We've a Story to Tell
One of the songs we sang tonight was the song, We've a Story to Tell to the Nations. The woman who requested it told us this story about the song and her family.
One of her daughters was learning to play the piano and was working to learn this song, which was somewhat difficult for her. While the others daughters had to do dishes, Michelle had to practice this song. The girls doing the dishes didn't want to do the dishes and Michelle didn't want to practice the song. However, she did learn to play it well and she earned a quarter. The girls doing the dishes didn't get a quarter. The girls still complain about it when they think of that song, but it is done good naturedly.
By the way, the hymn sing went beautifully and I really enjoyed playing for it.
Practice
I've been practicing this afternoon. I'm playing the piano this evening for the Columbus Church's hymn sing. I enjoy having this reason to practice. I'm beginning to get back to spending more time at the piano. For years it has been a blessing to me. After my husband died, it was hard for me to spend time with my music, --an emotional thing. I'm glad that I can get past that hurdle now.
Bobbleheads
Erie's Baseball team, the SeaWolves, gave away to the first 2,000 fans attending Saturday's game, a Tom Ridge bobblehead doll. Tom Ridge, "congressman-turned-governor-turned-secretary of keeping you safe," (quote from the newspaper) is from Erie and has been called the city's favorite son.
On August 12, the team will offer bobbleheads to honor Rudy, the Erie Zoo's late gorilla.
I ask you, would you feel honored if there would be a bobblehead made of you? Part of me knows that it would be sort of neat to have this done, but most of me thinks it would be an embarrassment.
Having Tom Ridge dolls and then the zoo gorilla dolls makes you wonder about this honor, but I think everyone really loved Rudy, the zoo gorilla, and were very sad when he died. I think Erie really loves Tom Ridge, too.
Small World Sports News
I just learned on Thursday that the team that beat my granddaughters' softball team in the championship playoffs played our Corry Girls' team that evening for the state final. I found out on Friday that the Corry Girls lost that game, in a closely played game.
But Corry loves our championship teams. Today we gave the girls a parade from Route 6 to the High School, with firetrucks screaming and people cheering them. After all, second in the state is something to cheer about.
Boy Scout Lessons
When my grandson was wielding the axe and chopping into kindling some of the old wooden pillars that I have to dispose of, I expressed my concern that he would know how to be safe while doing the work. His older brother told me, "Don't worry. He knows how to do that safely. He's earned a badge for that in Boy Scouts."
Really? They give lessons on how to use an axe safely? What a fine idea. I was just saying this morning in a letter that men love to use an axe, a sledge hammer, or power saws. They enjoy flexing their muscles and working hard. How neat that the Boy Scouts give safety lessons in using these tools. I'm impressed.
Frankly, I enjoy tasking my muscles, too, but my strength has its limits. And, I never had a real lesson on using an axe safely. I never was a Boy Scout. And I wasn't a Girl Scout either. I was a Brownie but I didn't get to be a Girl Scout. I suppose the Girls Scouts may not give lessons on using an axe safely, but I wonder.
A Cup of Hot Tea
It's been days since I had a cup of hot tea but this morning is a good morning to get back to the habit. I've been drinking a lot of iced tea because of the excessive heat. This morning the temperature is below 60 degrees and it feel great. A hot cup of tea is just right for getting the day started this morning.
Day's End
We made a lot of progress on the siding today. I say "we" but of course I did none of that work. I just share in the finished product. It's really great to see the house looking like a lovely house again.
After the play, we made a beeline to Dairy Queen and ordered blizzards for each of us, --to go. When we got back home, we ended the day with Monk. He certainly cracks me up with his compulsive ways. But there's a touch of pathos, too, as he longs to be included in "the gang," but the people around him think of him as really odd and they laugh at him.
Singing in the Rain
I just got home from a local production of the play, Singing in the Rain. It's really neat to go to a play like this in your own community where you know most of the people who are in the cast, and it was a bonus for me to not have to go to the play alone. My two grandsons went with me. I think we all enjoyed it immensely. I loved the scene where Cosmo was wrestling with the rag doll behind the sofa. What a hoot. We were all laughing! I think that was when he was singing "Make 'Em Laugh," and we were laughing! It was a fun evening.
Trumpet Vines
Years ago, before I realized how invasive a trumpet vine is, I took one of the shoots from my trumpet vine which is in front of the living room window and planted it in the side yard. I wanted it to vine over the arbor there. I had trouble getting the arbor established. Several time winds blew it over, even though we pounded stakes into the ground and tried to anchor it to the stakes.
Meanwhile, the established trumpet vine started sending shoots up everywhere in the front yard and I started to read about it on gardening message boards. I was dismayed to learn how very invasive it really is. Therefore when a friend said she had been trying to get a trumpet vine, I dug up my vine from the side yard and took it to her.
However, I didn't get all of the root. The vine grew back. I hired Dan to anchor my arbor so that it wouldn't blow over. What a job he did! That arbor is still solid and has stood firm ever since. The trumpet vine started to climb over the arbor. I know it hopes to take over the side yard as well as the front yard.
This year, the trumpet vine is blooming for the first time. The redeeming quality of the trumpet vine is that birds and bees love it, especially the humming birds. Also, the trumpet vine near the living room window helps to keep the living room cooler.
I'm glad to see the new trumpets this year, but I am wondering what will happen to the yard in the coming years. I think it will be OK as long as we keep mowing. That will confine the vine to the arbor or trellis area and keep it in line. Meanwhile, the humming birds, other birds, and bees are happy with the vine. So am I.
Progress Feels Good
The work on the house is progressing steadily though it is slow going. We now have all the pink foamboard insulation in place that we need and there's three bundles left over. I'm working at finding someone who can use it so that it isn't wasted.
Tomorrow the workers will begin putting the vinyl siding on the straight places. David is excited about getting that part on. He says that it will show up really nicely now.
Sam, another workman who is doing things for the people who own the empty house next to ours, was there this morning and I went out to talk to him. He was admiring the porch and said, "They are really doing nice work for you!" I need to remember to tell David that compliment.
I'm hoping it won't rain tomorrow. I really want to see that siding going on the walls!
Mistakes of the Day
I decided to make Belgian Waffles for my son and his sons today. I was sure they would love them. I asked the younger son, age 13, to help me and we set to work together. I asked him if he knew how to separate eggs. He said he thought he wasn't very good at that. Therefore, I had him measure the dry ingredients while I separated the eggs. I broke the second egg yolk and it got mixed into the egg whites. I had to carefully spoon out as much yellow as I could. The younger son said, "Maybe I should have separated the eggs." I agreed.
I chose the wrong sized bowl to use to beat up the milk and butter and egg yolks. I had to get out a bigger bowl. This should be a job which used three bowls. The way I did it, I needed five, because I kept getting a bowl which wasn't quite big enough .
The batter was ready, the waffle iron was hot. I was carefully pouring batter onto the waffle iron. And then suddenly I realized I had filled the surface completely full. I knew it was far too much batter. I was being so careful not to spill the batter as I poured it from the big mixing bowl that I completely forgot about when to stop.
As the waffle baked, the batter bubbled and ran from the edges because it was too full. We had a mess to clean up. That would have been enough mistakes if that was the last one I made, but two more times I poured too much batter for the waffle. I just couldn't seem to determine the right amount. I felt addlepated!
However, in spite of the mistakes, the waffles were superb and we gave them appreciation due their fine quality. It was a good lunch, --waffles, with whipped cream, blueberries, or with butter and syrup, or just plain.
Too Old to Cut the Mustard
Yesterday I was feeling "too old to cut the mustard any more." That's part of a hillbilly song that I knew when I was a kid. I had vague ideas that it meant something about being too weak to cut mustard, which, if one could cut it, shouldn't take strength to do. It made me start to wonder what exactly the phrase meant. This morning I looked it up and this is what I found:
(Phrase Origins)
This expression meaning "to achieve the required standard" is first recorded in an O. Henry story of 1902: "So I looked around and found a proposition [a woman] that exactly cut the mustard."
It may come from a cowboy expression, "the proper mustard", meaning "the genuine thing", and a resulting use of "mustard" to denote the best of anything. O. Henry in _Cabbages and Kings_ (1894) called mustard "the main attraction": "I'm not headlined in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing, just the same." Figurative use of "mustard" as a positive superlative dates from 1659 in the phrase "keen as mustard", and use of "cut" to
denote rank (as in "a cut above") dates from the 18th century.
Other theories are that it is a corruption of the military phrase "to pass muster" ("muster", from Latin _monstrare_="to show", means "to assemble (troops), as for inspection"); that it refers to the practice of adding vinegar to ground-up mustard seed to "cut" the bitter taste; that it literally means "cut mustard" as an example of a difficult task, mustard being a relatively tough crop that grows close to the ground; and that it literally means "cut mustard" as an example of an easy task (via the negative expression "can't even cut the mustard"), mustard being easier to cut at the table than butter.
The more-or-less synonymous expression "cut it" (as in "'Sorry' doesn't cut it") seems to be more recent and may derive from "cut the mustard".
Source: [Mark Israel, 'Phrase Origins: "cut the mustard"'
Thanks, Mark. I was wondering. Today I'm more up to "muster."
Trash Day
Tomorrow is trash day again. I do look forward to trash day because it gives me a clean start for another week. Last week I didn't put all my trash out the night before and that morning they went extra early. Tonight I got all my trash to the curb already.
Last week the trash collection in the block above me was very late. In fact, it didn't go till the next day. I heard the sirens, and saw the ambulance and fire truck go up the street past my house but I didn't watch to see how far it went, or what was happening. The next day, the headline news was that one of the trash collectors had gotten his leg stuck in the compactor. It required the firemen to get him free from the mechanism and he was taken by ambulance to one of the Erie hospitals. I haven't heard how he is, but I'm so in hopes that his leg is healing well and he'll be back to work soon.
Without Electric
We didn't lose electric during those electrical storms that we had recently, but this afternoon, while I was getting dinner ready, about 5 o'clock, suddenly, the electric went off. There was no warning. It was not storming. I know now that the electric was off all over town. I do not know why this happened but it was a bother. How little a person can do without electric. I was grateful that it wasn't off for very long.
Would You Go?
Since the latest space venture, Discovery, blasted off, I hear people on radio programs asking one another, "If you got the chance to go into space, would you go?" It seems to me that most of them have been answering with a yes, but I've been paying only half attention so I'm not sure. However, I know my answer would be, "Only in my dreams."
I would not want to blast off into space, but once in my dreams I booked passage on a trip to the moon. The only thing I took with me was a stack of books. I remember the dream because it shows where my priorities are. If I have plenty of reading material, what else do I need?
Actually, I know I need a lot more in life than good reading material, but it was an interesting thought.
Favorite Character
On one of the message boards I read online, the question was raised, "Who is your favorite character in the Harry Potter books?" It's been interesting to see the responses. It's really interesting to see how many people have been reading the books and know something about the characters.
I've read some of the books and my favorite character is probably Hermione, although I really like Dumbledore, too. But I'm wondering, are we supposed to feel that Harry Potter is our favorite?
Slice of Life
When I went to Aquarobics at the Y yesterday morning, I walked in just ahead of a mom with her young daughter. The daughter was carrying a covered dish and she carried it like it was very heavy. She hurried across the room to the others in day camp, eager to set her heavy dish down.
I was a little late and the desk clerk wasn't behind the counter to sign me in. I looked around at the kid things going on and soon Mandy came and checked me in. I went past the room where the Aerobic exercise was going on. The group was punching out in front of them, left and right, while stepping up and down on their stair unit. They looked so energetic, and everyone was in sync, moving as one unit.
As I approached the women's locker room, one of the teens came out with a younger girl. The older girls said to her companion, continuing her conversation, "Now, I'm dating my best friend's brother." "Your best friend's brother?" the younger girl repeated, as a question. As they went around the corner away from me, the teen repeated again, "My best friend's brother." And they were gone.
When I got into the pool yesterday morning, it was shockingly cold, but it was such a hot day that the icy cold feeling was welcome. Soon the water felt as warm as I needed it to be. It felt perfect.
Shastas
The Shasta Daisies have run their course. Today I will cut them back. They were beautiful while they lasted but now the blooms are finished. I love to see them grow and then break out into bloom. I really hate to cut them all off, but they are done now and they are no longer pretty.
A Spray of Perfume??
I heard the sirens going across town. We don't live in a town where we hear sirens at all times of the day or night. Usually when we hear sirens, there's been an auto accident or tree down or a fire. Sometimes it's a really dire need that calls our fire fighters out, so when we hear the sirens, we are concerned about what's happening.
This is what I read in the local paper this evening about the cause of the sirens:
"Corry Fire Department responded at 6:42 a. m. today when a woman was spraying perfume, which activated the alarm. Firefighters were back in service at 6:48 a. m."
Doesn't that make you wonder? How much perfume did she spray? Have you ever been around someone who seemd to have taken a bath in perfume? Enough is enough and any more is too much! But, setting off a smoke alarm? It mystifies me.
Nervous Nelly
We have a little dog visiting here this week with his people. His people are working on the outside of the house, tearing off the old aluminum siding, making way for the new. The little dog is very nervous as to why he can't be outside with his people and wanting to know what's really going on. He's doing his best to keep tabs on what's happening. He doesn't make chaos when he puts his little paws on the window sill in the dining room to look outside.
On the other hand, when he was outside for a brief walk yesterday, Rusty got so excited at the window that he jumped up at the window and banged his head hard on the shelf of violets overhead. He didn't seem to even notice! Fortunately for me, he didn't knock anything off the shelf.
No News
I didn't check the late night news before I went to bed this morning and the storm happened after the morning newspaper was printed so it didn't get into the newspaper yet but when I went to Aquarobics, I learned that last night's storm wasn't too bad right here in Corry, but it was really bad in several areas around us. Last night, I was told, the news on TV was giving tornado watch warnings. Erie and Linesville both received a pounding from the high winds. I don't know if there was a bad lightning strike but it was a fierce electrical storm. Once again, I was calmly unaware of the danger all around me.
Bread
I was just reading in the newspaper this morning that you shouldn't eat bread with a meal that has potatoes and that reminded me that when I was growing up, bread was a staple at every meal we had. We had the bread plate holding a stack of bread and it could be replenished if we needed more. We ate bread with butter and jam or jelly.
After I was married we still had bread at most meals but somewhere along the line, we stopped doing that. Now we have bread for toast or sandwiches and only occasionally do we have a plate of bread at the table with meals. When we do, it might be garlic bread when we're having spaghetti.
Rainy Season Again
We've gone from our dry spell back into a rainy season. We had another electrical storm last night around midnight. I don't think anything here got fried. I didn't get up to check. The lights flickered once but didn't go out. I was in bed but still awake, reading, so I know that much.
Oops!
I worked on that old storm door, trying to get it in good shape again. It had all its windows but they all needed puttying and two panes had to be replaced. I had done half of them and then I stopped working.
It wasn't going well. I was failing my course in Puttying. It looked OK from a distance but not from up close. I began to have second thoughts about restoring the old door. I didn't finish the work. The workman took the door off the hinges and we were going to put it on saw horses for me to work on. That should make it easier to putty and paint.
I just found out that our storm on Friday blew the door over and four of the panes broke. Oops! It kind of confirms my thought that it might be better to get a new door than to put so much effort into this old one.
Cousin Dorothy
Marlin's cousin Dorothy attended the reunion today. Dorothy's husband, Paul, died last year in September. Marlin died in December. Dorothy and I got to talk to each other for a while. Her husband died unexpectedly in an illness that seemed to be treatable. Dorothy is having a hard time coping with the loss, and we had lots to tell each other. She said to me, "I almost didn't come to the reunion this year." I could completely relate to the feeling. It was a decision that I almost made myself. I think we were both glad that we went, but it was not easy for us to have gone. However, it is another step in healing. It was good to have been there with the rest of the family.
The Reunion
I did go to the Reunion and I did have a very nice time. There were some moments when emotion was high for me, but for the most part, I was able to focus on the people and things that were happening around me.
I got to do a hike on a steep and rocky trail to do a geocache. That was good exercise. I was pleased that I got over all the hurdles and I didn't fall. The cache was hidden in a typical place but it was fun to find, nonetheless.
Scotty's Gone
Another obituary I noticed this past week was for Scotty, the engineer on Star Trek. James Doohan died on July 20. He had played other characters before he was Scotty but once he was Scotty, he was firmly identified as that character. I read that his barber told him that he might as well accept that he would be Scotty till he died. After that he began to enjoy the benefits of being Scotty. I also read that he could speak a number dialects and tried several of them when he auditioned for the role. He decided that Scotsman was the best for the role. I was really sorry to read of his death.
TV Dinners
I read in the morning newspaper that Gerry Thomas, the inventer of the TV Dinner, died on Monday at the age of 83. It was 1954 when he got the idea for freezing a dinner in a foil try which was divided into compartments.
Marlin and I were married in 1956. After we were married, Marlin told me that he didn't want me to buy TV dinners. He wanted real dinners.
I'd never had TV dinners. My mom was a very good cook and had no interest in serving TV dinners. They sounded to me like they would be a really good but my husband assured me that they weren't what he wanted. I think he'd had one and knew it wasn't what he wanted.
I don't remember just when I did have my first TV dinner but it was many years later. It may have been after our children had left home and I was going to be alone for a meal and I indulged my curiosity about the TV dinner. Then I discovered that the idea of the TV dinner is much better than the actual thing. Of course, it could be that quality of the meal varies with brand and cost. I would have bought the most economical and that may have made the difference.
The obituary says that Gerry Thomas changed the way Americans eat --for better or for worse.
Play Ball!
I watched the Pittsburgh Pirates ball game this evening because some of my family members were attending it. I watched it, but I didn't watch every minute of it. I worked outside for a while and talked to my neighbors for a while and did computer stuff for a while. When I turned the game on, it was the top of the fourth and already the score was 7-0, Pirates.
I watched the game then, most of the time, any way. I watered the living room plants during that time. I left the room when each half inning was completed. I refilled the watering bottle and other little things. When I'd get back to the living room, the pitcher would be throwing to a batter.
Finally I settled down to watch the game, --but I read interesting articles in Leadership magazine while I kept in mind what was going on at the baseball game.
Then, when the Pirates were six outs away from winning their game, I put the magazine aside and just watched the game. I watched the game, but I fell asleep! I woke up in time to see the last two outs.
Then I switched channels and saw the last inning of a championship softball game between Canada and United States. I think I liked it better than the big league game. The score was Canada 2, US 1. US was up to bat last. Danielle, an 18 year old, was pitching for Canada. She was very skilful. She executed the third out, catching the ball and throwing it to first. The girls were triumphantly excited. I knew Danielle had done a fantastic job and I was happy for her. Both teams will be playing again. If I get a chance to watch, I would enjoy seeing them in another game.
Now, it's bedtime!
Geocache Again
Today I was having lunch with the XYZ group from church at the park where there is a Geocache. I was with my son and his family searching for this geocache just before Easter, so I had my eye on the place where this multiple location geocache begins. Most people are completely unaware of it and paid it no attention.
However, as we were leaving, I saw two men with back packs looking intently at the coordinates printed on the first location. I struck up a conversation with them. They are brothers, from Franklin, a town roughly 30 miles south of us. They were very willing to talk geocache with me and said that I was the first person they had met who had talked to them about what they're doing.
They've been to about 100 sites now and planned to do about 6 here in Corry before they head home again. Dick told me that he's set up two caches near his son's home and the only problem they've encountered with them is that the wildlife won't leave them alone. One person wrote on his web info that a bear had demolished the area. But he thinks it was really a racoon. Isn't it interesting that animals think it's interesting to notice the things we do, just as we find their behavior interesting?
I think I enjoyed talking to the geocachers as much as I enjoyed the picnic dinner. It was such fun to meet them.
Planted!
I was up very early this morning and outside digging a big hole to plant my new lily. I wanted to get it into the ground while it is still cool.
Since it didn't take long to plant the new lily, I took some time to work in the Iris bed. I've dug up half the Iris and weeded that area thoroughly.
When I reached down and grabbed a clump of grassy weeds to yank out, something bit me on my thumb! I looked down and saw this mass of squirming legs and thought I'd been bitten by a spider! I have it on my mind about the brown recluse spider that bit the woman in Erie while she was gardening. But then I saw that it was a bee. Whew. What a relief! I think it was a small bumble bee. I know it wasn't a honey bee. I don't know why it was down in the weeds and not in a flower! After about 5 minutes, my thumb started to feel OK again. I'm glad it wasn't a spider that got me.
After an hour and a half of working, I decided I'd better come in and get breakfast and then go out and work some more.
Buying a Lily
I had it in my mind that I could buy a lily at Campbell's Pottery Barn, where they have the lily festival. But when I asked, I found that the lilies are not for sale. The sales person told me that if she had a nickle for every time she was asked that question, she'd be rich. I would have given her a nickel, but I'd just taken all my loose change out of my bag!
We decided to stop at the other lily place on our way home and see if they sold lilies. They did. They charged $7.50 for a clump of lilies of any color except white. The white ones are $10, because they don't have very many white ones.
I would have liked to have known the name of the lily I bought but the couple who run this place didn't know any names for them. The man told me that he has 1,200 kinds of lilies now and at one time he had 1,500, and there was no way he could keep them all straight now.
I picked out a deep orange-yellow lily, a nice bright color and Renee dug it up for me. A huge plastic bag that was almost as long as I am tall was provided to put the lily clump in to bring it home. It needed that big bag! I expect to plant the lily this evening when it's a little cooler, though I might persuade myself to wait till the cool of the morning. That might be better yet.
Sleeping Kitty
Today at the Pottery Barn, in one of the display rooms, there was a sleeping cat stretched out on the floor, really flat. I said to my friend, "Did you see the dead cat?" The cat lay there, unmoving!
Renee went to the cat and stooped down and petted her and talked to her. The cat never moved! I thought of those pictures I'd seen, "Stuff On My Cat," and I knew that this was a cat I could pile stuff on. All the customers carefully walked around the sleeping kitty. When we left that room, the kitty was still laying there, flat on the floor, and sound asleep!
Consider the Lily
Today my friend and I went to Campbell Pottery Barn for the lily festival. It was a really nice afternoon excursion. Neither of us had been there before and though we had an idea of where it is, we didn't know for sure. We had to ask for directions twice but we didn't go out of our way at all.
Oddly enough, we saw this place with acres of lilies and thought we'd found it but then we couldn't see the sales rooms and gallery. It was another lily farm! The older couple who run it gave us directions to the Pottery Barn.
There were acres of lilies at the Pottery Barn also. They were arranged in very neat rows but none of them were labeled. I was hoping to buy a lily but as it turned out, they don't sell lilies. It's just a side line. One of the sales girls told me that they have 90 varieties of lily and they have a staff of gardeners to keep them looking good.
At the far end of the lily field there is a pond and some water lilies grow there. There is a swan and some ducks which make the scene really picturesque.
We went through the show rooms and the art gallery and enjoyed seeing all the beautiful things. It was a very special afternoon for me.
Have You Heard This Saying?
I haven't heard this saying for a long time now but my Grandpap Baker used to refer to having to walk from one place to another as going by "Shank's Mare."
In one of the last books I read, one of the characters spoke of going by "Shank's Pony." It was a very old book, written, if I'm remembering correctly, in 1956. Same idea but a little different name.
Pen Pals
When I was a teen I loved having pen pals. I still do! But the pen pal hobby is very different right now. I love to write and receive e-mail letters, and that's like having pen pals.
I was sorting through our books this afternoon, with an eye to what I could give to who. In one of the books, I found a letter from one of my favorite pen pals, Clarence Krantz. We wrote to each other for several years but after I was married, we stopped writing.
I loved finding the letter and I would love to know about the paths Clarence has traveled down through the years. He was a good writer. I wonder if he kept had a career in writing. He had been going to a vocational school. I do hope he found fulfillment in the path he chose.
Drudge Day
Today has turned into a Drudge Day. My morning plans fell through and I stayed home and tried to do some much needed sorting and making sense of things. I've emptied a couple more file drawers. I've been upstairs and downstairs and even down and up from the cellar carrying things from one place to another, and getting things ready to throw away or give away or put in storage for a while.
I carried numerous books downstairs. Someone from Midway Alliance is supposed to come this week to get the books for their church library.
I put the sympathy cards and other funeral memorabilia into a sturdy box to take to the attic. I put it on the sewing maching bench till I feel more like pulling the stairs down and lugging the box up those rickety stairs. The next time I went upstairs, the box was on the floor and the contents spilled out. I had to put the stuff into the box again. It was sad work to get that box fixed up in the first place and it didn't help any to find it scattered on the floor. I don't know how that happened. It's possible that Rusty bumped it.
I've got to do that last step and get it into the attic. Drudge work, that must be done.
Tough?
So, I got that 50 pounds of dog food out of the trunk and into the right place in the entryway. That really wasn't too hard for me. All that pounding and sawing and working hard in the yard must have built up my muscles very well.
But this morning when it was time for their breakfast, I had such a time opening the bag! There is a string to pull to cut the top open. I can never make that work for me. I used a paring knife and it took such a long time to punch through that tough bag. Maybe it's a dull knife that I was using. It can't really be such a tough bag, --remember how easily it ripped open and spilled out in the parking lot last year. But I finally did get it open and now we're set for the next three weeks.
Diligence
I like myself so much better when I'm diligent. Saturday evening I wasn't diligent. I just let things slide. This morning I was much more disciplined. I was up early, picking the raspberries, and doing lots of little chores before I left the house for Aquarobics.
This afternoon I had another meeting with the financial advisor, got important information from one of the stock companies that I have to deal with, did some banking, some laundry, and some shopping.
I got 50 pounds of dog food. I know I could have asked for help at the store but I just had this idea that someone was going to be nearby who would want to help me get that heavy bag of food into the cart. Sure enough, my young friend, Adam, was there and seemed to be eager to lift the bag for me. He hoisted it the way I lift my five pound hand weights, just lifting it straight up in front of him and then he lowered it into the cart. When it was time to get the bag out of the cart and into the trunk of the car, one of my retired teacher friends walked by and called out to ask me how I'm doing. I asked him if he could help me with the 50 pounds and he was also glad to help. He was pleased that I was in the right place at the right time for him to help me.
So what about getting the bag from the car to the house? Well, I had no problem with that. The trunk of the car puts the bag at the right height for me to lift it. It's not easy to get the bag of dog food from the shelf to the cart, and it's even harder to get it out of the cart and into the car. I got it snagged on the cart once, and it tore open and spilled out onto the parking lot. That was unpleasant.
It wasn't easy for me to lift the weight as it was for Adam, but it wasn't too hard. I left the door ajar and just carried it right into the entry way and got it in place for the feeding tomorrow morning. We used the last bit that was in the old bag for the feeding this evening. How's that for getting it timed exactly right!
I kept on with my diligence this evening and I feel much better about myself tonight.
Berry Pail Brings Back Some Memories
The other day when I was working in the cellar I noticed the old aluminum four quart pot, with a bail, on one of the shelves. Then I remembered that we'd always used that pot as a berry picking pail when I was a kid. Why haven't I been using that? I hadn't even remembered it.
This morning I used that pail as I picked the berries. We are heading to the down side of the berry picking season now but I got over two quarts from my little patch. When I was a kid, I remember getting the pail completely full when we picked berries.
Picking berries was a big deal years ago. I wish I knew how many quarts of berries my mom would can each summer. She used them for pies during the winter. She also made jams and jellies each summer. And we sometimes had extra berries that we would take in town and sell. Once when Dad had me peddling berries door to door in a residential section of town, I skipped a house that was set far back from the road. Dad was watching me and he insisted that I had to go knock on that door. I really didn't like selling door to door that way and I really didn't want to go back to that little house and try to sell to them. But Dad insisted and I went. To my surprise, when the woman came to the door, she turned out to be someone from our church, someone I knew and she really wanted some berries. What a relief that was, and what a surprise for me. Right now, I cannot remember who that woman was. Strange that I would remember so much but not the name of the woman whose name I knew well at the time.
Till Tomorrow
As I now face bedtime, I find there are several things which I wish I had taken care of earlier today but now I'll have to let them go till tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll try to be more diligent.
Iced Tea
Last summer I didn't make much iced tea at all. It just wasn't all that hot and I didn't need it. This summer, I'm making gallons of iced tea. It makes a refreshing cooler.
Bandaid on a Wound
When I drove to the church this morning, I saw as I approached it that it seemed to me that it had a big bandaid on the roof area where the spire had been. Inside the church, everything looked the same. The firemen did a great job of protecting the building and getting the fire out. I wonder how soon we'll begin work to replace the spire.
Sleeping Dogs
Some time ago, Leslie had a link on her blog that took us to a place which showed pictures of sleeping cats. The cats were blissfully sleeping and the owners had piled things on them while they slept. We like the picture of the cat with lots of post-it notes stuck all over him.
I don't have a cat. I decided I would try this with my sleeping dogs. I picked Rusty to experiment on first. I put a little book on him as he slept. He was awake instantly. Being good natured, he looked at me curiously and let the book there. But when I tried to put more things on him, he shook them off and that game was over.
Then I picked on Desy. She also woke instantly. She let me get 4 things on her and then she stood up and walked away. I think they thought I was crazy.
Weathering the Storm
I've had a call that told me that our church is OK. The steeple did burn but the firemen got the fire out. There will definitely be water damage in parts of the building but we will be able to have services tomorrow morning. I think there were five fire departments at the scene and they must have been there for three or four hours.
We give thanks with grateful hearts. It's too bad it happened at all, but it could have had a much harsher ending.
Meanwhile, the electrical storm is back with its rumbling thunder. Rusty is hanging out very close to me now. I never noticed when he first came to us that he was afraid of storms but in the last ten months or so, I've been noticing it. How nice that he thinks I can keep him safe.
Rain At Last!
We got some rain in the wee hours of the night. I think there was thunder with it, but I wasn't fully awakened. It wasn't raining when I got up. My first chore of the day was to pick the raspberries. I had that on my mind through the night and that may be why I heard the rain.
The berry patch was wet with rain. It made me think of that song I liked when I was a kid, "Fly the ocean in a silver plane, see the jungle when it's wet with rain, just remember till you're home again, You belong to me." There I was in my jungle of berry patch and the berries and leaves were dripping with rain even though it had stopped raining some time ago.
Later this afternoon it started raining again, this time with a noisy thunder storm. I was visiting with my friend, Jewel, at the time. We both thought it wasn't a really awful storm though it rumbled on and on. It would stop for a little while and then take up again where it had left off.
Just before I came home again, the neighbor came over to tell us that our church had been struck by lightning! She said the firemen were there right now and had called in some companies to back them up. They had to break a window to get in because they couldn't locate anyone with a key. Someone had seen smoke. I've not heard if there was really a fire or if it fried the electrical circuits. It struck the church steeple. I'm anxious to find out what's happening, but I'm not driving over there to try to find out. I'll wait till I hear later tonight.
Meanwhile, there's been a little more rain, and a little more rumblings of thunder.
Small Triumphs
I didn't fight any major battles or win any major victories today, but I can take pleasure in a few small triumphs. This morning I reconcilled my bank statement, with no glitches. Got it right the first time through. That's pretty good, I think.
I went through some more files in the file cabinet and sorted out things that can be discarded or taken back to church.
I made a little progress on the debris in the driveway that has to be discarded. Baby steps! But I'm getting there.
I ordered a Taco Salad, to go, from a local restaurant, and it was a perfect meal for me on this hot, hot day. Then much later, I made my own fudge sauce and had a serving of vanilla ice cream to make this a Friday celebration.
Now, I'll call it a day and read myself to sleep.
Sweet Dreams!
When Father Was a Boy
Our weather has been continuing to be very hot and dry. I am not used to a summer as hot as this except for a very few days and then back to cooler more sensible temperatures. Somehow the temperature has been stuck on high for far too long.
As I was getting another drink of iced tea, with lots of ice, I was thinking that back in the days when my father was a boy, and my mom was a girl, they couldn't go to a refrigerator, get out ice cubes and have a wonderful cold drink like I was doing.
Dad lived on a farm and his folks had a spring house. It was a little bit of a building, put up around a spring where the water was always cold. With trees growing around it, the spring house was kept pretty cool, even in summer. This was a little distance from the house so it was inconvenient at meal times to run and get the butter and milk and other things from the spring house, but they did get used to it.
My mom's folks had an ice box and and an ice man made deliveries to them to keep their milk and butter cold. I know they liked to suck ice chips but I don't think they were able to have an ice cold drink any time of the day when they felt overwhelmed with heat.
I'm grateful for my iced tea with lots of ice cubes.
Interesting Social Laws
I found a magazine article written by George R. Knight, which mentions these social laws, some of which were new to me.
- Schmidt's Law: If you mess with a thing long enough, it'll break.
- Weiler's Law: Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself.
- Jones's Law: The person who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.
- Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.
- Stewart's Second Corollary to Murphy's Law. The magnitude of the catastrophe is directly proportional to the number of people watching.
Stuck on Decals
My husband never liked to have decals or stickers on the car or windows. He didn't explain why. He just was adamant that he did not want any bumper stickers or window decals on the car. Once when we stopped at a tourist attraction, when we got back to the car, someone had put a bumper sticker on our car, advertising the place. He was not amused. He didn't leave it on the car very long.
Many years ago, we received some decals in the mail, as examples of fund raisers we could have youth groups sell. One was a logo of a bulldog for a school in Pleasant something. I thought it was nifty and he gave me permission to put it on the bottom pane of the back porch storm door. No one really saw it there, but I knew it was there and I liked the idea.
That pane of glass was one of the two that had come loose from the sashwork. I realized that before I put it back in place, I should remove the decal and clean the pane. Now I know why had didn't want decals on any of our windows. It was a bear to remove! Of course it had been there for over 20 years, but it probably would have been difficult to remove even after several months.
I used the putty knife to scrape it off; then I used Googone to try to get the goo from the pane. I used oil and rubbed that in good. I scraped some more. I used window cleaner and lots and lots of elbow grease. I finally got the pane clean again.
So now I know. I'm not tempted to apply decals to glass any more.
Robin in the Berry Patch
I'm in the second week of picking the black raspberries that grow between my garage and my neighbor's garage. While I pick berries, every once in a while, a robin swoops in and then sees me and startles and gives a squawk and flies off. Today it was different.
I was deep into the tall bushes when a robin swooped in and settled down. I expected the usual squawk and take off to get out of there, but this time, the robin just sat there where I could see her through the opening in the branches. Apparently she didn't see me. I thought about talking to her, but then I just watched silently. She picked a ripe berry and swallowed it whole. Neat! She waited several seconds and looked around. I was sure that she saw me then. We looked at each other, eye to eye. She must have seen me. But still I didn't talk. She reached up, then, and picked a second berry. It was so big she could hardly get her beak around it. She struggled with it for a few seconds and then, to my surprise, she got it down the hatch! Then she looked at me again. I remained silent and motionless. Then she flew to the roof of our garage and after a bit she flew off.
I loved seeing her eat those two berries. I thought they pecked at the berries, taking little bites. Those berries were bigger than her mouth seemed to be, but she swallowed them. I don't suppose she could taste them. I wonder.
She picked berries that were way over my head. I couldn't reach them and they would just go to waste. God made enough berries to provide for people and animals, too. It pleased me to watch one of His little critters enjoy the berries with me.
Trash Collection Day
I wanted to title this morning's blog, Trash Talking, but I don't really do trash talking so I named it something else. How was I trash talking? I was talking to the "garbage man" about his picking up the trash.
I have some old metal that was taken from the erstwhile porch in tearing it apart to rebuild the porch. I think there have been four men who told me that they know someone who collects metal to recycle and they would tell them about what I have and see if they'd add my stuff to theirs. But no one has come to take the stuff away.
So, today I was watching for the man who collects the recyclables to come by and he came at a time when I was able to run out to the curb and ask him about my old metal.
He looked at what I have and told me that it qualifies for the heavy pick up day, which is the first Tuesday of the month. He said I should call the
He said that the aluminum siding would be put with the aluminum cans and that would be very good because the city gets credit for recycling.
He sorted through my box of aluminum siding and picked out the vinyl bits that I'd included. Vinyl isn't recycled. I thought that I should have known that. He said he hadn't known that until he started this job.
How long had he been doing this job? He said he's been on this job for a year now. He had worked at a furniture manufacturing plant which closed. It was one of three. So now, he said, he's a garbage man. He said that in this year that he's been working he's learned of four garbage collectors who have been killed while they were working. He tries to be very careful, picking up trash on the same side of the street so he doesn't have to walk out into traffic.
I've often thought about the safety of trash collectors. So many people are in a hurry to get around the trucks that sometimes they don't look carefully to see where the men are.
I pray that God will keep our workers safe as they do this unpleasant, but very necessary task which is a valuable service to everyone.
All Stars
Did you watch it? The All Star Baseball Game, that is. It was quite a bash, wasn't it! I was rooting for the National League but they haven't been winners for a while. It was a fund game though and there were a lot of interesting things, and people, to see. I didn't watch to the end, though. I was glad I got to see as much of it as I did.
Smouldering Embers!
Yesterday I was burning old wood until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, then I didn't get back to it. I didn't plan to burn wood again today, but when I saw the smouldering embers in the burn ring, I added more kindling and more bigger pieces of wood and before long, it was blazing again. That's kind of scary, in a way. Long after I thought the fire was out, it was still possible to bring it back to a blaze just by adding a little more wood.
What I Learned About Puttying
What I learned about puttying:
- I'm having trouble with the putty sticking to my hands and not the wood because my putty is probably not thoroughly mixed and I should get it out of the can and work it in my hands till it's mixed better and then it will handle better.
- Professionals who replace glass put a small bead of putty to hold the glass in well, then put in the glasier points, and finish up with another round of putty. Others just put the glasier points in first and then do the putty seal.
- And finally, mineral spirits is actually paint thinner but it's a better, purer quality. The putty can said to use mineral spirits to clean up the tools and hands and I was trying to find out just what mineral spirits really is.
Now I'm ready to tackle that project again.
Berry Cobbler Today
This morning, I made raspberry cobbler, --just a small one. In the afternoon, I decided to take one bite of it and plan to eat a portion for dessert after dinner. That one bite was so good! I had to get a dish and eat a serving right then and there. What kind of discipline is that? Oh, but I enjoyed that snack!
Pulling Nails
What I learned about pulling nails:
- It's fun to pound them out of the wood, from the points, backwards. It can use up a lot of tension that way.
- Often a claw hammer isn't strong enough to pull the big nails out.
- When using a crowbar to pry the nails out of the wood, I had to use my abdominal muscles as well as my arm muscles. This must be good ab exercise.
- Sometimes when the nail won't come our when I'm pulling it in one direction, try it in the other direction and it's probably easier that way. It made me think of getting a car out of a parking space. Sometimes it's much easier to back out in one direction than the other one. But with a car, you can tell this right away. With a nail, you have to pull and find out the hard way.
- Don't give up. Rest a few seconds and try some more.
- Making noise helps, --grunts and groans.
- When I get that nail out, it's a wonderfully satisfying feeling!
Spider in the News
Yesterday's newspaper brought us the news of a woman in Erie who bas bitten by the Brown Recluse spider. This spider is not usually found in our area. It's bite is especially venomous. Ann Roland was working outdoors, planting something she'd received in the mail from somewhere in the south. She did not see the spider but she soon felt the effects of the bite. In a day or two she had a wound about the size of a quarter and she needed special treatment for it. I'm really glad that there are no Brown Recluse spiders in my berry patch. So far I've only seen very tiny spiders and lots of those spindly legged spiders that fell into my container.
Journal
At the end of his book, Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis says that he tried to keep a journal but he decided that it was a waste of time. He didn't get any value from it.
I've rather seriously kept a journal since 1974 and to me, a journal has a lot of value. There is the obvious benefit of helping a person remember things that would be forgotten, and being able to refer back to find out what year, what date, a special event occurred.
But there is a better benefit that I've discovered. As I read through the hard times, I can see how I was inspired to trust God to bring me through and my own personal testimony helps me through the hard time of today.
When I was going through the most difficult time of 1990, I remember that I wondered about the use of writing about it. I thought the experience was horrible that I wouldn't want to read about it in later years. I really didn't want to read it now but I started to feel that I really should read it. I was surprised to see how much I encouraged myself with Bible promises and reading authors who had also gone through hard times. It wasn't a steady victory. It was a struggle, up in spirit as I read before bedtime, down in spirit when I had to waken early and face the day. But there was steady progress and I saw how God brought me through. It gave me great encouragement to face my daily situation now.
I think I've derived value from my journal. Maybe what I'm writing today will help me again in another five or ten years.
My Treat
When I was grocery shopping on Saturday I bought one slim yellow zucchini. At 52 cents a pound, I paid 15 cents for it. I also bought one nice sized Vidalia onion, at 69 cents a pound. I didn't pay any attention to how much the onion cost.
On Saturday evening, I cut up half the zucchini and a nice portion of the onion and browned them and then topped it with shredded cheese. It was a really nice treat. Now I'm having the other half of the zucchini for my evening meal. The browning onion smells really appetizing.
Spider in the Berries!
Last time I picked the raspberries, I had three little spiders drop down into my picking container. They weren't very big spiders, but plenty big that I could see them. I wasn't afraid of them and I didn't want to hurt them. I tried to coax them onto a leaf so that I could drop them back into the berry bushes safely.
The first one took to the leaf real well and was rescued easily. The second was a little more afraid of the leaf and it took longer. The third was very suspicious of the leaf and kept running away from it. Several times she curled up into a tight ball and tried to hide.
A tight ball! How could a spider do that? It's legs were significantly larger than it's body but it wrapped or folded them around itself into a little ball. Do all spiders do that?
Eventually I picked a bigger leaf and tried again when the spider stretched out again. This time, it stepped onto the leaf and I put it back into the bushes.
It made me wonder though. What if God is sending a leaf into my life to help me through my hard times and I just think it's something scary and I'm trying to run away from it? Perhaps every time someone gives me an invitation to something new and different, it's God's way of extending a leaf to get me to safety. I think I need to be more alert to these new things that are poking into my life. They might be bridges to something better, --to safety.
Bumblebee and Hollyhocks
Today when I got out of my car in the driveway, I looked over at the hollyhock blooms. The hollyhocks are having a really good year. Some of them are very tall. Even the shorter ones are beginning to have blooms open and they look grand. Any how, there in a hollyhock bloom was a fat old bumblebee, plumbing the depths of the bloom, just as I'd seen one earlier in the bindweed bloom. There he was with his fat little behind and two legs sticking out of the bloom, just bumbling around. "Aha!" I thought. "That's why we call them bumblebees!"
My Sunflower
I have a wooden tub that I used to plant portulacca and marigolds in. It's sitting in my front yard, right beside the bird feeder. I used to put bird seed in the feeder there, a mixture of grass seeds, corn and sunflower seeds. I was always fighting weeds, serious weeds in the flower bed and tub of flowers by it. Last year I got smart and started putting only sunflower seeds in the bird feeder there.
This year, a sun flower seed took root and grew into a tall plant, in my tub of flowers. It has now bloomed. It's really very pretty. It's not very big, but it's surprisingly big for being rooted in a tub and not in the ground. The honey bees love it. I enjoy seeing it there, and I enjoy seeing the bees visit it, too.
I Told You So
Today I started reading my old journal again, from 1990. I was teaching school during the days and my husband was working afternoon shift and doing overtime when he could. I wrote this:
"These evening without anyone to talk to aren't much fun. I am hating it more each day. I don't know how old people live by themselves year after year. If I have to spend that much time alone, I'm going to have to do something about it. I'll have to find someone to live with. I am more of a people person than that. I like to be alone part of every day but I hate being alone all the time."
Yep! I knew it all along. I would have trouble living alone. And now I've become "an old person" living alone, and I'm trying to think of what I can do to not be so much alone.
A Bowlful of Jelly
No, it's not really a bowlful of jelly. It's 10 jars of jelly and wouldn't that make a big bowlful? It didn't take nearly as long to make the raspberry jelly as it did to make the currant jelly. That's because it took 6 1/2 cups of juice for the currant jelly and I'd had it in the refrigerator. It took a long time to heat it to the boiling point. It only took four cups of raspberry juice and it was still slightly warm when I started to make the jelly so it heated up much faster.
Both batches of jelly set up really well. It's so disappointing to make jelly that doesn't jell and turns out to be like syrup.
It might be a good idea for me to wear an apron when I make jelly. I did get a juice spatter on my blouse. I hope it came out in the wash.
Story of the Sale of a Car
I heard this story this week.
After her husband died, a widow decided that she didn't need the car and planned to sell it. Before she advertised it, she got a call from a woman who said she'd heard that the car was going to be for sale and she'd like to buy it. The widow said that she'd let the woman test drive it. The woman said that wasn't necessary. Said that she knew what the car was like. "I've been in that car many times," she announced.
The widow knew that her husband had a "girl friend" and now she knew who it was. She went ahead with the sale, asking $300 for the car. When they went to the notary for the transfer of the title, the woman said, "Do me a favor. Say that you're selling me the car for $50, so the sales tax won't be as high." The widow didn't like this but the woman insisted and when the notary asked the price of the car, the woman answered that it was $50 and the widow didn't say anything.
The next day, the woman called her and said that she had to leave the car in a parking lot because it wouldn't run. "What are you going to do about it?" the woman asked. The widow said, "I'm not going to do anything about it. It's your car." The woman said, "I paid you $300 for this car and you're not going to do anything about it!" The widow said, "No, you didn't. You paid me $50. I have the papers that say so."
The next day a policeman came to her door and said that her car had been left in a parking lot and she needed to do something about it. "Not my car," the widow said. She had the papers to show the title transfer and that the woman had paid $50 for the car. The car had to be towed. And that's the end of the story that I heard. Your imagination can help you picture events that took place when the towing bill arrived in the woman's mail. I don't really know, --but I can imagine.
The Jelly
I made the currant jelly this morning. I had the juice prepared and just had to cook the jelly. I opened the package of pectin and read the directions which told me to let the juice drip from the jelly bag for several hours. Do NOT squeeze, the directions admonished. Teehee. I had already squeezed mine. I don't make jelly often but when I did, I always squeezed the bag. The reason? It could make the jelly cloudy. I don't think my jelly is cloudy. I squeeked by that time! Will I squeeze the jelly bag the next time? Absolutely! It gets the job done much faster and cloudy jelly wouldn't keep me from putting it on my toast. Now I'm working to make raspberry juice for jelly.
Thinking Reunion
My husband's family reunion is coming up in two weeks. I'm not sure I can go to it. I'm still struggling so much with getting used to the idea that he's gone. Maybe I should skip this year and try to go next year. Maybe I should go and let the tears come and let everyone hug me. I have these next two weeks to decide.
Lilies
I read in the newspaper this morning that tomorrow will be open house at Campbell's Pottery Barn in Edinboro. It will feature a juried art show with lilies as the subject and there will lots of varieties of lilies in bloom surrounding the store.
The link will take you to a little more information about this event. I hope I get to go see the lily display.
Staying Currant
I picked currants at the beginning of this week. When I made them into juice, I found that I was just a couple ounces short to make the required amount for a batch of jelly. I had left a lot of currants on the bush, thinking I had enough for one batch. Today I've been picking a little more. It won't be hard to process them into juice and then I can make the jelly. I really do like currant jelly.
A Putty Fine Mess
I have a new project. I need to putty the window panes in the old storm door where we are restoring the porch. My son gave me a lesson on how to do this. The putty seemed a little sticky to handle as he demonstrated it for me, but he made it look really easy as he laid in two ropes of putty and tamped them in with the tool.
I made such a mess of things when I tried it today. I could not lay down a rope of putty for anything! The putty adhered to my hands, and stuck to the putty knife a little but did not want to stick to the window sashes. I felt like I was making bread dough without enough flour, but there was nothing I could add to the putty to make it tamely do its job.
I have not finished the task. There are 12 panes in the door. Two of the panes have to be put back into place. I applied putty to five of the panes and it was a struggle all the while. It isn't smooth and even as it was when my son did it. It is uneven and a little furred in spite of all the pains I took to make it even and smooth.
But I'll not give up. I'll do my best to complete the job in the next few days.
A Quote
C. S. Lewis
"A good shoe is a shoe you don't notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
"But every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself; and thinking about worship is a different thing from worshipping . . .
"There is really some excuse for the man who said, 'I wish they'd remember that the charge to Peter was Feed my sheep; not Try experiments on my rats, or even, Teach my performing dogs new tricks.'"
Spiders, Chipmunks and Bees
This morning as I took my trash out to the curb, I saw a number of funnel webs in the grass at the curbside area. I've seen places where there were lots of funnel webs before, but I never noticed so many here in my own little patch of grass. It was unnerving to me for two reasons. I was wearing sandals and my bare toes felt very vulnerable. I thought the biggest threat to bare feet in the lawn was honey bees in the clover, but there are spiders all around and I'm more concerned about spiders than honey bees. The second thing is that I wouldn't want to run a lawn mower over so many spider homes. I hope they don't plan to reside there long.
Then when I sat down at the computer to do my morning mail, I saw a chipmunk jump from the tree by the porch to the hanging plant and then to the new, blue, weatherproof bird feeder. Perhaps it was a young chipmunk who hadn't done this before because it doesn't take them long to get the hang of how to do this. This one was very inept. The bird feeder was swinging back and forth at a good clip because of the way he jumped on it and the chipmunk gave up and jumped back into the hanging plant. A minute later, it tried to get to the food in a different way. Ht climbed to the top of the arbor and jumped down on the domed top of the feeder. And then, in front of my eyes, he lost its footing and fell to the ground in a whoosh! Because there is a lot of growing stuff under the bird feeder, I couldn't see the chipmunk. I didn't see movement in the grasses and he didn't go back to the feeder again. I finally went out to see if the little one was lying stunned, or dead, there in the grasses under the bird feeder. He was gone. I hope he's OK. It was quite a fall for such a little critter.
While I was looking for the chipmunk under the bird feeder, I saw a bumblebee in a bindweed bloom. He was head and shoulders into the bloom with just his fat bottom and two legs sticking out of the bloom. To me it was a picture of safety and contentment. I wished him well in his day's work and deciding that the chipmunk survived his fall, I went back indoors, being mindful of my bare toes and the lurking spiders in the grass.
Where Is That Book?
I had just one library book out and I was thinking that it has another week before it's due back at the library. But I'm finished with it so I should return it, like today.
I had it ready to go, it and a magazine that I was going to contribute to their sale pile. Now where did I put it? I looked in all the usual places that I put library books. I even went out to the car to see if I'd taken it there. I couldn't find it.
Then I started to have this vague memory of putting the magazine on the pile with the other magazines at the library. Could I possibly have returned the book and forgot about it?
I did the best thing I could. I called the library and asked if I had any unreturned books. The answer: No. Sigh of relief. I did take the book back. No wonder I couldn't find it anywhere here in the house!
Having to Say No
Today has been a hard day for me. I don't like to let on but it is maybe something I should admit now and then. Some days are easier. This one isn't.
I was to go to the funeral home this afternoon with another retired teacher, for visitation of one of our retired teachers who died earlier this week. I tried to go. I met with the other teacher, but then I had to tell her that I felt I just couldn't do it today. Tears are too close to the surface today. She said she understood and she would really rather not go either.
I feel bad that I couldn't go to express my condolences and my respect but I had to say no for today. I'll work on toughening up another day.
Ha!
Here's what's happened. We are getting yesterday's rain today!
Funny thing though. This afternoon we had a really heavy downpour but then I discovered that there was no rain at all a mile and a half away!
It's raining again. I wonder how extensive the rain is this time. We really needed this rain.
New Blooms
This morning I was noticing that the trumpet vine is starting to bloom with its beautiful, bright orange trumpets. The humming birds love them.
I also noticed that the cone flowers have started to bloom. I used to have a nice stand of cone flowers in two places in the Circle Bed but now there are just a few individual plants here and there on the north side of the bed. I'm hoping it will fill in again next year.
Planning the Work, Working the Day
It's another sticky, hot day, but I have a lot of outdoor work to do any how. Actually, it's not too bad outdoors if you don't have too work hard out there. There's a lot of cloud cover and and it's not so bright that it hurts one's eyes.
I started the day working with the bird feeders, --refilling them and organizing the containers that I use as bins for the seed from the bags.
Then I worked at the front flower bed again. The trumpet vine is sending up new shoots through the flower bed. I won't win this battle but I'll keep working at it.
My family visitors have gone now and I'm alone again. I certainly miss them, --already! The challenge for me is to see how much progress I can make with my projects before they come back again, or the next visitors come.
Today I will bring home some office type work that I can do for Hospice. I'll go get it from their office pretty soon. I need to get back to volunteer work again, and office work seems to be the best way to start.
Ever onward!
Elizabeth, It's Your Year!
It didn't rain! If Elizabeth still lived in our town, she would have had a rare birthday gift, --a birthday without rain this year. She rarely has rain on her birthday where she lives now.
Not So Crazy
I am ashamed to tell you this, but I feel so relieved to know that I'm not going crazy that I decided to write about it. My back door neighbor told me last week that on Friday Sanders was having a good sale price on hot dog buns. I knew we'd be having hot dogs, so I made a special trip to that store, three blocks from me, and bought two bags of hot dog buns.
I don't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday morning that I decided that maybe we weren't having hot dogs after all and I should think about putting the hot dog buns into the freezer. I remember picking up the bag with them in it. I thought I had put them on top of the refrigerator after all.
But today at noon when we did have hot dogs, I confidently reached for the hot dog buns and they weren't there. I looked in every nook and cranny in the kitchen. I could not find them anywhere. I felt like I was losing my mind that I couldn't find where I'd put those buns. I finally had to give up and we used bread instead of buns.
Later I resumed my search. I finally found a plastic grocery bag with two empty bags inside it. I pulled them out and looked them over and they were empty hot dog bun bags! They had been ripped open carelessly, not opened from the top. And there was not even one crumb in them.
Now I know. Desy who is driven to find food, had discovered them, perhaps on the table, when no one was there to stop her. That's all she needed, some time alone with the hot dog buns. She ate all 16 of them! Someone else found the empty bags on the kitchen floor and picked up the torn smaller bags and put them into the larger grocery bag and laid it aside. I'm awfully ashamed that I left them where Desy could reach them, but I'm equally relieved that I'm not really losing my mind.
No Rain Yet
No rain in sight yet for today! I think this is going to be the year that we have no rain for the Fourth. It may also be a dry summer for us.
Rain for the Fourth
I first met Elizabeth online a number of years ago. She saw my screen profile and contacted me to tell me that she had lived in my town. We remained friends since then.
Elizabeth's birthday is the Fourth of July. She told me that just about every year when she lived in my town, it rained on her birthday. Since she told me that, I've been keeping track of the Fourth and rain. I think there may have been one exception.
Now, this year, it certainly looks like there won't be rain for the Fourth. It's been pretty dry here in the last two weeks. Will tomorrow live up to its past record for rain and the Fourth of July? Elizabeth is waiting to find out.
The Art Show
We had the art show in the park this afternoon. I was not a winner, but I met a lot of friends, had encouraging conversations, and received a lot of nice comments about my pictures. My friend and advisor, Carolyn, was a winner. She is easily one of the best artists in our community and I congratulate her on the judges' choice.
In a way, I was a winner, too. I so much enjoyed making my pictures and many people did admire my work. The judges had to choose from many really fine works. I'm glad that I'm not a judge at art shows.
We had a beautiful day for this show. The weather really cooperated with us. It was a little on the warm side, but not oppressively so and there was often a cool breeze which kept us comfortable.
Surprised by Joy
Surprised by Joy is the autobiography of C. S. Lewis. I've been reading it this week. Today, when I was resting after burning the old wood from the porch area, I read the part about his relationship with his dad. He loved his dad dearly but didn't enjoy being with him because Dad wanted to spend every moment with him and not give him or his brother any space. Dad wasn't good with conversation. He jumped to conclusions and then nothing Lewis could say would ever change his mind about what he thought was said.
For instance, "Was Collins at the party." The answer was that Collins wasn't invited to the party because he was never part of the group for which the party was held. But Dad just thought that Collins should have been there and in the end he held to the idea that Collins must feel hurt because he wasn't invited. No amount of explanation could change his thought.
And, Lewis said, his father like to talk about the Mahaffy Stories. That grabbed my attention because my family name is Mahaffey and it seems like it could have something to do with my family. I looked it up on the Internet and did find Mahaffy Stories by Joan Mahaffy but I haven't yet discovered what year they were written. I wonder if it's what Lewis was talking about.
The Mahaffy Stories that I found are very short and sort of gloomy.
Cool Treat for a Warm Day
Last week I made what I thought was a very special meal, --Belgium Waffles. I made them for a supper meal, a light treat after having had a bigger meal. I ate mine with strawberries and whipped topping. I was the only one who really enjoyed it. The kids