moment to visualize how this guy presents himself.  Physically, emotionally and linguistically.

There are many many people in the World who are involuntarily celibate. And just as many who are choosing to be celibate.  No reason to be getting a gun and shooting people. Am I correct in assuming that the members of the online groups aren't attracted to each other either???? but don't shoot each other?

It's extremely humid today.  Like being ironed.  The sprinklers are on.  I now have a two toned purple petunia in with the Grass That Might Be Growing.  The Earth's little giggle.   

I am cleaning out the fridge this weekend.  Eating what is still okay to eat.  Filling the compost bucket with wilted vegetation. I'll keep garbage refrigerated until Tuesday when the garbage  is collected. No reason to get the garage stinky.

Daily Notes- Post #3695

 In today's morning paper.  I think we have been "whitest" since we moved here. But diverse is new. Ish. The majority of our Diverse are immigrants, welcomed, I hope, by the Statue of Liberty (as my grandparents and husband's were in the late1800's.).

Finished watering the Almost Grass. Filled the one gallon bottles that I use to water the container plants. Then watered them, filled the bottles again.  Later in the afternoon I will water them again.  Containers dry out so fast when it's over 80 degrees.

That was enough outdoors for me. My chest feels tight and I am coughing (due to a lack of oxygen).  

By some sublime quirk of memory- I thawed out a ball of dough and made pizza last evening.  Then turned on the tv and found the Patriots playing football.  We had Football Pizza.  The game was fine but we missed the first quarter. No one was wearing masks in the stadium. Boston. No other comment needed.

Did any of you read Diane's comment on yesterday's post.  The song on the radio..... read it.  Gave me shivers of the most excellent kind.

My daughter called- could I search my car for her phone charger.  I did.  No charger.  Message this morning- she found it.  In a pocket of her pants.  I did find almost one dollar of change in the car.

I am NOT going to the grocery today.  I noticed I was going every three days.  Way too often.  So...I am trying hard NOT to go out.  Husband did visit Tractor Supply to buy bird seed ysterday- black oil sunflower seeds. He also wandered around looking at stuff.  Purchased another bird feeder.

There are enough odd bits and pieces to make a lunch and dinner.  A good dig around in the freezer will turn up something.  I also emptied out the pantry of a few past expiration date things.  I was in there looking around- seeing what's what.  I have a large supply of dry lentils and and equal amount of canned baked beans and no great interest in either.

Daily Notes- August 12th. 87% Humidity at 10am. Sunshine.

 From where I sit and read and watch the tv in upper left corner.  And yes, this is how my living room is furnished.  One couch, two chairs, three lamps, four tables.  I got rid of everything else and COVID keeps me from shopping and trying out new furniture.  The room is THIS BIG. Over to the far right wall are two built in bookcases and a fireplace and the second couch I sit on with two end tables and two more lamps. Against the wall by the side of the tv is my desk and computer where I am sitting right this minute.

That's my husband coloring another mandala in one of his books.  That's a bar height table he got for a few dollars when he worked for Target (someone returned it saying it was defective).  Daughter helped HEAVE it down from the Attic.  The couch is where he plays games on his tablet or reads (and falls asleep).  No- I don't own any curtains. Anywhere in the house.  There are no people.  Really.  There are no people. We see no people.

I have already watered the Almost Thinking About Being Grass and picked and thrown (into the woods) the six or seven peaches the deer or squirrels have taken off the tree over night.  They take one or two bites.  The rest of the peach looks beautiful but.......worthless.

By the TIME the peaches are ripe- there won't be ANY.  I am way way beyond "disturbed" about this. If I can Time it right I could pick and ripen peaches in the house under the microwave plastic dome.  Make at least one Peach Cobbler.  But...I don't see this plan working.  They are still pretty hard.

I watched a new to me station- World by PBS- it is a bit odd looking as it's for a larger screen than I own. But it was about how ancient people saw the stars, moon and sun.  Cave drawings etc.  And Stonehenge. Which took years to build with rocks that seem to have been moved all the way from Wales.  How???? And all pyramid shaped building is aligned to the same co-ordinates.  The Sun rising and setting. Stonehenge also is aligned to the Sun rising and setting.  Early People.

Another program I watched was about Mars.  It has no magnetic core so all the atmosphere and water it had in the beginning drifted out into Space and left it dead. 

I watched all this AFTER watching a nurse describe the situation in a Mississippi hospital. Children with COVID dying-unvaccinated.  Alone without their parents.  And the ER filled and the parking lot filled with ambulances they can't empty.  The nurse said if you call 911- no one will come. Remind anyone of India?????  And this is America.  I just cannot take much more of this stupidity. I also don't want to cry anymore.

Addendum to August 11

 KOPIRANJE- is Slovenian or Croatian for Print.  My Grandmother's language.

Hi Gramma!!!!!  I was printing laundry instructions- you and me and laundry.  So perfect.

Love you!

Daily Notes- August 11th- HUMIDITY is 99%

 It's Unpleasant. Outside.  And that is the kindest thing I can say.

Something happened to my copy printer- the one that no longer speaks to the computer- it is now using a foreign language.  I was making copies of the Stain Removal Charts from the Laundry Book that needs to be returned to the Library and noticed KOPIRANJE is the word replacing PRINT.  I have no ideal WHAT language that is.  Or why.  All I know is Print was the first line.  So I pressed that button.  It's all good.

My friend in Germany found this little episode in the Life of Joanne very funny.  I love that. I had been asking if she knew what language this was.  Perhaps one of you does???

I also sorted embroidery floss that I found in a large bag stuffed into a drawer with wooden beads.  Not my usual placement of items.  I sorted thinking I would have doubles of some colors.  Nope.  I must have bought one of everything.  No. Not everything.  Even thought I am an artist (no caps), there are colors I just do not like.  I didn't buy those.  Orange is one color that I only like in one or two mixtures.  Either very dark or very light.

I think this bag was purchased when I was teaching Needle Turn Appliqué.  As I had no idea what fabrics students would bring to class  I wanted them to be able to choose thread that sort of matched their fabrics.  Making any misplaced stitches "invisible".

There was one skein of black.  One.

I am really wanting to go to the Grocery Store.  But I am trying very hard not to go.

The drain in my bathroom sink is NOW draining perfectly.  So...so..perfectly.

Fed husband the frozen vegetable fried rice I had purchased.  He liked it.  But then he said it must have been salty because his ankles had swelled up.  So...can't buy that any more.  Soaked his finger this morning.  He didn't let me clean it last evening.  It looks okay.  But he was going to his foot doctor today so I said he could ask him how things looked.  On his finger.  Fingers- Toes.  So similar, huh?

It's cloudy with a chance of rain and 99% humidity - so I am NOT watering the "might someday be grass" today.  Four more peaches on the grass with one bite out of each.  Deer or Squirrels.  I hate both.

Daily Notes- August 10th- Cloud Cover and not as hot as yesterday

 A Chinese postage Stamp.  I love it. 

Today we have cloud cover.  And I am watering my Not Yet Grass but things are happening since the fertilizer beads were tossed onto the surface and watered in- all the beads dissolved.  That's some sort of "progress".

I haven't chosen a book for today.  I was "possibly" going to start a very small cloth.  4 by 6 inches.  Small. Just to SEE if I like doing it.  I got started watching some vintage Season One Law and Order. They are starting over.  It was okay.  Everyone is so young.  As you can surmise...I am ambivalent about everything except the grass.

Husband went out for a haircut.  I heard the car return but I don't see him in the house as yet.

I noticed on my credit card bill......many many visits to the grocery store.  Like every two days.  That has to stop.  I know it's because it's hard to find enough prepared dinners for husband- last time I went I only found one.  He needs 7.  There was a time when I had a week's worth in the fridge.  But that Time is long past.  I might have to cook.

And typing that made me laugh.

I actually made myself a Big Salad yesterday and later had crackers and good cheddar cheese.  That was me for yesterday.  

My bathroom sink is unclogged.  Draining perfectly this morning during teeth brushing, face washing and hair wetting.  At the end- the sink was empty of water.  Not up to the rim.  I felt pretty darn happy.

My timer has gone off- I need to go shut off the hose- if I don't go right now- I forget and it waters the Earth the rest of the day until I notice.......and water is expensive here in Maine.  Limited in Quantity.

Daily Notes- August 9th. Muggy. But only 72.

 First Aid.  Husband shaved his index finger nail off with the table saw yesterday afternoon.  So....Joanne- Temporary ER Nurse has been busy.  Good thing I have a very well stocked First Aid Box- a really large plastic container.  I usually have to do the work (first aid) in segments and recline to get my blood pressure back up into my head.  I faint.  But not yesterday.  I cleaned, examined, and washed the wound and then applied meds and then bandaged it.  Then I prepared a luncheon plate with ham and cheese, pickles, chips and lemonade with a straw.

My book for the day was (still is) PS. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern.  Takes place in quite a few Dublin Pubs.  Quite a bit of "over-drinking". The lead character has her husband die before the book starts and she gets one note, with a suggested activity, each month from her dead husband. I'm 2/3rds in and she is just now starting to make a turn around from deep grief.  I think you might like reading this one. It has some laugh out loud moments and I am not a laugh out loud type person. I think I said "Oh no don't do it" last night as I was reading and then laughed out loud when she did it.

I went to the library today to return books and get husband some new ones.  He actually stayed up late to finish the last of the books I had gotten him awhile ago.  He said it was a great book.  I like when he reads.  Good brain exercise.. and he was in recovery from his accident.

I selected books from the WXYZ shelves today and then moved to the LMN section.  I should have gone to ABC.  That's where I found P.S. I  Love You.   But I may need to order from other libraries.  Our library director likes wide open shelving.  Less books. More borrowing. Sigh..

Husband is mowing the lawn with the riding mower set on 3.  So much easier than the walk behind but the grass looks scalped.  I think he might have forgotten to put it on 3.  The guy who mows the lawn for our cross the street neighbor suggested setting the blade a bit higher.  We call him Speed Racer as he cuts the entire front and back in under 15 minutes.  He has a incredible machine that turns on a dime at 50 miles an hour it seems.  I try not to watch.  He says he does LOTS of lawns in a day.  $75 each.  Nice kid. He looks like he's a very tall skinny 14 year old.

I am also in the midst of clearing a slow drain in my bathroom sink.  

Daily Notes- Sunday, August 8th-- Sauna outside, again.

 Avocado Pit update.  Sent out three new leaves (at top) and divested itself of three on the lower side.  I am guessing the pit has a desired limit on the leaves it keeps. 

Yesterday's book was Cure for the Common Breakup- Kendrick. I made of list of other books this author has written.  Light and airy.  But I enjoyed it.  Way too wordy at the beginning.  Almost to the point of me stopping and finding a different book. But then she hit Town and got all mouthy with the Town Bully and got a good look at the Town Mayor and introduced herself and gave him her panties.  Never had that happen in any other books.  Mayor felt the same way.

Decided- possibly way too late- that my grass seeds need fertilizer.  Will be giving it blue stuff as soon as the watering is done. Then not going back outside--EVER.  I had to use my rescue inhaler after just turning on the faucet.. as I was unable to breath.

After brushing my teeth this morning I decided I needed a shower.  Which was very nice.  Then I put a load of all husband's work clothing into the washer and did a few pages in the Journal.  Nothing much to write about.  Grass watering news is saved for all of you.......gosh, I am boring myself. I was even tempted to tell you I made rice and added frozen peas and butter and that was supper.  Oops.  I did tell you.

I am seriously thinking of using the AWFUL colors of embroidery thread to make something I have seen on other people's blogs.  Just lines of lines. The other people use black.  Which I don't have. Knowing myself as I do-- I should have a shoebox full of BLACK.  I actually wear black and white almost every day.  Next time I am in the area- black embroidery floss.  As much as they have. And then...Lines.

I don't even have white.  Well, one skein of white.  I have a ball of black.  Could use that. Not the same as floss.  But....black.  And I could get bored before I even make one line............ yeah, I'm going to get bored. It's not weird enough to keep me interested.  I like WEIRD.  Well, sort of........but not scary weird.

Daily Notes- Le Creuset Is the Brand. Cast iron but with a finish that doesn't rust and nothing sticks. Really heavy but a great arm exercise..

 My one single rose bush is still making flowers each day.  And it hasn't ever before.  For most of it's life" one blossom per year.  There are at least 6 more on the bush.  So, so pretty and delicate.  But there are thorns.  And Japanese Beetles.

It has been raining or been cloudy the past two days.  Humidity is in the 80% area.  I stay inside.  Today there is sunshine and heat.  I am watering the Not Grass Yet areas.  Deer have been eating Peaches.  Well, they take one bite and then drop the Peach to the ground for the ants.  I sprayed Repells All.  On my self mostly. UGH. I was stinky yesterday. I repelled myself. So much.

Spun the mattress as it's one month late.  Sheets in the dryer.  I wrote in the Pages during the wash- all this before breakfast.  Just wanted it out of the way.  Husband wants to throw away his pajamas.  I asked if he likes wearing them even if they look ragged.  He said yes.  And I asked "then why throw them away?" no one sees them.  Wear what is comfortable.  He took them back.  I suppose daughter can try and find him new shorty pajamas???  Which look like underwear? Knit not cotton.

I gave up on pajamas long ago.  I wear a tee and underpants to bed.

I am reading a Thayer Nantucket Book.  The romance is usually good.  But there is always a main character who is OLD (this one is 70)- it bugs the crap out of me. I'm soon to be 75 and my relatives are not desperate to sell my house (and take the money) and get me into assisted living.  But this might be because I don't have many relatives. There is always a Crock Pot full of some wonderful dinner (every single book), there is the Beach, the Sand, the Yacht Club dances etc etc. and the ever present yachts.And all the men are smart, gorgeous and rich.  Oh, and they can cook.  Fantasy. Fantasy. Fantasy.

But the book was "Breezy" and took up time before Ancient Aliens was on..... and I can laugh at the guy who wears his hair styled straight UP.  And his necklaces.  I forgot to mention his Safari Outfit.   He dresses the same every episode but possibly so they can cut and insert him into any episode without him having to actually "be there". Yesterday was all about "Shape Shifters" from biblical times to now.  I liked the biblical times ART.  It's like Art History class slides. I mostly watch to see the Ancient Art.  Wall Painting etc.  It's all quite lovely. 

And I NEVER feel like I am existing in the correct timeline.  It's been that way forever.  I feel like an Observer.  Always puzzled.  Always wondering about the way people behave...here.  Yep..strange.

Daily Notes- August 6th- Sunshine today

 My all time favorite pan.  Frying pan.  Grilled cheese etc.  I have the orange one (flame) because I got my first of this brand as a wedding present in 1968 and it was flame/orange and so that's what I would buy over the years.   I do have a cherry pan as well.  My daughter gets the Aqua and my son the Steel gray as I see him being more black, white and gray.  My daughter loves water and the beach.  She should be looking for a beach shack to live in.  Just a rinse and a wipe and it's clean.

Yesterday's book was The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary.  A rom/com with mental health issues such as depression being worked thru in the plot.  I had just finished re-reading the Flatshare (emotional abuse issues) and I will be re-reading the Switch- a family dealing with the death of a family member from cancer.  Grandmother and granddaughter switch/lives/ houses for a few months.

I had taken Road Trip back to the library after 25 pages.  Before.  This time I started reading on page 30 something around  the French villa. Eventually- the story returned to the small car and the extended Road Trip which is actually only 8 hours long.  About how long it took me to read it with stops to make lunch and supper.  Not really meals.  I had toast. Twice.  He had chicken wings, chips and pickles.

One of the desk/checkout people at the library (my old job once upon a time) and I are exchanging titles of books we love reading.  She has Cut-de-sac Wars cued up and I told her it was wonderful and laugh out loud at times.  Just that little 5 minute chat each time I go in- wow- it so changes how a day feels.  To have an interesting chat.  What my Life had been once.  Daily interactions at work.  

So this week- a great mental health week.  A lunch date with an old friend and a new friend at the library to have a few minutes of shared information.  Writing it here- it seems like so little but it FEELS like so much.  Human Contact.  I'm sort of out of practice but...it feels good to make the effort.  

This blog thing...is pretty much one way.  Just me talking to myself most of the time. All the Time.

Daily Notes- August 5th- Raining- so no hose watering today!!!!

 Next to a sprinkler head in the "grass growing  project"- yesterday--a tiny pink petunia.  From when? From where? - Husband says "Bird poop". Okay.

Raining today.  Just drizzle but everything wet and the sky is "rain" so......house lights on.  Thankful for yesterday.  The sun. The company.  The ocean.

News on tv- I watched yesterday.  It was HORRIBLE.  Today- I will not watch.  Maine is one of the few "safe" States- 70% vaccinated.  At the Ocean yesterday, no masks.  But I expected it to be that way... just because this is Maine.  And people from AWAY are here from Florida etc..... and nothing more to say about that.

I stitched a little cloth.  Not a square.  More like a small landscape drawing in cloth.  I left all the edges flat and uneven- no quarter inch turn under.  I can see it, eventually matted and framed.  A Cloth Drawing. It felt right.  Cloth has felt like a struggle lately.  So, this- a sort of sewn, layered cloth painting- seems more right than anything.  My neighbor framing all my fabric greeting cards- seeing that--has changed my perception of the work.  I had been trying too hard to be something else.  Now...I'll just relax and do weird cloth things.  Because that feels more genuine.  Weird Cloth.  Abstract Cloth.  I was always more of a painter.

I was always saying I would paint in my older years.  But I still put it off.  75 next month.  time to just start doing and not putting stuff off anymore.  Weird Cloth and Watercolors.  Next thing you know- I'll want to live on a Maine Island all Summer.  Out in the Ocean.  Well water and no electricity. No!!!! I like indoor toilets and showers too much.  But I can see my daughter liking the island life. She even likes tents.

Tried three books.  Stopped reading pretty quickly.  They go back today and I pick up two on reserve. Which was why I had Time to make a small cloth.  A lack of words to read.

Daily Notes- August 4th- Lunch with a Good Friend

 A good friend from my Greenhouse Days and I went out for lunch.  By the ocean.  Paul's Marina. I had a Lobster roll with minimal mayo and abundant lobster.  Potato chips and a diet coke.  Then I had a waffle cone filled with German Chocolate ice cream.  Topped off with delightful conversation.  What a Great Day. And a photo of the Chateau de Necessaire.  Which we thankfully did not need to use.  We saw some delightfully sweet dogs.  One nervous little guy had on his lifejacket.  There is an island across from the marina where many people live during the Summer.  And come across to the marina to go into Town I am guessing they park there cars at the marina.

The sun is shining and the wind is moving- so breezy.  I got up too late to have breakfast --so close to lunch-- so I did a load of laundry and my Washing Machine Pages.  I need to pull stuff out of the drier and fold sometime today. Maybe.

Husband saw the lung doctor today.  Had to be there early for a chest X ray before 8:30 am.  No change.  We are never getting improvement so no change is good as husband "has every lung disease you can have"  and nothing has gotten worse.  Doctor's comment.

So we are putting this in the Win column as I am positive he will die of something else. Old age I hope.

Some grass is showing up in the straw covered front yard.  I might actually have grown some grass.  I have been watering more often and letting it soak.  Grass would be so GREAT.   A few peaches have dropped off the tree.  I watered them as well-- early.  Getting a red blush on the peaches but they are not golden yellow yet.   The Elderberries aren't ready yet and all the blueberries are gone.  Nine berries for 2021.

Buzzer went off and it's time to go turn off the sprinklers.  In order to get the furthest right section I have to water the sidewalk so I decided to pull the third sprinkler head over to the peach tree and let it get a second drink while the other two water the bottom section and the sidewalk.  I will get a photo of the tiny petunia growing in the straw.  Not grass.  A Petunia.

Daily Notes- August 3rd. Sunshine. Watering the "Grass"

 So much of this image is familiar.   The wicker chair.  The box the tree is planted in.  The patio door. The porch.  My porch has a ceiling  which is painted Bahama Blue.  In the old South, porch ceilings were painted blue like the sky.  All the ceiling of my porches have been painted blue.  If I ever get a new kitchen the vaulted two story ceiling will be painted the palest of blues.  If ever......

I watered the peaches and now I have the sprinklers on the non-existent grass.  My daughter said she saw a few thin blades.  She was being kind.

It's cool in here, the AC unit is off right now.  We sampled the Peach Raspberry pie yesterday.  My husband said he liked it because it wasn't "sweet".  Which is strikingly ODD as he has a REAL sweet tooth.  I found the raspberries sort of sour.  And in a pie- mushy.  It was an expensive pie- $25.  If I still had tubs of Greek yogurt in the fridge I would top the yogurt with pie.  But I don't.

I never got any further in the "Jane Austen" "sequel".  I didn't read anything.  I did watch news.  I did write to people on my phone.  I did realize that husband thought today was going to be Wednesday. It is not.  It's Tuesday.  He checked with  me a few times.  Still going to be Tuesday, today.

I am going out for lunch tomorrow with a greenhouse co-worker.  She's on vacation. We always do a long lunch in August and catch up on family and events etc.  Even last August.  We ate at a deli and gave our contact info to the owner in case of a COVID outbreak.  This year we'll have lunch by the ocean out on Mere Point. The place where we will eat has excellent ice cream.  Husband and Riley used to visit the boat ramp.  Riley would swim. Riley loved being in the water. It might be hard for me to be there.  I hadn't thought about the swimming.  But now I have- so I should be prepared for the wave of sadness.  But it might just be happiness.  Who knows.

My son got his birthday card and sent a text "mom, please check the address you have for me-- you have written it wrong on the envelope".  But the card got to him.  Just saying...........  

Daily Notes- August 2nd.

 In the mix of things showing up on my feed- Peach Cobbler with ice cream.  I am watering my Peach Trees hopeful of baking a Peach Cobbler just like this one.  The tree with the smaller peaches is doing well and has quite a few peaches on it.  None ripe as yet. The other tree has 3 peaches total.  One year it produced One Peach.  Which was perfect and quite quite delicious.

Right now I have a Peach Raspberry Pie in the fridge- a gift from a neighbor.  So...we'll be eating that. But no ice cream- not enough room in the freezer.  It's full of frozen vegetables and Chinese dumplings.

Today's book is Lydia Bennet's Story- by Jane Odiwe.  So far the author of this book is trying very hard to make Lydia someone we might "like".   In the previous Austen-ish book- the Pursuit of Mary Bennet-- that author had Lydia giving birth (unwed) and Kitty and Lydia making Mary's life a nightmare. Lydia ended up on a ship heading to America with the father of her baby- not Wickham.  

At this point in THIS book- Lizzy and Jane are as yet unmarried and Lydia thinks Lizzy will marry Wickham.  I had to stop reading as I was getting quite dizzy trying to keep track of several crazy story lines including the girls undressing a soldier and then dressing that soldier up in women's clothing to pretend he is his own sister.  I might need to make a chart.  Not sure I have a large enough sheet of paper. I confess to not remembering if I ever read Pride and Prejudice.  Sigh.

Reading this book seems like WORK.  I mean if the Reader needs a CHART to keep plot lines straight......I will be sure to let you know what happens.... tomorrow.  I had a Romaine sandwich for lunch.

I feel the need for a large tub of dark chocolate covered caramels.  But a slice of pie is okay as well.

Daily Notes- August First 2021

 My stack returning to the library tomorrow.  Only the middle one going back unread.  After 20 pages I just slammed the book shut.  Walked away from it.  Characters so disgusting.   The Writing Class became something else as it went on......something dark, sinister.  But still excellently written.  Even when the story doesn't work for me- I love a well written page...so so much.

 Tomorrow at the Library, I may search the W,X,Y,Z fiction shelves and then go to the A,B,C shelves.  After the new shelves and the "you might like this book" shelves.  Then the grocery store.  Fully masked in both venues.  Politics having nothing whatsoever to do with it.  I don't want to make anyone sick- even by accident- nor do I want anyone to share their germs with me.

If COVID goes on into a THIRD YEAR--I'll still be wearing my mask.  

 Is the Planet in danger?   I think it might be.  Could be that the Virus, Fire and Lack of Water, Floods and Mudslides are getting rid of excess people.  To save Earth.  From us.

Counting Down-  49 days until I am 75.

A fresh white blank desktop calendar.  Like the first day of school.  And the first day is top left and the bottom four right squares are unmarked-  My right hand desk drawer is filled with images clipped from magazines.  Glue stick ready.  Fresh White Paper.  One of my all time favorite things.