Hearing Aid

We had an appointment today to have Larry's hearing evaluated. It was very interesting. Part of the test was about how many decibels were needed for him to hear words and part was about how the brain processed what he heard. He ordered a set which will arrive in a couple of weeks.

Mimosas

I like Mimosa trees with their pink flowers. But they seed freely and I spend time every year trying to keep the seedlings out of my flower beds. Today I spent time getting some out of my tire garden. If I don't get them out of my rose strip soon, I'm going to need a chain saw.

Lower Humidity

Today was very pleasant because of the lower humidity as well as the lower temperature. My car has stopped making odd noises (thanks E.G.), and he came out to look at our pump. We will be getting a new tank next week.

Wheels to Heels

I took my car to E.G.,s this morning for a little work. It was Larry's turn to sleep so I walked home, about an hour. Walking as a form of transportation isn't the same as recreational walking or even fitness walking.

Dirt Daubers

I haven't gotten rid of it yet because they eat spiders.

Poaching Trials

The directions for poaching an egg in the microwave said one minute. It looked odd so I did it another thirty seconds. It was harder than I liked. Today I nuked it for seventy seconds. I guess tomorrow I'll go for one minute.

Insulation and Fan

The outside temperature was 98 degrees in the shade and 71 degrees inside with the air conditioner off but a box fan costing about $20 on. Trying to keep the power bill down without being miserable is my goal. We run the air conditioner at night because it cuts down on humidity as well as keeping the house at a comfortable temperature.

Insulation

The weather station showed 96 outside and 76 inside. The air conditioner wasn't on so the 20 degrees difference was due to insulation. It took a while for me to figure out that opening the windows isn't helpful when it's so hot outside.

Figs

Our fig started producing for the season.  Too bad they aren't low carb!

Air Conditioner

My car air conditioner was reminding me of a sauna. Larry had seen a commercial for AC Pro on television and suggested I get it. The place I went to said freon would be cheaper and he put some in for me. On the way home a belt was squealing about every ten seconds and it wasn't cooler. I stopped when I got to E.G.'s and told him my sad story. He said the compressor was overloaded. He bled some freon off while it was connected to something. As he did it, the air started cooling off. It remained cool as I drove home and the squealing was gone. I hope it still works tomorrow.

I bought a dozen gallon containers of distilled water. My plan is to burn holes in then and put liquid fertilizer in for setting around my roses. I tried one and didn't have a lot of luck. I need a different nozzle for the hose. The water was draining almost as fast as I could fill the container.

Easy Breakfast

I decided on eggs Benedict for today's brunch. I used half an English muffin, two slices of deli ham, a microwave poached egg and knorr hollandaise sauce. I microwaved the egg for a minute and a half. Next time I'll try seventy seconds.

Extended Again

We've been under a heat advisory since Wednesday. It has been extended until Sunday night. The miserable heat index makes it even worse. So I vacuumed and mopped since it was nice and cool inside.

New Haircut

I like my new haircut! It is cooler and dries faster😀.

Scary

I took a deposit slip to the bank. I asked the teller which account she'd put the money in. She said the receipt had the number. I didn't see any indication so she looked. She said she hadn't put it in any account and thanked me. She went back and redid it, putting the money in my checking account. I don't know that I'm always careful. That was very disturbing.

Peaches

Larry bought another peck of peaches so the ones left from last week's peach purchase were very ripe. Larry doesn't like ripe ones so I trimmed them, added cottage cheese, and had them for dinner😁

Your Turn

Her: Where do you want to eat today?
Me: I picked the last two times. It's your turn so why don't you pick Mallards!
Her:OK.

Round Up

I didn't have success building up enough pressure to spray with this thing I got at Walmart. I finally got it taken apart and used the hand sprayer to the left. Every time I find poison ivy I spray it.

Today's Plan

I intended to finish weed whacking in my tire circle and trimming the long blackberry canes. That part worked. But the round up sprayer wouldn't work so I gave up on that and weed whacked around the tomatoes, eggplants, and asparagus. Then I continued until both batteries were exhausted.

Weed Whacker

It was somewhat overcast today so I decided to use the weed whacker to tidy up the tire garden. The string disappeared so I thought I needed to replace it. I managed to get it apart and saw it wasn't out of string, I just needed to pull some string out and put it back together. I did that and it worked! So I weed whacked until the battery ran out. My next session down there should finish weed whacking, and then perhaps I'll spray round up on the weeds.

Tea Towels

I like the tea towels that say funny things. I've gotten them in various places we've visited. This one is in the gift shop at the hospital where I volunteer.

Rose of Sharon

This is a light pink double rose of Sharon. A friend gave me a cutting several years ago. She has since passed away but I think of her when I look at this little rose I remember her.

Peaches

They aren't clear seed and I thought they would be. But they are really good.

Long Day

Today I volunteered from 9 am until 3:30 pm. Part of that time was our quarterly meeting. It was a good meeting with everyone willing to participate and cooperate. It's important that everyone feel a part of our process. I was very pleased with the enthusiasm of our volunteers. We only have eight, but they are all active and happy to volunteer and contribute to the community. It's great to work with a group like that.

This and That

A little weed whacking, a little weeding, a little cleaning, and emptying food from the refrigerator made me feel a little productive. Washing the containers took a little more time.  Tomorrow will be taken up with volunteering and our quarterly meeting, so I'm pretty pleased to be caught up around here.

Giant Hosta

The giant hosta is just starting to bloom. I wish they had a sweet fragrance. Failing that, I suppose it's good they have no fragrance at all.

Busy, Busy

Vacuuming and dusting today. I suppose I'll do something useful tomorrow.... or not. I fertilized the porch flowers, too.

Winter hardy Lilies

I have a couple of clumps of these pink lilies. When they have finished blooming, I'm going to separate them and move most of them. They are starting to spread into the creeping phlox.

Hold

I was on hold for a long time today and was afflicted with horrid music. It was like background music for a particularly boring life...with occasional static. At the doctor's office, the assistant spoke quite loudly in a small room so I had to ask him to speak more quietly. He didn't adjust much. I guess he gets a lot of patients who are hard of hearing.

More Rain

I haven't dead headed or weeded for the last three days. It rained my weeding bucket full. It's still thundering and raining. Part of the roads were under water in town and a friend offered to follow me home in case my road was under water. I assured her it wasn't necessary as I wasn't going to drive into water but would go wait it out at McDonald's with coffee and food! But the roads were OK and I made it home without food detours.

Happy Fourth!

We've visited a lot of countries and enjoyed our travels but we ate proud of our country. Part of what pleases me is the knowledge that we have protection of freedom of speech.

Plantain

The first time we had fried green plantains was when a Cuban friend made them. We were usually able to communicate pretty well because she wanted to learn English and volunteered in my classroom. I tutored her some and she wanted to pay. I refused payment saying she volunteered for me which was payment enough. So she brought food sometimes. She was a wonderful cook and a delightful person.

Bugs

Today Audible solved a problem for me and I weed whacked some. I should have dug in a flowerbed, but I dread the bugs. I have bug spray, but red bugs don't notice it.

Lovely Day

The weather was nice, and I had nothing pressing to do. Food in the refrigerator, no appointments, no errands, just enjoying life. It's great to have days like this.