Daily Notes- September 8th. We might have the neighbor sorted........

 Not sure who anonymous is- who left a note yesterday.  But I am going to go get the ice cream.  As soon as I hit publish on this post.   It looks like rain.. husband is cutting the grass.

I am reading Off the Menu by Stacey Ballis.  I liked one so I started ordering any of the rest in other libraries- then you wait.  Shipping takes time and there is quarantine.  This one might have been the first book.  Not as good as the fix it upper book.  Not as bad as the previous book.

Next up are three back to back re-reads of books I have adored in 2021.  I cannot wait.

As to making ART.  ART- in my case, gets made inside my head for awhile before it gets onto cloth or paper.  There are some good ideas floating and some awful ones.  And I have gone to the Attic in search of the gray fabric with lines and dots.  I cannot find it.  The square I am enlarging has this fabric in it.  So, it EXISTS.  Or  EXISTED.  I do not buy small pieces.  Half yard is as small as I go (now) but I have been known to buy fat quarters..ugh!!!  This cloth is not showing up in anything else- at this point- if it did it would be unsewn out and USED.  I have tried other grey prints--do not work.

I FOUND IT!!!!!!!

Had different milk this morning.  My milk is not available- entire section at grocery is bare.  No instant coffee.  Bare shelf. I got the LAST LOAF of the magnificent bread Deb told me to buy. People refusing vaccine are sick and getting everyone else sick..  By the Time I drive to grocery the ice cream will be gone.  Every day.......less and less makes sense to me. And STILL- they do not wear masks.

Neighbors ALL have been visited by the memory impaired neighbor.  Police have been called and some support agency has been asked to knock on her door.  I found out neighbors have been feeding her. For weeks if not months.  My house is at the very far end and set back far into the trees.....so she didn't get down here until Saturday. I have been told to NOT let her in MY house and walk her back home but NOT to enter HER house.  There is liability attached. Many neighbors are lawyers. The rest are doctors it seems.  A few teachers. I miss having the CIA guy living a few houses down. We even have a Veterinary Surgeon- large mammals  (horses mostly) her boyfriend is a Rock Band's Roadie.  So.......funeral Friday for Ruth next door. Neighborhood is going.  Family is sorry but won't be serving lunch. COVID.

Obit is the paper this morning.  Ruth was quite a gal.  

Daily Notes- September 7th- Sunshine

 Looks like grass, doesn't it?  Well, more than it did.  This part, front of the image, was solid dirt when I started.  sigh.  Rain overnight. sunshine now.

Neighborhood shit going on.  One of the neighbors is stage 5 or 6 with Alzheimers and wandering - finally arrived at my house (actually inside our garage) but has visited almost everyone on the street. Knows when it's supper time for some houses.  We are instructed now--to just call the Police to report her "wandering" and let them take care of it.  Her family (son) expects us to take care of things.  They don't bother to visit. Just want to get power of attorney to sell the house out from under her.

So........four visits to our house Saturday and then one on Monday.  

Grocery store today.  40% of shelving is bare.  Milk in short supply. No instant coffee. I did find vanilla ice cream with cherries.  I didn't buy it. sigh.

So.....today.  Garbage men came by.  Sun is shining.  Possible load of laundry for the Washing Machine. Or not.  Newspaper.  I thought I had some cloth ideas.  But not interested today. I was up early again. Not getting enough sleep????  whatever it is- I need to get past it.

The book yesterday was okay.  Was her first book.  Later books are better.  I have one more by this author. What I really want is a nap.

Daily Notes- September 6th- Labor Day

 This might be Tony Abeyta.  Not sure.  But I love the circles.  Some painted and some look like a simple contact pressing of one surface to another.  And then the faint white lines. Perhaps scratched into the surface.  This would be pretty cool to do with layered cloth circles.

Yesterday was quiet.  No one knocked on out door.  The Tomatoes and Cheese was very good.

Today's book is Inappropriate Men. I hope they actually are as described.

We don't get a Monday paper and since it's Labor Day- no mail.  So I watched the "radio" sports shows  on television with my Bran Flakes. Where two men continue to argue about quarterbacks etc.  Occasionally I laugh.  Which is why I watch. Laughing is wonderful.

Began the day with a nice hot shower, clean underwear and clothes.  Fresh Start Monday.

The clouds roll in and then roll out.  Would be great if it rained.  I say that every day.

The Blue Angels are gone.  They roared overhead with cloud cover yesterday between 3 and 4pm..  I didn't think they did the program if there were clouds but I am guessing the clouds were high enough or they didn't fly as high to do the stunts. Who knows. It was LOUD.  We watched from the street at the end of the driveway.  As usual, we were the only humans outside.

The Wild Turkey's are back in our yard this week.  Lots of them.  Ten at a time. Lots to eat, I guess. Fun to watch them cross the road to eat our neighbor's insects and bugs- worms??? They move in a group.

Daily Notes- September 5th- Clouds in My Coffee

 Bryant Toth.  And interesting way for us to make use of patchwork that is homeless and roaming around on the floor under the cutting table.  Just make a head shape and fit it inside.  Then add eyes. Clothes.

Connie tried and you CAN click on the image and go to to original site.  Thank you Connie!!!!

Yesterday was one of those days- like the image up top--.  When against all my baser instincts- to just ignore the tapping on the front door- I got up and answered.  A neighbor with "Just Getting Worse Alzheimers".  Her story was that she was locked out of her house and had slept in her car.  Actually, her garage door and house door were open and unlocked and the luxury car looked pretty cozy parked in the garage.  We called her son.  He asked me to take care of her. (shithead)  He is in "the process of getting control of her assets and selling her house".  So he can find her a "really nice place to stay"- Burn in Hell, you Asshole Liar.  The local police know this guy and have arrested him many times for assaulting his wife while under the influence. His mother loves him.  Echos of my own family nightmares.

His mom stopped by four times. And I walked her home four times.  Then I called the Asshole and told him to come to his mother's house, do some laundry (piles of it all over the house) and charge her phone.  Clean the litter box which stinks so bad my eyes watered.  Or I WOULD call the Police or Human Services myself.  His mother thought I was just about the nicest person she had ever met.  Indicating she was not in her right mind for sure.  I can only be nice for a certain amount of Time and she and her son had used up the entire amount. I'm still angry.  I found it difficult to fall asleep last night.

On the walk back up my own driveway (after final visit four) the Blue Angels screamed overhead and in the close four formation flew down over my driveway, over my left shoulder and hooked left at the garden shed.  I could see the pilots.  It's sort of an out of body experience to see them that low.

Anyway.  The guy whose pants I mended, brought more tomatoes.  We are having them for lunch or dinner- which ever meal my husband decides to eat today.  With mozzarella, basil and Balsamic vinegar.  French Baguette to soak up any juices. And I am drinking wine.

Some times- Life really SUCKS.  I wish I knew a vigilante.  Someone who could rattle the son's bones till they shattered.  The daughter (sister) walked away years ago.  Like I did. From my own mother. Karma is such a bitch.  

Daily Notes- September 4th- Sunshine, no AC unit running.

Good Morning.  This image is by Claire Young.  It was part of the large collection of grasshopper art on the Something blog in my sidebar.  If you are into visual content- please visit and enjoy the banquet  Something provides.  She is a retired Graphic designer and has a great eye for art.

I will try my best to give you names of the artists from now on.  I haven't tried it- with the iffy-ness of my computer these days --but perhaps if you click on the image it will take you to her site?  Let me know if it works, okay?  

Watering the grass again.  It's been cool but sunny.  Dry.  We never got any of Ida's water.  I did check with my neighbor as the Bride, Groom and Baby left that morning to drive to New York City.  They arrived safely.  Just missing the deep water and rain.

I finished the very sexy book and am now reading The Paris Key by Juliet Blackwell.  I have read this book many times and always enjoy it- because...Paris.  I think we have already had the "meet cute" but I could be wrong.

I have switched over to long pants.  I have on navy cotton pants with cuff rolled up so it hits above my ankle bones.  If I had ankle bones.  I am barely eating anything that would keep me at this weight but I stay steady. ( not cool enough to walk yet) Anyway.  Long pants.  No socks.  Work shirt I have worn for over 20 years.  No linen.  I know....Horrors!!!!!  Between Summer Heat and Winter Chill.

Sunny so the DAMN Blue Angels will terrorize the small animals for another day.

Big News.  By blue stick has been located.  And it's now on my ottoman next to where I sit.  My shoulder is very happy as the nerve pain returns- like right now-- and I can roll it away.  The little blue ball? Still missing.

Daily Notes- September 3rd

 I'm going to have take some pictures- I just emptied the picture file.  These apples were not painted in watercolor but a thicker paint.  No sure what.  But it's Apple Season so no reason not to go to the grocery and select one of each variety and make my own little paintings.  I will need to bring pencil and paper so I can identify each apple I choose.  I will be cutting them in half so I can paint the insides with watercolor. And eventually eat them.  I have a recipe for a Spoon Salad.  Nuts and seeds, celery and apple.

A Project.  I finished the Heavy Spending book.  And picked out a very strange choice for yesterday's read..  It took me by surprise.  I just don't expect to find books like this at the library. The employees of the company are "bait" to find out if the client's spouse or significant other is cheating. They wear cameras.  They show the film to the spouse wanting to know.  It's all very 1970's but written in 2007.  Deb, these characters would feel right at home in your books.  Catch A Mate.  Showalter. I'm still reading because it's very amusing.  The characters are very entertaining even if the subject matter is....................???

Possibility of rain today.  But it's very cool.  Windy.  Remains of Ida.  All the trees are moving side to side. Daughter isn't sure they will work today.  Perhaps half a day.

I was directed to visit the Goodwill next Town over because they just shelved a massive amount of Rom Com.  So as soon as husband is ready to go- we'll hit the road.  I've been pleased with what I have chosen at that Goodwill last month.  Three really good trade paper books. gotta go- he's ready.

Daily Notes- September 2nd.- Rain overnight. Clouds right now.

 Ironwood.   I planted it in the garden out back.  Can't dig it up now.  Towers over my head each season. I cut a flower to have in the house.  As always, the unopened buds are more attractive to me than the open flowers.  From the house, this plant looks amazing in bloom. More blue than purple.

Rained. So today I am not watering the grass. It looks more like grass every day. Not beautiful.  But green.

I went into Town to pick up a book from another library.  They dribble in.  The book I am reading is fine and is almost holding my attention as we get closer to the end. There is something "pretentious" about it. The obvious wealth of the characters. The way they spend without thought.

Money has such a different 'feel" for me.  It comes from insecurity about money for many early years. I worry that if I spend- later I will need that money. It's why I hold back a pair of shoes and a few sweaters.  In case..... I don't have shoes or a sweater. It's the "why" of My Mending Habit. Of why I save. It's who I am. I am trying very hard to "switch" over to not feeling this way. I know it's Insecurity.

On the 7 day shelf the new Louise Penny book.  I picked it up and read about it on the back cover.  And put it back on the shelf.  Too heavy for right now.  The content.  I'll save heavy for Fall when I am wearing corduroy and  my over mended cashmere.

I stayed out in the back garden to cut the elderberry clusters yesterday.  Got a massive amount of mosquito bites- thus the pink stuff behind the Ironwood image.  I picked all the tiny berries off the stems and then added water to the bowl so "other things" would float to the top..  A recent Food feed had info on making small batch jams and jelly with just the addition of sugar.  Not preserves.  Just using up what you have to make a ready to eat jam. Which is what I will be doing.  How on Earth does anyone make jars of this????

Daily Notes- September First. Sigh. I'm Exhausted.

 So much going on.  So much being said.  There is hope and there is hate.  I am guessing this will never change????  But we are free to do which ever.  Hope or hate. I have always tried for HOPE.

Two red beautiful tomatoes on the front porch this morning.  From the Guy Who Now Has Mended Pant Knees.  I just feel so happy to have been able to do that small job for someone.  And have it mean so much to them.  I wonder if there are others out there in my Town who need some (easy) repairs.  

Daughter and Co Worker are looking for their Winter Jobs now that Landscaping Season has only weeks left.   Daughter has been talking to people at the Chocolate Factory.

Went out to turn off the sprinklers and the Blue Angels were taking off.  End of long runway is 600 feet away from my property.  It's LOUD.  Later they will fly over the house really low- we can see the pilot's heads in planes. Sigh- well we could 20 years ago- now the trees are taller.  They flew over the greenhouse where I used to work.  And the highway I took to get home.  I see no point in any of it. Recruitment.  

I am reading Out To Lunch (Stacey Ballis) about a woman who "inherits" her best friend/business partner's husband when she dies.  She is supposed to monitor his money and just make sure he's okay.  She has never liked the guy but now that they have weekly meetings- she is starting to see what her friend loved about this guy. And why he needs her to manage his Life.  The dead friend has a running conversation in italics.  So..it took awhile for me to figure out the way the book is being written.  It is still confusing.  I read and then set the book aside.  I gave up on the Instagram woman and baby book.

I have that load of laundry to get thru and I have an outstanding long postponed project of my own- making little pillowcases for little rectangular pillows (like airplanes used to give out).  I bought little down pillows and they need a few more cases as the ones I made long ago- are wearing out. I did make cases out of a pair of white linen pant legs- one dollar at Goodwill long ago-- but not enough leg material to make multiples needed.  I have two pillow cases that I can cut down.  It's not Rocket Science but still I am procrastinating.

Another day of "No News". And definitely no Tennis as that awful man is playing.

Daily Notes- August 31st- Cloudy, but It Rained Overnight.

 Another dog picture from Connie's blog.  A rescue dog finds a new forever home.  My Riley liked to look out the side windows of my car- no head out the window though- as we drove in the mornings to the Doggie Day Care.  He could hardly wait to get there.  It wasn't much and most of his day was in a very large cage but I think he liked the Vet office traffic and the other dogs.  But he was always happy to arrive and happy to leave.

I won't have to water today.  Because of the overnight rain that left puddles.

My cross the street neighbor was out walking and saw a black car arrive next door to me.  With a stretcher. We are wondering if our neighbor who had her 90th birthday this past weekend- passed.  Died. With cell phones being the primary mode of calling people- and neighbors not sharing those numbers with all of the residents....it could be awhile before we find out yes or no.  I am not knocking on the door to ask. And I might be the only neighbor who would knock. "The Woman Who Brings Flowers"

A Somber Day. August 31st 2021.

Each evening I watch a bit of the 9/11 images on CNN.  I saw the second plane crash into the towers in real time.  But I had to go to work and missed the Pentagon and Pennsylvania.  So I watched that. By the time I returned home in the late afternoon after work that day......it was all on TV. And in Bangor (still military)- where the big planes had enough runway-- European flights were landing in Maine instead of regular airports in New York. And everything stopped.  Just stopped. And older people who remembered Pearl Harbor came into the library in tears. One woman kept saying "this was never supposed to happen again". 

But it did and that War has now finally ended- today.  Well, these days..no War actually ends does it.

I had a coworker at the greenhouse.  She was there for 9/11 and she was forever damaged by what she saw. And one very bad day......she told me it was the smell........that was what she could never get past.

Daily Notes- August 30th

 We had pizza yesterday for the second half of the Patriots game.  Mine got black around the edges like this one in the photo. And I have a preheated pizza stone so the bottom is crispy.

So, today.  Library.  Dropped off books I know I am not going to read.  Picked up two new reserves and something interesting on the new shelf.  Saw three people I know and had short conversations with them. Grocery store.  Had to use problem solving skills to get the last two boxes of bran flakes which were way way back on the shelf.  No tall women or men to assist.  I used a box of corn flakes to knock the boxes forward. Score.  Milk case was stocked.  Last time it wasn't.

I picked up frozen pizza dough etc for next three weeks of football.  We ran out last night.

I had to go back and forth because- even with my list- I was absent minded.  I forgot onions and then forgot pizza balls.  On opposites sides of store.

We never got any rain.  Clouds and 65 degrees which was welcome.

I changed the bed sheets.  So I have a load of washing machine pages to do today or tomorrow. 

Shoulder blade was painful yesterday but not today.  That's how it goes.

Blue Angels have arrived- WTF- for a big crowded show this weekend.  Great for spreading COVID among the unvaccinated north of us.  Their desired audience.  They fly over my house. So low I can see the pilot's heads. For practice runs.  Thank Goodness Riley isn't here.  We have never gone inside the gates to actually witness the splendor.  Happy with the 600 feet distance between them and us. We may sit out back in lawn chairs. Usually we were trying to provide care to a frightened dog.

Daily Notes- August 29th- Clouds. Might rain.

This dog lives near Boston.  Belongs to Dee.  Loves his Ball. I..actually LOVE this photo from Dee's blog.

So... the 29th of August.  I've got mosquito bites on my left ankle.  I let a large insect into the house when I filled the tall empty coffee jar with water and Jerusalem Artichoke Flowers as a gift for my next door neighbors. The "artichoke" (fart-a-choke) is an underground root that supposedly tastes like artichoke but causes an abundance of GAS in human intestines.  Fart A Choke.  Vegetarians supposedly eat them.  And they FART.

I consider them an invasive weed and pull them out of the ground when the soil is moist- not dry.  Any small bit left in the ground will become a three foot high or higher vigorous plant with abundance yellow daisy like flowers.  Bees love the flowers and I found many fat bees napping in the midst of the petals.

In a field they would be amazingly fantastic looking.  Right now they look amazing in my back of the house beds.  If left to their own devices- my lawn would be full of them.

Today is Football Evening and I have my ball of pizza dough out to warm up and rise to double.

I found two different half full bottles of fertilizer in the garage.  I sprinkled it over the Almost Grass. And now I'm watering it in.  Voles or chipmunks have made a few tunneled holes already. It's a losing battle to have actual "lawn" grass.  Tall green weeds- yep, those grow along with tall ferns.

But I persevere.

I didn't read yesterday.  That is how bad the nerve pain is in my shoulder blade.  A bit less today.  The Melatonin is starting to be effective and I sleep sans dreams.  I think the dreams might not be a good thing. I tend to wake just enough to try and edit them.  So...no reading.  Law and Order.  Ray has appeared so I need to find something else- I just don't like his character --at all. I don't believe I ever have watched the seasons when he is a detective.  Sigh.  Rough Time for him to show up.  So......what to watch.  Might be a good time to re-enlist with Netflix.

Daily Notes- August 28th- Saturday Again

 Added horizontal strips from the box Dee sent me.  Contents of her wastebasket. Or what was on the floor.   I think we could do that.  Like a Chain Letter.  Send what's in the wastebasket or on the sewing room floor and take what we like and add our own refuse and then send to the next name on the list.

Those strips- well, just saying...sort of saved this cloth from the rag box.  Just needs to be ironed now. And then I might find some other orphan cloth that wants to come out to play. I was just up in the attic.  Nothing really speaking to me up there.  Radio Silence. I might have outgrown the cloth in the closet- again. It's the strangest feeling.  To go up there and, I still like everything, but none of it WORKS.

And none of daughter's friends are having babies.  Not even husbands.  Not even significant others. So all those Jolly Polka Dots + Stripes are feeling really left out.  And none of the Hospitals want quilts. The Police Units prefer acrylic or micro fiber.  Warming. For abandoned children they pick up.

What World We Live In Now.

No Grass Watering on this Cloudy Saturday (I thought it was Sunday) as husband is cutting the grass because it's in the 70's and cloudy.  Finally.

I just noticed- under the table on the glassed in Porch is a bottle of stinky fish based fertilizer.  Perfect for the Almost Grass.  A very Yummy Stinky Grass Treat-- especially if I spill some on myself.  And perhaps something fertile that is less likely to get on my skin and clothing???

Reading Life is Short.  About a You Tube blogger who must make millions on "her channel" as she travels, takes care of her drugged up family members, replaces iPhones for them like on a daily basis etc....and has taken in the 3 week old baby belonging to her druggy sister.  Baby is endlessly crying on this particular evening and at 4am the Defense attorney who wears Armani suits to work and shares a bedroom wall with her- knocks on her door and says "hand me the baby."  He also asks her to please go take a shower as she is covered in baby snot and vomit.  She takes a quick shower and....... no crying so she assumes in a wild panic that he has stolen the baby.  Instead he and baby are fast asleep on the couch. Meet Cute.

I may or may not continue.  She thinks she is going to die of ALS (so many paragraphs devoted to this....) and is trying to run off and see the World before she can't.  He has a fear of flying but knows how to cook and has a washing machine which our gal is in desperate need of.... but is that enough???  

Daily Notes- August 27th. Still August. UGH.

 Image from a friend on the opposite edge of America from my edge. ML

During Biden's address to Nation regarding very recent American Military Deaths.  I cried.  Through the entire thing. Just cried.  Like that day in the Atlanta airport when like 100's of men  (and possibly women) with all their gear walked to board their plane to almost certain death and dismemberment.  The woman who had been my friend since my children were toddlers said "they asked to go why should I care?".  We ended our friendship a year later.  I could hear in my head "they asked to go".  She would never ask to go. They didn't ask to go.

I am reading Beach Colors.  A one dollar choice at Goodwill.  It isn't bad.  I am almost finished. Next up will be one of the books I had to renew.  I'd been hoarding it for a day when I would NEED something excellent.  Today is that day.

The Twin Boys from down the street are back from where ever they went on vacation and the street is filled with their bikes and the bikes of my cross the street neighbor's two grand daughters.  The baby and the 3 year old stay indoors.  It's amazing.  All that energy of young children.  All the noise.  All the Uber food deliveries.  The new husband (last week's groom) was riding his bike with them to supervise.  I told him he had quite a troop with him and he looked overwhelmed.  His first time meeting the Twin Boys.

The Boys are SOMETHING.

I started the day with the shower I should have taken as soon as I got home from having my haircut. Now I have all that product out of my hair.  And my hair is FLAT.   I am still wearing my tent like pink shirt. I like to just wear it in the house.  I found it at Goodwill- An LLBean Linen Camp Shirt in Pink.  Too large- way to large-- but I couldn't leave it behind when it cost only a dollar.  I think, Connie, I intended to ask you to make it smaller but I never did.  

The grass has been watered.  Containers have been watered- just the workshop one left to do. Bills have been paid, stamped and taken to street side mailbox. Watering bottles need filling and I have one load of wash to do- and my Pages- and I will retire for the day unless I decide to change the bed sheets and wash them.. but I doubt I will watch news.  Ancient Aliens this evening for 4 or 5 hours.  I will enjoy that.

Daily Notes- August 26th- Sunshine. Heat. Haircut.

 Bounty from my hair cutter. She and I have traded garden info and produce for so many years now. I have dropped off shopping bags full of tomatoes and red bell peppers (in late September).  Seeds.  All manner of exchanges over the years.  Today she gifted me with my favorite tomatoes- I introduced her to them years ago.  And some very tender young zucchini.  Which I will slice thinly and cook quickly over high heat.  And eat about 2 seconds after I remove them from the pan. The only recipe left over from the strange food allergy diet adventure of years ago. The banana muffins that had the mouth feel of beach sand was the second favorite. The sludge that was fruit and vegetable smoothies - murky like pond scrum- not so much- though by the second and third week- they seemed okay..  Raw beets and blueberries.  I learned I wasn't allergic to any food-- just soy.  

And I learned to buy things with five or less ingredients. And all of the five or less should be food not chemicals.  Enlightening.  I still spend MOST of my time in the grocery reading content labels and putting food back on the shelves.

She offered me the grocery bag full of zucchini for pickles.  I told her my pickle days were behind me. The heat from the HUGE canning pot of boiling water and all the MASSIVE dish washing before, after and during......it was painfully difficult work.  There was little to zero joy left in the process.

I think this is going to be the most difficult part of growing old.  Letting go of work that used to bring JOY.

There was another ball of pizza dough in the freezer but the football game isn't until the weekend. Both the Patriots and the Giants had to run laps in the heat because of bad behavior and fighting on the field yesterday. Should be an excellent game.  Boston and New York.........yep.

Well. My hair is actually SILVER not WHITE.  Another customer actually has white--we compared. Silver like my paternal grandfather.   Well, I am covered in tiny bits of hair and need a shower.  so, until tomorrow have a great day.

Daily Notes- August 25th- One More Day and I Get My Haircut.

 If we have had this one already- sorry- but not really. Love the blots of watery grey in the centers.  I used to paint like this. Especially like the upper left green apple and the lower left red apple.  Thinking about digging the paints out of hall closet. Doing a Nine Apples.  Getting it framed.  So I have nice stuff on the walls in assisted living someday.

Library.  Rescue Inhaler Usage.  Grocery Store.  August Humidity and HEAT.   Car AC unit. ON.

Watering the Might Actually Someday BE Grass.  And also all the planter boxes of Annuals.  Which are HUGE.  It is so damned hot outside.  Forgot to set the watering timer. Forgot to buy a ball of pizza dough.  Do you think there might be one more ball of pizza dough in the bottom of the freezer?????

Well, TOMORROW is FINALLY HAIRCUT DAY.  For me.  And I pass the grocery on the way home- Pizza Dough Ball.  My hair is very wavy and curly.  Right now.  But not when I was 20.

I now own Blood Orange Seltzer Water and Pink Grapefruit Seltzer Water.  I  think I NEED to eat but what is really being NEEDED is water.  WATER.  I had to get up to look for my cup of cold breakfast coffee.  Finish that. My lips and mouth are very dry. My doctor says it's from mouth breathing and not nose breathing.  My nose is more often than not stuffed up.

Got another big bag of books at the library.  I actually brought my list of authors with me.  And a librarian asked me more than twice if I needed help. Which is why I used the rescue inhaler in the car.

Got to go shut off the water. Move the sprinklers. Turn on the water. Rest.  Sitting quietly breathing in and out.  It will be fine.

Daily Notes- August 24th- Sunshine

 Multi tasking yesterday.  Some TV series watching (The Closer on Lifetime), reading Second Time Around by Kendrick about four college friends re-inventing themselves after the fifth friend dies and doing some sewing.  This began-weeks ago- as three pieces sewn together.  Then nothing.  Then a few days later two pieces added. And then nothing.  Repeat as needed. And then remove strips that offend the eyes.. Yesterday the longer spotted strip to the left and then the two long sides- wrong side up.

That little triangle trying to make a HOUSE is not stitched down and may not stay.  I'm secretly channeling a little house quilt with a Moon or a Sun. (Dee)  Or a little neighborhood of houses.  Just pinned. Nothing decided.

Yesterday's Appliance Repair Appointment.  Gosh.  We are going to be a story told back at the shop with much hilarity.  It was simply one item in the "Dedicated Ice Cream Section" over the Ice Maker. Now...long ago and far away......I am reminded of not putting anything in the Ice Cream Section (that wasn't up against the back wall). I got sloppy and added a block of frozen tomatoes.  Then the door stopped shutting.  $189 is the basic fee when they send out someone.  The block of frozen tomatoes has thawed and will be made into some sort of pasta today or will be tucked into the compost bucket to feed worms..

Sigh.  I am assuming as we venture into the second half of our 70's and into the first half of our eighties that this will be "small potatoes" as they say in the "embarrassment" section of our Golden Years.

And yes.......that section on top of the ice maker bin- is ONLY for Ice Cream. Designed JUST for Ice Cream. And only one container of ice cream at a time.   It keeps a gallon of Ice cream at the perfect scooping/frozen place in Time. Somehow. Magically.  We rarely if ever have any ice cream in there.  So... things happen. Things that are NOT ice cream get put up there. The section starts getting treated like just another shelf. And $189 later- it's empty.  And will stay that way as, now, the space has been labeled in Sharpie Pen.

I also learned the two side by side doors have very powerful magnets in the door frames.  Yep. And that the fridge is perfectly level. On all sides. Yep. Yep. and Yep.  The guy was super nice. 

I cut the leg off a new (to me) pair of navy cord pants- mis-sized at LLBEAN and sold for a dollar in the employee store.  Or possibly 25 cents. Labeled 16- they had small print on label saying 14?  In any case, never going to fit me. So one leg came off to make knee repair patches for George's work pants.  The exchange of beige  (all purpose) thread up top and in bobbin case for dark blue up top and black in the bobbin case went smoothly---perhaps to soften the blow of the refrigerator repair ...... some sort of  sympathetic solidarity between machines in my household. Stranger things have happened.  I have two more pair of navy pants to repair/mend and then I am done.  Until George or Daughter needs more repairs.

Today's book is No Judgments by Meg Cabot.  Perfect title.

Daily Notes- August 23rd. And the Storm Wasn't. Just damp here.

 Life goes on here (auto correct subbed in love for life).  It never rained---it drizzled.  There was never any wind.  Today it's damp with 99% humidity.  It won't be necessary to water the Almost Grass.

I mended the light colored pants yesterday while husband slept- most of the day.  Today...well, I will change the bobbin thread to black- I don't have navy- and finish off the bag of mending.  The beige pants had a few interesting mending issues.  Not just knees.  Who knows what the navy pants hold in store for me?

Yesterday's book was "Room for Improvement" by Stacey Ballis.  2006.  A woman is asked to work on a home improvement series for cable tv while dealing with not dating.....  I liked it.  I have ordered two more of her books from interlibrary loan.  I am not sure how I found this book- serendipity? --but I am pleased. I liked it because it was gritty, messy, even an electrocution (home improvement always included one at my house)- and I had no idea where anything was going and in the end- she was where she was supposed to be. 

Now I know just how infrequently I go into the freezer. Like never.  Well- I do dig around in there for frozen packages of chicken thighs for SOUP or a ball of commercial pizza dough for Football Nights and bags of frozen vegetables to mix into steamed rice for my supper.  The ice bin is always full.  I think I am the only one who adds ice to a beverage reminding me of the bottled Cosmo in the fridge all PINK and delightful looking.  I'm guessing I could add everything else in the freezer to tuesday's garbage pick up.

I have a full basket of clothing needing a wash.  And that means Washing Machine Pages.

Daily Notes- August 22nd- Waiting for Henry.

 No wind.  No rain. Just humidity.  As we wait for the hurricane to enter Maine's air space.  

I am still waiting for the shoulder pain to go away.  It moved from the back of my shoulder blade to the side and then the upper shoulder in front.  It's more annoying than painful.  Mostly when I raise my arm up over my head.  Which I do just to annoy myself.

There was just a slight rustle to the leaves in the front vegetative island.  Then gone.

I have more pant knees to mend but need to change the bobbin and top thread to a dark color.  The bobbin  case on my Bernina is like a temperamental two year old. Crazy and screaming and then abruptly docile. It just means I have to get over the swearing and screaming part and not take it too seriously.  I try to just use beige for everything....... normally. But George wouldn't like it on the dark denim.

I read another book yesterday- The Beach House. I noticed right away that I had read it before.  Years ago.  But I kept going as it had no real need for deep thoughts. Rich people and big houses on Nantucket.  Everyone ends up having fantastic sex.  I haven't selected today's book but it might be Rules for Visiting which I read before but which I liked reading very much...but might be something more frothy. I think I selected a few frothy items.  I would actually enjoy something that made me laugh. Funny books are few and far between.  

I haven't worked on my ugly little patchwork hand sewing recently.  It is actually Quite AWFUL.

Daily Notes- August 21st- 96% humidity. Sunshine.

 Another hot and humid day.  The grass watering is done.  More of the area where I spread grass seeds is now green rather than brown but that isn't saying much.  The humidity during the day and the heat- must be what grass likes?   Or perhaps it just got going because of the mowing.

My left shoulder blade has what seems like a pinched nerve.  When I rotate that shoulder things are unpleasant.  The book from yesterday didn't disappoint as things at the book shop heated up.  If done correctly this would be an amazingly good Hallmark Movie as there was no sex or kissing (which Hallmark avoids) but lots of bickering that was confusing and entertaining.  The lead female character gave as good as she got and stood up for herself.

I haven't selected today's book as yet.  There are 15 books in the pile.

My breathing is less than stellar.  I rest quite a bit.  I didn't watch any news yesterday.  I am reminded of watching something but that might have been the day before.

In reply to Deb's comment: White linen is truly forgiving and doesn't mind a good (light) bleach wash every so often but NOT too often.  I have stopped putting it in the dryer (which sets stains).  Just on a hanger on the four poster.  A bit of hand flattening of wrinkles when still damp.   In the olden days, I starched and pressed. I also pre-treat stains with a hard rub from a bar of brown soap.

That's it for today.  I haven't chosen a book as yet.  Depends on what sort of emotional journey I am interested in. Still working on finishing my morning cup of coffee. A few on the book pile will make me cry.  Another few will make me laugh.  The others are a mix of both.  Some I have read several times already. (in the past few years)  A few are new to me.

There is also a very small, weird cloth I am sewing.  Won't amount to anything but it's something to do.

Daily Notes- August 20th Rained last night and very humid this morning

 So......August 20th.  I went out to the grocery/pharmacy to pick up the other two inhalers.  That was all and then I came home.  Wrote checks for our bills and then peeled and sliced the Peaches and put them in a container and into the fridge. I shredded paper.  Swept the floor. Selected colors for husband's coloring.

I am not breathing very well today.  So I won't be doing much today.  Reading. Or just sitting with my eyes closed.

Yesterday evening's pizza was very good.  Two slices for husband's lunch.

I had hoped it would be raining today.  Like yesterday.  Was supposed to rain for two or three days.  We need rain.  But we have humidity.  I am skipping the hose watering today.

I have a book I started reading yesterday.  Bookshop of Second Chances.  Set in Scotland. Not sure I will read it all the way thru.  It's plodding along.  But I always give a book about a bookshop a try at least.

My Master Gardener Buddy wants me to join her to work on a courtyard Navy Garden but I have said no. The last thing I need to do is collapse out in public.  

I'm just going to sit quietly in the cool house.  I have a lovely gifted red tomato, sandwich bread and mayo which will make a DIVINE sandwich later.  Possibly eaten leaning over the sink to keep my clothing juice free.