Posted tagged ‘Laundry’
July 19, 2016
The windows and doors were opened for about a half an hour. Gracie was restless and started panting. I decided it was time to turn on the air conditioner. Tonight is supposed to be cool so I’ll try to open the house then.
The laundry pile was getting higher and higher so I decide it was time to bring it down the cellar and throw it in the washing machine. The machine didn’t have a setting for mountainous so I went with heavy load.
My friend said she was divebombed by moths when she left the house. There are more flitting around than there were yesterday. My backyard has so many I dare not go on the deck. That B movie plot about Attack of the Gypsy Moths still sticks in my head.
When I was an English teacher, I bought all the guides to the books my kids were reading in class. When I assigned essays about theme or character, I found some students had copied directly from the guide books. I’d give those students an F and cite the page from which they lifted the material. I’d write plagiarized as the reason for the F. Enough said!
There is a nuisance of tourists. I haven’t seen so many in a long while. The license plates from all over are indicators that the economy is doing well. A long while back, when gas was rationed, the cape was almost clear of tourists. Now, trying to find a parking space takes patience, circling around and following people headed to their cars.
The rain missed us last night. There was a torrential rain and hail storm north of Boston. Trees fell and knocked down poles and electrical lines. Roads were closed. The wind took off roofs. I do not want such a dangerous storm, but I do want rain.
Fern goes for a follow-up at the vets today. I hate putting that poor kitty in the carry crate. She gets terrified. I’ll just have to talk to her and soothe her the whole trip. I do think the vet will be pleased with her progress.
Mac and cheese is on the menu for lunch. It is one of my all time favorite comfort foods, right behind meatloaf. Last night I had a crab and clam cake for dinner. I bought it at the fish market. I also bought some crab cakes for tonight. I’m loving my menus!
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, Attack of the moths, B-movie, gypsy moths, hot day, Laundry, no rain, nuisance of tourists, panting dog, plagiarized, vets
Comments: 16 Comments
July 18, 2016
The gypsy moths are everywhere. They are brown and small. They flit from spot to spot. When I opened the back door for Gracie to go out, there were three hanging around the screen, but they didn’t stay long. The males are hunting for a mate and are flying to find the females who are too heavy to fly. The female moths exist only to reproduce once with the male moths After they lay their eggs, moths of both sexes then die. I figure it is no wonder that they spend so much time flitting.
I am still in my house behind closed windows and doors with the AC at full blast. It is far too humid to be out. The forecast is for a heavy thunderstorm tonight. I am skeptical.
Going to the market is on my short to do list. I am out of bread and fruit. Watermelon is my favorite fruit right now. It is perfect for hot summer days. When I was a kid, my mother gave us slices. We had to eat it outside as watermelon slices are messy mostly because the rind always curved because the watermelon was oval. My cheeks got wet from the juice, and it often dripped down my arm. I read that the Japanese started growing square watermelons about ten years ago. I first I thought how strange they’d be then I realized the shape doesn’t matter. It’s the fruit inside. I also need bananas as I have a new box of Corn Flakes, a boring cereal which definitely needs a lot of help.
When I still worked, I had far less time but got everything done. On the weekend, I grocery shopped, went to the dump, did my laundry, changed my bed, watered the plants, prepared lessons and corrected papers. Now I am the queen of delay. When I do a single chore on any day, I feel accomplished. My laundry has been leaning against the cellar door for a few days. I don’t care. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a wash. But then again, maybe I won’t.
Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, chores, Corn Flakes, going outside, gypsy moths, humidity, juice down my arm, Laundry, moth eggs, reproduction, Shopping, watermelon
Comments: 15 Comments
June 5, 2016
The sun is toying with us. Yesterday it came back in the afternoon, and it was hot. I was delighted to see the sun after three or four days of clouds. Today, however, is sweatshirt cold. I had to close the windows. Bleak is the word which comes to mind.
The morning was leisurely. I woke up early but took my time as it doesn’t feel like a day for haste. I do have chores, always a list. I emptied the litter boxes and put them in the trunk for the dump run later in the week. I have yet to change my bed, do laundry and shower though laundry is a maybe. A nap is not a maybe.
The only occupant of this house not on some sort of medicine is Maddie. She is supposed to have some for her thyroid but she has proved far too elusive. Whatever hiding places she finds are perfect as I can’t find her. If I do happen to grab her, she runs away from me for a few days afterwards. Gracie is the easiest. I just drop a half pill in her food. Fern isn’t happy with her oral medicine, but I give it to her just before we go to bed. I figure she’ll get over it by morning. The ear medicine is just rubbed into the folds of her ear. She doesn’t mind that.
I want to come back as a cat. They are waited on hand and foot though it is really paw and paw. They have great fur to keep them warm, some of it in neat colors. They let you know how content the world is by purring. They sleep a lot in comfy places. They have varied diets of different kinds of canned meat and fish. What they don’t like is never served again. Mine, besides that can food, have dry food and treats. I think the only draw back to being a cat is self-cleaning. All that licking leads to fur balls.
Usually I have something to complain or whine about but I don’t today. I’m liking the day. Despite its bleakness, its coming rain storm and cold, it just feels right somehow.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bleak day, cats, cold, Laundry, leisurely day, medicines, nap, pet medicine
Comments: 17 Comments
May 2, 2016
All I can say is ditto about the weather. May has not had a glorious start. Usually by this time we’ve had a few warmish days, but this year the weather is slow to change. We seem to be stuck in the rain belt, but I’ll play Pollyanna’s glad game and say at least it’s not snow.
My dour mood is gone. I feel lighter somehow. I even started the laundry. Last week I went a total of 14 miles. Today I have stuff I want to do so the 14 miles will quickly be eclipsed.
My flamingo and my gnome are getting anxious. They are still here in their winter quarters and wonder when they can take up residence on the deck, their summer retreat. I wonder the same thing. The deck has to be stained, but the weather just doesn’t cooperate. I’m leaning toward staining in the fall. I’ll have to talk to Sebastian, my neighbor and landscaper, about the possibility of waiting.
I don’t have an electric can opener. I don’t want one. Mine died a few years back, and I chose not to replace it. When I lived in Ghana, I realized how easy it was to get used to not having. Everything was done by hand. I had no machines to make life easier. After a short while, I didn’t care. It was there I learned to cook and bake. I also learned how to pick a really meaty chicken, good eggs, fresh tomatoes and recently cut meat. They were necessary skills for market shopping in Bolga.
Fast forward 40+ years, and my kitchen is a marvel of appliances and machinery. I have two food processors of different sizes, a blender, an electric mixer, coffee grinder, toaster and one of those immersion type things you put in soup to puree the ingredients. All of them have been put to good use. They are time and energy savers, but sometimes I don’t choose to use them.
I grab my cutting board, a good knife for chopping and bags for finished vegetables. I sit in the den, with the TV on and cut and chop. It helps my back not to be standing, and I’m reminded that I can do without. I enjoy the cutting and chopping in the same way I enjoy washing the dishes rather than using the dish washer. I ponder the world when doing what are essentially mindless tasks though I am careful with the knife. I let my mind wander anywhere and just follow along. I’ve never forgotten the value of washing dishes by hand. It is one of the best lessons I learned in Ghana.
Categories: Musings
Tags: appliances, deck staining, dour mood, electric can opener., flamingo and gnome, food processors, grey day, immersion blenders, Laundry, rainy, taking a drive
Comments: 4 Comments
April 19, 2016
Today’s musing will be quick. I’ve been in the house so long I need to be dusted. As for the cats and their medicines, Fern is cooperating but Maddie is not. The last I saw of Maddie this morning was a black flash with medicine on her back fur, not rubbed into her ears. She ran upstairs and I have no idea where she is. I need a new strategy as this one is clearly not working. I need two of me, one to corner her and the other to medicate. I am determined to get her sometime today. “Got her, Jim.” (kudos if you can place that quote)
The sun just came out so I’m feeling a bit better about the day. I’ve been staying in lately because of my back, but I have to go out for some prescriptions, one for me and one for the dog, and I need a few groceries and new library books.
Nothing much has been happening in my world of late. I was out for a bit on the deck yesterday, finished my laundry, attached the dog’s license to her collar, read a bit and took a nap. I’d be hard-pressed to decide the highlight of the day but I’m leaning toward the nap.
I am not often bored. I’ve taken days off from doing anything but on purpose, not for want of something to do. I know there are things around the house I could do, but not one of them entices me. Seriously, cleaning out a cabinet doesn’t get my heels clicking in the air as part of a joyous dance. The dust under my bed has lived there so long I think it now has resident’s status. I do need a new bathmat for the inside of the tub. I can just imagine myself standing at the mats oohing and ahing. Okay, that is a totally wrong picture. Shopping for mats is a necessity. Real shopping is an extra curricular.
By now you have an idea of my moods. Sarcasm and self-pity seem to be chief among them. I need to get out, to see people, to smell fresh air and to buy something cheap and silly just for the laugh. I need the laugh.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bored, boring, cat medicine, clicking my heels, dancing, dog doses, dusting under the bed, Laundry, nothing to do
Comments: 10 Comments
March 29, 2016
It is a lovely morning, totally unlike yesterday with the monsoons. The sun is shining so brightly you have to squint from the glare. The blue sky looks unreal, as if it were painted in broad strokes. A remnant of last night’s heavy winds still blows bending and swaying the pine trees in the backyard.
I know spring is here as I can hear a blower being used to clean the yard next door. The season of machines has begun.
I have nothing I need to do today. The laundry has made it to this floor from upstairs and, according to my usual pattern, tomorrow the laundry will get downstairs to the washing machine. Once washed, it will sit in the dryer awhile.
Easter was wonderful. We sat on the porch where all you can see from the windows is the ocean. I wore a flowered dress and my Easter fascinator which is a small white hat with flowers and colorful feathers standing tall from the back. It raised quite a stir. As I was standing waiting for my table, I had to laugh when people noticed my fascinator as I could see their eyes moving right up to my hat. After we sat down, I saw a table across the room pointing at me. I waved. They waved back and mouthed that they loved my hat. I got a few thumbs up from them. People walking by stopped at our table to compliment my hat. Another table of women waved, smiled and pointed. My favorites were two young boys both of whom said they liked my hat, “Great hat,” was one of the comments. That hat turned into quite the conversation piece. I wore it the whole meal.
Dinner was delicious. I had an odd choice for me: carbonara. It had the usual pancetta and cheese as well as peas and crabmeat. It was rigatoni rather than the usual spaghetti. I had two drinks and for the life of me can’t remember what they were. They were strong. That much I remember. I had a coconut coffee after dinner. It was scrumptious. I think the rum helped.
When I got home, I took a wee bit of a nap, about an hour. That’s all I needed. I was totally refreshed and even managed to eat a little bit of the chocolate from the Easter Bunny.
We have best of all Easters filled as it is with good friends, lots of laughter and wonderful traditions, some old and some very new.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blower, blue skies, Easter, fascinator, Laundry, lazy day, lovely morning, machines, spring, swaying pine trees, winds
Comments: 14 Comments
October 29, 2015
Some days just don’t have a chance. Today is already one of them. I woke up with my back hurting, something which hasn’t happened in a while. I know why. Yesterday I was an idiot. I changed the litter boxes and hauled the heavy, used litter downstairs then to the car. I brought laundry up two flights. I went shopping and brought in several bags including new litter which I then hauled upstairs. I gave my back no thought. This morning I was reminded.
Now for today’s fiascos: I was putting on my sweatshirt and my arm knocked over the bag of dog treats. I picked up the treats and swept the small pieces. I decided to take a few Aleve’s for my back. I dropped the bottle on the floor and had to stoop to pick up the pills which were strewn across the bathroom floor. I went to change the water in the dog dish and found one of the cats had thrown up in it. At least her aim was good. I got my coffee and was walking down the hall juggling the cup with the mail and the newspapers. Yup, I spilled the coffee but not all of it, a good omen I figured. I cleaned it up and was finally able to sit and read the papers. There was no good news.
It rained all night. The fallen leaves are plastered to the deck, the walkway and the driveway. From the right viewpoint, they look like a painting of reds and yellows scattered here and there on the canvas. It is warm and the sun has just appeared. I am becoming optimistic, even rosy, about the prospects of the rest of the day.
I had plans for today, but they are now scrapped. The dump will be there tomorrow. Low lights will hide the dust on the bookcases and the shelves. I’m thinking I need a sloth day, maybe even a ride to nowhere.
The last three days have been filled with chores and errands, with me making up for lost time from being sick. I’m done with that. I’m going to brush my teeth which is about as strenuous an activity as I’ll have today.
Categories: Musings
Tags: autumn, dump, fallen leaves, hurting back, idiot, kitty litter, Laundry, making a mess, painting, plans, rain, sloths, spilling treats, spillingpills, throwing up
Comments: 8 Comments
September 1, 2015
It will be warm and humid today, no surprise there, but the morning is still cool. It has become a ritual of sorts for me to open the doors and windows in the morning then close them to the heat of the afternoon when I turn on the AC. It is nap time for all the animals. Fern sleeps in the sun streaming through the front door while Gracie and Maddie are comfortable on the couch.
The day is pretty quiet right now. The birds aren’t singing, the leaves aren’t blowing and none of the kids from down the street are outside playing or riding their bikes. Today is their last day of summer. School starts tomorrow. Tonight will be bath night and then early to bed.
The first load of laundry is done and needs to go into the dryer. I gave in finally.
When I was a kid, the washing machine was in the cellar right next to the deep sink. It was a white wringer, the same as everyone else’s washing machine. My mother did several loads a week of laundry. It was a process. The clothes were spun in the soapy water in the barrel-like part by the agitator and then my mother put the clothes through the wringer, sometimes twice, to get rid of the excess water. Finally the clothes went hung to dry on the outside lines no matter the season. I used to like to watch my mother wring the clothes. Our machine was electric so she just fed the clothes to the rollers. I had a déjà vu moment when I first made pasta. My mother and her washing machine jumped into my head when I put the dough through the rollers. It was the same process. You even had to dry the dough.
I have it easy and I still procrastinate.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Accra, agitator, Laundry, making pasta, rolling dough, school starts, warm and humid, Washing machine, wringer machine
Comments: 6 Comments
August 7, 2015
Today is truly another day in paradise. The weather is sunny, dry and in the high 70’s. The breeze, coming from the north, is cooling. It ruffles leaves and sways the smaller branches. It is nap time here. Fern, Maddie and Gracie are sleeping. The cats are each on a different couch and Gracie is snoozing in her crate. I can hear her snoring. I’m thinking an afternoon nap might be just the thing.
The Globe gave me a few chuckles this morning. A video, part of the robbery at the Gardiner Museum, has been released. From the night before the heist, it is possibly a dress rehearsal for the real event the next night. It shows Guard Richard Abath opening a door to let the man inside the museum. The next night it was Abath who opened the door to two men dressed as police officers who went inside, subdued Abath and tied him up. There are other issues connected to Abath, but my chuckle came from a man who was a student with Abath back in the day. The man, Knight, called Abath “a very nice guy, very intelligent, very well-read.” Knight recalled Abath said it was an honest mistake letting in the men posing as officers. Knight went on to say, “I hoped he was not involved in this. It would certainly cast him in a different light if in fact he was proven beyond a reasonable doubt he was guilty. That would alter, in my mind, his overall character significantly.” Do you think?
Another article described the top Argentinian officials facing charges in a 1994 bombing. “On a day of heavy rain, several of the 13 men were ushered into court…”I have no idea why we needed to know it was raining, but once we did I wanted more. Did they wear raincoats, use newspapers to cover their heads or have umbrellas? I want the full story!!
My favorite of all is the SJC (the state’s Supreme Judicial Court) has tossed out a law which made it illegal to lie in political campaign material calling it “inconsistent with the fundamental right of free speech.” The court explained, “Citizenry, not the government, should be the monitor of falseness in the political arena.” So what happens when your opponent fills the air waves with lies about you? According to Justice Cordy,”That solution is counter speech.” In other words, tell your own lies. Let the people figure it out the truth on their own. How scary is that?
Categories: Musings
Tags: a day of heavy rain, beautiful day, Boston Globe, cool breeze, counter-speech, full story, Gardiner heist, Laundry, let the people decide, napping, Richard Abath, SJC, Snoring, top Argentinian officials facing charges
Comments: 12 Comments
July 11, 2015
The day is another beauty with sun, a blue sky and no humidity. The house is cool. The weather in the paper said we’d have low 80’s today and mid 60’s tonight, perfect for sleeping. This is summer at its best.
I have lots of household chores today and I have a list. I always have a list. Even when I had a good memory, I had a list. It is in no particular order and nothing is too strenuous. Doing the laundry is the most energy-consuming task.
The Great Whites are back in Chatham. One which was tagged in the past was the first to return. It seems even sharks can’t pass up a free lunch. The seals sunbathe on the rocks unaware of what lurks below the surface where the sharks wait patiently. People are a bit more leery this year given all the attacks off the coast in North Carolina. That they are not our Great Whites is a bit of comfort.
When I was a kid, my life was filled with demands. Brush your teeth. Wash your hands before dinner. Wipe your feet on the outside mat. Hang your coat in the closet, not on the chair. Put your schoolbag away. Go upstairs and change into play clothes. Finish your homework. Don’t sit so close to the TV or you’ll go blind. Leave your sisters alone. Don’t slam the door. Go outside and play until I call you for dinner. Don’t stand looking with the refrigerator door open. No cookies before dinner. Eat all your vegetables. Get ready for bed.
I suppose my mother chatted with us in-between, but I don’t remember. Every day she pretty much made the same demands because we generally ignored them, and none of her demands stuck with us in anticipation of the next day when they began all over again with something about teeth.
I was a master at not hearing my mother. When she spouted her daily demands, the words all ran together, and I understood nothing. It was as if she was speaking in a foreign tongue. I’d nod my head pretending I was listening. When I was reading, I didn’t hear her at all as I was totally immersed in the book. She never really believed me and thought I was ignoring her on purpose. She’d ask if I had heard her, and I’d truthfully answer no. That was the wrong answer. The truth sometimes is.
When I got a bit older, sarcasm just flew out of my mouth unfettered, uncensored. My mother would go wild. I didn’t blame her as I had become a bit of a wise ass.
Categories: Musings
Tags: beautiful day, Brush your teeth. Wash your hands before dinner. Wipe your feet on the outside mat. Hang your coat in the closet, cool house, demands, Great Whites, Laundry, list of chores, listening, no humidity, not on the chair. Put your schoolbag away. Go upstairs and change into play clothes. Finish your homework. Don’t sit so close to the TV or you’ll go blind. Leave your sisters alone. Don’t slam t, wise ass
Comments: 14 Comments
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