What Season Is It?

Today the temperature topped out at about 70 degrees with very little humidity and a fresh breeze that made it feel cooler.  Tomorrow's supposed to be the same and then by Saturday it's supposed to hit the 80s and be humid again.  My sinuses are having a field day with the rapid weather changes. Some consistency would be good.

The goldfinches have been enjoying the plants growing on the retaining wall.  I'm not tall enough to weed all the way back to the fence and I'm not tippy-toeing up along the fence on top of the wall, so there are some tall weeds back there that have evidently gone to seed and the goldfinches are taking advantage.

Zinnia seeds are a favorite too.  There was a pair of goldfinches squabbling over the flowers this morning.

I went out to mow this afternoon and discovered that the lack of regular rainfall has left only the weeds growing so that it was pretty much impossible to see where I'd mowed and where to mow next.  So I just mowed the tall places and left the rest.  Why mow when nothing is tall enough to get chopped off?  I'm sure the neighbors thought I had lost my mind because I kind of skimmed the edges of the front yard and avoided the non-growing middle.  That's okay, at least I remembered to use the hose to clean the grass clippings out from under the mower deck this time so that my neighbor doesn't have to clean out a ton of grass the next time it's making a weird noise.

03 August--Barbara Malcolm, Better Than Mom's. 

Fay was up bright and early and enjoyed her first day at work.  By the second day she had learned the names of most of the retired men who came for coffee every day and declared them to be the “coffee codgers.” 

She convinced Brady that he should have some sort of punch card so that people who came in for a meal, a full meal, mind, not just a sandwich or a drink, would get their card punched and then a free meal after buying, say, ten.  Brady was so taken with the idea that he sat at his office computer and made up a sample that very day, and also made what he called the “coffee lovers” card, which gave the holder a free piece of pie after twenty punches.  The coffee codgers loved that one until they understood that refills did not earn them punches; that they had to buy twenty separate cups of coffee to get free pie. 

Raymond Tolliver was especially vocal with his displeasure of the new program.  “I am here every day and I bring in customers by telling everyone how good the food is here, and you begrudge me a piece of pie?” 

Fay patted his hand.  “Raymond, my dear, Brady can not afford to give you a piece of pie every day.  I am sure you drink at least that many cups holding court each morning.  Be happy to get free pie once a month.” 

He started to open his mouth to retort but she shook her head and walked away.  For once Raymond looked abashed.  He had spent his working life as a vice-president in one of the biggest paper mills headquartered in Stinson with customers and facilities all over the globe.  He was having a hard time getting used to being a regular human with no one fawning over his comfort and no one quaking at his wrath. 

A month after his retirement, his long-suffering wife had called Two Men & A Truck, had them pack up her knitting and her porcelain cat collection, and moved to Arizona to live next door to her sister.  At first, he had missed her, mostly at mealtimes, but then he started watching a few of the cooking shows on the Food Channel.  Especially the one hosted by that little Italian girl with the… well, the wardrobe full of V-neck blouses.  He liked watching her even if she was cooking something he would never eat.  Raymond began to cook.  When he made his first lasagna, he had called his wife’s sister to tell her.  He had always liked Rona, thought in many ways he should have married her, but could not stand to have gone through life as Ray and Ro.  That was too pedestrian for him to even imagine, given his exalted opinion of himself.  Rona was happily married to a plastic surgeon who kept her in facelifts and liposuction.  He supposed Susan had had all that done to her too in the year since she left.  I wonder if she has perky boobs now, Raymond thought sometimes at night, I like perky boobs.  And he would flick the remote to see if that little Italian girl was cooking.

Today's toss was some old water glasses, 5 antique wine glasses, and one more pottery wine goblet.  I really like the shape of the old wine glasses but have no place to keep them and no reason either.  Someone will love them.

I got the Hawk's Wing shawl pinned out to dry and block.  Once it's dry I'll unpin it and see if it gained a bit of length.  I hope so.  I'll wear it no matter how short it is.  I like the dramatic stripes.

--Barbara