Category Archives: Mother Nature

September 1, 2020 · 10:31 am

Happy September!

Cheyne and Eva help us welcome September 2020. This photo is in the Australian Firefighters 2020 fund-raising calendar. (Actually, I have no clue if any of these gorgeous men are firefighters, but they are nice eye-candy, aren’t they? And the animals are so sweet, as well. You can order the 2021 calendar starting October 7th, using the link above, if you are interested.

 

Quora

Our area is now under a Flash Flood Warning due to all the rain we’ve had – and are still getting – through tomorrow. Thankfully, we live on top of a ridge line. Today that is a good thing. Not so much in lightning storms or tornadoes. :0)  We are hoping the rain will stop this afternoon. We went down to take 7 leaf bags of trash from the clean- out of the ruined greenhouse to the bottom of our driveway for pickup this morning when the rain let up a bit. As we were emptying out the truck, the rain came down hard again. We finished putting the bags out and the mailman came by.  We were so wet by the time we got back up to the house, we had to change our clothes! It still is almost dark as night outside.

I will do my elliptical trainer and my yoga today, plus regular household chores, and hope we can get out and get our errands done this afternoon. We have the doors open, enjoying the cool breeze and the sound of the rain. A great day for an afternoon nap, too!

Have a pleasant, soothing day.

 

 

 

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August 31, 2020 · 12:02 pm

Thoughts on a Monday – 8-31-2020

Good Housekeeping

After I cleaned up the kitchen last night, my husband came in, wanting to talk about our continuing efforts to lose weight. He had noticed that I was in the kitchen a long time yesterday and strongly urged me to consider signing up with another prepared meals plan. We got online and found BistroMD. Their food looked good, and the website was well-designed, so we signed up.

I thought we could use my email address on both accounts, with different passwords, since my husband is terrible about telling me about emails he receives. That assumption was not the case, and the customer service portion of the site wasn’t available late last night. We got confirmation of our orders, showing they had seen my efforts to sign up for another account and included that with the order for my husband.

I called them this morning. Customer Service there is wonderful. The agent is changing the email address associated with the order for my husband, and then is creating an account using my email address for me. She will send me an email as soon as it is done so that I can sign in and change some of the choices for our first week. I’m VERY impressed with the food choices, the website, and customer service so far. This is a week-to-week thing. We can cancel at any time. I’m hopeful that this will be a great help to us in our efforts to get the lard off.  :0)

I started harvesting onions late yesterday afternoon. As I pulled up an onion, ants spewed up out of the hole left by the onion, charging mainly up my left arm. I brushed as many of them off as I could, but some of them bit/stung me. I have now taken my Benedryl allergy pills 3 times and spread ointment all over the welts, particularly on my left arm. I am puffed up in several areas and my skin is warm, but no exciting reactions. Just really annoying. :0(

We got a lot of lightning, thunder, and rain overnight. No damage, though, thank goodness. We need to go to Fort Smith this afternoon, so I’m hoping we don’t run into street flooding.

Have a happy day everyone.

 

 

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August 29, 2020 · 10:44 am

Thoughts on a Saturday 8-29-2020

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My heart goes out to the people suffering from Mother Nature’s fury. So many good people are hurting, with physical and emotional damage on top of the pandemic concerns.  We just need to concentrate on helping each other the best way we can.

We are getting to the bottom of our South Beach diet boxes. I am DIYing more and more as we run out of things, gradually making my way to the point where we will be on our own once again. The two month reboot for our keto efforts has been good in many ways

  • a blunt reminder of what a ‘serving’ is – and is not
  • a more subtle reminder that we don’t need to walk around hungry. There are good choices for snacks mid morning, mid afternoon, and before bed that remind us that each meal is NOT our last. I’m stocking cut up fresh veggies, cheese sticks, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, etc.
  • a reminder that eating right is only part of the equation to being healthy. I’m am still trying to do a 35 minute session of my elliptical trainer in the mornings (though I just do it until my body complains too much and then I stop, regardless of the time – at LEAST doing 15 minutes. Lately, I have been substituting heavy yard work (cleaning up after the storm) and cleaning out our ruined greenhouse (hauling things out and taking them to the garage and/or the shop). I am then doing a good session (35 minutes +) of yoga daily. These stretches are gauged for Seniors, so are NOT trying to get you to fold yourself into a paper airplane. They are designed to help you gain flexibility, core strength, and relaxation.

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(I have ALWAYS been somewhat stiff and inflexible. I was in an exercise class in college. We did an exercise where we were lying on our stomachs. We were then told to lift our arms and legs simultaneously up as far as we could get them, and then move them down again, over and over. I did the ‘up’ just fine. The ‘down,’ not so much. I went up, something ‘caught’ in my back, not allowing me to bring my parts down again. I was yelling in pain. They finally got two big guys to lift me up over their heads, like the prow on a ship, and carry me to the infirmary. When they finally got me fixed, I had a waiver for that exercise. Being long-in-the-tooth only exacerbates my normal stiffness, so it’s more important than ever)

  • I am gearing up to cook all the time again. I will miss the stuff the South Beach Diet people sell in tiny bowls – ‘cheeseburger soup,’ and ‘a white beans something-or-other.’ Both were delicious. We ordered a few more packages of pancake mix, because my husband really likes those, to let us down gradually. In the meantime, I will look for ingredients so I can make low carb pancakes from time to time from scratch. We also like the shakes, but won’t order more.
  • At this point, I have lost 40 pounds and 43+ inches. I will do everything I can NOT to regain any of this back, and will keep trying to lose more. I would like to lose another 30 lbs to get into a good, solid, healthy BMI range for my height. (I’ve tried getting taller, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.)

Otherwise, the ruined greenhouse is now empty.  My husband and I have agreed that we will let the shell sit until things get cooler. (Today’s forecast is 98 degrees F. with a heat index of 112) Today I will concentrate on getting my seed-starting area in the garage workable, with things either stored out of the way or taken out to the shop, and things I need easily accessible.  My husband fixed one of my lights over the counter. I found, and hooked up, my grow light, so I have a start.

I hope that you have a happy Saturday.

 

 

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August 27, 2020 · 3:17 pm

The Greenhouse is Almost Empty

I’ve been cleaning out our ruined greenhouse for over a week now, gathering a wheel barrow full of salvageable stuff, plus a leaf bag full of ruined things each day.

 

On our way to town today, we noticed we have several broken or downed trees to the left of the driveway as we drive down. Thankfully, they are off to the side, and we THINK (hope) we can simply ignore them.

 

Today I gathered the last of the ruined stuff (6 leaf bags of ‘stuff,’) and they are safely in the garage now, awaiting trash day next week. I brought two more wheel barrows full of salvageable stuff, and that is in the garage, too, awaiting more energy from me to figure out where it needs to go.

 


We are left with a light that needs to be taken down and thrown away, plus the tables and saw horses. We need to take the tables apart for transport. We hope we can salvage the wood. It will take both of us to move the wood, but I can put the saw horses in the wheel barrow, I think.

 

 

It’s impressive what wind and rain can do. The ‘floor’ was was covered with really think black plastic weed barrier. Then I had put down used welcome mats in high traffic areas. When I was trying to pick up pails filled with supplies, they simply shattered into a gazillion pieces in my hands. I ended up scooping them up – kind of like they were pizzas in a professional oven with a wooden spatula – then either dumping them directly into a trash bag or trying to salvage the contents first.

 

It will probably take us a couple of days to get all the screws out of the front pieces of the wooden tables and transport them to the shop. We will let Tropical storm Laura barrel through here this afternoon, evening, and tomorrow, and then reassess.

If you are in her path, or you’re in California, worrying about the wildfires, I wish you the best.

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August 26, 2020 · 9:43 am

Laura?

Tricolor Heron_Green Cay Wetlands_Scott Helfrich_The Natl Wildlife Federation Blog

I’m not sure if we’re JUST getting rain today, or this is the first of Laura’s impact on Arkansas, but it looks like night outside right now. Rain is imminent, so I’ve scrapped my plans – at least for the moment – on doing another session of clean out in the greenhouse.  The forecast is for HEAVY rain, gusty winds from today through Friday. UGH.

My husband got our yard mowed again, for the first time since the last storm made it look like a sudden, violent fall, with branches and leaves all over the yard. It took me three days to get that cleaned up enough so that there was a chance he could mow once it dried out some. I hope that Mother Nature is not looking at this as a great chance to do it to us again –

Happily, my sister-in-law is enjoying her time at Topsail Beach this week! She shared two beautiful photos she took of the sunrise this morning –

 

I’m hoping she’ll kiss a sandpiper for me.

 

I’m not sure what I’ll do today, since it looks like my plans will be rained out.

Our wonderful plumber installed a new water pressure tank in the well house for us yesterday. There is a clear difference in our water pressure, plus lots of hot water on demand EXCEPT in our shower upstairs. My husband suspects we have a bad valve. I have no head for things like this, so that doesn’t mean much to me. I got all soaped up last night and then had to rinse off in COLD water. We had good pressure and hot water in the lavatories up there, but NOT in our shower. I’ll check the guest room shower today to see if there is hot water there. We have a new shower head on the way. One way or another, we will be able to take wonderful hot showers for granted SOME day…

I may scoot outside and see if I can get my greenhouse session in before the rain starts…

I hope that you are staying safe from wildfires and storms where you are today.

 

 

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August 14, 2020 · 12:51 pm

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere

My husband got out and mowed the yard yesterday evening. It looked particularly good. Then the storm came and everything looks truly awful. It’s mainly cosmetic, with sticky leaves on windows and doors, and eaves, etc, plus ‘stuff’ all over the yard.

We are really lucky that it seems that all we have lost is the greenhouse. We are pretty much in agreement we will salvage what we can and dispose of the rest.

I’m hopeful that we can do the clean up a bit at a time, rather than my husband wearing his Energizer Bunny hat and deciding we can do it all in one day….

 


 

 

On the way to Lunch Bunch this morning, there were some large limbs of two trees all the way across the road. While we were sitting there trying to figure out what to do, a lady on a tractor came up behind us and then passed us. She had some fork thingies on the front and used them to lift the branches and then move them to the right into the ditch!  We have no idea who she was, but she sure was wonderful.

I’m resting a bit before doing a first session in the yard. I’m going to give myself a star for my activity in picking up limbs and raking up leaves instead of doing my elliptical practice today.

I hope things are good where you are.

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August 14, 2020 · 9:22 am

Before and After the Storm – Greenhouse

Imgur

We had quite a storm overnight. We lost power for a very short time over and over. Our alarm clock went off at 3am, having lost its mind. I reset it and we were able to get back to sleep.

We looked around this morning. It looks as if the combination of wind and rain was something we don’t see often. We don’t think we have any HUGE damage. There are leaves and branches all over the yard. The biggest thing I have found so far is my greenhouse.

BEFORE –

 

 

AFTER –

I will send pics to our insurance agent to see if we can get any help on rebuilding this. I’m a bit ambivalent on the subject to be honest. We built it with high hopes. We would have gotten a lot more use out of it it we could have afforded to heat and cool it. As it was, it was too hot or too cold most of the time to extend the growing season the way I was intending. I’m just not sure what we’ll do now.

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August 13, 2020 · 9:07 am

Rain

Pinterest

I’m getting ready to leave for a much-needed massage. It looks like I’ll get a second shower, too, as it’s dark outside with thunderstorms predicted. I’m not water-soluble, so I’ll be happy if there is no hail associated with the storm.

I’ve been working hard lately cleaning, so I’m hoping to reward myself with time in the art room this afternoon. I have a new design for earrings in my head, and I would like to see how it goes. :0)

Our irrigation system brains in the well house keep getting zapped by the various short power outages we’ve been experiencing lately. We ordered a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) lately and my husband put it out there and hooked it up. Hopefully, now we won’t have to reset the thing over and over again. Fingers crossed.

I gathered some tomatoes yesterday. Most were the size of cherry tomatoes, but I will happily use them in salads. Nothing else from the main garden at this time, except some good-looking weeds.

I hope that your day is filled with fun.

 

 

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August 11, 2020 · 9:29 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday 8-11-2020

Soul Alchemy

We were very lucky not to be affected by the derecho storm that hit yesterday. So many good people are dealing with damage from the hurricane and now the derecho. I hope that you came through both well, too. We have the possibility of strong, gusty winds and hail with storms this afternoon and evening. Hopefully, they will just be the ‘normal’ summer variety. Mother Nature seems to be in a snit – and on top of the pandemic problems and troubles in some of our big cities. It seems we are having more than our share of character-building exercises lately. May we give each other strength.

Today is one of our DIY dinners for the week on the South Beach eating plan. I got some stew beef in the crock pot this morning. I will serve this with a bit of rice for my husband and spiralized squash for me.

We have several errands, plus appointments this afternoon. By the time we finish those and my exercises (elliptical and yoga), the day is almost gone before it starts. I will check for ripe tomatoes (fingers crossed) this morning and will try to get up to my art room this afternoon to at least start my newest earring blanks with my new design ideas. (Fingers crossed on THAT, too.)

I hope that you are feeling strong, healthy, and full of enthusiasm for this day.

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August 10, 2020 · 9:29 am

Normal Summer Has Finally Arrived

Twitter

High in the upper 90’s, heat index of 105+, relentless sunshine – finally here today. They say, on the weather website, that we COULD get pop-up showers in the afternoon and pigs may fly –

Although we MADE a flying pig and she flies in our driveway –

We have doors open and ceiling fans on for awhile more this morning, but will have to close up and turn the a/c on soon.

I will check our garden, though it is mostly played out now, and will check to see if we have any ripe tomatoes. We haven’t had any in several days and the plants are stressed – part of the perks of living in Arkansas. I feel lucky that we got anything to grow this year.

My hat is, as always, off to people who not only can grow enough food for their families, but also enough to give away to neighbors or sell. It requires a lot of expertise, knowledge of how to make it through weird weather, determination and stamina.

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August 4, 2020 · 10:04 am

Choose-Day

Unique Teaching Resources

The weather is beautiful here today. Right now it’s sunny and 66 degrees F. Just couldn’t be more perfect. We’re enjoying low humidity today, as well. I will make sure I spend some good time outside. We have doors open and ceiling fans on. It’s SMILING weather!

I will leave in about an hour to take the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, get our mail, and go to Rags & Roses Collective, the wonderful local Greenwood shop where I share a booth, Blasing Bright, with my friend Carla. I will change out some stuff, pay our rent, and visit a minute with the owner, Joanna Brandt.

We are having a quiet day so far, for which I am thankful. Yesterday brought a couple of ‘episodes’ where my husband was unable to speak, but he seems to be fine today. He is calm and seems to be upbeat. We will do the best we can each day, thankful to HAVE another one.

My exercise efforts are going well. I am feeling better – a bit more energetic – and looser. I am earning two stars on my desk calendar daily, one for my elliptical trainer in the garage and the other for yoga stretches and abdominal exercises.

I will see how our garden is doing later and check if we have ripe tomatoes to gather.

I’m not sure what my project for the day will be yet.

I hope that YOUR Tuesday is a nice CHOOSE-DAY. :0)

 

 

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August 2, 2020 · 9:59 am

Hahahahahahahahah!

Source Unknown

Hahahahahahhaha! I love this. :0)

Today is a nice day.

I just finished chatting with our son, who lives in Thailand. He is such a good communicator it’s almost possible to forget how far away he is. The last time he came home, the trip took 24 hours, with the flights and layovers. :0(  We talk almost every day, chatting about this and that, and it adds so much quality to my life. I’m very lucky to be so close to him in all ways except geographically.

It’s cool enough that we still have the doors open, front and back, creating a nice breeze. We will have to close up soon, but I love to air the house out!

Today’s project is gathering more things to donate to Veteran’s Thrift Town in Fort Smith tomorrow.  I’m hopeful that we can make several more donations as I try to go through the house with an eye to getting rid of stuff again.

I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing Sunday.

 

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July 30, 2020 · 10:01 am

Raccoon # 8

Live Science

We caught raccoon #8 of the season last night. We have just come back from relocating him where he will hopefully find the rest of the “gaze” of raccoons we have driven to their new home out farther in the country. Even though Amber barked at him obnoxiously, he didn’t lose his cool.  It looked like rain was coming soon, so we relocated the raccoon before having breakfast or doing anything other than feed animals.

Now we’ve had breakfast and I’m enjoying a cup of coffee as I type this.

We have doors open so far this morning, enjoying a nice breeze through the house. We are due for storms today, with a bigger chance this evening. I will get out, check the garden, and see if we have more ripe tomatoes to bring in soon.  Of course, now that we are home for the rest of the day, the sun has come out. :0)

I am doing well on my efforts to exercise this week so far. I have done my elliptical trainer in the garage, plus my half hour or so of yoga stretches and abdominal exercises every day. This is a 6-gold-star week so far! I will try to earn 2 more today.

The wonderful person from Tri-Hill Pest Control in Fort Smith is due here at 12:30 today. 1308 Zero St, Fort Smith, AR 72901. (479) 782-2847. He is a super nice man – PLUS since he has come and treated the house quarterly, we haven’t had a bug or pest problem. (Other than my husband.) This is a wonderful company.

Today’s project will be my kitchen desk. We use this, and the shelves above it, to have medicines and first aid stuff on hand, too, so it’s a busy area. I will try to get this area cleaned out and reorganized today.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

 

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July 29, 2020 · 10:25 am

Happy Start to the Day

There is little that makes me as happy as someone buying some of my work. It’s the highest compliment there is when a person wants it for his/her own. Last night I received an order for this hand-painted “Daisy” cruet. I just got back from mailing it at the post office. I’m still grinning, hoping the customer loves it, and happy that my work has a new home.

We’re supposed to have off and on ‘heavy downpours’ today, so I’m happy we have a nice, dry house. My husband is frowning because the rain will bring an end to his favorite ‘brown, crunchy’ grass.

I’m not sure what my project for the day will be. I will do my session on the elliptical trainer in the garage and also my half an hour or so of yoga stretches and abdominal exercises, but I’m open to what the rest of the day holds.  I will hope for a quiet day.

I hope you are somewhere safe and comfortable today, and that at least one thing makes you smile.

 

 

 

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July 25, 2020 · 9:43 am

Thoughts on a Saturday July 25, 2020

New Animalbook

  • It’s frustrating when your child is across the world from you and hurting. Thankfully, we chatted today, and our son is doing much better after a doctor’s appointment. There is 12 hours difference between us, but we got to chat a bit before he headed for bed. I am relieved.
  • I’m also relieved that my husband is doing much better after a stroke-type episode while we were at Lunch Bunch. He is also doing MUCH better this morning.
  • Our Lunch Bunch friends are all healthy and happy. It’s wonderful to have good, understanding, caring friends.
  • Our sweet dog, Molly, who has cancer, managed to eat half her breakfast this morning. She is resting comfortably now in her bed just behind me as I type.
  • All is calm and quiet so far today – and for that I am truly grateful.
  • Our lawn is turning brown and crunchy – my husband’s favorite – and our irrigation system is working to keep our veggies and flowers alive.
  • Since it’s very hot, we are thankful for good air conditioning and the ability to stay indoors today. We will get the mail, but that’s it, I think.
  • I’m working on updating important information spreadsheets today. If I finish that, I’ll work on bookkeeping.
  • I will get my 6th gold star for the week for doing my daily yoga practice.
  • I have lost 5 lbs.

I hope that your Saturday is a good one. Take care and stay safe.

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July 19, 2020 · 9:55 am

Quiet, Hot Sunday

Oddetorium

We are truly into summer now, with heat indices in the 105-110 range, and hotter forecast. We are very grateful for good air conditioning and ceiling fans. One of the many perks of aging is that my personal comfort range on temperatures is becoming narrower.

I will get outside in a minute, mix up a container of KillzAll Weed Killer, and spray it around the garden area. That, and seeing if we have any ripe tomatoes will be it for being outside today.

My friends, Kay and Bud from Lunch Bunch have been making me feel like a slug lately. They are systematically going through a bunch of their stuff in their home and packing it up to get rid of it. I should be doing that, but the ‘lazies’ have me in their clutches right now, and it’s all I can do to do the bit of yard work I need to, plus exercise. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Next on my personal list of things ‘when I get motivated,’ is to use the power washer. If I can get started, it’s addictive. This year I will try to start with out outside chairs. I also need to do the deck, sidewalks, front porch, and driveway pad. I’m not sure if I can clean up our stained brick in our planters or not, but I’ll give that a try, as well. Hopefully, I will get the urge soon. :0)

I hope that you have a healthy, happy Sunday.

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July 12, 2020 · 9:28 am

Good Morning

sayingimages.com

My husband is out mowing now – even though it’s too wet – because the rain has been such that there is NEVER a good time to do the job. It will have to be enough. Since the heat index today will be in the area of 110 degrees F., I’m glad he is out there getting the job over with now. (The weather people says it will get REALLY hot this coming week!) Right now, though, it is still cool enough to have the doors open and the ceiling fans on.

My zucchini and yellow crookneck squash plants are still looking healthy, but no actual veggies growing yet. The celery I planted is still alive and I have two more celery bottoms in water in the house. The onions continue to look good. I’ll go out later to see if we have more ripe tomatoes.

I worked on painting a new design of wooden earrings yesterday in my art room. I’ll post pics later.

I am hoping for a quiet day today.

I hope that YOUR Sunday is a nice one, too.

 

 

 

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July 10, 2020 · 9:53 am

Good Morning!

via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

It is really pretty outside right now.  We will have to close our doors and turn on the a/c soon, but right now we have a nice breeze with ceiling fans.

We will meet our friends for Lunch Bunch in about an hour.  We wear face masks, and there is a limit on capacity inside the restaurant. It’s wonderful to be able to see our friends, catch up on what’s been happening, and laugh together.

I’m hoping for a quiet day today. I will clean out the aquarium and hopefully work on some new earrings upstairs in my art room.

I hope that YOU have a good day, too.

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July 9, 2020 · 12:44 pm

Nice Morning

Can Stock Photo

I had a lovely massage this morning. I asked her to just leave me there and let me drift off to sleep, but she made me get up, pay her, and leave. Imagine that! She is truly a miracle worker. I feel a lot better.

It was getting dark as I left – at 11:00 in the morning!  I got home just before storming started. I shut the garage door, and closed up the house. It has rained, but it doesn’t seem to be severe at this point. We have more waves of storms coming this afternoon and tonight.

I chatted with our son in Thailand this morning briefly. There is 12 hours difference in our times, so we have to chat quickly sometimes. He sounded really happy. He said, “last night when i was falling asleep i was listening to the rain, and i think i heard some kind of religious singing from somewhere, maybe the nearby wat, and i was feeling the breeze from my fan, and i thought to myself how fortunate i am.”

We are on our official whole first day of the South Beach Diet today. (We started after lunch yesterday.)  So far, we’re doing fine, although we’re fumbling around some. We like the shakes, and the ‘ice crushes.”  Mine are chocolate, of course. :0)  I got home from my massage late for our morning ‘snack.’ We went ahead and did that, deciding we would delay lunch for an hour or so. I have keto chili in the crock pot for one of our DIY dinners for the week. I’m interested to see what we think of our lunch options.  I have found that their ‘peanut butter bites” (a package of small cookies) is delicious. I am trying to record what I eat and drink on the tracker on their website. It’s different that the other I have been using, but I’m determined to make it work.

I received one of the new wooden earring shapes I ordered yesterday, and am eager to get up to the art room to see what I can do with it. :0)

I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

 

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July 7, 2020 · 3:02 pm

“It’s Raining, It’s Pouring…”

Wallpaperhi

“Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I’ve been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain please tell me now does that seem fair
For her to steal my heart away when she don’t care?
I can’t love another when my hearts somewhere far away
The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain won’t you tell her that I love her so
Please ask the sun to set her heart aglow
Rain in her heart and let the love we knew start to grow
Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I’ve been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
Oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter patter, pitter patter
Oh, oh, oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter patter, pitter patter”
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John C. Gummoe
Sung by The Cascades

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June 29, 2020 · 10:30 am

Thoughts on a Monday 6-29-2020

Storyteller Travel

I LOVE the look of humor and character on Shoebill Storks.

We are having a super humid day today. It’s like pea soup outside. The humidity is 92% right now. UGH. That said, at least the sun is not a killer, so I’ve just come in from pruning our roses bushes and cutting things back a bit.  We have a super good chance of rain today. It is cloudy and looks like it could rain any time now.

We are waiting for our plumber to come.  We have a tankless water heater that gives us lots and lots of hot water. We haven’t had to worry about running out for years. Until lately.  You have to have full water pressure to get the hot water, and it takes a bit of time for that to happen. We get it when we first step into the shower upstairs, then halfway through our shower, we get cold water, like we used to have when the tank emptied. My husband thinks we may have to get a new water pressure tank for the well house. Hopefully, we can get what we need to get our wonderful hot showers again soon. Fingers crossed.

I hope that you have a good day.

 

 

 

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June 28, 2020 · 4:36 pm

Persistence Pays – I HOPE

Gardening Know How

My friend Laufrain gave me TWO elephant ear plants last fall. I babied them through the winter in our dining area, since that was a place they would get good sun. I decided to put them on our front porch this spring because they would be out of the worst of the wind we have from time to time, and wouldn’t be in the direct sun on the north side of our house. They did fine there until it got hot.

Today I decided I would relocate them, planting them in one of the brick planters we rebuilt. I laboriously dug a hole and just was getting the first one into the planter when all of a sudden we had a HARD rain. By the time I made it into the garage, I was dripping. I toweled off, got a cup of coffee, and decided I would catch up on email. Like a faucet had been turned off, the rain stopped as suddenly as it started.

I have just come in from planting the second plant. I fertilized and gave them a bit of water. Tonight at 7:30 the irrigation system will water them for 10 minutes. Time will tell if they are happy in the new location. Fingers crossed.  Pictures later.

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June 23, 2020 · 9:32 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday – June 23, 2020

Our forecast is ‘Downpours this morning and scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Chance of rain 100%”

 

Jimmy Nyakora via Scene and Heard – Match Box Quotes

Other than the downpours and thunderstorms, I’m hoping for a quiet rain. I have no big projects for the day. I wanted to finish weeding my veggie garden, but it looks like that won’t be in the cards today. My husband planned to mow the lawn, but that probably won’t be happening, either. All that will be waiting for us when Mother Nature decides to cooperate.

Our DirecTV system has a nice feature where you can pause a program and it will record it for you until you want to resume watching later. This causes a ‘buffer’ to form, where you can then fast-forward through commercials. We are totally addicted to this feature.

My husband and I have a running ‘discussion’ about why the feature doesn’t always work the way he thinks it should. It will hold about 40 minutes on pause, and then it starts playing. (Hopefully, we have it muted, or else it sounds like the TV is possessed, coming on by itself and talking erupting in the living room while we are in our home office.) Either way, the buffer is filled up and the TV plays. Sometimes the buffer is retained and sometimes not. We cannot see a pattern.

It REALLY irks my husband. He is careful to set it up at night so that we have a full buffer in the morning and he is able to zip through commercials to his heart’s content.  When, for some unknown reason, gremlins have done their work and the buffer is ‘gone,’ he gets frustrated and angry. Our ‘discussions’ haven’t solved the problem. He refuses to call DirecTV to try to get an answer. And so, the ‘discussions’ continue…

We MAY have another raccoon. This would be #6 this season.

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The sweet things won’t share, or we wouldn’t have a problem. They eat EVERY seed in EVERY feeder, and many time trash the feeder in their efforts to chow down. My husband will set our humane trap tonight and we’ll see if we capture another member of this year’s family to relocate with the others.

Foundation Pest Control

I mentioned that it MIGHT be the squirrel family we have this year. Yesterday I saw THREE squirrels at once being quite active and athletic on the feeders. That’s the first time I have seen three at one time. One was sitting in the shovel bird feeder, eating the seeds we leave there every day. A second was at the main bird feeder, hanging from his back legs as he avidly ate as much as possible using both hands to grab seeds. A third was in the gallon-sized clear bottle that sits on another feeder in our window. He was all the way inside the bottle, filling his cheeks.

Mourning Doves-Shutterstock.com

We usually have a pair of doves who sit on one of the electrical lines that cross the back of our yard. I haven’t seen them lately. I hope they are okay.

I hope that you are having a really nice day.

 

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June 20, 2020 · 9:12 am

Thoughts on a Saturday – June 20, 2020

Citizens State Bank

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” — James Dent

The sun was out earlier here, but now it’s overcast. We have an 80% chance of storms today – the first day of summer. All people and animals are good today, and we’re hoping for a quiet weekend.

I pre-ordered the latest paperback “In Death” series book by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) awhile back. It comes out in July.  To celebrate this, I’m enjoying my dive into the world of Eve Dallas, Lieutenant in the NYPSD in the year 2058+.  I’m picking up details I missed the first time, as well as just enjoying inhabiting her world – so different from mine. I’m re-reading book # 23 right now (out of 50) and will be ready to add the newest book to my collection when it arrives. (I’ve also pre-ordered the paperback of #51 which will be out at the end of December.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are due for a rainy weekend. I’ve been working hard in the yard, trying to keep the weeds at bay. I see evidence that the ‘wild’ would simply take back the land we have enjoyed for over 30 years now if I lost my determination to win the war. The civilized part of our yard looks pretty good now. My next focus will be on weeding my veggie garden and my flower planters around the yard. I’ll enjoy it if I get a bit of a break from the work this weekend.

I heated up the leftover spaghetti with meat sauce I made this week for dinner last night. I used the spaghetti made from chickpeas (brand name Banza) that has half the carbs of regular pasta. It’s still a splurge, but I sure enjoyed it. I made garlic toast for my husband with hot dog buns, and used the keto bread I made for mine.)  My husband said, “This was delicious. Thank you!” :0)  We will have leftover pork chops tonight with a side salad.

Animal Wellness Magazine

I will continue the longer, slower sessions of gentle yoga I started yesterday. I’m concentrating on relaxing – harder to do these days – and S_T_R_E_T_C_H_I_N _G everything I have slowly and thoroughly. I’m feeling better because of it.

I hope your first day of summer is a nice one, too. ENJOY.

 

 

 

 

 

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May 29, 2020 · 10:02 am

Round Yellow Thing

123RF.com

I almost didn’t recognize it when I walked Molly first thing this morning. It was roundish, yellowish, and shiny, lighting up the whole sky! I didn’t need my umbrella for the first time in what seems like forever, and didn’t sink into the grass as we walked around the yard. I’m more than delighted that it looks like we’ll have a gorgeous day today.

As part of our celebration, we’ll meet our friends for Lunch Bunch! We are now eating at a picnic table in the parking lot of The Pizza Barn. They are offering curbside service and outside eating until the restrictions on restaurants are totally lifted here in Arkansas. (It’s a small place and not designed for social distancing.) I am planning to take lettuce from our garden to our friends, plus our two wonderful waitresses.

I’ll be glad to take the lettuce because it looks like my early spring garden is ending. My lettuce and spinach are starting to bolt.  :0(  I’ll probably harvest the rest of what there is left this week, with the exception of the sweet red onions. I’ll look locally to see if anyone has veggie plants.

I can’t tell you how much it lifts my spirits to see the sun shining!!!!!

 

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May 27, 2020 · 4:24 pm

More Rain!

Tammy Ames via PictureQuotes.com

It looks like we have today and tomorrow with lots of rain, and then it settles down for a bit!

I have built a whole routine out of taking our dog, Molly out, first thing in the morning and last thing at night before bed (other times during the day she goes out to play, sniff, and do dogly things on her own without supervision or time limits) – with the rain that has been with us for weeks now. My umbrella hangs on one hook with her leash. My jacket hangs on another hook. We have the routine down pat.

Now that we do, the weather will probably tip over into summer and the rains will be few and far between.

It amazes me that it can be sunny and warm enough we talk about turning on the air conditioner, and then a bit later raining like it has saved it up for MONTHS, pouring down with hail, lightning, gusty winds, and flying hairballs.

I’m sad that the weather forced the scrubbing of the space launch today, but we’ll be at the TV on Saturday at 3:22, fingers crossed.

Stay dry.

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May 26, 2020 · 11:13 am

Trying to Lose the Lard

PictureQuotes.com

Actually, I’m feeling encouraged that I am back on track since yesterday.  I am planning what I will eat using MyFitnessPal.com, trying to get as close as possible to my macro percentages again today.

We came through another tornado warning last night with no damage that I have seen so far. I’m am truly thankful. This is one of the days that we are thankful we live on top of a hill because flash flooding is forecast. I will be glad when this mini-monsoon season we’ve been having is over.

To celebrate that, I’m planning to get on my elliptical trainer in the garage after lunch and do at LEAST 15 minutes. I’m hoping that I will be able to do my ‘regular’ 35 minutes;  but since I’ve been a slug lately, I don’t want to push it too hard. I also plan to do at least 30 minutes of my “Gentle Yoga” stretches before the afternoon is over.

I am again planning to bake a loaf of keto bread, plus a Twice-Baked Cauliflower Casserole” by Suzanne Ryan. My husband isn’t fond of cauliflower, but I’ll just serve him quietly and see what he says.  We will have a hamburger patty and a salad, so he should have plenty to enjoy even if he isn’t fond of the casserole. We’ll see.

It feels good to have a plan and feel in better control. Fingers crossed.

 

 

 

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May 25, 2020 · 10:51 am

And the Rains Continue

Read It Forward

These days I am truly thankful we live on top of a ridge line. The rain just keeps coming.

Last night while we were watching TV, the wind came, and really whipped tree branches around, to the point I got worried.  This lasted for about 45 minutes, and then things got still. THEN I started to listen for a tornado. Thankfully, nothing happened.

It rained overnight. It’s raining now, it will rain every day for the next week, if the forecasters are right. The air feels like we are sitting in pea soup. We have our doors open now, but we may have to close up and turn on the air conditioner this afternoon for awhile, as we did yesterday until the wind started. I can’t get out to see how our plants are doing. The only thing we are doing is getting the mail and taking our dogs out.  Makes us thankful, too, for a warm, dry house.

Pinterest

“Never run in the rain with your socks on.” ~ Billie Joe Armstrong

 

 

Animal’s Look

“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.”   Vladimir Nabokov

 

 

Quora

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

 

Photography Plus

“I’m just waiting for people to start asking me to make the rain disappear.” ~ David Copperfield

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May 24, 2020 · 9:29 am

Denial

PictureQuotes.com

I’m going to have to switch gears for the coming week, starting today – hopefully.

I’ve been working outside, whacking down weeds, cutting back trees, spraying weed killer and ant killer, etc., in an effort to keep Mother Nature from reclaiming the totally wild, wooded land we bought around 33 years ago now. (We built our home on top of this ridge line in 1987.) This is a full-time, never-ending job, and I have to say that we grow some really healthy, impressive weeds here. Some of them are taller than I am!

Last night, while my husband and I enjoyed a much-appreciated evening on the deck while grilling our dinner, we talked about the fact that the ‘weed trees’ were again encroaching on our view of the valley below. The slope of our land is impressive, too, and there are totally rocky places where it is treacherous to even think about walking. This is where the weed trees are. I am going to attempt to cut these down, a few at a time, over the coming weeks to try to reclaim our view.

This gives you an idea of what we can usually see.

 

That said, here is the 10 day forecast for our area –

 

Maybe I should be trying to built a raft or boat instead of thinking about weed whacking….

The end result of a forecast like this is I want to take a nap. I feel super lazy. I can’t even get excited about playing in my art room right now, though that could change once I’ve finished my coffee.

The only thing I PROMISE I will do today is make a ‘sausage-egg-and-cheese bake’ for our dinner tonight. This is a wonderful keto recipe from Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto.  My husband grinned and gave a happy thumbs up when I told him what I planned to make today.  Actually, I’ll promise another thing – I will do at least 35 minutes of gentle yoga stretches today.

Otherwise, I’ll have to fight my natural inclination to stretch out in my chair in the living room under my snuggly throw and take cat naps (with at least one, if not two, actual cats!) today.

I hope you have a happy Sunday.

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May 23, 2020 · 9:26 pm

A Perfect Evening

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We had a beautiful day today. In the hope we would ALSO have a beautiful evening, I thawed a steak we had kept just for an evening like this. I marinated it all day in the fridge, hoping that Mother Nature would be kind.

The weather could not have been more perfect!  The sun went behind some clouds. We had a nice, cool breeze. It was quiet. We had our animals playing around us. My husband enjoyed a beer – a nice gift for him, and I had a cup of coffee sitting in one chair with my feet up on another, totally relaxed, drinking in the gorgeous evening.

We chatted, laughed, and had the best time. As the sky darkened, I plugged in the rope LED lights we have strung around the inside edge of the deck roof so it was festive.

The steaks and salad tasted really nice.

DOUBLY nice because we have rain in the forecast every day, starting tomorrow, through the END of next week.

A reminder to enjoy each day as it comes!

AHHHHH!

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May 22, 2020 · 11:21 am

Mother Nature Makes Harvesting a Challenge

First thing this morning I went out to harvest some lettuce so I could take it to Lunch Bunch and share some with Linda, Kay, and the two waitresses at The Pizza Barn, Susan and Mikey. I knew we had rain forecast for today, but it looked like it might hold off until we could share lunch at the picnic table in the parking lot before it started.

I brought the lettuce in and dumped it all into the sink. 45 minutes later, I had several small heads of lettuce and a lot of extra lettuce leaves ready to put in bags.

About an hour ago, Kay called, telling me the forecast now said we would get at least two waves of storms – each possibly severe – with hail. We agreed to call off Lunch Bunch for today.  :0(

I let Amber into the truck and we went down the driveway to get the mail. Just as we pulled into the garage after getting it, the rain started. We haven’t had hail yet, but it’s obvious we are in for the day now.  The sky is dark, almost like night. The garage door is shut to protect our vehicles.

Now we appreciate being able to stay inside a warm, dry house and hope that we JUST get rain today.

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