Well, That Was Different

 First: a groaner.

Did you hear about the farmer who drowned in a vat of chickpeas?

They think it was hummuscide.

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Last week, I spent Monday afternoon through Saturday afternoon at Emily's in Worcester. J was suspected to have a cold -- he had a drippy nose and the home daycare sent him home. 

I only had to provide childcare for one full day while Emily worked from home. It turns out, he was having an allergy attack. (My car was covered in yellow pollen when I left.)

Trying to be a good Nana, I busied myself washing dishes, folding clothes, and cooking. I had just gone grocery shopping when Emily called, so I brought quite a bit of food with me. Oddly enough, neither Emily nor J wanted to try the kimchi. 

J has learned the word "no" with appropriate head shaking, so suppertime has become an interesting exercise in "try this." Noodles with butter went over like a lead balloon. No pieces of roast chicken, no zucchini, no zoodles. Spinach was kind of funny: I put some chopped spinach in his mouth and he just let it fall out with a look of total disgust on his face. I hate to confess that we finally resorted to putting a tiny bit of ketchup on burger bites. I'm now calling ketchup "miracle juice." Otherwise, the kid would only eat string cheese and bananas and blueberries. 

He's a lovely, smiling toddler. My favorite was to watch him dancing with a children's video. He really can cut a rug! He has decided to steer his little car with his belly. Actually, he has learned that if he pushes with his belly, it activates the voice. He has all kinds of talking toys and books. It can be downright cacophony with four different voices and sounds going at once.

Add in three cats, one of whom is a senior citizen who needs extra love, and it was a busy week for me! But I was glad to do it and I was glad the kid didn't have anything I would catch!

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Zoodles for today's breakfast ramen (no ramen noodles).

Breakfast ramen

I never thought I would want one, but Emily gave me an egg cooker and I love it! It's a plastic dome that will hold six eggs and it will cook them either soft, medium, or hard boiled. The one above is medium. You put the eggs and some water in, plug it in and presto! perfectly cooked eggs. I'm in love.

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Monday

I'm baaaaaack! Actually, I just went for groceries and as I drove into the garage, the drizzle became a downpour. Boy, do I love my attached garage! It was just a cloud burst so I don't know if it will turn the drought aside.

The prices are outrageous. The cheapest steak was London broil for $6.49/lb. A recipe I have calls for rib eye -- not for this cheap Yankee! (I don't remember the exact price but it was something in the area of $14.00/lb.) I did splurge, however, on crab in a jar. It was hand picked. (How else do the do it? Machines?) I'm not going to tell you the price because I'm ashamed, but I really needed a treat.

On my way home from Worcester, I got gas for $1.98/gallon and today around the corner from me it's $1.99/gal. (When I left last Monday, it was $2.07/gallon around the corner.)

Oh! It looks like a rainbow is coming. I can't see it unless I stand in the middle of my street and it's still raining a tad, so I'll let you imagine it.

Here; you can look at a sunset from another day.

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I finally did it -- woo hoo! I won a game at Words with Friends!

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Yay! I got my mail in ballot for the statewide elections. Yay!

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Got great news from a friend who had a good check up at the Doc. Yay!

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Tuesday

Blink! At 3 a.m. I woke with a start and thought, "Did I turn on the chicken in the crock pot?!" Nope, I hadn't added the chicken broth either. After washing the pot, I started over with frozen chicken and went back to bed. That was after I googled it to be sure I couldn't cook chicken that had been at room temp for 9 hours. That was a big nope. Two hours max.

So this morning, I decided to make hollandaise sauce for my egg. Last time it was too lemony. Reading the directions, it said I could heat the oil on the stove (which I did last time) or in the microwave. DON'T HEAT OIL IN THE MICROWAVE. Unless you want a half cup of olive oil spewed all over. Sigh. (Thank God, I was making half the recipe.)

I'm beginning to get the memo. Today is going to be a difficult day. Let's see if I can turn this around.

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I don't know how I missed this in Feb. 2014:

Facebook introduced dozens of options for users to identify their gender today - and although the social media giant said it would not be releasing a comprehensive list, ABC News has found at least 58 so far.

Previously, users had to identify themselves as male or female. They were also given the option of not answering or keeping their gender private.

User's can now select a "custom" gender option.

"There's going to be a lot of people for whom this is going to mean nothing, but for the few it does impact, it means the world," Facebook software engineer Brielle Harrison told the Associated Press. Harrison, who worked on the project, is in the process of gender transition, from male to female.

Facebook will also allow users to select between three pronouns: "him," "her" or "their."

The following are the 58 gender options identified by ABC News:

• Agender
• Androgyne
• Androgynous
• Bigender
• Cis
• Cisgender
• Cis Female
• Cis Male
• Cis Man
• Cis Woman
• Cisgender Female
• Cisgender Male
• Cisgender Man
• Cisgender Woman
• Female to Male
• FTM
• Gender Fluid
• Gender Nonconforming
• Gender Questioning
• Gender Variant
• Genderqueer
• Intersex
• Male to Female
• MTF
• Neither
• Neutrois
• Non-binary
• Other
• Pangender
• Trans
• Trans*
• Trans Female
• Trans* Female
• Trans Male
• Trans* Male
• Trans Man
• Trans* Man
• Trans Person
• Trans* Person
• Trans Woman
• Trans* Woman
• Transfeminine
• Transgender
• Transgender Female
• Transgender Male
• Transgender Man
• Transgender Person
• Transgender Woman
• Transmasculine
• Transsexual
• Transsexual Female
• Transsexual Male
• Transsexual Man
• Transsexual Person
• Transsexual Woman
• Two-Spirit

So I have figured out I'm a cisgender female. Big deal. It kind of makes me wish for the old Compuserve chat rooms. For you youngins, those were online "rooms" where you could chat in real time. Most rooms had a theme and some were actively trying to "date." This was well before match.com or any of those dating apps. I went into one room, identifying myself as male. Frankly, I was tired of guys with the fetching opening line of, 'Hey, baby, ya wanna?' But also, I wondered if I were a good enough writer to pull it off. Prior to that I wasn't looking for anything in the general rooms (no theme except maybe over 40 years old) except conversation with reasonably intelligent people -- and all I got were propositions. And, no, nobody had their pictures posted. 

So, yes, everyone thought I was a man. It was sort of interesting, but I was disappointed in how everyone was fooled. All I had to do was compliment some women and they spilled their guts while I played the 'strong silent type' lacing my chat with a few jokes. Granted, this was years and years ago, but I believe it's still happening. I'm reminded of how one of the Sister Wives on TV was catfished. She thought she was having intimate conversations with a man and it turned out to be a woman who probably was after money, but I didn't watch more to find out the motive.

I love Google, but it's too easy to look things up and, er, digress.

Catfish is a term for someone pretending to be someone of a different gender to dupe another. Why is it called catfishing? Here's an explanation below:

"At the turn of the century cod fish were in much demand on the east coast. News of the tasty fish quickly spread across the country all the way to the west coast. There was however a problem. How could they get the cod fish across the country and still keep it fresh?

They tried to freeze the fish and send it by rail, the fastest means at the time. But when it was prepared it turned out to be very mushy and lacked flavor.

Then someone decided to ship the fish live turning railroad cars into huge saltwater aquariums. When the cod fish arrived they were alive but when they were prepared they were still mushy and tasteless.

After studying the cod fish someone discovered that their natural enemy was the catfish. This time when the cod fish were put in the tanks, they placed a few catfish in with them. Those catfish chased the cod fish all the way across the country to the west coast.

This time when the cod fish were prepared, they were flaky and had the same flavor as they did when they were caught fresh and prepared on the east coast. You see, the catfish kept the cod from becoming stale."

I still have some questions as to how that term applies to humans, given this tale, because catfishing in humans has a nefarious purpose. But it's a good story, even if it's a fish story. I wonder if those cod were really skinny after running from their enemy for a week.

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More on my annoying day list: the new trash company has switched my trash pickup day from Monday to Thursday. I barely remember to put it out on Sunday night, now I have to remember a whole different day! The recycling will be picked up only every two weeks, which is o.k. if I can remember what week it is ... luckily, they have given us such a huge recycling container that I didn't even bother to put it out last week. In fact, it would do well used as a casita ...

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Wonder of wonders, Comcast is sending a technician out on the 20th. I sure hope they don't try to charge a trip charge.

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I just had a lovely time at Jon, Farah, and Sofia's patio next door. I brought my own chile relleno and Jon cooked the peppers on the grill for me. The stuffing was the previously mentioned shredded chicken from the crock pot. It all was topped with some store bought salsa. Yummy. We played some bocce which Sofia calls lawn bowling. It was fun and Jon talked about making a bocce court in his front yard. I suggested rather than adding pulverized rock, he might consider just shaving his lawn to a bocce-sized court. We might have to get a cappucino machine and get some cigars to bring on an authentic atmosphere. I didn't say in front of Farah and Sofia that in my youth I only saw old men, no women, playing bocce. It's a lovely night and just 74 F. so I've got the windows open.

Part of my good day yesterday was in receiving Dan Pedersen's "Final Passage, Mystery on the Alaska Ferry." I have started reading it and it's pretty good. I'm pretty sure I ordered his first book at the same time, so I'm a little annoyed to get book number two first. I think he has about seven books. Somehow, I don't know how, I started following his blog and he seems to be a very nice man who lives with his wife on Whidbey Island. I also gleaned from his bog that he has leukemia.

Well, I'm going back to Pedersen's book. Now that the TV is off, I don't really mind keeping company with a fan and the frogs chirping away outside. I'm just hoping the skunks are somewhere else. (But I did put the kitchen fan facing out just in case I have a smelly visitor.)

Have a great week. Cheers, Tina

More of the Same

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Checking under the kitchen sink today, I ascertained that I do not need to buy sponges nor a new mop sponge. I also found a new Keurig charcoal filter. Yup, cleaned the Keurig stem to stern, while the load of towels dried, and while the dishwasher chugged along. I scrubbed and disinfected the kitchen sinks while I was at it.

Needless to say, I am feeling much better. Today is the first day with no cold symptoms, just a bit of sinus pain but that's because it's raining. I made it rain by watering my container basil and tomato plant.

This is Phyllis' lily -- and her photo -- I love the really dark color!

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Tuesday, August 4

While making Maria Emmerich's ramen recipe, I learned a lot of new things.

1. Grate your ginger first. It takes a while.

2. You can't use Phyllis' giant zuccini for successful zoodles -- it wouldn't fit into the zoodle maker!

3. If you're trying to cook a soft egg in the microwave (even after you break up the yolk) always cover it. (Yes, cleanup on the microwave in aisle 1!)

4. Finally, no the chicken broth is not dark. You picked the box of beef broth. (It still tasted great.)

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Back Yard Blooms

Tuesday. We have another tornado watch. It's raining a bit but the storm doesn't look virulent. I really wanted to go out but "they" are telling us to hunker down until 9 p.m. At this point, it's the TV weather people saying that. This storm is coming from the southeast, which sounds like Connecticut. They had a touchdown of a tornado last time. Woo hoo! They just cancelled our tornado watch (5:30  p.m.).

However, the power went off for two hours starting at 8 p.m. We lucked out because some people in the neighborhood were without power for over 14 hours.

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Thursday

The power went out last night (Wednesday) and I was a bit frantic because I only had 32 % charge on my cell phone. Rhonda up the street texted me and said she had a charger with more than one port. So I took my mini LED lantern and walked two houses away. Wow, was it ever dark! Couldn't even see any stars. We quickly figured out I didn't bring the right cable but I still stood on her front porch talking. That is until -- oh, my God! -- a skunk let loose. I quickly walked away. I guess I'm always interrupting skunks' naps.

As I walked home, suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood up and it felt as if someone was right behind me. I yelped a bit only to sense someone running in the middle of the street. He did have a light, but I didn't see that until he passed me. And to further jangle, every 6 seconds or so, he blew out his air in a big snort. (Why was he doing that? someone asked. How the hell do I know?) I thought he must be mentally unstable to be going for a run during a black out and running in the middle of the street. 

The power was only off for about a half hour. Just as I was going into my garage to see if I could open the door (and charge my phone in the car), the lights came on. That is also when I discovered that I had left the car in the driveway thinking that I would go out later. I didn't. Oh, well.

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Thursday was a busy day for me: Went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a battery for my bathroom scale; went to my PO Box; went to the pharmacy; went to the grocery store (only for mushrooms and it's right next to the pharmacy); went to Target.

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Went to Target. As I was approaching the electronics section one of the two 12 year old  (TYO) was saying to a male customer , "And an old lady was yelling at me." I'm thinking not all old ladies are hard of hearing.

Me: I need a battery powered phone charger.

TYO 1: Like for ... ?

Me: If the power goes out, I want to charge my Android.

TYO 1: Oh, you need an external battery. (Isn't that what I just said?)

Then he turns to TYO 2 and says: She needs an external battery to charge her phone. Show her where they are. 

The hand over is because another customer -- a guy -- showed up.

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Friday

I just spent 45 minutes scrubbing my white garage door with a hard bristle brush and Mr. Clean. The &^%$Lawnmowing Guys had sprayed the door with grass clippings. They hadn't washed off in the storm(s) so I had to do it. It was as if the grass clippings had been glued on. I am not amused. And it's still not right but that was all I could take in the sun.

Saturday, 8-8-20

I finally decided to check out my new phone charger and it wasn't fully charged. The guy in the store didn't bother to tell me that I needed a USB cable that plugs into an electrical outlet. I found one that goes to a camera, but I was really ticked that he didn't mention that. I still like the cover. It's mostly white with a purple swirl. Just now during the most critical part of a Law and Order, the TV has frozen and then gone to black. Oh, it's only on this channel. So I'll never know if the good guys win. 

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On Friday I picked up a puck, which is a wifi gizmo that the Munson Memorial Library lends out. It creates a wifi network. It seems to be much faster than my Xfinity network (they are also my cable TV). My Xfinity network has been "unstable." They are also known as Comcast, btw. I spent about a half hour on the phone with customer service and the end result was 'normally we would send a technician out, but due to the pandemic, we only send one if there is no service.'

While I waited for Sue, the Branch Librarian, I enjoyed the garden and snapped some pictures.

I had been thinking for a while that I wanted to find my bocce balls. Yesterday, they jumped out at me in the garage. Don't be silly, they are in a nifty black carrying case. No, there were balls rolling all over.

Sofia (next door) and I played a couple of games on my front lawn. The grass is too high so we had to put the white ball on a pile of leaves so we could see it. I'll have to find something else to raise it up next time. The kid beat me. Every. Time.

It was kind of like playing Words with Friends. I never win.

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I'm having great fun with my new wifi mouse that I picked up at Target. Yes, I had one years ago, but it was kind of kaput. This one is bigger and it's teal. :)

It's almost Sunday (11:53 p.m.) so I will close here. I'm pretty much at the end of my productivity although I might get the clothing out of the dryer. I'll empty the dishwasher and dish drainer tomorrow. 

I hope you all are having a great time. I have been having a good time making some of Maria Emmerich's recipes. The trouble is, they don't look as beautiful as in her book so I haven't taken any pictures. Maybe I should take a picture of the pictures in her cook book! They taste great.

Cheers!

Adult Attention Deficit Is Not a Pretty Sight

July 23, 2020

Or ... How I ended up doing housework buck naked. (Is a buck more naked than any other naked creature?)

It all began a couple of days ago. I went to the kitchen sink and was horrified to see ten house flies on the window, inside of the screen. Yes, I counted them and sprayed so much Raid, that I couldn't see out. The next day, I look at the window in the dining area (it's a small space, divided by upper kitchen cabinets) and it has 20 or 30 flies in the center on the part where the split of upper and lower window is. It's like something out of a D-rated horror movie. I spray my brains out with more Raid. 

Today is the first day with no live flies. Even after having scooped out the dead bodies yesterday, there were many on the floor this a.m. So I start vacuuming them up when I realized that I haven't had breakfast or coffee. After vacuuming the living room and hall, I leave the vac at the bathroom and go for muffin and coffee.

By then it dawns on me that I have to get to the grocery store before the predicted afternoon thunderstorm, so I go to the bathroom and prepare to get into the shower. Which is when I see the curtains from the dining area that I washed. So I re-hung those and go back to the bathroom thinking that I should vac in there before the moisture from the shower impedes picking up dust kitties. 

As I'm ready to step into the shower, I realize that I had never finished scrubbing the tub the other day. Naturally, after the tub, it's time to clean the toilet too. Yup, you guessed it -- I had thought I was getting into the shower, so no pajamas ... and then I vacuumed the bathroom. At that point, I had to unplug it from the living room anyway, so I figured I might as well vacuum the other rooms. Yes, the shades were all down to keep out the summer sun/heat.

And there you have it. As I was typing this, we have had one heck of a thunderstorm pouring buckets of rain on us. I wonder if it will be enough to make Hadley take down their water ban signs. The power went off for a second, I hope it was not enough that I have to re-set the clocks. But what else do I have to do? Well, actually, I have to dust the baker's rack with my glass collection on it. Later.

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I was thinking the other day that, in nature, everything has a purpose. Such as mosquitoes are a food source for birds and frogs, and birds spread seeds of flowers and grasses, etc. (I know you're supposed to have at least three items in a series to use "etc." but I'm into rule breaking today.) Continuing on my musing, I wondered what is the purpose of covid19. And all I'm coming up with is human population control. Because it doesn't seem to kill the animals that we got it from. (Oh, hush up about ending a sentence with a preposition. It is at this juncture that a friend would say, "Bite me," but I don't understand that. Wouldn't it hurt? Why would I want you to hurt me if I'm annoyed with you?)

I was excited to find an Amherst Bulletin at the supermarket today. It's a free weekly newspaper that is mailed to homeowners but I stopped it. It was arriving in Palm Springs 15 days after pub date. That's OLD news. Anyway, I noticed that "Cuppa Joe with Paul" is tomorrow. He's the Town Manager and he started this thing where anybody who wanted to be up and out at 8 a.m. could meet him at a local coffee shop and say what's on their mind. I figured that maybe this would be outside and since I'm up before 7 a.m. daily, I thought I would go. But the newspaper helpfully did not tell me where. Great job of reporting, huh? It turns out it's a Zoom meeting so I don't even have to wear pants! I'll have to remember to comb my hair.

I admit it: much of what I read on FaceBook is fluff. It might be about celebrities or funny memes or just anecdotes about somebody's bloopers. But, boy, do these companies (who are producing the drivel) need a copy editor or six! I was brought up short when I read some celebrity had "earnt" their award. Later on, I read that a mother had "learnt" how to deal with her son's severe peanut allergy. For pete's sake! I guess what really worries me is that some of these same writers are teaching their children at home. I know that every generation bemoans the lack of proper grammar usage, the lack of manners, and the lack of social graces, but between texting shorthand and out-and-out making up words ... well, I guess the fall of civilization is already well in hand, so I guess I should just ignore this too.

Yes, I did make it to the 8 a.m. Zoom meeting with the Town Manager, Director of BID (Business Improvement District), and the Director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. I was both relieved that they couldn't see me and annoyed that I had officially gotten washed and dressed. I could have stayed in my pajamas. 

At that time, it was confirmed that my "Internet connection is unstable." After the meeting, I bit the bullet and contacted Comcast. After going through their menu, I was connected with the right branch of the phone tree which asserted that it needed to reset my modem. (No actual human was involved in this transaction.) It told me that it could take up to ten minutes and to be prepared to have service interrupted. "A technician cannot do anything unless this is performed first." I said okay and the phone line went into dead air mode. I thought it was odd that there was no annoying 'on hold' music or commercial, but I waited patiently. And I waited and I waited. Finally I gave up and hung up the phone.

Now I have no way to know if that improved anything. I either have to set up a Zoom meeting or stare at the TV and see if it hiccoughs. I think I'll go to the Post Office instead.

[Update: After one more re-set, I reached a human. Of course, my phone decided to cut us off three times, but I was finally left with, 'Ordinarily, I would send a technician out but we aren't doing that due to Covid19.']

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Sunday, July 27

I love my new stronger prescription glasses! I didn't realize how much I was struggling to see. Next time I won't wait for four years to update.

It has been interesting. I woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday sick, sick, sick. Apparently, I have some kind of throat infection. Mercifully, no fever, but besides yesterday's killer pain I have full blown laryngitis. Of course, at that early hour feeling awful, all I could think of is, 'Do I have the plague?' Luckily, I have found a miracle cure otherwise known as chicken soup. No, I'm not cured, but I am considerably better. I'm thinking it was the addition of broccoli and mushrooms that made the chicken soup so effective.

Well, that was a trip. The phone rang and that's when I discovered I can barely squeak out sounds. My friend, Ann, said, "Croak twice if it's really you." That made me laugh.  Guess I'll try gargling with salt water again.

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Blanket in Progress

It's still Sunday and after a nap I discovered that I still can barely croak. I did have to get dressed to take the trash and recycling out. It's 91 F. at 5:30 p.m. so I imagine it was a bit hotter earlier. Since this is the first time I have been out in days, I decided to see what was happening in the garden.

Front yard:

Back Yard:

Have a great rest of week. Cheers!

Morning Musings

July 13, 2020

If you manage to read all the way to the bottom, you will see that I began this ages ago. There's no excuse except for mundane things such as dentist, eye doctor, eye glasses, etc. I have ordered the glasses from Costco which means that I had to do some shopping while there. It has been an expensive ten days!

This morning started with a call from 'The Police Association.' The recorded opening line is, "You're harder to get ahold of than a roll of toilet paper." Boy, that really makes me want to donate to a scam charity!

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But total happiness first. Yesterday Emily brought J. and we started our visit at Groff Park which is barely 10 minutes from my house. They have just recently refurbished it, spending over $1 million. And it looks it with sturdy plastic equipment and big, tall shade umbrellas. My favorite part was the squishy floor material so if a child falls it's not as catastrophic as in 'the old days.' We had a great time and J. did too! 

At 17 months old, J. is a delight. Of course, I only get to see him when he's smiling and playful. Emily changed his diaper at the play ground and it went zip zop, no problems. She remarked that usually he's fighting and making a fuss. 

We all enjoyed some homemade strawberry ice cream before they left for a nap at home. I thoroughly enjoyed our morning together!

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As much as I would like to pretend that my gardens are riots of color and blooms like Martha Stewart's, I cannot. In reality, apparently, I belong to the Bloom of the Day Club. I seem to get only one bloom each day. The exception is the orange day lilies which are a saving grace because they don't mind sharing space with a myriad of weeds. 

7-12-20

7-7-20

I was so happy to discover that the flowers below are actually bee balm and not weeds. To the left is a climbing red rose bush that has finished blooming. It was years before I discovered it and now I'm trying to be nice to it and giving it some fertilizer. I hope the humming birds find it.

On July 6th I went to Andrew's Greenhouse and the colors and plants in profusion were a tonic to my soul. I enjoyed the garden accoutrement, but most of it was too expensive for me.

I thought this was the cutest bird house!

Below is the view from Andrew's Greenhouse's parking lot. This is about 6 minutes from my house, part of the south Amherst neighborhood. It's a couple of doors up from the church and the South Amherst Common.

Needless to say, it was a gorgeous day to go to a greenhouse! Of course, there are lots of plants outside but by the time I got there, it was HOT, so I did not linger to take pictures.

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This is the last of "the little lilies" in the front. There are orange and pink -- pink first to bloom, then orange. One at a time.

July 5, 2020 last bloom.

June 28, 2020

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This post is beginning on July 2 in the morning, but as you may have figured out, sometimes a post is written over three days or more. 

Carole sent me a missive from her UCLA health plan with suggestions about coping with the pandemic. There was a section called "Lift the Spirit" and one of the suggestions was to get out in nature. I guess doing battle with the wild roses and other weeds in my garden is getting out into nature.

My leg actually looks a lot better after some soapy water cleaned it up.

[Update on 7-13: You would never know I had those scratches. But ... I seem to have poison ivy scattered around and it did not show up until about three days ago. I have not been in the garden since!Weird, huh?]

 

Another suggestion was physical exercise and the aforementioned gardening and landscaping escapade must have been good exercise because I hurt in muscles I didn't even know I had. I guess the one cubic yard of soil and mulch is heavier than I thought.

Under the good nutrition and socialization area, they suggested a zoom dinner party. Helpfully, they provided some recipes which all seemed to be bean based. I guess it's a good thing that your dinner guests would be on screen so that nobody has to inhale the inevitable gaseous component of beans. 

Finally, one of the suggestions that I took to heart is to communicate with someone daily. He's not talking back much, but I sure am having fun yelling at that darn chipmunk who keeps digging holes in the garden or on the front walk. 

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It's back to July 13 and I wish you all good health and a great week! I have been knitting some and I may show it to you later but I'm still in the design phase and I would rather complete the blanket before showing it to you.  Cheers!

Summertime ... and the Livin' Is Easy

My gardening tolerance is up to two hours. It makes a big difference in temperature when you go out at 8:30 a.m.!  Thank you SO much to Nancy W. who gave me white iris, sedum, and daisies to transplant. I put some of the iris in front. No, no before picture -- I'm too embarrassed at how high the weeds were in front!

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CVS Clerk: When do you want to pick up your prescription?
Me:  On Monday or later.  (This was Friday.)
CVS Clerk:  It will be ready after 2 p.m. today.
Me:  But I said Monday!
CVS Clerk:  You said, 'Or later.'

To me, in this instance, "later" meant on Tuesday ...

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Nancy W. and I went to the opening night of "dine in" at Mission Cantina. (I think it was on Wednesday.) They had arranged picnic tables under a big tent in their parking lot. You went up to a window and ordered and paid. Then, when your food was ready, they called your name and you picked it up.

Yes, I got dressed up. It was the first dinner at a restaurant since March. You can't tell, but I'm smiling under the mask.

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Saturday, June 13, was Knitting in Public Day. I did my knitting at Planet Color in Andover, MA right after my new haircut. Thank you, Sherylann, I love my haircut!

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I know I post a lot of pictures of food ... but I'm not doing much except cooking and gardening.

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On Friday, Sue H. and I met for lunch at Panera in Hadley. They had umbrella tables outside. You ordered inside and they brought it out to you, which was lovely. We had such a good time chatting away that the sun began to creep onto my arm. No problem, I used my sunscreen umbrella to deflect the sun. Thanks, Sue! I had missed our coffee breaks/chats. [Sue is my technology guru and I try to make appropriate noises and nod when she waxes on about 5 g and location of cell towers and corporate technology takeovers. But in reality, it's all Greek to me. I just try to keep my mouth shut long enough so that I don't show my ignorance!]

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Yesterday (Saturday, 6/20/20) was the day for me to have my new kitchen window installed. There is a long story behind this other long story.

Last November, I contracted for a casement window (with a crank) because the reach over the sink is too much for my poor back when I want to open the window.  It was supposed to be installed before I left for California. Nope, they didn't make it. So Lowe's said, 'Call us,' when I got back. My three month stay turned into six months.

Finally, I got a call from Andy The Window Installer. Actually, it was a series of calls (believe it or not, I am editing this) and we set it as 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.  At 10:20, he still hadn't arrived and I was beginning to steam. Luckily, I looked at my text messages and at 9:13 a.m., he had written that he was running late.

He showed up at 11:30 a.m. I was not amused and let him know. He said they wouldn't release the window to him at Lowes and he had spent two hours there waiting for a manager who would help him. Anyway, after an hour or so I cooled down and apologized for being cranky. At that point I had figured that he was a window installer's version of Art Carney when he sat down to play the piano on the Jackie Gleason Show. He was very methodical and careful.

Little did I know that he would not be done until 5:30 p.m. Honest. He did point out that he had insulated on the outside and I admired his handiwork.

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It's a lovely, lazy Sunday morning. The sun is shining and if it's like yesterday, it will go to the 90s with 52% or more of humidity. 

After getting up at 6 a.m. and opening the windows, I managed to sleep until 8:30 a.m. That's a vast improvement over yesterday's 5 a.m.! But I do get things done before it's ridiculously hot ...

Yup, the blueberry muffins are good. I found the right recipe, Mom.

It is very comfortable in my house with window and a.c. management. But I will have to go out into the heat to water my gardens. They are coming along, inch by inch. 

The watering has been done. At quarter to six, it has cooled down to 92 F. Sure glad I didn't go out at 1 p.m.!  Here's the back in progress.

This photo gave me an Impressionist feel. Don't know if my hand was shaking or if my eyes are blurry (from allergies). Yes, there is still new soil in the bag. I will have to spread it another morning. To the left of the yellow stuff and behind it are some orange day lillies that haven't opened yet.

In the front, that one stella d'oro lily has been joined by friends.

Also in the front are some other incipient lily flowers. Not yet though.

The skinny thing on the left is not a stick. It's a chive that I picked from the back. If I get ambitious, I'm going to make zucchini patties with chives. And maybe cheese. I dunno. Right now I feel like falling asleep. And it's o.k. because I put the trash out!

I have finished "Dectorists" which is on Amazon Prime. They are people in Britain who use metal detectors looking for treasure or old coins. It's quite amusing with quirky characters and an interesting plot. There's no violence and very few bad words, so it's kind of a relaxing romp through some unusual people's lives. It was a TV show, I think, so there are short episodes and you can stop whenever you want. 

I was delighted to see that there is a season 6 of Harry Bosch on Netflix. He's an old school LA detective in modern times. At this point, his "little" girl is working as an intern while in college. It's interesting to me to see him go to areas in California and I can say, "I've been there!" Although I have to admit, I'm not very familiar with LA. But I can recognize Venice Beach and other well known places.

And that's it. I'm all out of talking with you about nothing! Have a great week and remember to wear your masks and avoid people who are not wearing a mask. Cheers!

Happy Sunday

It's a lovely Sunday morning with refreshingly cool temperatures -- it's just now 65 F. at almost 10 a.m. However, in the past week, it has bee n insufferably hot (sometimes 85 degrees with anywhere from 69% to 90% humidity). Needless to say, I was very uncomfortable with the heat.

Yesterday, Saturday, Emily came to visit and I knew I needed to fire up the mini split in the kitchen area. So I cleaned the filters and got it going. She and I happily discovered that Panda Garden in the center of Amherst delivers. So we sat munching Chinese food in the cool kitchen. Then Emily, God bless her! hauled out the old non-working portable air conditioner. I had already found out that it weighs 70 pounds, thereby explaining why I couldn't lift the blankety blank thing. "Better put a FREE sign on it," Emily remarked. As we pushed it to the curb, I noticed a cloud in the sky.

"You know what this means? It's going to rain on this thing." Meanwhile I'm remembering that it will cost $50 to get the trash company to pick it up.

After that, we cruised off to our local big box store and picked out a new a.c. As we were loading it on a hand truck, whoosh!! and we could hear a torrential downpour on the metal roof. It rained hard for at least 15 minutes, creating mini floods in the street. I was envisioning a water logged hunk of junk at the end of my driveway.

We got back to my house and rejoiced -- it was gone! Wahoo! Some home fix-it person had taken the defunct a.c. More kudos to Emily who masterfully set up the new one.

After we got the new a.c. set up, I mused that it would now be 50 degrees instead of the 80s. You guessed it: when I got up this morning, it was 57 F.
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I'm sorry to be posting so many pictures of food ... but today I have created a new taste sensation. It's a crustless ricotta spinach quiche.

The ricotta stays mushy, but that's o.k. It's wonderfully rich. Of course, I couldn't just put one thing into the oven so a 3 pack of chicken thighs became two with Creole seasoning and one baked with homemade marinara sauce. I won't have to turn the oven on when it gets hot again!

By the way, thank you, Carole, for my new rubberized hot pads! You may have forgotten that you gave them to me, but I LOVE them. I can get things out of the oven without getting burned!


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Garden update:

Front yard;

Chives in the way back of the raised beds:

The peonies are on the east side of the house.

 However, this peony is on the front of the house (south side).

All these photos makes me realized I have to put some fertilizer out. Time to go.

Cheerio! Have a great week!