Posted tagged ‘rain’
July 8, 2017
Yesterday we had the mightiest of storms. Down cape got nearly five inches. We got three. Roads were flooded, cars were stuck and small rivers ran along the sides of the road. The rain came down in sheets. I could barely see beyond my window. Gracie wouldn’t go out. She didn’t even stick her nose out the front door. I, on the other hand, ran out to get a package left by the mailman. I got soaked. When I got inside, I checked the package. It wasn’t even mine.
The sun was shining when I woke up, but in the shortest time, it disappeared and clouds, instead, filled the sky. It is warm and still a bit humid. I’m hoping the sun will be back to dry the deck for movie night.
Gracie has returned to the couch for sleeping. I wake up several times trying to get comfortable. Gracie sleeps soundly. This morning at 4:30 I heard her panting so I took her, outside. We both easily fell back asleep.
I like living alone, but there are times when I need another person. The bulb over the sink is out, but I’m not climbing. I need to trip a fuse or two as some outlets are not working. I went down the cellar and tripped a few, but not the right ones. I need someone to yell, “All set!” But, instead, I’m stuck going up and down the stairs.
Angela Merkel gave Putin the best eye roll while he was talking, and she was listening. Merkel is amazing. She is assuming the mantle of western leadership vacated by the United States.
Man spreading was the topic of a couple of newspaper columns and on MSNBC. Trump is the king of man spreading. He is sitting as forward as he can on the white chair with his legs as far apart as he can manage. Putin too was man spreading, but he appeared more comfortable than Trump who kept looking around as if to figure out what to do next. Hand shaking seemed to be his fallback.
Today is dump day. I haven’t told Gracie yet. I’ll just surprise her.
The menu is set for tonight. We’ll have sausage, pepper and onion in rolls. I chose colorful peppers instead of the dull green. We have Chinese and Italian sausages. It’s like a festival of foods, seemingly common but not common.
Glory Be! The sun is back and has brought blue skies with it.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 3 inches, change bulbs, Clouds, eye roll, games, help, humid, Merkel, Package, rain, sheets of rain
Comments: 18 Comments
July 7, 2017
“Okay, I am in crisis mode as my laptop isn’t working. It stopped last night. Now it makes a noise and the battery isn’t recharging. The computer boots but I am warned about the low battery. I’m going to have to visit an Apple Store. I am using my iPad, and I hate it for typing. The keyboard is either too small or my fingers are too large.
Today is humid and chilly, the sort of chill that goes to the bone because of the dampness. It wasn’t raining when I went out with the dog, but as soon as we got outside, the rain started. Of course it did.
Last night the back outside lights didn’t come on. I have to check them, but I’m thinking the spawns ate them again. They ate red lights off the last sets so I’m wondering what color attracted them to this set. I swear the spawns who come here are crazy. There was the summer of the paint eating spawn who gnawed all the black paint off the chair arms. This one may be related.
The mouse trap is still vacant of any resident. It is filled with peanut butter. Either the mouse isn’t hungry or there are no more kitchen mice.
The summer has been uneventful. It is still early, I know, but nothing is planned. Last year I had Ghana ahead of me. That set the bar so very high that little will compete with the excitement and the countdown of the days watching the trip get closer and closer.
When I look at my pictures from Ghana, there is still a sense of amazement. I was in Africa. I wonder if my far younger me would believe I had lived there and it had an every day quality about it. I know I mention Ghana here often, but it is so much a part of whom I am I can’t help but write about it. It shines so brightly in my memory banks. The colors and sounds are so vivid. Going back has only intensified my feelings about Ghana and the wonderful Ghanaians.
I can only hear the rain.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Apple, computer, damp, Ghana, life, mouse trap, rain, rainy, summer
Comments: 22 Comments
June 24, 2017
The air is damp and chilly. The day is so dark that Gracie’s lights came on when she was in the backyard. There is a constant breeze which sometimes blows hard enough to be a wind. It is not an inviting day. The birds sang earlier, but they are gone now. Everything is quiet. Gracie is in her crate sleeping. Maddie is standing under the table lamp getting warm. Her fur is hot to the touch. Animals know how to tbe comfortable.
I have to get more dog food so I’ll be going out later. Other than that, my dance card is empty. I did my laundry yesterday, a huge accomplishment for me as I usually leave it in the hall long enough for the dirty clothes to double in number. I do admit, though, that the clean clothes didn’t make it upstairs yet. They’re on a living room chair. They’ll go up today, maybe.
I fell asleep early last night. The TV and all the lights were left on until about 1:30 when I woke up. I then took Gracie out to pee. I couldn’t even see the house next door in the deep darkness.
Oops, my lights just went out for a minute, long enough that I have to reset appliances and my cable box has to reboot. It has also started raining. At first it was a mist, but it’s now a heavy rain. I can hear it against the windows, and I can see a sheet of rain falling off the eaves outside my den window. The day has become even less inviting.
Last night I made a divine supper sandwich. I toasted English muffins, slathered them with guacamole and then added tomatoes, bacon, and eggs. Every bite was delicious though a bit messy. I blame that on the eggs.
I wonder how much longer the zombie fad will last. It took a while for the undead to take over from vampires, but they did, big time. I’m figuring animals, as in The Zoo, are the next threat to humanity’s survival, but, if that doesn’t work, we can always go back to hostile aliens. They never go out of style.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bacon, chilly, clean clothes, damp, dance card, dark, deep darkness, dog food, Eggs, electricity, guacamole, Laundry, rain, reboot cable, sandwich, supper, tomatoes, vampires, Wind, zombies
Comments: 17 Comments
June 23, 2017
Right now the day is beautiful with a breeze and sunny skies. The clouds will be intermittent, and there is a possibility of rain. I love days like this. The daytime is perfect, and it rains at night keeping the grass green and the flowers bright with color.
I have to go to Agway to pick up a flat of annuals. Four of the same plants in clay pots on the deck are dying. I also need dog and cat food and treats. I’m going to have to resist the temptation to buy more flowers.
Gracie has done well the last two days. She has eaten dog food and a whole bag of treats. She hasn’t had the dizziness and nausea of the previous three nights, and that is the best of all as she has slept through the night. I, however, am still exhausted. I don’t sleep deeply as I listen to check her breathing.
July is when all the hoopla begins here. The highways will have backups of cars trying to exit. The main roads will be filled with gawking tourists riding in slow motion so they don’t miss anything on either side of the road. It is even worse when it rains. I never leave the house in the summer on a rainy day because running into a traffic jam is cause for my swearing aloud and occasionally whacking the steering wheel.
I remember going to Islesboro, Maine one summer. We had to take the ferry as Islesboro is on an island. One day we went into nearest town, and my dad gave each of us some money to shop. I roamed through the store filled with postcards, individual inflatables, and all sorts of touristy kitsch. I ended up buying small dog magnets. One was white and the other black. They were both Scotties. I had them for years. They always reminded me of that vacation.
My deck is again a mess. It is covered in leaves and frass, the official name for caterpillar poop. I don’t even want to be out there under the trees, usually the perfect place as it is shady and gets any breeze. Now it also gets something else.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Agway, beautiful day, caterpillar poop, dog and cat food, feeling better, flat of flowers, flowers, frass, Gracie, main roads, rain, rainy day, tourists, traffic
Comments: 12 Comments
June 16, 2017
The weather is wonky. When I woke up, it was sunny. A little while later it got cloudy then it got sunny again. Now it is back to cloudy and is chilly and windy. It is 64˚ and the intermittent clouds foreshadow the rain predicted for later in the day.
The black and white science fiction movie I just finished watching was awful, which, as you know, is one of my favorite sorts to watch as I find the awfulness of the movie wonderfully entertaining. From Hell It Came was released in 1957. Doctors are on an island which is suffering from plague and is the site of fallout from a nearby nuclear blast. One native, the prince, Kimo, is accused of murdering his father the chief by Tano, the witch doctor, the real murderer; however, the real reason for the accusation is because Kimo befriended American doctors. Kimo is found guilty and is executed by having a knife driven into his heart. He is boxed and buried where there is radiation which transforms him into Tabanga, the walking tree stump with the perpetual scowl. He even develops legs. Tabanga seeks vengeance. He throws his unfaithful wife into quicksand. Tano decides to kill Tabanga and lures him, or it, into a pit which is set on fire; of course, Tabanga doesn’t die. His bark just takes on a charcoal complexion. I’m going to stop here as I don’t want to be a spoiler, but I will say the rest is perfectly awful.
I brought Gracie outside at 1 this morning. The darkness was almost impenetrable. The only sound was the jingle of Gracie’s tags as she walked. She stopped for a bit in the middle of the driveway and just listened. Hearing nothing, she moved to the gate, and I opened it to let her in the yard. I sat on the steps to the deck. She triggered the lights off the deck, and the yard was lit. I could hear her as she walked through the dead leaves on the ground. Finally, she was ready to go back inside the house. We went out again at 5:30. There was daylight, and there were birds singing. When we got back inside, we both slept until nine. She is sleeping again, and I’m thinking that’s one smart dog.
My mother and father were wonderful actors. They always acted surprised and thrilled by the gifts and cards we’d make for them. I remember popsicle stick creations like a coaster for under a drink, and I remember making a popsicle stick plaque and using macaroni letters on it to express my love. The letters were crooked and you could see all the glue holding them to the sticks, but it never mattered to my parents. They called it a work of art.
My dance card has been fairly empty, but I haven’t minded. I’m enjoying doing nothing. I’ve become quite good at it.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 1 AM, black and white, breezy, chilly, cloudy, darkness, From Hell It Came, homemade gifts, popsicle stick creations, quiet, rain, Science fiction, sunny, weather
Comments: 8 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 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
May 26, 2017
Okay, it’s raining yet again and is supposed to rain all day. I have to go out to do an errand, but I’m used to the rain, and I’m used to getting wet. The trips Gracie and I make to the backyard are despite the rain. As for me, I’d like a bit of sun.
I did it!! I finally did my laundry. The bag has been leaning against the cellar door for a week or more and was beginning to overflow. What forced the issue, though, was the need for undergarments. Already this morning, I’ve emptied the dryer of clothes from two weeks ago, have a load in the dryer and another in the washer. I’m expecting applause.
TCM has Creature Feature every Thursday and most films are old black and whites. The first film last night was Cosmic Monsters, released in 1957. According to Wikipedia, it was notably unsuccessful at the box office but became something of a cult film due to television. The special effects are forgettable. The monsters are giant insects from Planet X. I loved the shadow effect of their legs on the closed shade of the schoolhouse. The teacher screamed. Of course, she did. Right now I’m watching The Wasp Woman. I figure the title gives away the plot. She is injected with a wasp chemical and turns murderous, all in an attempt to look younger. I have one movie left to watch: The Killer Shrews.
The best thing about sleeping on the couch is I don’t have to make my bed. I fold the sheet and the afghan, put the pillows back on the couch, and I’m done.
This morning Maddie and Gracie drove me crazy. Maddie kept meowing and Gracie was just as restless. I fed both of them, gave each of them a treat, refreshed their water, patted the cat and took Gracie outside. Finally, they both went down for their morning naps. The house is quiet except for the background music from the Wasp Woman.
Peapod is coming tonight. My larder will be filled. Rejoice!
Categories: Musings
Tags: backyard, Cosmic Monsters, Creature Feature, getting wet, Laundry, Peapod, rain, TCM, The Wasp Woman, undergarm
Comments: 12 Comments
May 25, 2017
The weather is back to dark and damp and really chilly, down to the low 50’s. It is raining now and the rain isn’t going anywhere. It will stay rainy and raw through tomorrow and there may even be thunder. I really need a sweatshirt even in the house.
With all this rain, the grass seed on my lawn is sprouting. The green shoots of flowers have appeared in the front garden. Some have even bloomed into purple and white delicate flowers. I don’t know their names. I never do.
Next week I will purchase the herbs and flowers for my various gardens, pots and window boxes. I have a list of some flowers to buy, all perennials. I know which herbs as I buy the same ones each year, herbs I use in cooking. I love being able to go to the herb garden and snip what I need for dinner. Doing that always makes me feel like the consummate cook and gardener.
I just had my first sign of summer despite the cold and the rain. My guy came and turned on the irrigation and the outdoor shower. I figure it will be a long while before I’ll use the shower outside given the cold and especially because the shower area is a spawn of Satan hangout. It has a huge pile of stripped pine cones. They cover the floor and the bench. This is on my factotum’s to-do list.
Critter Control came yesterday. My cellar is inundated with mice, a few of which have made their way to this floor as well as to upstairs. One lives in a kitchen cabinet. The critter guy left food traps where the mice munch, eat their fill, leave the traps and shortly thereafter depart from this world. The cabinet mouse’s poop in the utensil drawer was the straw.
I did errands yesterday then rewarded myself with Chinese food for dinner. I got jumbo shrimp for a dual purpose. I ate some and shared pieces of the cooked batter with Gracie and some of the shrimp with the cat. I sneaked her pills into Gracie’s portion. She didn’t figure it out, and it was an easy way to give Gracie the pills. We’re having leftover Chinese for lunch today and I’ll trick Gracie again.
It was after midnight when I took Gracie out for the last time before bed. Every house was dark except mine. The house across the street had disappeared. Clouds hid the moon and the stars. I could barely see my driveway, but luckily my star and the white lights off the deck and fence still shined and lit the way to the backyard.
It’s time to finish. I’m getting hungry.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chinese food, critter traps, dark and damp, darkness, grass seed, herbs, irrigation, mice, new flowers, outdoor shower, perennials, pine cones, purple and white flowers, rain, spawn, white lights
Comments: 4 Comments
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