Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
June 12, 2017
The flowers are all bought. My trunk and backseat floor were filled with plants. I needed to take out a second mortgage to pay for them, but I am pleased with all the different plants and their colors. The perennials will go out front, the herbs in the wooden deck boxes and the other plants in a variety of pots, mostly on the deck. I also bought one hanging plant for the deck. I am a sweaty mess from pushing the cart and wandering through the flower rows in the sun. I’m not a pretty sight.
One of the things I love about having the herbs in the deck boxes is going outside to snip the ones I need. I always feel a bit like Julia Childs as I snip a little basil, some rosemary, and a few chives.
It is really hot and is already 87˚, which will be the high for the day. It will get down to 66˚ tonight. My air conditioner is on, and the house is pleasant. I have to go out later, but I’m waiting until late afternoon hoping it will be a bit cooler.
I never used to mind the heat, but the older I get, the less tolerant I am of the heat and the cold. My furnace cranks all winter, and my central AC is on now. I have become a creature of comfort. I make no excuses. I think I deserve it.
My plastic flamingo and my Travelocity gnome are still here in their winter quarters. They will be the last two summer decorations to be placed outside. I do wish I had a small band to play John Phillip Sousa’s music as we march to the deck. The Stars and Stripes Forever would do just fine.
I’m still wishing I had a tree house in the backyard. It would be my summer vacation spot. I’d make sure Gracie could join me. The skylight would let the stars in. I could lie on my back and look for the constellations or watch the summer meteor showers. A small heater and an outside light would let me watch the snow fall. That would be glorious.
I do love summer on my deck. Soon enough it will be my favorite spot. We’ll have movie nights. We’ll eat barbecue and potato salad then much on popcorn and movie candy as we watch some great movies and some B science fiction films which always make us laugh. In winter I am a bit of a hermit. In summer I am the consummate hostess.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 87˚, AC, annuals, Barbecue, creature of comfort, deck boxes, flowers, furnace, garden, hanging plant, heat and cold, movie nights, perennials, plastic flamingo, salad, skylight, sweaty mess, Travelocity gnome, treehouse
Comments: 8 Comments
June 11, 2017
The heat is here. It is already 80˚ and it isn’t even noon. Just last week we were complaining about the cold, and now we’ve in the middle of our comeuppance, compliments of Mother Nature. The next two days will also be hot until Wednesday when the 60’s return so we can complain about the cold all over again.
The first thing I heard this morning when I was taking Gracie out was the sound of a bouncing ball. One of the kids down the street was shooting hoops. He was all by himself.
Every Sunday my neighbor barbecues. The meat is either chicken wings or kielbasa, which he buys at the Brazilian butcher. The kielbasa is delicious and quite different from the kielbasa the grocery store sells. My neighbor usually yells hello from his deck and invites me over. I always say no as Sunday is game night. I figure my next trip to Hyannis will include a stop at the Brazilian butcher.
Flowers are postponed until tomorrow. I’m going to stay home with Gracie. She ate yesterday and held it down but isn’t hungry today except for treats. I’m thinking she’s maybe taking me for a ride.
My grandnephew turned five yesterday. When he was asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said pan for gold. His mother, my niece, had no idea where that came from, maybe TV was her guess, but they did find a place, it is Colorado after all, which included a tour of the gold mine, panning in the river and then pizza at the restaurant. My sister, the grandmother, said it was the best time, and the pizza was to die for. Nobody found any gold.
I bought a variety pack of cereals the other day. I remembered them from when I was a kid. The boxes opened along the perforations on the top and then the box became a bowl. I always thought it was kind of neat.
I’ve dubbed today a lazy day. I’ll take my shower but that is the extent of my exertions. I’m thinking a nap. Sunday seems to lend itself to napping.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 80˚, Barbecue, comeuppance, flowers, Gracie, hot, kielbasa, Mother Nature, panning for gold, playing hoops, wings
Comments: 10 Comments
June 10, 2017
Summer has arrived. Today is already a lovely day with lots of sun giving lots of heat. It will be in the low 70’s here. This room is still dark and cool as the sun hasn’t yet worked its way around the house. I went out earlier and needed to turn on the car’s AC as Gracie was with me. I left it on when I stopped. She threw up all of yesterday’s food so I was hoping to find something to entice her. I bought a frozen dog treat but she didn’t want it. I gave it to the dog in the next car, and he licked every bit of it. I know she is hungry as she keeps checking her dish, but I can’t find anything she wants. The lady whose dog ate the frozen treat suggested tuna dog treats. I came home and checked the recipe on-line. I just have to go and buy the tuna. I’ll try anything.
It is a noisy Saturday. I can hear lawn mowers from all over the neighborhood, no kids though. I wonder where they are. I’m guessing baseball and t-ball.
A warm, summer Saturday is about the best of all days. It invites us outside to enjoy the weather. It is a day meant for sitting on the deck to enjoy the warmth tempered by a slight breeze. Inside the house can stay dusty, and the laundry can wait a day or two or even more. I know that from experience.
My deck is still closed. The furniture covers got soaked the other night so yesterday I emptied the water caught in the folds. The deck floor is covered with leaves and debris from that last storm. My factotum, Skip, is coming Monday. I have a long list for him to do. He has to clean out the shower as it is filled with the gnawed pieces of pinecones. I still see the spawn of Satan around that shower. He is in for a rude awakening.
The exterminator came back yesterday to plug the mouse holes around the foundation. He figured by now the mice would have moved to a more exalted place, and the cellar does have a peculiar odor. I’m thinking dead mice or decomp as they call it on TV.
I still have flowers to buy before Skip comes, at least the deck flowers. I always think flower shopping is about the best of all shopping sprees. I just can’t help myself and always load the cart. Flowers are intoxicating.
Categories: Musings
Tags: clean house, deck weather, dog treats, dog tuna brownies, lawnmowers, lovely day, no kids, pine cones, Saturday, spawn of satan, summer, sunny, to do list, warm
Comments: 6 Comments
June 9, 2017
Last night it rained. On my last Gracie trip to the yard, we both got wet. She shook it off. I changed my shirt.
I went to a Peace Corps event last night, a celebration of President Kennedy’s 100th birthday. It was held at the JFK Museum in Hyannis. Several countries were represented, but it was Ghana with the most attendees. We were asked to wear something from our country of service, and each of us Ghanaian RPCV’s wore Ghanaian cloths. After the museum event, we went out to dinner. It was a wonderful evening.
There are no strangers at Peace Corps events. We all share something remarkable in common and right away we start talking as friends. Where did you serve and when are always the first questions we ask each other. Serve is the key word for that’s how we all think of our experiences. All of us talk of our countries as home. That’s how Ghana has always felt to me.
Gracie ate nothing all day yesterday. That worried me as she is a chow hound. I tried chicken and rice, plain chicken, broth and an egg. Today she sniffed the food I offered so I figured she was hungry. We went to the dump this morning, and on the way home, I stopped and bought her a plain burger at Burger King. When we got home, I fed her a small piece. She ate it and the rest of the burger. I decided we’d go back for more burgers. I bought her two. She ate both burgers so I bought her two more. She ate those. I went to the store and bought hamburger to make for her dinner. I also bought myself a cinnamon bun. We both made out pretty well.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Ghana Peace Corps, JFK Museum Hyannis, Kennedy's 100 birthday, rain, RPCV
Comments: 4 Comments
June 8, 2017
Gracie and I had two visits to the vets yesterday. The first was to check on her legs which had splayed and caused her to go down on the floor. The vet figured it was due to her legs being stiff after she was sleeping on the couch was so long. She got two new medicines. The second was at 10:00. It was to the 24-hour vet where the entrance fee is $177.00. Gracie had spent the evening grazing in the backyard and had been sick twice. One of the new pills caused vomiting, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. We were alone at first then two other dog and their humans joined us. One of the dogs had been attacked by a coyote. He had teeth marks on his haunches and his tail. He was especially nervous, peed three times and lapped the floor. It took a while for the dog to calm down. The other dog had had surgery earlier in the day and was bleeding. The bleeding dog left first. He was okay. Gracie got an x-ray, an anti-nausea shot and an IV to help her rehydrate. She got another new pill. We got home at 1:45.
Here I am sitting inside on a lovely warm day, a sunny day no less, watching television. I am watching the Comey hearing. I think I’m hoping for a revelation similar to finding out about the existence of the recordings during the Watergate hearings. Comey’s facts and written recordings of his meetings with Trump are in contrast to Trumps’s memories. Comey is quite believable.
All of my close friends are around my age, maybe a few years older or a few years younger. That’s one thing we have in common, our ages. We grew up in small towns or in cities, both in this state and a few others. One of my friends went to the same college I did, but the others went all over the place. One of my friends dates back to high school. Two are my neighbors, and I worked with most of the rest except my high school friend’s wife and the two friends I met in Ghana. The biggest thing we share is our politics. None of us voted for Trump. As far as I know, we all voted for McGovern. Somewhere along the line, all of our experiences made us liberals. Maybe it was the 60’s or opposition to the war. Maybe it was fallout after Nixon, but I think it was well before Nixon. We were lucky enough to find each other and to become friends, kindred spirits, kindred souls. Sharing politics is just icing on the cake.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 24 hour care, anti-nausea, Comey hearing, friends, grazing, IV, liberal, McGovern, medicines, pills, Trump, veterinarian, written recordings, x-ray
Comments: 8 Comments
June 6, 2017
No, I haven’t been frozen solid despite the cold. I am huddled under my wonderfully warm afghan on the couch staying warm. The temperature is in the 40’s, more like early April than June, and it is, as usual, raining. Today’s lateness is due to my left eye having been lased this morning. My eye is wonky right now and feels as if the eyelid is at half mast though it isn’t.
Gracie woke me up at five. My alarm had been set for six so I stayed up and watched the local news and MSNBC. I’ve decided I need to vent my emotions by throwing soft stuff at my TV. A Republican representative just said that Trump has the best cabinet in the history of the United States. Where is a Nerf blaster when I need one?
I am begging off of today. I need another nap and my wonky eye needs a rest. I just eye-dropped it and now my world is hazy. Come to think of it, though, that may be just the world and not my eye.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 40 degrees, eye, eyeli, lased
Comments: 10 Comments
June 5, 2017
Last night was a long one. It rained the whole night. Gracie and I went out at about ten. I got a bit wet and so did she. I was still wide awake an hour or so later so I watched a Hallmark movie. Yes, it had a happy ending despite arson, theft and a murder. At one, after the movie, I roused Gracie to take her out again. She got to the door and backed away, but I was insistent. I should have paid more attention. It was a deluge, but she needed out for the night so I pushed her out the front door with me unhappily behind her. Though I ran as quickly into the house as I could, I got soaked anyway and so did she.
This morning at about eight, Gracie was restless, and she woke me up. We went outside. It was wet but not rainy. It was cold. We came back inside and I went back to bed, or back to couch to be more specific. I snuggled under the covers and the cozy warmth lulled me to sleep. Gracie joined me. I woke up at ten. Gracie was still asleep so I rousted her to get her outside. I led her to the yard then ran inside the house and made coffee. I read the papers and had two cups of coffee. It was a leisurely morning.
Rain is expected again today so the sky is mighty dark. What a surprise! I have some errands, and it is chilly enough for Gracie to come.
When I was a kid, rainy days always seemed different than other days. My classroom seemed quieter. The rustle of papers sounded loud. The rain on the windows caught my attention as the drops slid down the glass and disappeared. The day seemed longer. Lunch was inside, but we didn’t really care. The rain seemed to drain our energy.
In Ghana, I loved the rain. After the dry season ended, every rainstorm was a bit of a miracle. The brown turned green. The dust became soil. Trees sprouted leaves. The fallow fields came alive with the tiny shoots of corn and millet. Rivers sometimes overflowed their banks. I always felt the rain and never minded getting wet.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 1 AM, backyard, beck to sleep, bed, couch, deluge, dry season, Ghana, Hallmark, late night, poured outside, rainy day, rainy season, school, snuggling
Comments: 12 Comments
June 4, 2017
The morning has been quite exciting. Last week I put a mouse trap (a non-killing one) on the kitchen floor. Inside was a blob of peanut butter. I was hoping to catch the mouse which lives in the cabinet. Every day I’d check and find an empty trap. After a week, I left the trap on the floor but stopped checking. This morning I noticed mouse poop on the floor around the outside of the trap. Yup, I had caught a mouse, a small gray very upset field mouse. I took the trap for a ride and let the mouse go. I’m going to put the trap back just in case, but I do have a question. How is it a week after the exterminator came that a healthy mouse still sublets my kitchen?
I’m watching Reasonable Doubt on ID and chuckling. The two main investigators are front and center and the camera loves them. It pans to each face over and over as the two give knowing looks to each other as they listen to the father of the murderer describe the events. We get to watch them write in notebooks. They seem to use cursive. The father speaks English without an accent yet he is subtitled. The female lead, a former defense lawyer, uses her middle finger to make a point when tapping the table. We get to watch her finger. She taps quite well. The male lead, a former police officer, says axed instead of asked. He needs subtitles. “I have no dog in this fight,” is another comment of his. That’s a new one for me. Why am I still watching you wonder? I am hooked at how horrible this program is.
It did rain last night but not for long. Today is lovely. We’re back to sunny and warm. This weather has become a pattern. The sunny warm days give way to chilly nights. The house is colder than outside in the early morning. Sunny days and rainy nights come every couple of days. According to the weatherman, it could even rain tonight.
It’s game night. I’m bringing dessert, a tiramisu dip with lady fingers for dunking.
Categories: Musings
Tags: dessert, field mouse, ID TV, investigators, kitchen, mouse trap, peanut butter, rain, Reasonable Doubt, subtitles, sunny, tiramisu dip, warm
Comments: 15 Comments
June 3, 2017
I have no flowers yet. Yesterday was a bust. I didn’t even leave the house except to walk Gracie to the back gate a few times during the day and into the night. I just had no ambition. Some days I’m like that.
Today is sunny and warm, but there is a possibility of showers. It is in the mid 60’s now and may get as low as 51˚, normal spring time weather for New England. I’m happy with showers. They tend to come quickly and leave as quickly. Rain stays around.
All the rain has made for a lush, green world. My lawn has new grass in spots, Gracie squat spots. The rest of the lawn is filling in nicely, and every day new blooms open in the garden. I noticed some of the flowers have seeded themselves and are blooming in new spots. The irises have buds, large purple buds close to blooming. Every day a different delight in the garden catches my eye.
While I’ve been writing this, the sun has disappeared. Clouds have covered it, and I’m not so sure it will be back. The chance of showers is closer to a certainty.
The longer days confuse me. I’m surprised when I check the clock and find out it is still early afternoon but therein lies a problem. I’m a bit confused as to when early afternoon ends and late afternoon begins. I’m leaning toward 4 o’clock.
I’m having hot dogs for dinner tonight, but I’m skipping the beans and brown bread. I never did eat the beans, and I can’t remember when last I ate brown bread. Regardless, though, I’m still calling tonight’s supper a Saturday tradition.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 51˚, ambition, beans, brown bread, Clouds, early afternoon, flowers, green world, hot dogs, late afternoon, Lawn, lazy, new grass, rain, showers, staying home
Comments: 8 Comments
June 2, 2017
Yesterday stayed warm and beautiful. It didn’t even rain. I was outside reading for a while in the sun, and before I came inside, I emptied the water from the deck furniture covers so they’d dry and be ready to store for the summer. Today is just as lovely as yesterday, sunny and warm. The tiniest of breezes barely stirs the leaves. I have only one item on my to-do list: buy my garden and deck plants.
Gracie slept well last night. I didn’t. First off, she was snoring while I watched TV so I kept nudging her. She got annoyed and went to her crate where she fell asleep. I could hear her snoring from all the way down the hall. At 11:30, I turned off the TV and fell asleep. Around midnight, Gracie woke me up so we went outside. Other than my house, every other house on the street was lost in the darkness. The star on my fence was still lit and illuminated the way to the gate. After we came inside, Gracie got on the couch and fell asleep. I couldn’t get comfortable so I kept moving my feet hoping for a comfy spot. I didn’t find one: not on the floor, the table or the couch under the dog bed. Gracie slept while I tossed and turned. I’m tired. She’s sleeping again.
I wish I could make things, build stuff. I’d make some sort of ride for Gracie to go down the outside deck steps. It would be similar to those people chairs that go upstairs. Gracie would enjoy going and coming whenever the mood strikes her.
Today is national donut day. Dunkin’ Donuts will give out a free donut with each drink. My favorite is a butternut donut, but it goes fast. I sometimes have to make do with a Boston Cream. Make do and Boston cream seem incongruous.
Categories: Musings
Tags: couch, darkness, dog crate, lights, lovely day, national donut day, nighttime, outside, Sleep, Snoring, sunny, tossed and turned, uncomfortable, warm
Comments: 10 Comments
