Nah, can't do it. It was almost noon before I couldn't stand it a minute longer and went out shopping. (the list was too long to leave it all for tomorrow morning) I hit the Dollar Tree and two Goodwill stores. Durwood asked me to get some toys and books to have at his place for LC and OJ when they visit, toys that aren't here or at home so I raided my toy barrel/tote downstairs for a few things and hit the dollar store for more. Got a couple little Etch-a-Sketches, a tiny tea set and some cooking things, some coloring books, and I had fake food (much bigger than the pots and plates) downstairs, . Bought a flat plastic basket that I lined with a piece of a place mat for the toys that will fit into the shallow drawer under Durwood's wardrobe to keep things contained. At the first Goodwill I found a nice, heavy (used) bedside lamp with a shade for $10 and a (new) bulletin board but it was at the second Goodwill where I really scored. Durwood asked if I couldn't find a kid-size table and chairs for a corner of his studio where the kids can color or play and I hit the jackpot. I found this absolutely darling Mother Goose table with two chairs for $5.99. I tightened the legs, etc. with an Allen wrench, then spent half an hour working on it with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and a Scotch Brite scrubbie and it looks like new. Adorable.
I heard knocking when I was having my breakfast and looked out to see this male Downy Woodpecker pecking on the wren house that had no takers again this year. *sigh* Early in the spring there was a wren singing his siren song perched on top of it but evidently it wasn't up to standards for any of the local lady wrens. Maybe next year.
It was a gray and drizzly day so my mood stayed gray and drizzly too. I hate that. Even the daylight lamps didn't help much today. But the daisies are blooming and the stargazer lilies are looking fab so I plan to buck up.
August 2--Suzanne Valadon, Self-Portrait. Her hair was combed tight to her scalp and the curls looked like sausages. There was none of the loose and casual about her. Her face was turned away from them as if she was embarrassed to be found like this. "Know who she is?" Gino asked. Leo shoved his hands deeper into his topcoat pockets and he hunched his shoulders against the cold wind that blew off the lake. "Patrolman said she's Esther Miller. She's taught piano lessons in her parlor for the last 40 years." Gino tugged on the collar of his jacket. "Piano teacher, huh? I wonder if we're looking for a student that didn't enjoy his time in that parlor." He shook his head. "Who calls their living room a parlor anymore? Was she some throwback to the thirties?"
Tomorrow I'll pick up some better phones for Durwood because the $6 one I bought is crap. Then we get to spend the afternoon waiting for the Direct TV guy to make an appearance to hook up his service. Don't you love waiting for them? I'll take my knitting. We'll hang some pictures and maybe do some rearranging but there should be some knitting time.
--Barbara
I learned why today. It seems male Goldfinches find zinnia seeds irresistible. It was fun to watch them try to balance their weight on the frail flower stems and still be able to pick out seeds to eat. At one time there were three birds dining on various aging flowers. Cool.
Just in the nick of time I picked these two tomatoes. The one closest to the camera had a quarter-sized hole eaten out of it so over the fence it went. Damned chipmunks. The other, riper, perfect one went over to Durwood at his new digs along with a couple of toasted slices of Rosen's rye, a shaker of salt, and a jar of Kraft Mayo.
The move went well. I stopped this morning to deliver Durwood's clean laundry to the new place. Went to the old place to pick up the rest of his belongings, including the remaining gin and empty bottles, that I then took over to the new place. Then I took my able assistant (who was a champ on such a tough, emotional day for Meemaw) home for lunch and a snooze. Around 2:30 we were back to visit Baba in his new home, make a list of the things that need to be found or bought, and spend a couple hours just hanging out. I think it'll take Durwood a week or so to get used to being out from under the watchful eye of the RNs and CNAs at the skilled nursing facility but I've asked him to consider going down to the dining area for one meal a day just to get out of his room--and his head. On Friday the Direct TV guy comes to get him set up so he'll be able to watch the TV that he likes and hopefully will have a better remote than the one that came with the TV. Also a $6 phone isn't a great phone so I'll be buying a better phone or two for Friday installation. I foresee this being a "work in progress" for a while but I already saw a hint of change in his outlook. Whew.
August 1--Chinese 19th Century, Qing Dynasty, Jifu, China, Formal Court Robe. It was a good day to wear the orange robe with the gold dragons embroidered on it. Li knew that everyone else at court would be dressed in dark colors, respectful colors. He wanted to stand out. There was just enough black at the neck and cuffs and under the fasteners so he wouldn't appear disrespectful but the emperor would notice him. If he wanted to be at court he needed to be noticed. If one of the emperor's daughters noticed him, so much the better.
We just had a nice little rain. No thunder, though. If it's going to rain at night I'd like a little thunder and maybe some lightning. We need the rain. I'm bushed. I told Durwood that I'm taking tomorrow off, not doing anything, not visiting, nothing. Let's see if I can hold to it. Adios.
--Barbara
Okay, that does it. I'm planting a lot more lantana next year. I have some butterfly weed planted by the blueberries, the purple coneflowers are blooming, and the basket with my single lantana plant seems to be a butterfly hot spot. Early this morning I saw this Monarch butterfly sipping nectar there.
In the afternoon there was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail having a snack. Need more lantana. Hummingbirds like it too. Need lots more.
This rabbit spent part of the morning on the step outside the patio door peering in at me and trying to nibble the fibers of the door mat. What could it find to eat there?????
The Wisconsin 55s are starting to ripen. Here's hoping that the chipmunks don't find them before I can pick a ripe one for Durwood to enjoy.
Speaking of Durwood, he's moving into his new studio at the assisted living facility tomorrow. DS helped me move heavy things and assemble other things last night, which is why I didn't blog last night or write the prompt. Too tired. (thanks, DS, I really appreciate the help) Today I moved the birdfeeders from the nursing home to outside his window in the garden at the new place and got his laundry all washed, dried, and the shirt facings ironed so it's easier for him to button them. Man, I hope they can help him get back some of his leg strength so he can do a few things for himself. It has to be very depressing to sit in a wheelchair day after day. Fingers crossed.
I made the first slipcover attempt this morning. It's not bad but it isn't right so I'll recut and start over. Good thing there's 6 yard of the fabric. It occurred to me that I don't have to have everything finished and all ready for tomorrow's move. I need to learn to give myself a break now and again.
Tomorrow will be busy again. I need to turn in. Can you believe that tomorrow is August 1? Man, time sure flies when your life is crazy busy.
--Barbara
I had to smile this morning when I went out to plug in the fountain and saw that another of the closeout lilies I bought last fall had bloomed. Isn't it pretty? White with pinkish lavender like watercolor on the petals. The yellow and burgundy ones are still blooming as are the plain lemon yellow ones. I'm always sorry when lily blooming season is over. I should do some googling to find lilies that bloom all season, find a list of varieties that as soon as one quits another starts. I'd like that.
I spent most of today getting things ready for Durwood's big move on Wednesday. DS will come over to help move the heavy or bulky things tomorrow evening so today I washed all the wood furniture with Murphy's Oil Soap, then ransomed an old lamp of Mother Malcolm's and a carton of plastic Gillette shelving that will work for the bathroom from the storage locker, then on to Goodwill for Corelle dishes, coffee mugs and cutlery, and finally to Walmart for a TV and a landline phone. I'm tired. Tomorrow I'll work on organizing the things I'll need help hauling over and setting up, then spend Tuesday sewing slipcovers for the $1.49 chairs. Seen in the harsh daylight the upholstery needs help but since they're motel chairs I can't remove the seats and backs to reupholster them (the screws were countersunk and then dowels were glued over them; I'm not drilling out the dowels) so slipcovers it is.
I was all cocked and primed to pick the ripe Early Girl tomato, toast up a slice of Rosen's Rye bread, grab the jar of mayo, and take it all to Durwood for him to enjoy but when I walked into the garden to get the ripe tomato I saw that a $#@%& chipmunk had knocked it down and eaten half of it, the rat. Good thing more tomatoes are starting to turn.
This shy Downy Woodpecker came over for a snack but sneaked up on it. First it landed on the tall crook that the hummingbird feeder hangs from, then it hopped down to the short one that a wind chime hangs on, and finally fluttered up to the back side of the suet feeder.
After supper I went out to knit with a couple friends and made some progress on the sock. A sock foot is the perfect sitting and chatting knitting since it's mindless around and around and around, no counting of rows or stitches just tedious sameness until there's 7 1/2" of foot.
July 29--John Singer Sargent, Spirito Santo, Zattere (Venice, Zattere) The constant quiet lapping of the water on the stones was like white noise most of the time but at other times it was like a dripping faucet. On windy days the water made a sound like footsteps that sent Julie checking the hall and checking the door locks. It made her jumpy. It made her feel like she was reacting to phantoms so when someone did come, someone up to no good, she didn't react and her life was forever changed.
It's late. I'm tired. I'm outta here.
--Barbara
... if it wasn't tightly screwed on. I remembered to put my bag o'chair into the back of the car for sitting and knitting this afternoon. However it wasn't until I was about up to Brussels, roughly 20 miles from home, that I realized that I'd forgotten my KNITTING. Sheesh. So I called KS and asked her to toss a pair of size 5 needles and a skein of dishcloth cotton into her bag so I'd have something to knit in case the thrift store had disappointing yarn and the wrong size needles. (which it did) Of course I also forgot that I always have a cloth bag with a dishcloth project in the driver's door pocket (the lime and purple one) so I wasn't completely out of knitting but I didn't remember that fact until I was about midway through this (variegated red) dishcloth. I will be so very glad when Durwood's all settled. Maybe then my brain will snap back into shape and I can turn back into something resembling myself. Thanks, KS, for a lovely day of thrifting, lunching, knitting (with your yarn and needles), and talkingtalkingtalking.
It's a wonder that we could knit or talk with this view. We tucked ourselves into a little park area at the Ellison Bay marina and boat launch that's hidden behind the Pioneer Store. It is the perfect place to have a deli take-out lunch (curried chicken salad on a ciabata roll for me) and then while away the afternoon playing with sticks and string.
We met at around 10:30 at Bargains Unlimited in Sister Bay. Here's what I left with: 6 yards of upholstery fabric for $18 that will be good for redoing those chairs I got at Goodwill yesterday (if I don't clean them up and decide that they'll do for now), a wooden dragon puzzle for the toy box for $3, and 2 silver spoons for a dime apiece. I was hoping for some postcards but didn't see any and I didn't think to ask, besides it was crazy busy.
I got lucky this morning and the hummingbird sat still long enough for me to take a photo that isn't blurry.
Oh, another bird today. I saw a loon swimming just off the beach this afternoon. I'd heard it earlier but was surprised to see it in such a busy area. They usually like it in quieter waters. I know you can't really see it, it's the tiny black speck in the middle of the shot, but when I cropped it the image was way blurry so you'll just have to humor me and pretend you see it.
I didn't write the prompt last night. Once again I stayed up too late the night before I wanted to be up early so I could leave early. Maybe I'll write tonight. Tomorrow the table and chairs get scrubbed and Old English-ed.
--Barbara
This morning it was cool enough and un-humid enough to do yoga with the patio door open so I ended up being serenaded by this loudmouth chipmunk that sat on the back of the Adirondack chair chirping or whatever you call that annoying sound they make the whole time. Way to enhance my relaxation--not.
After spending an hour signing and filling out forms for the assisted living facility I went on a quest for a table and chairs for Durwood's studio kitchen area. He's a table-sitter, has never been a couch or easy chair sitter, so I know that he needs a table. I went to three thrift stores--Bethesda, Goodwill, and Salvation Army today. I stopped at St. Vincent de Paul the other day but all their tables were either too big or too rickety. Bethesda had only one table and it was waaaay too big and came with 6 chairs for nearly $100. Nope. Goodwill had a few tables, one of which was a bit too big but was square and had possibilities for $30. Maybe. At the Salvation Army store the marquee said "Everything in the store 50% off Friday and Saturday." I was hopeful. There were a bunch of tables, most with chairs. One of them was exactly the right size, came with a leaf, and had 4 chairs with cushions but it was $80. Even at $40 it was more than I wanted to spend especially since I thought that we had a couple of Durwood's parents' old dining chairs out in storage. But there was a 4' x 2' wooden "work" table with
turned legs and a drawer in a long side marked $20 which made it $10. Sold! I ended up having to remove LC & OJ's car seats and all the junk I keep in the back of the car and cram it into the front passenger seat in order to fold down the back seats so I could put the table in there. To be honest, taking those car seats out was a challenge. I blistered the air with enough frustrated cussing that I'm surprised that the head liner is still attached to the roof of the car, but I managed to finally get the darned things unhooked and slide the table in. After lunch I zoomed out to the storage to discover that my memory was faulty and there are no dining chairs out there, only rocking chairs, so the search for chairs was on. I skipped Bethesda, they didn't have much in furniture. At Goodwill I struck gold. I found 2 wood and Herculon "motel" chairs for $1.49 each. Sold! So I have $13.66 invested. On Sunday I'll scrub them with Murphy's Oil Soap and give them a rub with some Old English in a medium shade to see if I can't make the woods seem related. I also plan to recover the seats and backs of the chairs, at least slipcover them so they're a bit fresher and less motel-y
Once I had the furniture dilemma solved I tackled the phone and TV issue. There's basic cable/satellite included in the rate but Durwood's a big boxing and sports fan so I promised him that I'd figure out a way for him to watch them there. And he wants a landline. I called AT&T which is the company they recommend and got cut off in mid-conversation and didn't get a callback so I saddled up and went to the AT&T store a couple blocks away and a lovely man named Jose Manuel helped me. I had to go to the facility to make sure that they had permission to install a dish and back home to pick up some info needed for Durwood's account but within 1 1/2 hours all the Ts were crossed, the Is dotted, and an appointment was made for installation next Friday. Granted he's moving in on Wednesday but I have the phone thing and instructions how to hook it up and he can watch Basic TV for a couple days. That just leaves purchasing a suitable TV and a landline phone--if I can't scrounge one up downstairs. All of a sudden I feel like I've got this. Whew.
For supper after my day of furniture hunting and technology service wrangling I enjoyed a lovely supper of Mediterranean Chickpea Salad on a bed of butter and leaf lettuce. Yum. The Basic Lemon Vinaigrette you're supposed to dress the lettuce with before putting on the chickpeas is way too tart and lemony for me so I added a little Splenda to the jar for next time. If it's not to my taste I'll dump it and just be happy with the dressing on the chickpea salad.
July 27--Indian, Malwa, Krishna and Vakasura. The pile of cows is what took the painting from real to surreal. The line of marching men, the pair of men walking into the giant bird's beak, those I could make some sense of, but the cows stacked one on top of the other? No. I don't have a lot of experience with cows, none actually, but they've never impressed me as being particularly cooperative animals that would be amenable to being stacked.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to drive away up the Door County peninsula to meet a friend at our favorite thrift store, then we're going to a deli for sandwiches and salads to take to a park or someplace overlooking the bay for lunch and then we plan to sit in the shade and knit and talk the day away. I can't wait. (better put my bag o'chair back into the car in the morning)
--Barbara
I have very little to show you today. I got up fairly early and spent most of the day playing outside watering, deadheading, and weeding a bit. Spent some time watching this bee work its way around the zinnias and talking about it with my able assistant. He decided that this is a mama bee gathering pollen and nectar to feed her babies. I think that's very advanced thinking for a man of his age.
Durwood, aka Baba, appreciated the cherry tomatoes as we knew he would. He's getting excited to move next Wednesday. I'm feeling frantic but I suspect that I'm kicking up dust and not getting anywhere. The few things that I can control I will take care of tomorrow, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday--on Saturday I'm driving off in the morning to spend the day in Door Co. thrifting, lunching, and knitting with a friend. I really need a day away.
The only creative making I did today was to get through the gusset stitches on the Pink & Gray Anklet. Now I just knit around and around and around until I've got about 7 1/2" of foot and then it'll be time to decrease for the toe. Man, I just love being able to knit a sock. It's my favorite form of slo-mo magic. All knitting is magic, I think, but knitting a sock is advanced magic, IMHO.
One of the daily recipe emails this past week was "How to Meal Prep for a Week of Easy Dinners" from allrecipes.com. I looked at the recipes, ran five or six of them through the WW recipe create function (skipped the Italian Bread Salad and the Chicago Hot Dogs, as neither of them lends themselves to WW-ing), and finished up the grocery shopping today for a round of not really investment cooking since none of it will get frozen (except maybe some of the marinated and then grilled chicken), but I'll have the basis for a Cobb salad (love that), a Mediterranean chickpea salad that shows up as a vegetarian supper one or two nights and as a side to Lemon Rosemary Chicken Breasts which then become part of the Cobb salad. I'm ditching the flank steak and marinating chicken tenders in the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, and red wine vinegar meant for the steak (I try to save my beef meals for cheeseburgers. Hey, if I'm having beef I want it to COUNT.) which will go great with fresh corn and green beans from the farmstand. Oh, and another recipe is Shrimp Florentine on Zucchini Noodles. I'll make a half recipe because I don't imagine that holds in the fridge long enough for four servings to all be good and I suspect that wouldn't take well to freezing. (Can you say limp and slimy?) I'll report and probably have photos. I'm looking forward to cooking up a storm over the next week--and eating well too.
July 26--Martin Johnson Heade, Apple Blossoms. "I'll be with you in apple blossom time..." The old song played in my head as I looked at the painting of the delicate pink flowers in clusters on the arthritic branches with their rough, dark brown bark. The tree had to be alive with bees that were busy pollinating as they moved to sip the nectar in the centers. How manipulative trees and plants are to have evolved the shape, color, and fragrance to entice the birds and insects they need to help them spread their seeds or grow fruit. It's ingenious of them and sneaky too. I like that.
Tomorrow morning I get to go sign a stack of papers to get Durwood into his new place and then call to get his phone and TV hooked up over there. Then the rest of the day will be mine. Maybe I'll sew... all I have left to do on a tunic no. 1 is the neck binding and the hems, how long can that take? An hour? Maybe? We shall see.
--Barbara
Nah, can't do it. It was almost noon before I couldn't stand it a minute longer and went out shopping. (the list was too long to leave it all for tomorrow morning) I hit the Dollar Tree and two Goodwill stores. Durwood asked me to get some toys and books to have at his place for LC and OJ when they visit, toys that aren't here or at home so I raided my toy barrel/tote downstairs for a few things and hit the dollar store for more. Got a couple little Etch-a-Sketches, a tiny tea set and some cooking things, some coloring books, and I had fake food (much bigger than the pots and plates) downstairs, . Bought a flat plastic basket that I lined with a piece of a place mat for the toys that will fit into the shallow drawer under Durwood's wardrobe to keep things contained. At the first Goodwill I found a nice, heavy (used) bedside lamp with a shade for $10 and a (new) bulletin board but it was at the second Goodwill where I really scored. Durwood asked if I couldn't find a kid-size table and chairs for a corner of his studio where the kids can color or play and I hit the jackpot. I found this absolutely darling Mother Goose table with two chairs for $5.99. I tightened the legs, etc. with an Allen wrench, then spent half an hour working on it with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and a Scotch Brite scrubbie and it looks like new. Adorable.
It was a gray and drizzly day so my mood stayed gray and drizzly too. I hate that. Even the daylight lamps didn't help much today. But the daisies are blooming and the stargazer lilies are looking fab so I plan to buck up.
