Zebra Spider Legs

I was practicing with the telephone lens while waiting the required 5 minutes of beating egg whites: why not use that time wisely and head out to the front porch to take a few pictures while the beater does its work???  This spider was enjoying the morning sun while sitting on a hydrangea bud.  He has striped legs and makes me wonder if my "albino" spiders go through a striped stage before they become an adult with brown legs.  Ummm, sounds like a research project on the horizon...

I went out this morning cut some fresh blooms for the house.  There are purple butterfly bush blooms above this photo view, but really was aiming for the glass of tea with a huge sprig of fresh mint.  What a life!!!

Yesterday morning I clipped a huge bunch of thyme which was growing quickly outward toward my neighbor's yard.  So, with unused snippers in hand, I ended up just pulling up all of the out-of-bounds plants.  After washing and trimming them, I ended up with two huge piles of thyme to dry on my counter.  This harvest is maybe 1/10th of the total thyme ready to harvest.  Unbelievable amount!  I can't use this much, so am looking for people who would appreciate some fresh thyme.  I use herbs alot in my cooking, but am finding 99.99% of people don't. Also, on the extreme left of the picture is my container of sun tea brewing in the sun which is absolutely the best tea ever brewed.   

Here's a photo taken from way across the room zooming in on the little curl of whipped egg whites that ended up being so important in my angel food cake. 

If I don't take a picture soon of the angel food cake, it will all be gone.  I had no idea that an angel food cake could taste this much better than a grocery store purchase.  I should have known - but I'll keep eating slices to make sure I don't forget...

Worrying Gets Me Nowhere Fast

I've been busy, busy, busy.  Things to do and even more to think about.  Pondering this and that plus the whats and hows creep into my brain.  I'm one to worry until I work things out.  The unknown is a strange place to dwell.  Perhaps I need to see what's what before I jump in with both feet.  Easier said than done for me.  But I can work on it. I really need to turn loose and let God show me the way.  Yeah, that's easier said than done.  Sometimes I relax, but mostly I analyze nearly everything - especially when I don't see the end of the road.  More on that later.

Have been neglecting my photography the past few days so thought I'd snap a few this morning with my telephoto lens.  Have you noticed that nothing seems to cooperate when you grab your camera?  The squirrel who was posing decided to dart around, the bluebirds turned their backs to me, and even the butterfly had the audacity to fly away.  Well, at least the porch cherry tomato plant remained in position! 

We had 1/4 inch of rain last evening from the outter bands of Beryl, but she has moved east of us and the sun is trying to peek from behind the clouds.  It's 73* right now and just delightful.  My expanding thyme garden is outgrowing its bounds so as soon as I think the plants are dry I aim to head out to prune them back to a manageable size and snip them for drying.  The oregano is ready to harvest as well as some parsley, chives, and sage.  They will be awesome in future meals.  They will make any cook jump to the next level.  

My little mini netbook works great except I can't get online when I'm away from home.  Today is the day she will see the computer  geek to see if there's a setting that's not activated.  I have manually set her to get online via my own wifi modem here at home, but I can't get the internet when I'm at a hotspot.  It was frustrating when we went camping last week but surely Jeff will be able to figure that out.  Its intended purpose was to take on trips rather than my laptop so I would like that option to work.  And I'd also like to know how to tether it to the smartphone when I'm away from home.   Ummmm, I hope I remember to ask Jeff about that while I'm at his shop this afternoon.  Maybe I need to make a list...  

Think I'll whip up an angel food cake and get that in the oven and then I'll head out to my herb garden.   

Darryl's For Dinner

Tonight we met Brian & Co. at Darryl's in Greensboro for dinner.  It was a combination Mother's Day and Nolan's Birthday celebration.  There were seven of us including mom and we had a great time together with lots of sharing and laughter. 

Good food.  Nice wait staff.  And a few extras - like a tour for the kids of some interesting spots by one of the assistant managers. 

And I found a few places to take pictures of the kids. 

Before we met for dinner, Sweetz, Mom, and I stopped at Ritz Camera and I bought a telephoto lens.  Wow, am I excited!  Now, I need to take lots of practice  shots to make sure I'm comfortable with it.  My next wedding photoshoot is in July and I must be ready.  I practiced with the lens while at the camera store and was pleased with the quality of the shots I took.  But as the old saying goes: practice makes perfect. Well, I'll never be perfect, but at least I can work toward that goal...

Clip, Snip, Prune

My day was ok, nothing much accomplished except during sporadic spurts of energy. Life can be lackluster or thrilling. Today was marginal. But a marginal day in retirement is WAY better than a good day at work. Mom did ok today with her wound, it's smaller than she thought it would be and has not blistered yet. Might one day, but she's hopeful it won't be anything much to deal with. I thought the surrounding area looked lighter in color today but of course the spot itself is quite dark. Looks either like a ton of old blood cells congregating for a photoshoot or else a scab is forming.

I'm coughing alot. Really tired of it too.  Hoping for some hot summer days to cook my lung germs. Think a sweat hut will help?? 

I worked in the yard a bit this afternoon, trimmed some bushes that seem to grow a foot a week just to keep my clippers busy. I transplanted a yellow lantana to a backyard flowerbed. It needs 6 hours of sun a day therefore the shady front yard wasn't the place for it. 

No cooking today, just reworked pot surprise.  With a little salt, it went down easily. Tomorrow I must attack the laundry - sounds exciting, right?  We're meeting Brian and Co. for dinner Saturday night. Hope I feel better.

Just A Drizzlin'

11am:
It's drizzling here and that's such a pleasant sound.  I have the back screen door open and the pleasantly cool temp of 66* is just so delightful!  Sweetz decided to stir up a batch of Belgium waffles from a mix and had one himself, but I'm not much for eating in the morning.  And here it is 11am and I'm still not hungry.  You'd think I would be skin and bones with this habit, but that's not the case.  BUT, I have drunk my share and more of sweet tea and Coke this morning. I know, I know, that's not smart, but it's what it is.  My choice exclusively. 

Sweetz was out in his garden early this morning but decided there's nothing pressing to do today and with the drizzle, he'll wait till later.  I'm still enjoying the cool temperatures.  Extremely refreshing!  There are things I should be doing today, but I'm just not in the mood.  Kick back and relax seems to be the choice for today.  Might be a bit of leftover campcation in the mix too. 

Mom did fine yesterday so I guess I'm relieved of momsitting today.  She may be 90, but is unbelievably healthy and robust.  While walking in her backyard yesterday, we noticed she has some shrubs that need trimming so I'll go over there one day soon and do a bit of snipping to keep them under control.  I trimmed those plants rather heavily last fall and are now already growing quickly. It would be easier to keep them under control at this stage than later when the big tools have to come out of the shed.  Anyway, I love to trim.  Love it, love it, love it.  The little patio garden that Sweetz made for her for Mother's Day is doing great.  Everything has grown in the past week and she has added some pots of flowering plants around the edge of the patio.  Sure looks like a great place to sit and enjoy a glass of tea and admire God's handiwork. While we were camping, she put potting soil in the matching fence pots and popped in the plants.  Looks real cute. 

I talked to my SIL yesterday and she will be sending two CDs she had made from tapes during the years of my brother singing bass in a gospel quartet, "The Family of God".  It will be good to hear him again - bet he is enjoying singing in the Big Celestial Choir right now. That would definitely be heavenly music! 

Great Camping Memories

It was a lovely week.  Great people, roomy sites, a fire pit, marshmallows, a beautiful lake, interesting hikes, a wonderful book, and plenty of sweet tea.

We watched movies every night til we got sleepy then it was off to dreamland.  I had to use my sleep mask at night to keep the bathhouse glow out of my eyes, but that's a small price to pay for a cozy eight hours. 

Sweetz and Donnie would go fishing every day and they had a ball.  Not sure which guy loved fishing more.
 

We came home with blue catfish filets in baggies - plus a bag of venison as a gift from Donnie.  And we exchanged business cards.  I need to design and print some new ones - I liked his idea to use a few camping sketches.  I could do that!!! 

Splashing Around At The Lake

We've been away from most internet for a few days.  Rather a bummer way to be living without being online.  I do have my smart phone which allows me to read, but I'm not very good at doing all the steps to make entries on my blog. 

Friday:
Wow, we’re here at Buggs Island camping for the week - in a roomy site with a view of the lake through the trees!!  What a life!  We chose a site with lots of shade and the weather has been extremely cooperative during our stay.  The camp host invited us to join them for a fish fry one night.  Sounds good to me.  He has a pontoon boat and goes out every day to fish this beautiful lake.  Sweetz gave him a nice-sized fish he caught yesterday to add to his stash.  Nope, the guy didn’t invite us AFTER he was given the fish - nope, he invited us as he walked over to welcome us just as we rolled in on Thursday.  Nice guy - I mentioned that he was nice, didn’t I?

The weather has been superb with sunny skies and warm temps.  Sweetz and I went biking this morning and I thought I was going to DIE right there on the road!  This campground has killer hills and I’m definitely out of shape to be pedaling up these. Going downhill...well, that's a breeze.  Makes me realize I really need to do something about getting back in shape…like when I was 25 would be nice!  If I lived here, I would walk and bike every day - well, I say I would.  But would I?  Suuuuure I would.  Just like I walk and bike at home!  Sigh
  
Sweetz fell a bit ago on some pine needles and has decided to lie down with an ice pack to see if it will feel better.  Can’t have a sore hip bugging him at Buggs Island now can we? 

Monday:  Sweetz seems to have no serious injuries from his fall the other day.  Just a HUGE bruise, but we can live with that.  And I'm very pleased about that. 

There's a plantation open to the public in this area, so we're planning to eat lunch somewhere and take in that site.  Hoping I can grab some decent photos while we're out and about.   Snap, snap, snap...

Beside a Beautiful Lake

We got the camper back with new electrical panel.  Everything was working correctly, so off we headed to the wild blue yonder.  Well, that's a campground on a lake.  We're situated next to the lake and it's a nice place to play, read, and hike. There are some great things to see and do plus we're parked next to the camp host so we are having a good time with him and he's keeping the place quiet and orderly in return.  He's the friendliest host we've ever experienced and that's a plus. 

Little Bit Is Ready

We received our "It's ready" call about 4pm from Camping World saying the camper was ready for pick-up.  Of course, they close at 4:30pm so we'll have to head out in the morning to get it.  I suggested to Sweetz that we take some food in a cooler and poke it in the fridge...then head down the road for a campground in that area, directly from Camping World.  It's an idea we're pondering since I questioned Sweetz about why we needed to come home and then head out in the opposite direction.  Ummmm, yeah, let's think about alternatives.  Saving gas is a plus with that option too.  He didn't ask how much the repair bill will be.  DUH, now I would have definitely asked that question.  Don't want to suffer a heart attack right there at the cashier's booth! 

I finished my latest book this morning and haven't started another one.  I did get my hair cut which was so overdue it was needing lopping shears.  Sure looks better.  Thanks Lori. 

A friend came this afternoon and brought me some cookies - she calls them buckeyes - look like a round mound of peanut butter confection partially dipped in melted chocolate. Guess I could pack them up and take them camping with us!!  Thanks Nancy.

Sweetz decided to bake a cake (from a mix) today while I was getting my hair cut.  And it looks awful, all leaning with the icing slipping off.  I shouldn't complain. Told him I'd make one when I got back but he found a mix and the layers were on the cooling rack when I returned.  Sure hope it tastes better than it looks.  hehe  Mom made me an Italian cream cake for my birthday in March and I have it cut in servings and stored in the freezer for special moments.  But he told me today he didn't much care for nut cakes...usually prefers chocolate which I could skip from now to the next blue Monday.  YAY, looks like he can eat his sad ugly cake while I indulge in a slice of Italian cream cake whenever I get the urge for a special dessert.  Sounds like a win-win situation.  But, of course, I get the better deal.  No, I'm not taking a picture of the sad cake - my camera would problem turn belly up and start moaning in pain.  But I might be persuaded to snap a picture if I heard about an Ugliest Cake Contest!  Think "ugly" and you're half way there...

Transfer Switch

When we started our trip prep this morning, Sweetz turned on the fridge in the camper and we thought everything was hunky dory.  But that wasn't to be the case.  Long story/short:  we headed up and down the roads toward the nearest Camping World to get that problem checked out.  

Little Bit was checked in with the tech guy behind the counter and we were told it would be several hours.  GREAT!  We ended up eating a late breakfast at the Moose Cafe at the Farmer's Market.  The waitress was real nice and she was training a newbie, so two smiles were better than one each time they saundered around to our booth. 

After breakfast, we spent some time at the vendors' booths and I bought some flowering plants for mom's two hanging baskets plus I picked up a dozen eggs and a few tomatoes for us.  It's interesting that some of the vendors were friendly and helpful while others seemed to not care if they assisted you or not.  Also some vendors openly displayed the prices while others had not one price listed and you had to catch their attention and pull 4 teeth to get the prices out of them. While we wandered around checking out various plant displays, we noticed the prices varied greatly from one vendor to the other.   And it didn't take us long to decide the vendor with the lowest price was the one chosen to receive the loose bills in our wallets.  DUH! 

Not long after we arrived home, the phone rang and we were given the bad news of the refrigerator.  They found the main problem, fixed two minor problems, and were searching for a replacement part - a converter.  After an hour or so, the tech guy called again to report they had found the part ($80) but the labor was going to soak up all our loose change and then some.  Seems every time one of the techs touches an area, that involves a $119 service charge per hour.  As the guy was answering my questions, I stayed busy adding up all the $119 charges.  Great Scott to Betsy!  Wish we knew something about electrical and plumbing issues. 

I saw a granddaddy long leg spider today which appeared to be an albino.  Either that or he spent some time in the bleach container. 

We'll be heading back to Camping World tomorrow as soon as we hear that Little Bit is ready to roll.  Then if we can scratch some gas money and camping fees together, we'll head out for some get-away time. 

I washed our sheets today so guess I better go make our bed or we'll be sleeping on the floor.  Life can be sooooo exciting!      
 

  

The Rain Barrel Is Full

So, what do you do when it's raining katz and dogz?  Well, you stay inside where it's dry!  In the meantime, we plan to hang out...and leave tomorrow.  Tomorrow...if the weather cooperates.  If not, we will leave Wednesday when the rain is supposed to be over for this general area.  There's no reason to get bent out of shape to have our plans change - schedules can be adapted, and life can be sweet around the next corner.  We might go to a different area though - like where the puddles aren't quite so deep. 

Dodging Puddles

Not sure about Sweetz and me leaving town tomorrow...the skies were overcast all day and looked a mite dreary every time I looked.  Told the SweetzMan that whatever we decided would be fine.  It's wonderful to be retired and able to change directions in mid-stream without a backward glance or second thoughts.

We went to church this morning and celebrated Mother's Day by taking mom to Ruby Tuesday.  Everything was nice and the staff worked extra hard to make it a pleasant experience for everyone.  We saw some people we knew and it was nice to meet and greet with them. 

After lunch I spent the afternoon at mom's house and it was nice to walk around her yard and enjoy the spring scents and sights.  After I got home, I sat on the front porch and read in a new book.  Hope it turns out better because thus far, it hasn't "bitten" me yet and I do love to feel the urge to read.  Oh well, I'll be patient a bit longer but after that --- I'll zip it back in the book bag and whizzzz on to another book - since I think I'm at the age where I can move past uninspiring books to the next book in my pile without feeling a bit of remorse.  I'm still in the "A" authors - and there are 25 letters after that! Not sure how long I'll keep the alphabetical order, but for now it works and so far I haven't chosen books I've already read. 

My friendly sinus "cold" has hung on - I'm thinking of opening the phone book and suggesting addresses for it to visit, but for now it's lingering on longer than I deem necessary.  Could be worse and for that I'm thankful.  Actually, it's more a nuisance than anything else and I believe I will look at that as a asset rather than a liability.  I do believe if we had some hot dry sunny days I'd feel better though. We just experienced a short drizzle - good to have the rain for the growing things but not the best choice for heading out of town.  Well, maybe we'll leave Tuesday.  For now...I think I'll go lie down and take a nap with Sweetz.  Shhhhh, don't let the door slam on your way out the door....

Hitch Itch

Since Sweetz and I are planning to head out Monday for a week of camping, today found me bright and early do a bit of planning and gathering.  Before anything headed back out to the camper, I wanted to do the necessary spring cleaning.  With such a small camper compared to a house, it should seem like a small job.  Thankfully, it doesn't require the time that cleaning a house does but still it's physical!  I cleaned and sprayed and wiped and scrubbed everything. 

Last winter we unpacked most of the interior to keep it inside the house...so today it was the day to replace all those supplies in a clean camper.  Most of everything is back in its place now.  I also aired out the camper and washed all the windows.   Yep, inside AND OUT!! 

We both have our piles of clothes and supplies fairly ready at this point and we transferred some of them over the afternoon.  Mostly what's left now is the food we'll be taking.  Easy peasy, right???Things should go smoothly now for pull-out Monday morning.  Mom is the overseer of the ranch in our absence and the neighbors have all been contacted to keep an eye on the place.

Last night I worked diligently on organizing my photos stored on several memory cards and then saving the folders of photos to CDs.  It took about four CDs and untold hours of time.  Now, that's a lot of photos...but after all, I snapped massive numbers of pictures during our trip to the beaches of North Carolina this past spring. And who wants to delete a perfectly good picture.  But I did...I couldn't save them all...With the advent of larger capacity memory cards comes the advent of the ability to procrastinate getting the photos saved to CDs.  Since I didn't finish the job last night before the sleepies arrived, I had to get up this morning and spend another hour or so before the job was complete. Whew!  OK, that job is done now and I have clean memory cards for all the pictures I could ever want to take.  REALLY????  And I promised myself that I won't wait so long to save the pictures to CDs EVER again. 

I received a box from a son and DIL in the mail today.  Inside was a musical card and a handmade necklace for Mother's Day.  It's gorgeous - and can't wait to wear it.  Sweetz and I will be taking mom out for lunch tomorrow and then she can open the gift I got her.  Lots of swopping going on...

Wohlfahrt Haus

Yesterday, mom and I went with a group from her church to the Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre in Wytheville, VA.  The charming theatre was the venue for a fabulous performance of the musical "Oklahoma".  George Bailey was awesome as he played the part of Judd Fry with a commanding voice that filled the theatre.  Brynna Horswell (Laurey) and Jonathan Roth (Curly) seemed so comfortable as the love-struck couple and also had fabulous singing voices.  Nyra Brannan was delightful as sassy Aunt Eller.  All the supporting players were great as well.  

The delicious chicken and ham lunch was served by the actors/actresses and was ever so delicious.  Our server was George Bailey who played Judd Fry who took care of us to perfection.  He left our table after checking to make sure we had everything we needed and in less than 3 minutes he was back on the stage in a different costume.  That was FAST!

It rained on the way and the mountain views were so beautiful as we drove past the gorgeous overlooks.  We had a talented driver who was both safe and efficient.  We had an enjoyable day and one I'll remember for a long time.  And I definitely want to return to see another play.  

Bird Lessons

It's primary day in our state so Sweetz and I are off in a bit to choose among the myriad of names on the ballot.  I printed off a sample ballot - now where did I put that!!!  Oh yeah, here it is.  I've done some research to help make my choices and I have notes next to most names.  Some I can automatically eliminate.  Some are going to be a close call.  There's an amendment proposal for recognizing marriage as being only with one man/one woman. Sometimes choices seem to be in the gray area, but there's no doubt how I will vote on this issue.

The bluebird babies have grown big enough to soon fly out of their birdhouse.  It's been really busy in that house for several weeks and I'm sure the parents will be relieved to have those little ones independent.  

In the past, I have seen a parent teaching their little one how to find bugs and worms.  They must have been doing that elsewhere because I haven't seen this demo this year.  But it's so cute.  Mom gets a bug and then eats it in front of the baby and baby is begging.  Mom continues to do this several times and baby is NOT happy being left out.  Occasionally, mom will get a bug and will feed the baby a piece of it as he hops noisily around the yard after her.  Then mom ignores the baby again for awhile and she again sporadically feeds him a morsel.  All this time she's demonstrating how to find bugs and he eventually kind of/sorta attempts to look for a bug himself. He knows it's soooo much easier for mom to do this. This scenario continues for hours and then FINALLY little blue figures it out. You KNOW mom is ecstatic with her little one learning to feeding himself! 

With the cats in this area, I'm not sure how she protects her little one from them, but they don't seem to bother mom and baby during this lesson.  I'd assume that the cats have had a few zoom and doom lessons from an irate mom and they've learned to steer clear...at least for this day.  But both the parents and the cats are diligently watching each other. 

I've developed a bad sore throat and I'm thinking it's going to be strep throat.  So, the good doc will see me later today.  And we'll vote while we're out.  And maybe we can catch a lunch somewhere.  And it's obvious that I need a haircut so I'll call Mrs. Scissorhands and see when she has an opening this week.  Yep, life in the fast lane....... 

Is It Strep?

Something's growing in my throat which is sore and now it's difficult to swallow.  Not a good sign.  I got out the salt and made a warm salt solution and decided to gargle.  In the bathroom.  And...it's after midnight...and I should be sleeping! 

There I am gargling - you know, head back sputtering away and...there's a spider on the bathroom ceiling above me just watching me.  Don't think I would have seen him if I hadn't been gargling with my head back. hehe Well, that entailed a chair and a fly swatter (had to look for it since it wasn't where it belonged...is it ever?) and a damp paper towel. Well, 3 min later he was toast - smash!!! never knew what hit him.  Time to chip another notch in the fly swatter handle! 

Tomorrow...well, it's actually later today is our state primary.  I've been researching the voting records and anything I can find on the internet to determine which candidates will get my vote.  Seems nearly an overwhelming process but one which I feel is imperative. Should have started sooner - all my fault.  And I'm retired, so what's my procrastination? 

Went to a funeral yesterday.  Another good lady gone from our presence but she's safe in heaven waiting for us.  Her husband survives her and he will have a difficult time - but the family is large and seems to go on and on.  Hope they take turns giving him their time and attention until he can resume life again, although it will be different.  It will be difficult - but with those grandbabies around him, he should be ok eventually.

Forget Plan A

After church we ate lunch with Pat and Wil at our favorite restaurant.  We're trying to eat healthier, so we all chose something either baked or broiled.  Sweetz and I shared a combo platter and there was plenty of food for both of us.  As we were leaving the restaurant, we headed out to our trunk to give Wil his birthday gift.

I spent this morning making homemade chocolate chip cookies for him.  What DO you give a guy who has everything...except for cookies?  He seemed to love them and thanked us several times.  While we were still sitting at the table, he had casually mentioned he's not much for sweets...and I had the sinking feeling I had made the wrong decision on a gift choice.  But he added that he would eat a piece at a time to stretch them out.  Whew, guess making cookies early this morning wasn't such a bad idea! 

Our original plan was to fill the basket with a container of strawberries from our garden, whipped topping, and little cakes so they could enjoy some strawberry shortcakes, BUT the plants decided they wouldn't produce enough to do that, so I had to scramble up the cookies this morning as my backup plan.

The mother of a friend died last week so we're meeting Pat and Wil at the funeral tomorrow.  Such a sad time for them right before Mother's Day.  I visited my mom this afternoon and woke her from her afternoon nap.  The TV was blaring and it took her forever to wake up.  Never will understand how she sleeps through all that racket.  

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Following our morning chores, Sweetz and I headed out the ballpark to see the little grands play baseball. Nathan played in the first game and even though the team lost 5-4, he still hustled at 3rd base, caught a fly to get a guy out, plus made a hit to bring a runner in. Good game, Nathan! 

We headed out to an Italian restaurant for a quick lunch between the boys' games and then returned to the field in order to watch Nolan play his game.  He was a great little batter, outfielder ...

and the cutest little catcher. Way to play, Nolan!

Even though the day was extra sunny and hot,

especially during the second game,

we claimed one spot in the shade next to the dugout. 

In order to keep things fair, we rotated seats after every ending.

It was fun and kept a different person

in the shade

as we played our Rotate The Seats game.

There was a professional photographer at the park taking pictures with two AWESOME cameras

with lenses that seemed to go on forever. 

Is there a pill for ENVY? 

A Little Ratty Around The Edges

Today was a dramatic day...Sweetz did not feel well.  It was touch and go there for awhile.  He's a major drama king when he's ill.  One day I may laugh about it, but not today.  Drugs are good when ordered by the doc and he's comfy now.  

Late this afternoon when things calmed down a bit and to have some freedom, I hopped on the mower and off I went to "get away" without going far.  It worked: I relaxed, I prayed, I pondered while I mowed most of the yard.  Well, mowed mostly the middle.  Ditches aren't my friend so I steered around those and getting the edges neat and tidy didn't happen today either.  That resulted in a botched-up job, but it'll grow again and I might or might not be the one cutting it.  It seemed like a decent job until I stopped and looked.  Certainly am glad I wasn't being graded on perfection. At least I know I'll never be able to open my own lawn care service.   

Our BR clock is on the blink.  Not that old either.  The time is off  somehow and it won't let me correct it.  So, I've set my cell phone to wake us at 7am.  We're to attend the grands' baseball games tomorrow morning.  That is, if the MainMan feels ok tomorrow. Guess I'll see about buying a new clock while we're out - I like the digital ones which lets me see what time it is in the dark.  Maybe I should buy one that plays lullabys...

Part-Time Pondering

I've been messing around today. A little of this and a lot of the other. No reading though. Nope, not one single page. Been having fun though. Talked to mom and she's doing ok at the lake.  Sweetz walked over to her house and got her mail. Good SIL. I was going to take my bike there and back but it is chained and I didn't have the key. Such is the way with excuses. Whatever works! Thought about walking - yep, just thought about it awhile. That thought quickly slithered away and I'm left with happiness and a Coke float. And some nuts. Need to do better and tomorrow sounds like a good day for that.  For tomorrow is always a new day. 

The sky looks like it will reward us with some sprinkles but it's had this look before and not received anything in the rain gauge so I'll keep my fingers crossed that today we will be rewarded. 

The grass wasn't mowed today - the Mister says tomorrow is the day.  The neighbor mowed hers today - and we must try to appear to keep up.   Do we have enough gas in the mower or container?  Not sure, that's a tomorrow kind of question too.  Enough pondering for today.  Life's too short to waste it on thankin' anyway.  Unless I'm thankin' about rain.  We could use some.   

No Apples at Applebee's

Sweetz was heading out of the driveway this morning when he noticed he had a flat tire.  Slam bang flat.  He pumped it up twice but it flattened out in just a few minutes so there was no way he was going anywhere.  He tried to get the tire off, but that's the one wheel that must have some ruined lug nuts or threads or something...(gal talking here) so he had to have the big guys with big tools to get it off.  I barely made it out the driveway in time to head to Martinsville (his van was blocking my exit). 


I picked up a friend at work today and off we went for lunch 'n chat at Applebee's. It was nice to get caught up with some of the news from her end of the clothesline. Since she hasn't seen me since my birthday, she brought it today...A HUGE bag of pistachios!  She knew me well enough to know that I'd love that. And I didn't waste much time after I returned home before I ripped into the bag either. Yummmmm, they were delicious. And lots more where they came from.

On my way home, I noticed this truck in front of me.  Had to giggle a little.  At least we know that this lawn service company's workers don't have to find "relief" in the bushes they are trimming! 

  
There were a few shops on my route today but nothing really excited me.  I did go in one shop to get a birthday card for a friend and also saw a fabric store that I've been meaning to check out.  They didn't have much that I wanted though...they nearly exclusively cater to the quilting crowd, with little stock for garment sewers. The ladies were very nice and let me wander while they occasionally checked on me to see if I was looking for something in particular. They didn't have the items I was looking for, but it was still interesting to see the shop.  They carry mostly cottons and a ton of fat quarters. The owner said they find it hard to sell garment fabrics so they quit carrying them.  

The temps got up into the "sizzle" range today.  Gracious, this is MAY for Pete's sake.  May...you know the month with a hint of hot temperatures to come!!  Maybe it will snow in August... 

Roasted Marshmallows

A stay-at-home day...not that I mind in the least.  Piddled here and there, accomplished little things.  Stripped our bed and washed the sheets and hung them outside on the clothesline for some fresh air.  Nothing smells quite as good as your head on a sun-dried pillowcase.

I've been thinking about how I can lose some more weight.  Wouldn't it be nice if there was a Skinny Pill?  Pop it in the morning and you would be skinny in 2 weeks.  Obviously, there's nothing like that in my future.  Once, many moons ago, I was skinny.  Yes...I was skinny.  Bean pole skinny and in those days, skinny was not "in".  Nothing looked good on me - but after "regular" clothes were the only choice and there was nothing geared to skinny.  But...flash forward a bunch of years and you get me at my present unflattering weight. 

Sounds like vegetarian would be good.  After all, meat products are full of calories.  Ummm, so that would mean that I could skip the meat and just go directly to the veggies.  And raw would be even better.  Such easy-sounding menu choices float through my brain.  Right. Guess I need to do some on-line research.

Sweetz and I had a camping prep session out at the firepit tonight.  The weather was beautiful, some clouds were meandering  overhead, and the birds were finishing their bug searches for the day.  Seemed like a firepit kind of evening.  I roasted marshmallows over the fire.  Nothing quite like watching the white fluff turn to golden brown over red hot coals.  Well, nothing much better than nibbling off that layer and putting it back over the coals for the next layer to roast into a beautiful brown. 

Mom is going with her friend to the lake tomorrow for a few days. Ruth has a pontoon boat, but not sure they will get out on the lake, but they might. I'm sure they will have fun whatever they do.  I understand we will experience some rather warm days the rest of the week.  Looks like summer weather will arrive and we'll say goodbye to the beautiful spring days we experienced.  We got another bowl of strawberries from our patch today and they were ever so good over the angel food cake.  There's just a couple of slices left and after that - looks like I will have to make another cake. 

We got our first spears of asparagus today.  They were skinnier than the store-bought ones, but just as tasty.  The plants aren't old enough to produce the chubby stalks yet but hopefully soon. In the meantime I can dream my legs will be asparagus thin if I eat enough of these spears...and leave the marshmallows alone.  Guess I could substitute something else on my marshmallow roasting prong.  Ummm, wonder how grilled strawberries would taste?