... especially when you manage to fling yourself into bed by 10 o'clock. It's not a perfect night's sleep but it's getting there. One of these days I'll have this sleeping thing figured out again. Stupid hubris.
Yesterday morning I met DS, LC, and OJ at the Farmer's Market. We roamed up and down the street looking at all the beautiful veggies, fruits, and other tempting things offered. I was lured to a table with Sensitive plants and had to buy one--for only $2.50. Have you ever seen one? If you pinch the leaves they fold up and if you tap a branch they flop down. I've had one on and off for years--mostly off, but it was irresistible for the price and the entertainment value and this morning there's a flower. Totally worth the price. (Sensitive plants were roadside weeds in Penang, Malaysia when we were there about 35 years ago [that long ago???] and I remember how entertained we were when we drove by and all of them would fold up and flop from the wind of our passing.) I also bought some shiitake mushrooms which I've never tasted, a cucumber, two tomatoes from the "hurry up and eat these" bin, and a kohlrabi. Then we stopped at a Hispanic lady's stall for a fresh sugar doughnut for LC and me to split and 2 tamales -one spicy and one not--for DS and OJ. That little dickens eats a whole one all by himself. He's a growing boy. I plan to insert myself into DS's Saturday farmer's market trip more often. Plus there's free 8 AM yoga down there. Guess I'll go earlier next week and take my mat...
I decided this morning that today was the day I'd unplug and load the ancient computers and printers that are in the living room to take to recycling tomorrow. I got them all disconnected and was sorting through the cords when I realized that the cable/internet/phone modem wasn't lit. Oops. So I tracked back the power cord, plugged it in and got one blue light. Hmm, that meant no phone but none of the phone-type connector cords hanging from it fit in the phone jack in the wall. Back to the van for one of the computers, plugged the phone cord into the wall jack and the computer jack, then found a place on the back of the computer for the modem jack. Eureka! Phone/cable/internet restored. Tomorrow I call the cable company to find out what cord I need to go from the modem to the wall jack so I can recycle the old computer. Next the desk goes and the little walnut writing desk with matching chair that Grandpa Stephan built comes back from storage to fill the space--with more style and less bulk.
The only other things I did today were go to the dive shop to see if I couldn't fix a pair of headphones but had no luck, then came home to start sewing one of the shirts I cut out last month. I was going to take its picture to show you but all that's left to do is the neck binding and the hems so I'll wait to show it to you when it's done.
I have been knitting steadily, a few rows a day, on the Montparnasse Eco Cardi right front. I know I've said this a dozen times but I do love a sweater piece that decreases as I go rather than increases.
Didn't write the prompt last night either. I was so tired I could barely get myself into bed. I'm hoping to do better tonight. Maybe I'll sleep past daybreak tomorrow too. At least that's my hope. Hasta la vista, babies.
--Barbara
This is going to be short. I woke up too early today (I'm tired of my bladder acting like an alarm clock) and had a very busy day, went to knitting, and now I need to blog to keep my streak going.
Lots of garden to see. The "thanks for the tomato cages" tomatoes are growing in leaps and bounds,
there's a bell pepper on the plant,
carrrots are thick and plentiful,
not so the scallions. Very few of the seeds germinated so I'm hoping they all make it.
For supper the last couple nights I've made myself a ramen noodle bowl with chicken breast, onions, bell peppers, and shredded carrots. Yum--and only 7 points. Makes a great supper.
July 6--Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, Complicated Anticipation. The monk stared at the factory, a clash of antiquity and the modern age. He prayed for the people toiling like swarming ants in the hot and noisy plant. He also prayed for the fat-cat business owners who benefited from the sweat of the workers but never got their hands dirty, only soiled their eternal souls.
I'm determined to go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning with DS, LC, and OJ so I need to get to sleep. I suspect there won't be any prompt writing tonight, in fact, I'm sure of that.
--Barbara
...but not quite as unbearable as last weekend or yesterday. Today the windowsill thermometer did NOT say 100 degrees at any time during the day. Not even a momentary flicker. Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler and drier. Hallelujah.
I found something to elevate my pot of strawberries on the patio to try to keep them out of the clutches of the rapacious chipmunks--one of DS's cast off Ale Pails from his early homebrewing days. It's the perfect height and I think it looks just right there in front of the petunias and zinnias.
And just after supper I ate these two very nearly ripe berries. I was going to leave them on the plant until tomorrow but when I went out to put a new bag of birdseed in the can on the patio I found a barely pink, unripe, and gnawed berry on the doormat. Not going to leave my precious berries out there for any Tom, Chip or Dale to gobble up, I picked them and ate them myself. They were wonderful, sweet, and juicy.
This afternoon I spied this fuzzy little glutton in the grass. Baby bunnies, while cute, have been known to eat my ferns. This does not please me. Baby bunnies can eat all the grass and clover and fallen birdseed they desire but they'd better stay out of my ferns.
I got flowers! The doorbell rang this afternoon while I sat on the couch knitting and look what it was. A beautiful vase of red carnations and baby's breath from DS and his family. Just because they love me. I've had a challenging month and they wanted to send me a floral hug. Somebody raised those children right, both of them.
Speaking of knitting, I got the 5" of even rows done on the right front of the Montparnasse Eco Cardi and started the decreases. As I did on the left front I'll decrease one stitch every third row for 30 rows (10 stitches fewer) and then every other row until I reach the desired 12 stitches, hopefully I'll run out of stitches to decrease just about the time I reach the length the sweater piece is supposed to be.
July 5--Sir John Lavery, The Peoples' Pool, Palm Beach. You can see prosperity in the very size of the place. There was room for everyone and everyone came. The mothers sat in the narrow band of shade that hugged the west wall. Young women draped themselves on the pool's edge, the better to catch the lifeguard's eye. The children splashed and played in the shallows, their high voices echoing off the salmon pink stucco walls.
I just heard a few "a day late" or maybe "leftover" fireworks but tonight's here-and-there explosions can't hold a (Roman) candle to last night's bombardment. I was sure the noise would keep me awake but I'd been up and down the stairs carrying wet laundry and then out in the hot and humid hanging sheets on the line so many times that I fell right to sleep, didn't even finish the last five words of the writing prompt until just now. I don't think I'll have much trouble falling asleep tonight either. *yawn* Okay, that's just silly. Typing the word "yawn" made me yawn.
--Barbara
I managed to sleep all the way until 6:30 this morning and it felt like it was nearly noon. So silly. As soon as I had both eyes open I zoomed over to visit the grand-chickens to see if there were any great-grand-eggs. There were two! I have no idea whether they were laid by Bokkers, Henita, Cluckers, or LC, Jr; I'm just glad for the eggs. (the golf ball is there for inspiration and encouragement) I see a fresh egg omelet in my future.
I bought Durwood a new laptop last week but there's something wrong with it. I charged it up but it wouldn't start unless it was plugged in. I took it back to Office Depot, the fixit guy removed and replaced the battery, and then it worked. Huzzah! However, after working to set things up for Durwood I turned it off and when I tried to turn it back on the same thing happened. Methinks it's a good thing I kept all of the packing and have my receipt at hand because it'll be going back and I'll bring home a different one. I have enough frustration in my life, I'm not letting a blue laptop get the better of me.
On my way home from Office Depot I stopped at Pick 'n Save for some chocolate ice cream (not exactly on the way home but I was running low and we can't have that). OJ and I have been keeping our eyes on some pots of strawberry plants there. When we first saw them they were $20--too expensive. Last week they were $15--better but still out of the budget. Today I was by myself and they were marked $10--affordable. So I looked them over, chose one, and it's mine. Now if only I can keep the birds from eating the berries before I get to. I see some bird netting in my future. I can fix that when I make some sort of protective cage for the bell pepper plant because I suspect that the chipmunks are gobbling up the baby peppers before they have a chance to grow.
Durwood spied this Hairy Woodpecker visiting the suet feeder today and we caught sight of a flutter of hummingbird wings on the back side of the nectar feeder. (have to make more birdie juice tomorrow, don't forget) The Hairy Woodpecker is a tiny bit bigger than the Downy and has a much longer and pointier beak also it looks kind of rumpled whereas the Downy looks like it just came from the groomer.
It's time to toe! I added rows a few at a time and measured often so that my escape velocity didn't take me beyond time to start the toe decreases. I'd have done the first decrease row and put in the little markers that help me remember what to do when and where but I was getting too sleepy and I see that it's nearly 11 o'clock already so I'd better start typing faster.
July 3--Paul Gauguin, Thatched Hut Under Palm Trees. The rain made it sound like an army of mice was marching through the thatched roof. Gemma ducked and cringed every time the wind gusted and pelted the house with more rain, harder rain. She watched the ceiling darken where the water seeped through the layers and wondered whether snakes could get in where rain came through. Her hand trembled as she tried to light the lantern and she let out a tiny shriek when a drop of rain water hit her shoulder.
I'm always relieved to see that Gauguin painted subjects other than topless native girls who look uncomfortable being scrutinized by him. Time to sleep. Got the dishwasher running, remembered to add my felted purse to the Fair entries (the deadline's July 15 and I didn't want to forget), and, well, it's late and time for bed. Nighty-night.
--Barbara
Sheesh. I don't know what's up with me. I woke up to go to the bathroom at 4 o'clock, didn't look at any lights, didn't talk, barely opened my eyes, and do you think that my brain would stay turned off? It would not. This is probably Fate's retribution for bragging about how I "sleep the sleep of the innocent." Evidently I inadvertently pissed off the Sandman. (sorry, dude) If I wake up at 4 o'clock tomorrow morning I'm going to scream.
The daisies started blooming today. I went out to take their picture and saw dark spots on the biggest, most open one. It was full of ants! They were ringed around the center like horses at a round trough. The other open daisy didn't have any ants. I wonder what was special about that one...
Durwood's been complaining about the right-hand pockets of the lounge-type pants he wears. He has a perpetually runny nose (thanks, lifelong allergies) so he's always taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and putting it back in. He says it's hard to find the pockets. I sewed a loop of cord on one as an experiment but that folded in so he couldn't feel it. This morning I dug out some wide bias binding and sewed a strip onto each of the right-hand pockets to stiffen the edge, to make it easier to find. He says it's working okay. Still folds in but it's stiff enough that he can find the pocket. Whew.
I added a few rounds to the Blues Anklet but I still have an inch to knit before it's time to start the toe decreases. I hope this isn't one of those knitting black holes where you knit and knit and KNIT and get nowhere, before suddenly rocketing inches past where you're supposed to do something different. I'm keeping my tape measure handy.
July 2--Edward Killingworth Johnson, Third Volume. All I need is a cup of tea and a book. It's nice if I'm sitting in a garden with masses of fragrant roses climbing a trellis and swarming over the pergola but I'm just as happy in a chair by a window on a cold or rainy day.
And that was all I eked out before sleep overtook me last night. Not enough sleep, ended too early sleep, but sleep nevertheless. I'm going to post this and see if I can't manage to sleep at least until daybreak tomorrow. Wish me luck.
--Barbara
... is just too damned early to wake up and not be able to fall back to sleep. That was the time when Durwood called out that he couldn't find his cannula this morning and, since that's the hose that delivers the oxygen he needs to breathe, it's kind of important. Well, I helped locate it, patted his head, went back into my bed, and COULD NOT FALL ASLEEP for the life of me. I even staggered up and dialed up the guided meditation I play as I turn out the light so that the correct "time for sleep" voice played. Nope, I lay there for over an hour with no luck. By then my eyelids kept popping open so I gave up and got up. Of course, Durwood was back in bed and back asleep. *sigh* So I went out in the relative cool of the early morning to hose the cottonwood fluff out of the air conditioner vanes so it doesn't get choked out and then I weeded around the straw bales (not the bales, just around them, because the bales don't come with weeds). Around 10 o'clock I decided to get back into bed and try to nap. No luck. After lunch I lay on the couch listening to/watching mindless TV which is where and when I nap, if I nap. No luck. I even sat here playing computer games during which I have been known to nod off for half an hour or so. Not today. Grr.
I noticed this morning that there are green tomatoes on the Wisconsin 55 plant which means that there are tomatoes-to-be on all four of our tomato plants.
The "thank you for the tomato cages" plant has a whole cluster of tomatoes on one stem, kind of like a group of grapes.
Tonight when I went out to unplug the fountain and say goodnight to the garden I saw that there's a bud on the butternut squash plant. I love when things start to fruit.
After supper I cast on and knitted six rows of the Montparnasse Eco Cardi right front. It's the same yarn as the first sleeve. I plan to put the light gray sleeve on the brown gray front and vice versa. The back will be dark red as will the collar that ties the whole thing together (or maybe I'll use the medium gray skein, hmm). I think it'll be one of those sweaters that goes with just about everything and gets worn to shreds. At least I hope it is.
July 1--Ernst Deutsch-Dryden, Poster for Salamander Shoes. Harriet watched the parade of feet that passed her window like a fashion-conscious centipede. Her window was level with the sidewalk so she only recognized people from the knees down. There was a woman whose tights always had a run up the right leg. She wore high heels in bright glitter colors and skirts so short that Harriet wondered how she sat down without baring her bottom.
That's all I wrote last night. I was tired from a day in and out of the heat and humidity and having company all day. I'll be pleased if I get even those few words tonight. My eyelids keep slamming shut. Better wrap this up, slap on some pictures, post it, and go night-night. (All of the pictures above here are either green, gray, or dawn pale so I thought I'd share a picture of more little zinnias blooming in the planters with the petunias.)
--Barbara
... especially when you manage to fling yourself into bed by 10 o'clock. It's not a perfect night's sleep but it's getting there. One of these days I'll have this sleeping thing figured out again. Stupid hubris.
Yesterday morning I met DS, LC, and OJ at the Farmer's Market. We roamed up and down the street looking at all the beautiful veggies, fruits, and other tempting things offered. I was lured to a table with Sensitive plants and had to buy one--for only $2.50. Have you ever seen one? If you pinch the leaves they fold up and if you tap a branch they flop down. I've had one on and off for years--mostly off, but it was irresistible for the price and the entertainment value and this morning there's a flower. Totally worth the price. (Sensitive plants were roadside weeds in Penang, Malaysia when we were there about 35 years ago [that long ago???] and I remember how entertained we were when we drove by and all of them would fold up and flop from the wind of our passing.) I also bought some shiitake mushrooms which I've never tasted, a cucumber, two tomatoes from the "hurry up and eat these" bin, and a kohlrabi. Then we stopped at a Hispanic lady's stall for a fresh sugar doughnut for LC and me to split and 2 tamales -one spicy and one not--for DS and OJ. That little dickens eats a whole one all by himself. He's a growing boy. I plan to insert myself into DS's Saturday farmer's market trip more often. Plus there's free 8 AM yoga down there. Guess I'll go earlier next week and take my mat...
I decided this morning that today was the day I'd unplug and load the ancient computers and printers that are in the living room to take to recycling tomorrow. I got them all disconnected and was sorting through the cords when I realized that the cable/internet/phone modem wasn't lit. Oops. So I tracked back the power cord, plugged it in and got one blue light. Hmm, that meant no phone but none of the phone-type connector cords hanging from it fit in the phone jack in the wall. Back to the van for one of the computers, plugged the phone cord into the wall jack and the computer jack, then found a place on the back of the computer for the modem jack. Eureka! Phone/cable/internet restored. Tomorrow I call the cable company to find out what cord I need to go from the modem to the wall jack so I can recycle the old computer. Next the desk goes and the little walnut writing desk with matching chair that Grandpa Stephan built comes back from storage to fill the space--with more style and less bulk. 
