Burned Stuff

I burned papers I've kept out of regular trash. I'm happy to say I didn't set the yard on fire.

Not the Beach

I love the beach. This view from the back porch is peaceful and calm. But it isn't the beach.

New Kindle

My new kindle was perfect except I couldn't get to my ebooks. So I called and the guy said to hold the power button down for 40 seconds and then turn it on again. That fixed it.

Sky Sweat

I was weeding and tiny drops of moisture dropped on my arm. I told Larry and he said it is sky sweat. I've never heard of that. Maybe the crepe myrtle was leaking.

Nathan Lowell's Books

Audible has Quarter Share, Half Share, and Full Share available now. They were free on podio books, but I had trouble getting them downloaded onto my iPod. I could get them on my Kindle, but that was awkward. I'm glad they are becoming available on audible. 

Not Miserable

The computer repairman I use is tricky to find at work. He works alone and is sometimes making onsite repairs. So I sat with the phone hitting redial for a couple of hours. I made sure he was going to be in for a while and took my computer tower to him. He plugged it in, looked at what it did, went to his car and came back with a box containing a new graphics thing, installed it, and got it to working. I was amazed he didn't have to wait for a part to come and amazed I didn't have to wait for him to get to my problem. He also doesn't charge an arm and a leg. I encouraged him to take care of himself as I don't know anybody else I can trust my computer problems with. I've tried a nicer looking place but he didn't fix my computer. 

The other good thing was the air conditioner in my art room wouldn't come on. I asked Larry to look at it. He did what I'd already done and got the same results. Then he unplugged it and plugged it into another outlet. It worked. I guess I need to have that outlet replaced, but it was really great that the air conditioner worked.

New Lowell Book

Milk Run is Nathan Lowell's new book . I'm 35% into it and so far, I'm enjoying it.

Flowers

I've been trying to fix this flowerbed so I don't have to replant in order to have flowers. The idea sounds good but the things I've put out sometimes take over. So this stuff works because frost will kill them and next spring they will come up from seeds.

Miserable

My new monitor arrived today. My computer did the same colorful pattern. So now I have two monitors and no computer. Mama asked for an address but they are all on my computer. I will take it to a repairman next week. I hope o don't have to buy another one!😢

It's Not Fair?

This morning I listened to somebody explain that it wasn't fair that the deacons all turned out to vote for one of their fellow deacons who ran for mayor. She said separation of church and state should prevent it!

Ordinary Stuff

I like it better when I can see what Im typing . Oh,sideways works for that. My new monitor is supposed to arrive tomorrow. When things go along the same things are much simpler. Even getting something new doesn't exactly solve the problem. It makes different problems.

Figs

This kindle has a camera so I had to see if I could work it with my blog. I did OK but oddly enough centering text was trickier.

Where Did I Find It?

I still can't use my desktop computer. I hope it's the monitor. I tried two WalMart stores and then Amazon. Monday is the projected arrival date.

Just Checking

I've been unable to post from my kindle and unable to send email from it. So I got a new kindle and have been seeing if I could get it to work. I'm clumsy with it so far but it isn't the kindle .

Looking Is on my Diet

Today at the hospital the staff had a pot luck spread in the cafeteria. I looked at all the crock pots, casseroles, cakes and pies on display. One of them invited me to enjoy. I thanked her and said that looking at it is on my diet:) They really know how to eat there and are very friendly. It's a nice place to volunteer.

Monday Stuff

The garbage runs Monday afternoon so I try to empty all the garbage cans, toss anything from the refrigerator that can go, and then find more stuff to put in the trash to fill up the container. We have a large container and if all we put in it is our weekly trash, we fill it about a quarter full. So I look for things that just sit around. I saved coffee cans with their lids for a long time. So today I removed the lids and tossed the bottom parts. I kept thinking I'd come up with something to do with the cans. But nothing came to mind that I wanted to do with them, so I saved the lids for acrylic paints. I bought the little mixing trays one time, but I'd rather use the plastic lids and then toss them. So while looking for stuff to throw away, I found stuff to take to the basement. While there I needed to vacuum spider webs. 

Happily Monday is over for another week.

Day Without Rain

We've had so much rain the tomatoes and figs are splitting. Today we had low humidity and sunshine. It was 80 degrees but it felt wonderful. I don't object to rain at all so it isn't depressing to me...but since it wasn't humid today, I didn't object to sunshine:)

Noisy Vehicles

We live on a country road. It used to be that horse trailers and Amish buggies were the loudest things on our road. But recently noisy small vehicles roar past off and on all day. Several years ago when cars went by with their radios loud, they turned them down as they went by our house. I thought that was very polite. These little vehicles really have to be loud if they want the things to move...they sound like large, enthusiastic lawnmowers. The thing is, they don't seem to be very safe to me. I don't know that slower is safer on rural roads, but with deer, horses, cows, and other vehicles on the road, I don't think speed is helpful in avoiding unseen dangers.

Rude?

Sometimes I read posts from people who point out that somebody else is being hurtful and rude. The problem is that pointing that out makes that person hurtful and rude.

Figs, Pears, and Scuppernongs

The figs, pears, and scuppernongs are coming in now. The figs are probably about finished, and the pears are the first ones we've gotten. Several types of pears we've planted have gotten fire blight and had to be destroyed. This bartlett seems to be ok and actually produced pears this year. I'm not wild about bartlett pears. Maybe I'll try pickling some.

Fiasco

I made banana nut bread today. I did everything like the recipe called for. But I should have stuck a knife in to check to see if it was done. Didn't. I dumped it onto a wire rack. Then I plopped the goopy stuff back in and put it back in the oven. After baking it about twice as long as the recipe called for, the knife came out clean. This time the cake came out as it should have. It was good. Larry ate two large slices so it wasn't the disaster it first appeared.

Note to self: check to see if it's done before dumping it out!

Ice Cream Recipe

Larry got this ice cream recipe from a local radio station.

8 oz. heavy whipping cream

1 can eagle brand milk

vanilla to taste

Whip the cream until it peaks.

Put the mixer on slow and add the vanilla and eagle brand milk.

Put the mixer back on high and whip until it peaks. Put in the freezer.

The guy on the radio said it is supposed to make six servings but he eats it in two servings.

I made it today. It froze creamy and easy to spoon out. It has been in the freezer about half a day; it may be harder tomorrow. It is awfully sweet. I think I'll do it again except double the whipping cream. I might put a banana in, too.

Phone Prank

Kids used to make prank calls but I hadn't heard of any for a really long time...robo calls and scam calls aren't in the same category. Today a kid called and started with, "Hi, Grandma."

I don't have many grandkids and really, none of them sound hispanic. I didn't get the callback number or anything. I just hope they don't want to waste their time again.

New Blooms

 This is an althea, or rose of Sharon that a friend gave me a cutting to start. This is the first time it has bloomed. She said it would be a double pink. It is as pretty as she said and has buds all up the stem.

This is part of the monkey grass that has started to bloom.

Tomato and Mozzarella

 Mozzarella, tomato, salt, pepper and oregano microwaved until the cheese melts makes an easy, tasty snack. I saw the recipe on the Atkins site and decided to try it. It was so good I made another one and ate it, too. I don't think I've ever eaten two tomatoes on the same day. I even made sure I got every drop of the juice. It was Phase I on the Atkins site.

Am I Smiling?

I've tried to pay attention to which audible books make me smile. That way, I can listen to one of those when I'm trying to get to sleep. I don't know that it helps a lot, but I'm not hating being awake when I'm trying to get to sleep. I listened to a self-hypnosis sleep tape for a long time. It was helpful, but it didn't do anything magic and quick. So now I just put a peaceful story on to listen to.

More Tomatoes

Six more quarts of tomatoes joined the others in the pantry. This isn't all that tricky although I've been told by one woman that every time she cans tomatoes, they sour. I asked where she got her recipe, and she said from her mom. I think she just didn't want to can tomatoes, because a working recipe isn't a closely-held secret.

Tomatoes

We've canned twenty quarts of tomatoes and put eight meals in the freezer with tomatoes in the sauce. Picking the tomatoes isn't great, but we're keeping up with them. There are some tomatoes on the other porch.

IRS Scam

We received four robo calls claiming we have problems with the IRS. If the IRS wants a dialog, it doesn't begin with a robo call. I called the sheriff's department to see if they wanted the information on the recording and the call number. This is my next effort to let people know the scam is busy...four calls claiming to be the final notification?

Lucid Dreams

I've read about the joy of lucid dreams. Whoever thinks they are desirable obviously doesn't dream about dead family members, swollen insect bites, falling buildings, drowning, etc. If I had pleasant dreams, that would be different.

Not Eggplant

I put four tins of my eggplant stuff in the freezer but ran out of eggplant before I ran out of sauce and cheese. So today I cooked a box of high-fiber noodles and layered it all. The mozzarella and Parmesan cheese got very brown because I set the oven timer for the brownies I cooked at the same time. Larry said my concoction was good. I'm glad because I have more:) 

Still on Fargo Series

I'm still pretty pleased to have found this series by Clive Cussler. The main male character, Sam Fargo, reminds me of Macgyver, a television series from a long time ago. Macgyver could solve any problem with spit and string. Sam Fargo has an engineering background and uses unusual methods to solve problems. It is very entertaining.

In one of the books it mentions the Berlin Tiergarten and says it is an urban park. I looked it up because we went to the Berlin Tiergarten and it was a zoo. According to what I read when I looked it up, it's more than a zoo...as in large urban park. Who knew?

Eggplant

Today after volunteering, a friend and I hunted down a place that is supposed to have good meat. I bought ground chuck and ground round. Then I went to a different store for the cheeses. I used our tomatoes and garlic to make a red sauce. The eggplant is the bottom layer. When the sauce cools, I'll add cheese and freeze the four containers. I have more red sauce, but I used all but two of the eggplants. Larry wants those two for frying.

I think I'll make spaghetti for the rest of the red sauce.

I'm disappointed that the disposable tins aren't deeper. I'd like to have more layers.

Fargo Series

I'm enjoying the Fargo Series by Clive Cussler. It is a good adventure series set in modern times (including iphones and google). The main characters are a husband/wife team but no explicit sex scenes.

My Roomba

I replaced the battery but it didn't charge. It was showing a red color. After about three days I thought I'd have to take it apart and see if I had done anything wrong. I didn't see how I could have. I put the new one where the old one was. But when I turned it over I found a loose screw I'd evidently overlooked. When I tightened it up, it charged properly and then I was able to tell it to clean and it set off on it's way:)

Larry told me if I'd put it in wrong, it could have fried the new battery and the roomba, too. Thanks.

Clive Cussler Books

I read Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series for a long time. Recently the Issac Bell series was available on audible for sale price. I liked it enough to read the whole series. A few days ago the Clive Cussler Fargo series became available at Audible's sale price. I'm listening to the first one Spartan Gold and enjoying it. It's about a treasure-hunting couple, the Fargos. I'm pretty happy that I know I won't be listening to reruns for a while:)

Crepe Myrtles

I have pink, white, and red crepe myrtles on purpose. I have a lavender one that I don't know how it came to be in our yard. This color is my favorite.

Tire Garden Veggies

 I have strawberries in the tires, but they are finished producing so I planted vegetable seedlings back in May. They are doing quite well and it insures that I keep the tires watered. If I let the tires dry out, the strawberries will die. If something that wilts is in the tires, they remind me to water and fertilize.

Series

Series are annoying to read all at once because of the effort to supply information from past books. Also a series can have other characters in a book that then turn into a series separate from the original. 

Another Stormy Afternoon

We had a heat advisory until 8:00 PM today, but the temperature dropped when we had a thunderstorm with rain. That happened about when Larry planned to pick tomatoes. It is better to wait until evening when it is so hot, but not when it's storming. That means picking the tomatoes in the mud tomorrow, I guess.

Do You Know Who I Am?

I get this question every now and then. I always say that I don't. Mostly that's true. Children are in my classroom and then they aren't. I was an adult when they knew me and adults don't change all that much. But children go through puberty and change a lot.

But sometimes when they try to explain who they are, it's worse than that. I've had a couple of tall teenage boys tell me I taught a sister or brother. Well, that means that I saw them occasionally when they were in preschool or kindergarten or something...not memorable.

Today I got one of those questions. I don't remember ever seeing the kid, but I remember the brother when he was in the fourth grade...which means if it had been the brother, I wouldn't have recognized him, either.

Are You OK?

On my way home today I passed a young man sitting on his motorcycle in the road. It was a hot sunny spot so I backed up and yelled through the closed window asking if he was OK. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up so I continued on my way. My car stopped in the rain several years ago and four different people offered help.

Produce

I'm not usually a fan of garden stuff. Larry is, but he likes vegetables more than I do. But today I've had figs, cantaloupe, and watermelon from the garden. I also picked tomatoes, a cucumber, eggplant, and peppers. I planted the seeds for the tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and peppers, but I like the fruit better.

A Day of Rain

I like rain and thunderstorms. Nobody expects me to do anything outside, including me. I don't have to water anything except the porch flowers. Lazy day.