1) Four glorious days and nights of rain, off and on, enough to soak the ground, but not to get it ookey-muddy that I sink. Wish it did though. 2) We've been in a drought since 2011, not including the one year that the governor and experts said it was over. Really, though, we ought to go back to 2007. The experts said it was over in 2010. Ha!  Poor plants. 3) The experts predict that our part of the world should experience another exceptionally dry winter. I hope not. 4) From four days of collecting rain water and a couple of buckets of grey water from the kitchen, we have filled up a 30-gallon garbage can and a vintage metal milk churn (also called a milk can). Hurrah! 5) Yesterday, I got in a panic that the insurance company hadn't approved my upcoming knee surgery. Usually, it sends me a copy of any authorization it makes for me. Not seeing anything in my online account, I called the orthopedic center. The gatekeeper put me on hold to ask the nurse, returning to say the nurs

Meet Sweater Bear. And, his friends Pumpkie Bear and Pinky Bear. They’re all in their 40s and continue to give me comfort and joy.  The duct tape hat I entered into the county fair has been claimed by Sweater Bear who no longer feels naked. He has been without his white knit pullover sweater for a few years. It was taken off to be washed some time back, and well, no more, no more. Sweater Bear belonged to Mama. I bought him from a thrift shop and gave it to Mama. I figured, she like me, didn’t have a stuffed animal when she was a child. If she had, I’m sure I would’ve had one, too. Mama kept Sweater Bear on her prized bed that she rarely slept on.  I was in my late 20s when stuffed animals began finding their way into my home. Some I bought for myself. Others were gifted, and others had been  “trades” with with my nieces. Pinky Bear once belonged to the youngest niece. Oh, and I can’t forget those won in carnival games. Pumpkie Bear was a prize from the Circus Circus casino in Reno. I

(1) Let’s see, today, for our main meal the Husband and I ate a melange of five left over dishes from the last two days, or three. Or, four. Garbanzo butternut soup, couscous with chimichurri sauce, sauteed onion and squash, ground turkey   burgers, and roasted red and green peppers. The flavors blended quite well together, surprisingly and with great relief. We ate our portions all up. No leftovers, hurrah! (2) To go along with our meal I concocted an ooh-la-la drink. Passion fruit juice with a jigger of rum. Ooh la la! (3) The Husband and I toasted to the last day of our 25th year of marriage. Tomorrow: Hello 26th!  Clink, clink.   (4) Maybe next year we will be dancing with our friends and family to celebrate our 27th anniversary. I also would like us to throw a party for the septuagenarians among us. We shall see. (5) The last two weeks I’ve been working on my entries for the county fair. That’s some of the craft entries in the photo above.  (6) Yep, that’s a juicer. Good friend L.

(1) How hot is it? Well, the Husband is wearing a tank shirt and shorts and walking around the house barefoot. I pretty much do that every day, but not him. (2) It has been seven days of temperatures in the high 90s and triple digits! The iPad won’t charge any further than 80 percent when it’s this hot. If the weather guys are to believed, we’ll feel the last of 100+ degrees today. Knock on wood, cross my fingers. This excessive heat is uncommon for our area. I’m thankful it’s unaccompanied with oppressive humidity. (3) We’ve managed to get by without the the air conditioner or heading to a cooling center. Doing the old-fashioned practice of closing and opening curtains to the sun and staying inside have made it bearable. It also helps that we have a big shady tree in front and a bunch of fruit trees in the back.  (4) We’re one of the few homes that have mature trees on our street. I wouldn’t be surprised if some neighbors wished we’d remove our trees. Earlier this year, a neighbor sen

I like taking part in   Sunday Stealing every so often. This week, hostess Bev gives us questions that she found at Upstream Life.  1. Your favorite sport. To watch, none. To participate, bicycling and swimming. 2. A quote to live by. “Patience comes to those who wait,” quoteth Su-siee! Mac. I told the Husband that’s what I want on my gravestone.  3. A city in the U.S. you would like to move to. San Juan Bautista or Tres Pinos, two nearby towns. 4. 3 beautiful things in my life. The Husband’s love, my friendships, and our home. 5. What made you laugh today? The deer grazing in our backyard. It’s a  life-size (kinda) metal deer that I bought for 50 cents at a yard sale yesterday. Score! 6. A good deed you did today. The good deed I do everyday: Don’t take over the world. 7. Activities you like to do when you are bored. The usual—reading, painting, gardening, cleaning house, sewing, crafting, watching TV.  8. Are you a procrastinator?   I’m a big-time procrastinator.  9. Your thoughts a

1. I saw an ad this morning stating “Stay hydrated with custom drinkware!” Your name, a motto, or catch phrase in cutesy, swirly letters will get you to drink sufficient water everyday to keep from being horribly dehydrated.  2. Only 12 to 25 dollars, depending on the kind of drinkware. It reminded me of Mama saying “Those business people know what they are doing.” Followed by “They do not fool me.”  3. The Husband just read a headline aloud about the Texas legislature voting on secession. Go ahead, Texas. Be your own country. See how far you get on your own.  4.   Should Texas manage to separate itself from the Union, which is illegal and considered treason, with what countries would Texas align? Russia?  I read that Texas has the 10th largest economy in the world, even more than Russia.   5. Would there be an exodus of radical right to Texas?   Would an independent Texas go back to condoning slavery?  What would happen to Austen? 6. Yesterday evening and through most of the wee hours

Here's how it once was: When all I wanted to see was a blurry world, I took off my eyeglasses.  Here's how it is now: I put on my eyeglasses.  That's all I got today. For more photo collages by some cool bloggers, check out Mosaic Monday . 

1. It's a gorgeous day. What mischief can I do today? 2. The lower end of the front yard is looking like a meadow. The first poppy showed itself yesterday.   3. The tree is an ornamental pear. About 20 years old, more or less, it is. It sheds leaves like crazy throughout the year. The last two weeks it has been snowing white blossoms. 4. I'm 10 days into a detox diet for eczema. The regiment is not so bad. No dairy, no gluten, no sugar, no caffeine, no no Nanette. I look forward to adding foods back.  5. A few days ago I decided to stop using the immunosuppressant ointment a dermatologist prescribed couple years ago. I had used it sparingly so hopefully the withdrawal symptoms won't be terrible. You should've seen how horrible my face looked when I stopped topical steroids.  6. Molly the pinky-nosed (wilde) Cat came home to live with us nine years ago.  The girl loves to stop and smell the flowers. 7. A load of laundry is in the dryer.  The Husband just came back from

1. I hear rain beneath the jazz channel playing on the TV downstairs.  2. The ornamental pear tree is dancing with white flowers.  3. I had to give in this afternoon and change from shorts to long pants.   4. Jamie Raskin!  5. I'm verily impressed with the House Impeachment Managers. They delivered their points, facts, and proof succinctly, comprehensively, and in easy to understand terms. How well will Trump's lawyers convince us Trump's alternative facts are true?  6. Our doctor's office, a provider of the COVID-19 vaccine in our county, called an hour ago to say our age group is now up for the shots. The Husband and I have an appointment for next week.  7.  This morning, I drove around town with four huge bags of potting soil sitting in Eliza Does-a-lot's back seat. There used to be five, but the other day I asked the Husband to pull out a bag so I could plant the potatoes. We bought the soil on Monday.  8. I made broccoli and pine nuts mac & cheese for today

  The other day a friend asked me what was healing like after the hysterectomy I had a few years back. I was surprised that I couldn't recall anything other than what the doctors and the Husband told me. The Husband said that Dr. Gyn-Oncologist & Dr. Gynecologist marched into the waiting room with big smiles and triumph on their faces when all was said and done.  I do remember how anxious I got the next day of the surgery; if I didn't pee a certain amount by mid-afternoon, I was stuck in the hospital for another night. (Fortunately I met the deadline.) I also remember the day after I got home, a good friend brought me delicious homemade brownies, and a few days later I told another friend to leave because his negative beliefs about the world was bringing me down.  I recall now that the Husband and I slept downstairs in L Studio for about two months. I had to laugh that I couldn't remember my recovery period. Details may pop up later. Or not. Does it even matter

I was wondering why I like answering questions about myself and my thoughts and opinions. The analytical self answered that the questionnaires (fun or serious) help me clarify my beliefs, as well as reinforce my sense of being and my history. And, I sometimes remember cool, and the not so neat, things I'd forgotten. That said, here's a bunch of random questions from today's Sunday Stealing . 1. Can you eat with chopsticks? Yes. Sometimes when I want to slow my eating pace, I use chopsticks. Most times it works.  2. Could you tell real money from counterfeit? I can definitely tell the difference between real money and play money. 3. What do you think about school uniforms? I may have liked them when I was a kid because I wouldn't have to think about what to wear to school. Today, no opinion. 4. What ancient civilization would you most like to visit? I'd like to check out the ancient civilization of the Philippines, where most of my ancestors lived. 5. What would m

I've blocked myself, from writing that is. Put up a big old red stop sign, I did. Meanwhile. I decided to read our bookcase full of children's and young adult books that are mostly a combination of my collection and the Husband's mom's, who was a school librarian. Oohlala, n'cest pas? I've read six or seven middle school stories and two teen novels. The ones I read when I was a kid I still like.  One of these days, I might just write a post about that. The last several days has been nice, not so hot, not so cool, not so windy, and not so hazy, hurrah! So. I've been tootling around in the back yard, cleaning, trimming, planting, propagating, painting, and so forth and so on. It's good for my soul and body.  Last Saturday, we had a surprise visitor, for us and her. A sweet hummingbird flew into our house and proceeded to make her way up to our bedroom. It took about an hour, more or less, for her to tire out so that we could finally catch her and re

 It was a long wait at the ophthalmologist's office the other day because of an emergency, as well as the office being down one doctor. So the impatient ones in the waiting room snarled, fidgeted, and sighed. Me, I pulled out a receipt from my purse and doodled.

  I was so intensely busy the last two months that I'm finding it difficult switching into rest mode, or simply a slow-going pace. I feel like I ought to be doing something productive. Not doing big things such as repainting the garage door or writing my family history. No. It's more like the other day when I rolled up nearly a hundred bucks in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters or like today when I did an editing sample that was not requested.  If this is my rest mode, well, good for me. :-)

Happy Rosehips Hope all's well with each and every one of you.  It's nice to see you all again.  I've been in my cave figuring and writing serious stuff the past several weeks. I'm happy to say  I successfully made my deadline and I can rest easy for awhile. Now to turn to some things, including this blog. I'll be posting now and them, but not joining any of the usual cool linky parties for awhile. I'll do my best to visit though.  The next two weeks I'm putting my ducks in order (quack, quack) around the house so I can enjoy recovering from my cataract surgery. That's right, I'm finally getting my other eye done. Primary Doc convinced me it's safe to have the procedure done, and if, by surgery date, things have changed, it'll simply be postponed. Nothing lost. I look forward to seeing out of two eyes at the same time.  Until later.

1. Have you ever had a vacation ruined by the weather or did you just work around it? A change of weather is part of the adventure. My body still recalls the warm happy drenching from a passing rain cloud while waiting for a bus east of Waikiki. 2. What small changes do you feel people could make to give the planet a fighting chance against global warming? I would've thought after 50 years, we have this down: Plant trees and vegetation; purchase appliances, vehicles, and machinery that are environmentally friendly; conserve natural resources; recycle, reuse, repurpose. 3. Are you adversely affect by the weather, such as SAD? I'm not aware of anything.  4. How is the weather where you are and have you seen drastic changes in it during your life time? Dry. If it weren't for the coastal weather drifting through a low mountain range, probably 80s would be unbearable.  It rained more around here when I was a kid. I think the change in weather is mostly due to huma

Cheers to another year of celebrating the brave and bold actions of our country's founding fathers to sever ties with Great Britain!  Hope you all had a joyful and safe celebration. Until the fireworks started, we had a pleasant Fourth of July. Surprisingly, all was quiet with an occasional vroom of motorcycles in the distance.  Because of the pandemic, thousands of bikers haven't descended on our small community this Fourth of July for the sometimes annual biker rally commemorating the day bikers went wild downtown in 1947.  The actual bar in which a biker drove through still thrives today. The 1950s movie "The Wild One" with Marlon Brando is loosely based on the incident. Nightfall was a different story. It was a steady diet of  KAPOW, rat-a-tat-a-tat, pow-pow-pow, bang-bang-BANG, and long-whistle BOOM from 7:30 p.m. to nearly 12:30 a.m. I felt like we were on an island caught between two feuding factions. I do not want to imagine what a war z

Doing research is one of my stronger skills, and something I truly enjoy. Here are 13 questions I looked up recently on the Internet. 1. Will the Saharan Dust cloud reach California?  This annual dust storm crosses over the Atlantic Ocean to eventually cover the Southeast.  2. Are venial and mortal sins still a thing in the Catholic Church? Yup. 3. What can I substitute for buttermilk? One tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with enough milk to make one cup. 4.  What is the COVID19 count in my county? As of yesterday, July 1, we had 239 confirmed cases. More than two weeks ago, we were hovering around 136 cases. Some people say it's because the county has been testing more. I don't think so.    5. How do I use coffee as a fertilizer? Mix 1 cup of coffee ground in a gallon of water. You can also sprinkle the grounds into the soil around a plant.  6. What kind of lemon tree do we have?  Lisbon lemon tree. 7. What's a recipe for a one-layer chocolate cake

"Summertime and the livin' is easy. . ." So it was, at least, yesterday. We watched a Mama turkey and her two babies amble through a hole in a fence. Not ours, though I wouldn't have minded. A deer stood still in the middle of the country lane we traveled.  We sipped a sappy margarita that I concocted out of tequila, triple sec, lemonade, and guava juice. It tasted like cough syrup but we drank it anyway. Next time, I'll leave out the triple sec and lemonade and maybe I'll come up with a guava margarita. We sat outside in the late eve, the Husband, Missy Molly, and I. What pleasure! The Husband plucked a ripe apricot off the tree for us to share. Deep in flavor, the kind that makes your tummy sparkle and you sigh into a smile.  Figs! Charlie, short for Charlotte, has borne fruit, at least six of them! That's a first for the "Little Miss Figgy" dwarf tree that friends gave us in 2018. Bean vines are twirling their way up and a

1. Next month the U.S. Post Office will be selling forever stamps that celebrate Hip Hop. According to the USPS website, the sheet of stamps features rapping, break dancing, DJing, and graffiti art. I don't know what floors me more -- Hip Hop commemorative stamps or that the first kids into hip hop are now in their 40s and 50s? 2. Our local library has been closed since early March due to the coronavirus pandemic. This month, the librarians decided that we, patrons, can check out books online for pick up. The pick-up process today was easy-peasy, even though I forgot to bring my library card. Nine new books to entertain me. Yippieeee! 3. A few weeks ago, the Husband painted this headboard, full of delight and whimsy, perfect for the Banana Room, once known as the Shady Room. The banana plants look to be coming back, and the bamboo, gardenia, and wongo-wongo plants seem to relish their move there. I also replanted a camelia shrub by the headboard. Does that all s