Memorial Day Musings

I couldn't watch the National Memorial Day concert from DC last night. It was too sad. I am one of those aging peaceniks. And knowing as much as I do about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (they no longer call it a disorder, it's a syndrome), our ongoing fighting makes me sad for the active and newly returned warriors.

I am very grateful for our military. I just wish they didn't have to fight. Wouldn't it be nice if they could just build wells and dams and help those less fortunate than we? 

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I have been productive in my own odd way. Yesterday I cooked up a storm so I don't have to cook for the rest of the week (and I froze enough for another week). Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 90s whereas yesterday and today have been in the 70s. Actually, it was in the 50s yesterday. I did get to use my new a.c. two days ago when it was 91 F.

Above: Mitsubishi Mini Split A.C.

Below is the outside apparatus for the mini split. See the empty space where two yew bushes used to be (to the right of the equipment)? That's thanks to my friend, Ann Greene and her trusty saw!

 

I now have mocha ice cream freezing. I had chilled the center of the ice cream maker for a while in the freezer and I decided the impending heat wave called for ice cream! (That's why I had an egg white omelette for breakfast. You only use the yolks in custard ice cream.) I didn't take a picture so you will have to make do with lunch.

I concocted my own spice rub for the ribs (adding a little Swerve for sweetener) and I made the cole slaw with (commercial) avocado mayo. It all was yummy. 

No pictures of supper because I didn't take the bbq chicken thigh off the bone very neatly. I was rushing to get all of the trash out for tomorrow's pickup and I wanted to include that bone. It will pair very nicely with loaded cauliflower mash. (Mashed cauli with real bacon crumbles and cream cheese.)

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I was out weeding again today. I should be done in about a year, lol.

From the front yard:

I rescued these from the Jones Library. Years ago, when a certain "friend" of the Library decided to put in a memorial garden for her husband, she unceremoniously pulled out all of these iris. The garden now has many diverse plants, few flowering. 

To the far right of this, still on the former tree mound, is where I planted the hydrangea that Emily gave me for Mothers' Day. The plant is doing well. I may have to water it tomorrow if it does go to 90F. It rained yesterday so it's o.k. today. 

And, yes, that yellow wagon is full of weeds that I pulled. What you don't see is that around the corner, the green metal lawn cart is also full of weeds and tree sucker cuttings. You think I exaggerate about having the most and best weeds in Christendom, but it's true.

Look what I found in the back yard!

I will be darned if I can remember their name, but I do remember planting them. I'll have to really work at clearing out that bed, but I have to get out there before the sun hits and that all depends on whether I can get out at 7 a.m.!

Lupine! They are lupine! I remembered something! Yay!!
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Did I bore you with my latest painting yet? It was a fundraiser for ALS at Atkins Farms with my favorite painting teacher, Teri Magner.

My friend, Michelle, said it looks like The Old Man in the Mountain (New Hampshire; his nose fell off). I hadn't noticed it until she said that and now I can't "unsee" it, lol.

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It's salad time again! My containers of lettuce are incredibly productive! The red lettuce is growing like a house afire! I can't wait until I have tomatoes. Woo hoo! Cross your fingers. 

Time for me to eat supper. It's 8:30 p.m. and I'll be falling asleep soon. But since I haven't taken a shower yet after weeding, I'm sure the smell will wake me up. Cheers!

It's Saturday and All's Quiet

Thank you to Cyndi for the carnation, and thank you to Farah for the table cloth from Dhaka!

Yes, it really is that green outside. Luckily, the lawn mowing guys came yesterday. Not only was the grass shin high, but there still was one section too wet to mow. Nobody wanted to see that honkin' big mower mired in mud!

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A bit of fiction:

Grumbling to herself because she suddenly realized that she had been cold all day, she noticed the chill more in the cellar where she was loading a wash into the washer. "I should be used to this wonderful New England weather, " she thought. But she was particularly annoyed that on the 87 degree days (almost a month ago!!), she had no air conditioning. Yesterday, after getting an expensive mini split a.c. finally installed, it was only 65 outside and there was no need to use it. And today it was not only raining, but a chilly 54 degrees outside.

Looking over at the dryer she saw flannel pajamas washed and neatly stacked. She had told herself that since she would be storing her winter clothes in the basement, she would leave them until she brought her other heavy clothes down. Then it dawned on her: put on warmer pj's and throw what you are wearing into the wash. Quickly changing out of her slacks, she looked up at the window over the dryer as she took her shirt off.

Noticing movement, she focused and jumped. Two eyes were looking at her naked torso. She quickly put on the pajama top and looked again. Nothing. Then as she replayed the image in her mind, she realized that it was not human. In fact, it had been a very red fox.

"I wonder why a fox would look into my basement window," she mused. "Could he have been curious?" She couldn't believe that a fox would be curious about a human's structure, so she chalked it up to his seeing motion and wondering if it was food.

Carting the clean dry load upstairs, she thought, "I'll make something in the oven. That will warm me up."

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Truth:

The Belle's Biscuits (recipe by Kristie Honneycut Sullivan) are especially delicious right out of the oven slathered with Kerrygold butter.

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While I'm worried that my newly planted tomato starters are shivering and about to drown from the rain, the lettuce in the back yard are happily dancing in the ridiculously cold, rainy weather. All of my veggies are in containers. I put the tomatoes on the south side (front of the house) and the lettuce in the north side (back of the house). It worked well for a while. Actually, I have harvested lettuce and parsley three times now ...

The violas in the front are very perky and cheery. 

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Yes, I was up and saw the royal wedding. Mostly. I was awake at 4 a.m. and didn't really want to stay awake, but I did. As soon as the priest pronounced them married, I fell asleep. I did not get to see them leave in a carriage. But I have seen that carriage before and I'm sure they didn't modernize it with a motor or anything. 😉

Where, Oh Where, Is It??

So I'm feeling all kinds of virtuous because I have switched to decaf coffee. Why? I went (feeling even more virtuous) to donate blood and after filling out 53 pages of questions, she took my blood pressure and rejected me. "Did you have coffee?" she asked loudly and sharply. I replied that I had, indeed, had a cup of coffee. So I have switched.

I already knew that Intelligblends has a decent tasting dark roast decaf. And I can't beat the price of $0.39/pod so I happily ordered a box. The boxes have 100 pods and are unwieldy but the price is right. And they are biodegradable!

Anyhoo ... I waited for the new shipment all the while wondering how long it would take because I was running low.  I say was because I am OUT of coffee!! I am totally addicted to decaf!

When the coffee company sent me an email telling me that the coffee should arrive in one to two business days, I was thrilled particularly since there is a link to track the package. I went to my post office box yesterday -- no coffee. This morning I checked the tracker and look what I saw:

Tracking Number

4200100492612927004886230004661684 

Reference Number

3400794 

Status

InUSPSNetwork 

Destination

AMHERST, MA 01004

Carrier

United States Postal Service - Parcel Select Delivery Confirmation 

Date	Time	Description	Location
5/2/2018	04:48 AM	Arrived at USPS delivery unit	AMHERST, MA 01002
5/1/2018	10:14 PM	Processed by USPS	SPRINGFIELD, MA 01152
5/1/2018	02:30 PM	Delivery Exception	NORTHAMPTON, MA 01060
4/30/2018	07:00 PM	Arrived at USPS delivery unit	NORTHAMPTON, MA 01060
4/29/2018	05:46 PM	Departing Carrier Facility	Elizabeth, NJ 07206
4/29/2018	06:00 AM	Arrived at Carrier Facility	Elizabeth, NJ 07206
4/26/2018	12:15 AM	Departing Carrier Facility	COMMERCE, CA 900403416
4/25/2018	03:20 AM	Electronic Information Received by USPS
4/25/2018	02:22 AM	Electronic Information Sent to USPS
4/24/2018	06:46 PM	Inducted into Carrier Network	COMMERCE, CA 900403416
4/23/2018	07:06 PM	Shipped from Client	San Diego, CA 92121

Arrived in Amherst today at 4:48 a.m. Wahoo! But look closer -- the package arrived in Northampton, which is 7.8 miles away; then it was shipped to Springfield which is 25.6 miles away. Then it had to travel another 25.6 miles back from Springfield to Amherst.

I am not a mail professional, but even I can figure out it would have been shorter to bring it to Amherst from Northampton. The kicker is, I still don't know if it's in my mailbox because I have to drive to the post office to see if it's there. All new mail is put into the PO boxes by 11 a.m. -- but they just might have to send it to Boston first.

Oh, yeah. I did have coffee -- I drove to the Dairy Mart around the corner. I had to have some because the electrician was supposed to be here at 8 a.m. and spend four hours changing the electrical panel. I even set my alarm for 7 a.m. which is a good thing because one thing and another kept me awake until 2 a.m.

Imagine my consternation when, at 8:45 p.m., I called the electrician. "I forgot to write it down in my book. How about tomorrow?" But wait there's more.

As I'm grumbling about that, the doorbell rings. A guy I talked to yesterday -- who was supposed to CALL me between 9 and 10 a.m. -- has shown up all ready to wash the house. There's all kinds of green mold on the north side. At this point, I was not a nice person.

He's still here and I went out to see the progress a while ago. It looks fantastic. I'm really happy (and very sleepy). I may just have to take a nap after lunch.

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It's here! It's here! Of course the box of coffee pods looks like someone drop kicked it. Oh well, I'm going to make some iced coffee. It is currently 86.6 F. -- yesterday it went from 40s to 70 F. or so. We had one day of spring ... now it's summer!

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Two days later and I'm still complaining (will she never stop?) ... well, not really complaining. But I am hotter than uh, uh, uh. We had one day of spring weather in the 70s and now it's well over 80s by the end of the day. There may be some relief today since it's only 76 F., but the sun isn't out and the clouds may clear soon.

Since it was overcast and the rain had softened the ground, I went out and pulled weeds (I have the best dandelion crop in the US) for an hour. Somehow, my body hits the breaking point after one hour. And there's so much left to be done! I am determined, however.

As of yesterday, the house has been power washed and I have had a new electrical panel installed complete with (formerly missing) grounding rods. I sort of wish that the electrician hadn't informed me that he found two dead snakes which had been fried in the electric meter box. But I'm glad it was just their skeletons. 

Heat made the tulips pop.

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It's now May 11 and 59 F.  Which is a very good thing because I just spent 6.5 hours at UMass Commencement and if it were any hotter, I would have melted. I was one of 22 golf cart drivers and we ferried people with disabilities from the handicapped lot to the stadium entrance.

One young woman in her 20s had just had surgery on her hip and she had only walked for an 8 minute duration. I implored the security supervisor to let me drive her inside the gate as close as possible and he even told her where to sit so there would not be any stairs.

I took pictures but you don't really need to see me in a golf cart. Use your imagination. And even though I took pictures of the graduates-to-be, they were so far away that I don't think you can tell what that sea of black is.

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Last Saturday we went to hear/see Jim Gaffigan in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was an arena owned by Southern New Hampshire University.

We were up there with the birds, but they were really great seats!

From the left: Tina, Gracie, Sherylann, Emily

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I got some starter plants of lettuce and parsley. Again, the heat made them go !poof! and they grew like crazy. I had some of the lettuce today, making a chicken sandwich with lettuce instead of bread. It was good!

The lettuce is on the deck because it's on the north side and I was hoping they would stay cool. It's certainly cool at 59 today! Ooops, it's down to 55 F. at 8:30 p.m. I'm guessing it will get colder.

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I don't know what else I have forgotten to tell you. But I do have one story from today: some guys were talking about the offices that they worked in on campus. One was in IT and one was in Communications (which is a sort of IT department). The Communications guy asked the IT guy if he knew Ms. So and So. And he answered yes, but she had died a month ago.  She died two months after retiring! Nope, not gonna do it!! That's why I retired -- so I can enjoy it!

Everyone is envious of me. So if you're close to retiring -- do it!