Sweet Summer Thursday

Yes it's a lovely sunny 77.2 F. and I don't even mind the heat because there is an intoxicating breeze.

Ann took me to the dump, er, landfill today so I could leave the unsold tag sale items at the "take it or leave it" spot. It felt good to get that stuff off the lawn -- it was too messy! The tag sale went fine and I'm very grateful to my daughters who were a BIG help. Besides myself, Deb, Emily, Naomi, and Phyllis were selling at the tag sale.

Deb was a sweetie and helped Naomi load into the car and take a desk to the Trading Post. Naomi really wanted to be rid of that unwieldy piece of furniture. Deb also pulled up my mailbox (as requested) with gargantuan strength and some guy bought it just few minutes later. 

And I earned enough cash so I can pay for this Sunday's ticket to Happy Together which is a concert of 70s music. Yay! Lisa and I are going to that.

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Note to self: the next time you think jalapeno poppers for breakfast are a good idea, remember that it is not.

Just kidding -- I made the poppers (along with Belle's Biscuits) at breakfast time in order to beat the heat. It worked well because the oven did not seem to make the kitchen hotter.

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It was time to water the violas. The one pot that yelled at me is not pictured here because they are very sad. I'm thinking about moving them to the back of the house (north side) which will be cooler for them. I think these got more shade from the crab apple tree.

And, surprise! Somehow, I now have a peony in the front of the house. I don't know how that's possible because as far as I know, you propagate them using a root. I sure as heck didn't dig one up and put it there! It's peeking out from the rhododendron which doesn't bloom. I have to hack that back a bit to reach the water faucet easier.

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So at the landfill, I struck up a conversation with the attendant. I never got his name but he became quite voluble after I told him I had worked for the Town for 30 years and I even knew one of his colleagues who used to work there.

I mentioned how in California, they only have one recycling bucket for home owners. We have a red one for plastic, cans, and glass. The blue one is for paper and cardboard only. Each bucket is picked up every other week so I'm always going online to find out what week it is.

He said, "They are killing recycling." What? It turns out, even though there are machines in California to separate the cans from the paper, the loads that are sorted are "contaminated" with wrong items. And we used to sell the sorted loads to China, who cleverly make things out of the recycled trash. But ... they won't buy and are rejecting the contaminated loads. This guy said some communities have resorted to burying the "recycled items"!

He said the Amherst way with two buckets is the original way and some communities are going back from the one bucket way to that. I guess it was for convenience for the homeowner that made communities choose the one container method. 

I agree, it is a royal pain in the neck having two containers inside and two outside. But I'm glad our stuff is actually recycled.

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I told you last time that I would show you my tomatoes. (Thank you, Emily!)

The bucket on the left is a "regular" sized tomato and on the right is a bush type -- cherry tomatoes. If you look really closely, you can see basil on the right which I have to move out. I have been waiting for the lettuce to die out so I can use that pot. I think the green leaf is just about done, but the red leaf lettuce can be harvested again!!

If you think the tomato leaves are pale, it's because those bloomin' cottonwood seeds/fluff are all over them. I'l be putting stakes into the pots soon ...

And the other gift from Emily is happy as a clam ...

Below is from the back.

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Last Sunday my fabulous neighbors invited me to a barbecue. What a fabulous meal they grilled! Ribs, lamb, and pork were expertly done and the sides were fabulous. I especially liked the Asian slaw. So that I knew I could have dessert, I brought a carrot cake cheese cake (Kristie H. Sullivan's keto recipe). The outer edge is carrot cake and the inside is cheese cake. I was very proud of myself because I figured out how to make the blueberry topping. It was delicious and even some of the kids liked it!

Leftovers

One of the adults said it must be good for you because it has carrots in it ...

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Speaking of recycling -- we were earlier, remember? -- I saw on FaceBook that there is a company that scrapes gum off sidewalks. It then cleans it and turns the used gum into sneakers! And they are bubble gum pink and (supposedly) smell like bubble gum.

So now my question is: how many wads of chewing gum does it take to make sneakers? I found this whole thing very interesting because I don't chew gum due to my extensive dental work, but yesterday, I saw someone else's gum hanging off my tire. My first instinct was to flick it off my tire but then I realized -- what would I do with it?? So I let it wear off.

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My blood tests came back that were ordered because I will be volunteering at our local hospital coffee shop. Everything that is supposed to be positive is and everything that is supposed to be negative is. So I'm good to go. 

They will do a criminal records check and I think that's it. I was surprised that they didn't do a tine test for TB. Apparently, they don't do that any more but there was a blood test that indicated negative for TB. I thought they had forgotten it! That tine test was a pain. They made a few punctures and you had to return in a few days to have it 'read.'

It's really important in this area that we are tested for everything. We have many many foreign students and professors. And many 'regular' residents travel extensively for research and/or fun. 

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I really am enjoying retirement! Ann and I had lunch at my house yesterday. I had put some chuck roast in the crock pot in the early morning so we had lovely pot roast and a fresh salad. Of course, I included olives on the salad. I think Ann likes them as much as I do. (Her hubby doesn't like olives so I don't think she buys them.)

Well, that's it. Tonight I go to rehearse with Rock Voices. I sure missed going while I was battling my 9 day cold. Since I need all the help I can get, I have been going twice a week. Tuesday is Northampton, Thursday is Hadley.

Ciao!!