Monday April 7th. I might stop Writing this Blog Thing. No one seems interested anymore....even me. I could write all this in a notebook.Is the World changing that much is so short a Time??????

My Master Gardening Classmate went to a Rally yesterday and sent me this picture.   

Son and I made our regular Sunday Pizza- wonderful as usual.   I haven't seen him as yet....I think he stays up very late and then sleeps late etc......California Hours.

I am reading a book titled the Bee Keepers Ball.  So far...Bees and a wedding being planned.   Also memories of Europe in the time of Hitler by the older members of the family.   We are beginning to read about abuse of some sort to the lead character by a Chef in Town.  It's getting dark....I was hoping for a nice romance.   I wasn't prepared for darkness.

I haven't checked my Stock as yet.  Not that I can do a damned thing about it.

I watched some Political programs on PBS that I usually AVOID......I'm now sorry I did.  They seemed very very worried.  That and the book and Hitler has made me reconsider any more NEWS.  

I went looking for a puffy (soft) shortbread cookie recipe- my daughter brings me these very expensive cookies- one dollar per cookie- and they are large and not as dense as a regular shortbread cookie and have a tiny teaspoon of jam in the center.   I like them.  Thought perhaps I could make them.  With a recipe.   I have a list of ingredients.: Flour, butter, sugar, eggs, milk, baking powder, salt.  Well.

Well, there's a chill in the air.  I will check the furnace......and then retire to the couch.  Read some more of my book.....watch some British Soccer....check the thermostat to see if I need to up the temps.   42 outside here in Maine.  

 

Sunday April 6th. Drizzle and light rain today here in Coastal Maine.

 I need to work on the picture files.  Use the iPhone which just sits here doing nothing...

My Son and Daughter packed up all the Hazardous Materials in the garage and took them somewhere Official for Safe Disposal yesterday. Several packing boxes full of Round Up.  And Other things. I think it was the first opportunity they had for Safe Disposal this year.  We got interested too late last year.

Husband must have forgotten he bought a gallon of Round Up and bought another-- on a long lapse of repeat.......I would never let him use it on anything...there are cancer warnings on the label and it is applied in a spray so the chances of inhaling are very great..  Now it's all safely taken away.

I have a new recipe to try for a Baked Oatmeal and Fruit Breakfast.  I have the banana and in the freezer- very lovely frozen strawberries.  I have all the things needed to make the recipe.  Even the egg. 

l'll notify you if I actually make it.

Reading the Misadventures of a Back Up Bride.  I may not finish reading the book. I thought it would be funny....it's actually weird and sort of X-rated.  Well, way more than "sort of".

Today is Sunday Pizza.  Minus Football or Open Wheel Racing.  I do think my Son watched the racing earlier today.   Depending on the venue- the races are televised at strange hours. The venue in China was middle of the night.

That's about it for me today....I have been reading and then watching random things on tv.  Completely off any schedule at all....other than the 8 ounces of water I drink four or five times a day.  The last three GOOD books I have read- made me cry.  And I have read them before and not a tear...but now...actual crying.  So....emotions are unstable.  I knew it would happen eventually.  And the daily newspaper headlines do nothing to help the situation.  Emotions and Stress and Fear of what happens next...

I picked up two recently published decorating magazines in the free magazine shelving at the library and clipped all the images of chairs.  I liked that project I had of drawing chairs...line drawings...now I have chair images and can sit and draw a few...get back into drawing which I actually enjoy.......line drawing specifically.  Sigh if I had know I was good at it- I could have gotten an A in my college Drawing Class.  It's nothing I actually ever LEARNED to do........I can just do it..... it just happened way AFTER college.

I was bored to death yesterday and just clicking thru the channels and my favorite Bones episode was just starting.....Finder.  Year Seven.   I watched it, enjoyed the heck out of it, and then went to bed.  Lovely when things like that happen. Serendipity.

Saturday April 5th. No wind,, cloudy sunshine, 41 degrees

 I've had this image before but this morning I decided to buy the hydrangea  when  available and make my front porch look like this.   Even the sidewalk matches mine...And the tree way back to the right.

Okay, I may have already said all these things....at 78.5 I repeat myself...all the time.  It's one of the "joys" of old age....... not something anyone really enjoys....... the elderly brain is working on sorting memories I think.   Recalling joy and sorrow.   And when it finds joy- it likes to talk about- on repeat.  Better than recalling sorrow.  Once was quite enough for me....I tell myself that when I recall things.

My grocery shopping wasn't the best yesterday...   I am going to run out of prepared things to eat.....and that means- (laughing) I will HAVE to COOK.   I might only venture far enough into "cookery" to make a simple homemade vegetable soup.   Or a pot of rice topped with peas from the freezer and sweet soy sauce. Some butter also.  I do like Rice and Green Peas.  My third cooking choice is Kraft Mac and Cheese served with canned baked beans.   Okay, now......I have food.

I left the Road Best Traveled yesterday and watched some news........wow.  Just wow.  At the end of that horror  show I was glad most (almost all) of my savings is in a Trust.   But I would miss my Social Security Check....when I go to the grocery store or pay for heating oil and electricity.  Imagining all the folks NOT getting their checks.....It might just be Time for the Second American Revolutionary War.

I wonder about the Singular Power of "Just Say No"......... and recall the image of a pile of burning Tesla cars......we do have the power to say NO.

Daily Notes- Friday, April 4th. Sunshine and Springlike weather...for a day or two....

Small thing to sew.

The small thing I sewed was the back seam of the pants I have on.  I do need to secure the top button on my very heavy black wool coal....it's loose.

If I knew some small children-(not my own) , I might try the kit to make the tiny cat and the bunny.  Certainly the bunny if I was putting together an Easter Basket.  NOT the bird.....  I could make cat toys but not sure my daughter's cats play with this kind of toy.........I've seen photos of the cats.

I may have gotten enough food for the week for myself.....I have supplies to make vegetable soup and I also have bread and cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches.....( I have cans of baked beans to serve next to the sandwiches)  My son says I have pickles.

Sigh.I picked up my 3rd of three inhalers.  Then I guess I have to call the doctor's office and report in on whether the meds work or not.....I have stopped coughing.  Which might be as good as it gets.

I have nine books on the shelf to read.   I have a recipe for homemade shortbread cookies.  Son put back the pound of butter and selected the half pound...(2 sticks). the recipe calls for 1.5 sticks.  I just checked = there is one whole stick so I should be okay....going forward if I do make the cookies. I forgot, yet again, to see if the open vegetable area had rhubarb stalks.....I could email Patty and see if hers are ready.

I'll do that....well,  

Good Morning...It's Dismal, Dark and Wet here in Maine. 39 degrees and 98% Humidity.

 Isn't this image YUMMY?

Sticky Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream.  (microwaved dates). I have no dates.  Haven't had a date in decades.

Well, I am reading a book by an author I love so.....I didn't notice that it was a Young Adult Book.  I kept thinking we were doing the teen years and then moving to adult years...we are NOT,  Not sure I will continue reading.  Most of the parents are divorced or thinking about being divorced.  Teens have that effect on marriage.  Parents seem 100% hands off.....

I haven't looked out the back window yet to see how the daffodils are doing.  I keep hoping to see some yellow.  I'll check after hitting publish.

My lower right molar was not happy after the dental cleaning yesterday.....I am reluctant to make a statement that it's better today.....sometimes it's best to just ignore things and hope for the best...... (feels better)

Week is moving along very very slowly.....I was sort of hoping today was Friday.  Grocery Library Day. I am thinking of getting a Shingles Shot @ the Pharmacy......there was an article saying the Shingles vaccine had some positive side effects with Dementia.  Memory Loss....etc. Increasing memory.  I could use an increase most days. I did have one Shingles vaccination years ago...never got the second... Pharmacy has my records they can check......tomorrow.

I believe I have two British Soccer matches recorded.....And there is always Bones to watch on BBC. Public TV- after all the Fund Raising for 6 weeks-or it might have been 8 weeks- has nothing of interest. To me.  I went over to WORLD which is a much more evolved Public TV station (4 digit station)..I usually record 3 or 4 part series on interesting subjects.  And learn stuff.. WORLD also has some of the regular PBS stuff. But their news is more WORLD NEWS. ....and is much more interesting. 

I typed and deleted other stuff I wanted to say.....it's better that I do that.....

Wednesday, April 2nd. Dentist, Taxes, etc, That Orchid in the picture is real and was one of my houseplants for years.

 So much already done today and it's not even 12 noon.

I was not surprised that I OWE money on both State and Federal taxes....it's just me...I've lost husband's deduction.....that's Life and Death for you.  I just wish some other President's Agenda was getting my money.

I'm a bit hungry but want to enjoy my "smooth after the dentist" teeth for awhile before eating anything. We'll see how long that lasts...... I have this tiny brush thing I am supposed to shove between my teeth in two areas....sounds easy but the brush sometimes gets STUCK.....sigh.  Tight spacing. Anxiety.

Did I mention using my sewing machine?  Change of Topic soothes me a bit. 

I have a big button to sew on my heavy black wool coat......top button is loose.   Another Change of Topic.

The Sun is shining but it's cold....not hat and gloves cold but still.......and another storm is set on coming our way... could bring snow... meaning the daffodils which have rebounded after each snowfall- might just say "the hell with it" and give up.  I would if I was a daffodil........ Another Change of Topic.

I have the heat going.....and I might have a second breakfast or just wait...enjoy the smoothness of my freshly cleaned teeth for a bit longer.  Yet Another Change of Topic.

No one working at the dentist's office thinks my insurance will pay for today's visit.  But...at my age having my Original Teeth Cleaned and Polished is sort of a Victory.  I'm going to be happy about Original Teeth.  I'm only missing one and that should not have GONE....but we didn't have the insurance at the time to save it.

I need a nice nap right about now.  Have a nice day.....

Daily Notes- April Fools Day- and I woke up to NO SNOW!!!!!!!! It's all grass out there.

Dansk was offering me this today.

I would actually love to have the container and the flowers....right here.

And my Lawn Guy sent an email this morning asking if I wanted MULCH on my front garden beds...(which were rigorously weeded last Spring by Megan.....and are now bare dirt.).   I said YES!!!! I think Megan might have suggested mulch to him..  It's so Fun to type "My Lawn Guy".  I recall seeing that in books all the time- "I gotta guy...to do whatever".   I gotta guy...to cut grass and haul mulch.  Yippee.

I also did some awkward mending on my new to me Daily Pants.... I needed an inch more room at the waist.. (remember I mentioned the pants cost 25 cents for a reason).. So- the sewing machine.....I sat for a bit wondering how to turn it on (it's ben a long time)....figured that out....then wondered about changing the needle IF it broke.  My pants are"repaired"  - no one will see the back of pants as I usually have on a long shirt of something.....but now the waist button doesn't pull.  Everything feels comfy.  Really quite wonderful.  Mulch and Pants. 

We had a power outage...at some point... The microwave and fridge were beeping.  The furnace is now trying to get the house up to 64 degrees.

I am reading a book which was printed to make it easier for someone with dyslexia to read the book. It is

 also making it easier for these 78 year old eyes to read the book.    Like this but not this much space 

between the lines.

I learn something new a couple times a week...and it's lovely.  The book is Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay.  It's a follow up book to Love At First Book (which I checked out at the library).  A Librarian is hired to help ghost write a final book in a very very popular series.  The Librarian has a best friend in Florida and this book is about her. I am getting used to the print size and the wider spacing between lines. I have another of her books in the bookcase...to read after this one

Well, I straightened out the fridge and now I have to see about the microwave.....the processes after a power outage.  I sort of thought the whole house generator had put an end to that but....guess not.