Posted tagged ‘cloudy’
March 27, 2017
Today is chilly, damp and cloudy. Last night it rained, and the ground is still wet. More rain is expected today. My dance card is empty so I’m staying close to hearth and home. I’m declaring today a sloth day. It’s a sit on the couch, watch TV, and snack day. It is comfy clothes including a sweatshirt that has seen better days. It is not fit for public viewing.
It has been a quiet news day. The front page of the Globe had only a single Trump article, and it was at the bottom of the page: “Trump girds for tax fight and Prepares to reverse Obama climate plan.”
When I’d visit my mother, she and I had rituals. We’d sit for hours at the kitchen table playing Big Boggle. We’d order take out for dinner. She paid and I picked up. On Saturday, we did some shopping. Both she and I liked off-beat places, never a mall. Sometimes we’d venture afar. One Saturday we went as far as North Conway, and we shopped and had lunch. We were gone so long my father figured we were lost, wandering aimlessly from backroad to backroad. Little did he realize that my mother and I loved backroads, even when we had no idea where we’d end up. On Saturday night, depending on the season, my father barbecued. It was always a couple of different meats, chips, a potato salad or pepper and egg. Chinese sausage was the favorite meat one year, but my mother’s marinated steak tips were perennial favorites. On Sunday morning my dad went out early for donuts. He was a plain donut guy, and he spread butter on it. He’d then start cooking breakfast. It was always eggs, bacon and toast. The eggs were easy over and the bacon crispy. I’d sit at the kitchen table to keep him company Sometimes I was on toast duty. Sunday afternoons were for cribbage. When I won, it was the luck of the draw. When my dad won, it was expertise. I lived to skunk him.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bacon and eggs, Barbecue, Big Boggle, breakfast, Chinese sausage, cloudy, Cribbage, damp, donuts, North Conway, pepper and egg, pond, quiet news day, rainy, sloth day, Toast
Comments: 9 Comments
January 31, 2017
I walked out of the house to get the papers and was totally taken aback at how cold it was. It was sunny then but the sun was just a backdrop providing some light but no heat. Since then the sun has been replaced by whitish clouds. Snow will be coming later but only an inch or two. I’m staying home today where I’ll be warm and comfortable.
When I was a kid, winter usually meant staying inside after school. I’d do my homework and then watch TV. The only exercise I had was walking to and from school. We, the four of us, must have driven my mother crazy. My brother and I would tease our younger sisters. He and I would sit on the couch on each side of one sister and point at her. That drove her crazy and she’d yell to my mother about us. We’d yell back and say we weren’t even touching her, but my mother knew. She’d tell us to stop.
I didn’t my bike out much in the winter. Mostly I walked everywhere. Some Saturdays I’d ride with my father when he did his errands. My favorite stop was at the Chinaman’s as everyone in town called it. The shop was where my dad left his white shirts each week to be cleaned. Behind the counter on shelves were bundles of cleaned shirts wrapped in brown paper tied with string. The laundry was always steamy from the big ironing machine by the window. I used to watch the Chinaman iron.
On Sunday, if I was up and dressed early enough I could ride with my father to church. He was an usher at the eight o’clock mass. He’d give me a dime to put in the basket. I always sat in a pew where he collected the money. The ushers never sat. They just stood in the back entryway and talked in whispers until it was time for the money offerings.
One of the best parts of being retired is staying home on the coldest of days, a day like to day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Chinaman's, church', cloudy, cold morning, Laundry, Snow, staying inside, sun, teasing, white clouds, white shirts, winter
Comments: 10 Comments
December 10, 2016
The day is mostly cloudy with only a bit of blue. It is really cold. Last night was in the teens. Right now it’s 24˚. The weather will stay cold until Wednesday when we’ll be back to the 40’s. I’m going off Cape today to see the play Mame. My sister and I do a play then dinner every Christmas season. My mother started the tradition. One of the plays she took us to was Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy. It was superb but was the fodder for jokes about Christmas cheer and the season to be jolly. I love this tradition.
I wanted a band to greet me when I got home yesterday from my errands. The Christmas boxes are wending their way to Colorado, the trash is dumped, and the last present bought. I even stopped and picked up clam chowder for dinner. It was delicious.
Last night I made the fudge for my sister. It didn’t look right, but I put it in the fridge expecting it to harden. When I checked it later, it was soft. Around 1, before I went to bed, I checked it and it was still soft. I knew I did something wrong, a first for me with this fudge. I figured I’d make it this morning but then realized I wouldn’t have time. I made it last night. While stirring to the soft ball stage, I realized I had read the thermometer wrong on the first batch. A silly mistake! By the time I was finished making the fudge and cleaning the kitchen, it was close to 2, but I am glad I am not disappointing my sister. This batch hardened.My mother often forgot one of our presents hidden in the house. When we’d open the gifts on Christmas morning, she’d remember because it was missing. Sometime during the day, a brand new present would appear under the tree. I remember one year she forgot the ice skates she had bought me, not the white ones I already had but an antique pair with straps you attached right to your shoes and a single blade with a curl at the ends. She had tucked them behind my other presents as if I had overlooked them. I didn’t care. I liked the surprised of this really neat gift.
The sun is now out but the day isn’t any warmer. I’ll bundle up.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 24˚, clam chowder, cloudy, cold, dump, errands, forgotten present, fudge, ice skates, packages, second batch, trash
Comments: 13 Comments
December 8, 2016
I think the sun went on vacation. Yesterday it rained in the morning and stayed cloudy the whole day though it was warmer than I expected. Today is also drab and gray. I am so glad that I was out for quite a while on Tuesday, the first sunny day in a while. I took the highway down cape but came back Route 28. It was a beautiful ride. I passed the ocean a few times. It was low tide and the water was still. It had a grayish tone. I saw a wild turkey fly. I hadn’t ever seen one fly before. It took a lumbering leap into the air and over a fence. I wasn’t sure the turkey had the height but it did. When I was passing the cove, the only boats moored, other than a single sailboat, were fishing boats. Most needed paint and had nets and lobster traps on deck. They all looked weathered and old. In Chatham, the store where I wanted to shop was gone. It didn’t matter. I really enjoyed the ride.
Last night my house was aglow. The front fence has strands of colored lights. The gate has a huge white star on top with trails of white lights coming from it. The top of the fence to and from the star is also white. Beside the driveway, bare branches on a bush are covered in huge Christmas ornaments. A floodlight shines on them. My deck rail has strands of colored lights atop it. I added bows to the three wreaths, put balls of colored ornaments in the basket on the steps and put my old sled with my ice skates beside the step. When it got dark last night, I went outside and stood on the street to check out my house. It is beautiful.
I did what I thought was quite a bit of wrapping yesterday. Come to find out I have so much more. All of the gifts are now downstairs filling the den and the hall. Maddie, though, is complicating the process by lying on the paper. She looks so comfy I don’t want to disturb her. I’ll probably just use different paper.
Tomorrow I’ll get the tree, the highlight of my Christmas. I love to sit in the living room just to look at it. Its aroma fills the house. I have a couple of new ornaments from Ghana. They aren’t really ornaments, but they’re big, round and colorful. They’ll do just fine.
Categories: Musings
Tags: aglow, Chatham, Christmas lights, cloudy, dark, fishing boats, gray, ice skates, outside lights', ride, Route 28, school, Sled, star, still ocean, white lights, wild turkey, wrapping
Comments: 11 Comments
November 29, 2016
or mThere isn’t any sun again. I’ve lost track of how many days. I get up and see clouds out the window; I go to get the papers and feel the cold and damp. The wind is slight so that’s a good thing. Only the edges of the brown leaves flutter and none fall to the ground.
Gracie has a vet appointment at 12:00, an old dog appointment which just means a second physical to make sure all is well. She also needs one shot and to have her nails clipped. It will be expensive. It always is.
Maddie howled me awake this morning. It was late so she probably had lost her patience and wanted her treats and some loving, in that order. Now she is standing beside me getting her neck scratched, and she is purring. If I dare stop, she nudges me with her head.
The laundry is back downstairs in front of the cellar door. Last time it sat here nearly a week. I finally got sick of seeing it. I could have thrown it downstairs, but that would have been far too lazy even for me.
I went through all the catalogues I had yesterday only to get more in the mail. They are never ending.
When I woke up this morning, my first thought was how to fix the dog door. The plastic fell again. I’m thinking a plastic strip over the holes would keep the screws attached. The big holes would disappear. I think I have just what I need in the cellar. That is now today’s other chore. Changing the bed is tops on the list.
Winter makes me lazy. The summer invites me outside and the spring demands attention. Fall catches my eyes with all its color, and I don’t want to miss it. Those colors never last long enough. In winter I’d much rather stay home. Being outside has little appeal. I don’t have to get dressed but can stay in my laze around the house clothes. Any chores can keep. I figure if I dust, I’ll only have to dust again so why bother. The house is neat, and that’s enough.
Categories: Musings
Tags: breezy, cloudy, cold, damp, fall, howling, late start, Laundry, lazy, physical, shots, spring, summer, vets, winter
Comments: 8 Comments
November 25, 2016
Dinner was delicious yesterday, and I even brought home a doggy bag so they’ll be a dinner of leftovers this evening. The restaurant was bustling when we arrived but quieted down as we sat and dined.
The day is cloudy as it has been seemingly forever. I don’t remember the last time I saw the sun. The temperature has been in the high 40’s, but without the sun, it seems colder. The trees are bare with only a few brown leaves clinging to the ends of branches. Winter is coming with all its starkness.
Some houses have their outside colored lights lit, and I saw a few Christmas trees through living room windows as we drove home last night. One strand of lights on my deck rail comes on every night. It is my way to beat back the darkness, but within the next week or two, all my outside Christmas lights will be put up on the fence, the gate and the deck to brighten the night. I need to buy a few wreaths, one for the door, one for the front gate and one for the fence off the deck.
Gracie and Maddie are napping. Neither of them was good company last night. They had no problem sleeping the night away. Gracie woke me up this morning by tapping the mattress near my head with her paw. That dog has no patience. I, of course, got up to let her outside. I don’t toy with a dog needing out.
I will avoid going out today because of the shopping crowd and the uninviting weather. Tomorrow I’ll do some local shopping for small stocking type gifts. Sunday will be dump day. I didn’t get to sleep until after 3:30 this morning. I have no idea why this sudden insomnia. I entertained myself by watching the new Anne of Green Gables, Star Trek Deep Space Nine and by looking through catalogues and magazines. I cut out recipes and dog-eared pages with interesting stories. I found a few neat things to order. I like shopping in my comfy clothes from my warm house.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Anne of Green Gables, brown leaves, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, cloudy, dinner, insomnia, leftovers, napping, Shopping, stark, wreaths
Comments: 4 Comments
November 18, 2016
Today is cloudy and damp. The wind is blowing more leaves off the trees. The backyard has a layer of crusty brown leaves. Gracie makes noise when she walks around. The deck is covered again. Dismal is the best description of the weather.
I have a few errands today. Gracie is out of canned food, and I need bread. I’m also thinking I need a whoopie pie to chase away the clouds. Chocolate makes every day sunny.
My table is filled with catalogues with dog-eared pages. I am on the hunt for the last of my Christmas gifts. Now I am into the traditional. I need more ornaments as I give everyone a new ornament each year. That started when my nephews and niece were born. When they got married, they collected all their ornaments from my sister for their very first trees. Now I also buy ornaments for their kids and their husband and wives. Everyone also gets a bar of soap, not just any soap but soap with a bit of whimsy. I have bought lobsters, crabs, starfish, nutcrackers and, for the guys, soap on a rope. The kids get new books. I also hunt for fun gifts. My brother-in-law, the fisherman, is getting an antique drop line. I love to find stuff like that. It does take a bit of hunting, but the fun is in the hunt. Besides, I sometimes find a bauble for myself. Last night I tried to order gingerbread house kits. I started sending houses to be constructed when my oldest nephew was three.
Last night I tried to order gingerbread house kits, also traditional. I started sending houses to be constructed when my oldest nephew was three. I sent them every year after that. Now I send one to my nephew’s two children and my niece’s two. My two friends and I construct small ones on Christmas Eve, a newer tradition. I had trouble with the website so I called them last night. The owner happened to be there though the place was closed. He promised to call me back, and he did. This morning he found out the website stopped on the ordering page so he took my order over the phone. He was glad I had called him as they didn’t know about the problem.
I do have a great story about the finished house. One year my sister’s kids built theirs, and she warned them to keep their hands off it. Later she caught one of her kids licking the candy on the roof. His defense was he didn’t use his hands. He was right!
Categories: Musings
Tags: Chocolate, cloudy, damp, dropped leaves, errands, ornaments, soaps, traditions, whoopie pies, windy
Comments: 8 Comments
November 17, 2016
Maddie and Gracie are fast asleep; however, I am not. It is now almost 5 AM. I have been awake most of the night on and off. These animals are killing me. Maddie howled, but it sounded strange so I got out of bed and checked. She was just fine. By then it was close to one-thirty. I turned off the light and fell asleep. Gracie woke me up by moving around the bed. She was panting. I turned on the light to check on her. She came up to me and leaned against me. I patted her and her stub of a tail wagged, but she was still hovering and leaning. I got worried and decided to go downstairs with Gracie. It was about 3:30. I let her out. When she came in, she wanted a treat. I gave it to her then she got on the couch and went to sleep. She is even snoring. I’m exhausted.
Television is awful in the early morning. Not even Hallmark tempted me with its description of a runaway dog bringing two people together. I also had other choices like Bubble Boy which is not to be confused with The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and Delta Farce which is not to be confused with Delta Force. I must have gone up and down the channel numbers several times before I settled in at On Demand where I could choose the bad movies I wanted to watch.
Well, this paragraph is a continuation. I fell asleep around 6:30 despite how loudly Gracie was snoring. I tossed and turned several times as the couch, where I ended up, wasn’t comfortable. I woke up around 9:30 and hurried to make the coffee. I needed it in sort of a life’s blood kind of way.
Nothing of any import is on my dance card. I may do a bit of unnecessary but fun shopping. I definitely will take a nap.
Today is cloudy though the weather report said partly sunny. I guess I don’t live in the right part.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cloudy, couch, Hallmark, howling, insomnia, morning programs, On Demand, panting, sick dog, sleeping, sunny, Television, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
Comments: 10 Comments
November 7, 2016
Last night wasn’t restful for me or for Maddie and Gracie. Miss Maddie howled several times or many only a few. I lost track. I called her and make the lip sound cats seem to like so she’d stop for a while before the next howl. Gracie rolled out of bed to the floor, and I have an old, high bed. I heard her fall so I jumped off the bed toward her. She was scrambling and couldn’t seem to stand on her back legs. I thought she had injured them or her spine. I tried to lift her onto the bed but she was too heavy. I then put her front legs on the bed and lifted her back legs onto the bed. She looked dazed. I was already wondering how I’d get her to the car to go the vet’s when she turned in a circle and laid down. This morning she was fine. I figure she was slipping on the floor as she tried to get up and was a bit panicked by the fall. This morning all is well except they are sleeping, and I’m tired.
Yesterday afternoon there was a strong wind and last night it rained. More and more branches are empty. Wet leaves cover the ground, the deck and the lawn. Today is cold. The high will be 50˚. It is mostly cloudy with a bit of blue here and there. The sun comes and goes, but even when it is shining, it does little. The wind is strong. Today is the backside of fall.
With the election tomorrow, I am back to watching MSNBC and every now and then CNN. I am curious about the projections in the swing states. Trump has laid claim to the Hispanic vote in Florida. He has also criticized the language Beyoncé and Jay-Z used at a Clinton rally. He said maybe they were singing or maybe they were just talking. He didn’t know.
Trump is choosing his cabinet. I like oak or pine.
What to do today? I could buy some dog food at Agway, but that just isn’t enough to get me up and out. Maybe it is a good day to sort Christmas presents or maybe not. I have a couple of new books, but if I start one, that’s it for the day. They’d be nothing else. Nothing trumps the joy of a good book.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Beyoncé, cloudy, CNN, cold, election, falling out of bed, good morning, howling cat, Jay Z, panicked dog, wet, windy
Comments: 15 Comments
October 22, 2016
The clouds and the on again off again rain have put a damper on my day, literally and figuratively. I just can’t seem to scare up enough energy to do anything but sit and watch television; however, I’m watching Syfy, not MSNBC.
It is warm right now, but that will change. By the late afternoon, we’ll be down into the 40’s, sweatshirt weather. It will be autumnal (I love this word).
When I went to get the papers, I was struck by how quiet the morning was. There was no breeze to rustle the leaves, no one was outside and no cars traveled down the street. I stood outside for a bit.
This is my favorite season. I used to think the Cape didn’t have much color until my first autumn back from Africa when I found the color so beautiful, so bright with reds and yellows. I saw cranberry bogs filled with deep red, ripe berries and watched when they were harvested. Pumpkins and sheafs of wheat decorated front steps. Mums in autumn colors came alive in the gardens. I fell in love with fall.
I have a couple of errands to do today. Gracie will come along to keep me company. She loves rides. She stands on the console between the front seats and looks out the windshield. When we stop at lights, she sticks her head out the back window. I swear she smiles.
I am losing my mind. I bought a bag of anise bears. The other night I ate so many I decided to put the bag away to eliminate temptation. Last night, I went to get the bag. I couldn’t find it. I looked in all my usual hiding places and in some odd places like the fridge just in case. It seems I did a remarkable job at keeping temptation away. I never did find those anise bears.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 40's, anise bears, chilly day, cloudy, cranberries, fall, pumpkins, reds and yellows, Syfy, Television
Comments: 8 Comments
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