Summer Stuff

 So, here is a picture of my new planter(s) that I mentioned last post.  In the background, you can see the 2nd one, just like it.  I like them because they hold the pot up so that the stuff that hangs over the side can cascade over the side really pretty.

I haven't sold much of anything, except a pair of jeans and a cool black Harley Davidson sweater.  But just selling jeans and a sweater this time of the year is good!  I also took a trunk load to Goodwill.  In getting my guest room makeover done, i got rid of one bed headboard and moved another one into place that i had in the attic.  Gave away the one with a large chest and mirror to a young man, a friend's son,  who is just getting his own place and got rid of something in my attic - win/win.  But, i had 3 large rubbermaid tubs under the bed storage boxes full of clothes and when I looked at it after being there for about 2 years I thought "I don't need ANY of this".  While, at the time I put it away, I was not ready to let go, evidently.  lol.  Basic clothes don't sell quickly or for hardly any money at all second-hand, so I mostly just give clothes away.  If you have a designer label or something really high quality (leather, jeans, coats, etc) I might try to sell, but just every day stuff (dresses, sweaters, etc) I mostly just donate most clothes instead of storing and messing with them.  But there is a time when I am ready to get rid of stuff, and when i am ready, i am ready, even a short time ago i might not be ready to get rid of.

Our tomatoes are still doing well.  Getting lots.  I froze 4 quart bags last week.  This week I will give some to family and I think make tomato soup, even though it certainly isn't soup weather!  But a nice light tomato basil will taste nice.  My sister and I drove for the day Saturday to the lake to spend time with some family.  My cousins are twins and their birthday this week.  So I took them home made bread and tomatoes and we ended up eating some of the tomatoes and people were going nuts over the "Arkansas tomatoes"!  I took big and small red ones, yellow and pink.  One of my cousins was really liking the yellow.  My mother in law likes them best too, less acid.

As for gardening, I have harvested some lettuce seed and will see if I can grow some more from seeds.  Pretty cool, huh?

I was sharing gardening stories with my aunt and cousin and so i shared this one.  This house we bought in 2014 had a pretty pink crepe myrtle directly in front of the house.  

As you can see, the plant there right near the front door, that's the crepe myrtle.  It is big, but not as big as it got before we just could'nt get around it.  Esp last summer, we had a really wet summer and it got so large that it blocked the sidewalk infront and was going up against the house, so we could not walk easily by on that side either.  So late last summer, we trimmed it way down and dug it up and moved it. Whew, it was a job!

The pretty crepe myrtle is doing fine!  We are so happy.  We really had to hack away to get it out, so we were a little concerned.  If you look in the background of this picture, you can see where it used to be.  We planted a small weeping cedar tree that we are training to curve back and forth.  I will post more pictures of it next time.

And finally, some cute dog photos

Hope you are staying cool and having a great August!  We are having a hot week, so i am just trying to enjoy summer while it lasts and not wanting to rush into fall!  

Movement Restricted Monday

So, I am a little troubled lately by the aches and pains that seem to be increasing in my life.  I am having a lot of pain in my back, knees and hips lately.  I do have an autoimmune condition that I have dealt with for many years, i am wondering if this is something related.  If so, perhaps my new-found commitment to cut out some sloppy eating will see results in my aches and pains.  I know before when i am in an autoimmune flare, i have a lot of general soreness and fatigue that is helped by multi facted approach (rest, meditation, movement, nutrition, supplements and yes, sometimes medicine).  I also know that since i am up about 15 pounds, that could be a big factor, so that might also benefit from my diet.  That being said, i am approaching mid 50's, so i am told - get used to it by several people!

We are having some overcast skies and a little bit of relief in this hot weather.  We have chances for rain every day this week - we have our fingers crossed - so dry here!  Saturday we took 2 large chests from my guest room i am redoing - my neice decided she just couldn't find time/room to get the furniture, so we took it to my sister in law's consignment/2nd hand store.  I have also recently sold 3 golf clubs, a motorcycle seat back rest and some Harley Davidson luggage.  Here is a picture of the backpack i sold for $100!

This back rest we sold for $175!  

I ordered the 2 cubes from Ikea that will be replacing all the large, heavy and dark wood furniture that came out of the guest room.  Pictures to come - it will take a month to get the pieces delivered and another few days to put it all together!  LOL

DH and my anniversary is tomorrow.  DH let's me buy whatever i want for the house.  One year we got a windchime.  One year a tree, etc.  This year i got 2 new crepe myrtles - the fragrant white Nachez crepe myrtle.  I planted them Saturday in the late afternoon heat and it was hot digging holes for them!  The ground is so dry and hard here, i was worried i would not be able to dig deep enough!

This is what they will look like.

I also took my potted geraniums and planted them out in my raised beds.  I got these geraniums from friend so i hate to lose them, but they are sort of boring little blooms and not a great pink, just a pastel - sort of boring.  I also moved some portulaca (i had to look up how to spell that!) that was growing in a pot.  I am trying to move as many of my perennials from pots to beds so i don't have to winter so many pots in the house this winter!  The advantage is, i had a lot of pretty greens that i wintered inside to provide color and interest in my deck pots and only bought a 6 pack of petunias and a 6 pack of impatiens to spread out with the greenery (vinca, asparagus fern, airplane plant, mother-of-millions and purple heart).  Next year i am going to do the same thing - focusing on these plants that do well and buy a few pretty flowers to add pretty color.  I am looking for a couple of the cool iron planters to add some height at the corners of my deck.  I saw some beautiful ones at the nursery Saturday but they were $100+ each!  I also planted a hyacinth vine that i started from a seed - it is already way bigger than 2 clematis i bought - but clematis are sort of slow to get started - and the hyacinth vine is an annual.  But they grow really fast - so i am going to try to plant several from seeds next year really early, like late winter.  I also see that some of my lettuce has gone to seed and i am going to see if i can get a little lettuce from seed next year.

I am such a garden nerd, that i have big plans that inspire me that involve design and seeds.  LOL.  My DH thinks i am making the yard way more complicated, but i really do have a 2 year, 5 year and 10 year plan.  My plan is to get many areas of my garden/yard so that i can do as much or as little as i want from year to year (i.e. raised beds, bushes and mostly potted flowers).  But i really do enjoy creating it a lot.  I intend to get to a point where i am just maintaining...wonder if i am kidding myself?!  LOL

I know much of my plans will be evolving and from trial basis - what i learn and adjust.  For example, in out front yard it is very sunny so i have English ivy (don't worry, it is contained to a small area) and cactus and i am increasing the cactus and succulents to reduce how much i have to water out front.  Right now we are watering even the bushes and shrubs, do to this dry summer we are having.  The important thing is 1)  i enjoy it and 2)  i hope it makes the house look nice and someday 3)  increase selling time/value.

This little cactus my friends from Florida mailed me a piece and i am going to keep it going/repot it.

What is your summer plans looking like where you are?  

The Days are Moving So Fast!

Hope everyone out there had a nice Father's Day!

My husband and I went on a short 3 hour kayak float on a nearby river.  It was only the 2nd time I have ever been in a kayak on a river.  Last Saturday I went with a group of about 20 on a larger river about 2 hours away.  It is a pretty well known river - The Buffalo River - in Arkansas.  It is actually the first National River designated in the US.  Here is the wiki link.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_National_River  It is a beautiful area.

Some parts of this river are pretty dangerous due to the narrowing curves and the rocks.  Not so much the rapids, as such.  There are areas where the river descends enough so that is a big of a challenge too.  A year or two ago there is a large sinkhole where a man drowned.  He was pretty experienced kayaker from what I recall.

I did an easy section last Saturday with some very experienced people.  We all are older and non drinkers/partiers.  I would not want to take a chance with people who were not experienced or who were drinking.  In 1995 when I was going to school in Arkansas, I did the challenging section...with an experienced outdoorsman, in a duel canoe.  We did flip over once, but were fine.  We were also in our 20's!

My friend and I felt my DH would enjoy a shorter kayak and made plans to go Sunday with him.  I am so glad we did.  We enjoyed so much the pretty scenery and the animals we saw (birds, turtles, frogs, a snake, etc).  DH had a blast.  The river we did yesterday was getting low.  They say parts of the Buffalo (the lower) are getting low too.  We had a lot of rain in March - April but it has slowed considerably.  It usually does, but more towards late July.  This is a little early for our lawn to be turning brown.  We really don't have very good grass, so I am not going to worry much about it.  As I finish diff landscaping projects, I will worry about yard next.  I read that a good time to seed is around Labor Day.  It is good and warm, the dry hot weather may be easing by then...can plant seed and it will be mature enough for me to weed and feed next spring.  I am just going to work on very small portion of lawn in the backyard to perfect it before I expand to the front.

I did have my bonfire Friday evening.  I scanned ALL my photos, scrapebooks, memorabilia, even yearbooks to my computer and burned all the originals, except what i am keeping for family (neice and nephews).  I love the feeling of getting rid of stuff so my house is not stuffed.  My in laws think i am crazy for getting rid of originals.  We had dinner with the in laws Saturday evening for Father's Day.  But my DH and his family are very much into antiques and keepsakes, just stuff.  Not me.  I used to be in my younger years, but the older i get the less around me I want to deal with.

Now that I have been retired (semi retired) for close to 2 years, I know more about what stuff I will keep and use and what is just extra volume that I won't need (clothes, shoes, jewelry).  In a recent purge, I cleaned out a bunch of my costume jewelry and got rid of my large jewelry case.  At a local consignment store I found a small chest that fits under the counter in my bathroom where the vanity is.

I love the smaller one.  It is in my bath now instead of my bedroom and the lighting is much better.
Today it is pretty warm but this is late June.  I usu get up and work for an hour, then feed the dogs and when i let them out into the bigger yard, i water my vegetables.  My lettuce still going strong but growing to seed in next few weeks.  My spinach and kale is winding down.  My chard is about the same.  My tomatoes have tiny fruit and i am watching them close!

Have a great Monday!

hump day

Well I am really enjoying these longer days and warm evenings and so are my tomatoes!

I just hope they actually produce some good tomatoes.  I learned the hard way last year not to get water on the leaves and burned up my tomatoes last summer.  We just got a few really puny ones.  But our cherry tomatoes have always produced by the bucket-full.  This year our cherry tomatoes (on our deck) aren't doing anything.  I would have figured it was the frost we got in late April, but we also bought some decorative grass from same store that is not doing anything either.

Has been pretty hot and humid until late last week.  The heat and the work computer being down all last week promted me to find something inside to work on.  I have been wanting to streamline my home and reduce clutter (have been doing this for 10 years!).  I have a nice sized home, and love our high ceilings, but we still have to much stuff to comfortably store/access/clean around...so I have been doing another round of clearing stuff out. I work in a tiny office and am lucky to have high shelves, but wanted to put extra throw pillows way up high...so I had do something with the heavy boxes of pictures/letters/cards on the higher shelves.  Plus, I am liking my idea of storing light stuff up high.  

So I decided to go through the boxes and scan the photos and keepsakes I want to retain electronically and other than a very few printed out photos, burn all the originals.  I know it would be impossible for some people to do this - burn a picture.  But DH and I have no children so pass this on to.  Most of it is just personal stuff for me.  But photos of relatives and my family I am passing on to my sister and my niece and nephew.  

I even did my school year books, all 13.  I am only going to retain my senior scrap book and yearbook until my 40 high school reunion (God willing).  It has been a long job.  I just did a little everyday.  But I am going to have a cathartic burn pile when I am finished this week!

This plus another crate I will burn in my fire pit Friday or Saturday.  This is all I have left to go, a small pile of photos/cards and 4 more year books.  

I have gone from 4 of these big heavy boxes to 2.  One for me and one for DH.  His is FULL.

I am taking another car load to my sister in laws store to sell.  The house is looking clearer and more streamlined, easier to clean around and all the rooms function in at least one way - some two.  For example in my sitting room I can do yoga, or crafts, or just sit and watch TV.  The closet in that room is my "office".  I took the door off and fashioned a "desk" out of the lowest shelf.  Above the shelf to save space a strung led string lights.  2 shelves above that are my office supplies and the unit hanging behind my paper/envelope holder.  I have a chalk/board/metal magnet holder and a cork board next to it.  I LOVE the coziness.  Anyway, I usually work in the breakfast nook in the mornings enjoying the east view and the yard/birds/watching my dogs play.  Then in the afternoon I move to my closet and can darken it and have the ceiling fan to help keep that room really cool.

Hope you are staying cool and enjoying some fresh produce!  I cooked up a big bunch of rainbow chard last night.  Tonight we are having salad.  The lettuce is going crazy and will wind down in the next couple weeks.

Tuesday already?

Well, summer is here!  Whoo whee has been pretty muggy and warm.  We are having above ave temps here.  I know it won't last all June (maybe).  And I am learning to just accept that it will be hot and muggy most of the summer here in the (mid) south.  I hope you all are not getting too much Cristobel damage!  Sure seems like hurricane season is early!  We are also above ave rainfall here too.  Weird weather, virus, rioting, etc.  I feel bad for all the people who are reeling from all the virus damage and now rioting damage.  I support the sentiments, I just wish it would stay peaceful.

My husband got an inflammatory email about the BLM movement.  I see people I know on FB post things and I feel sad and hopeless.  I cannot even imagine how people feel who have experienced racism their entire lives (and generations!).  I feel bad for our kids who are going to have to pay for all this deficit and heal our country.  I do worry because I feel this is going to require a spiritual solution and it seems like people and families are moving away from churches.  Maybe I cannot envision the future and I just give it up and pray for God to heal us all.

I feel sorry for old people locked away in their quarantines (like my dear granny).  I feel for all the animals being neglected...I am a real ray of sunshine but the important thing is...that DH and I had a talk about it and we both feel comfortable to support BLM and my DH is a former homicide detective.  So, enough about such weighty subjects!  I am just working and doing my yoga couple evenings a week and walking few times a week...I am enjoying my structure.

Structure for me brings order and peace and quiets my mind.  As so does my devotional readings, meditation, exercise, music and mindless escapes like podcasts and Netflix!  And blogs!

Here is a picture of my patio sitting area.  This makes me feel peaceful.  I hope you are finding your own oasis in the heat of this strange summer.  Peace!

P.S.  My brother in law came down and got grand dad's homemade cabinet.  I got all of DH 45 years old huge wooden furniture moved out and I am waiting for a chance to run to closets IKEA for better/lighter/more efficient/brighter storage solutions for our sweaters and sweatshirts...and more importantly, my treadmill has been moved and I got my sitting room back.  I will be working (and yoga-ing) in here more, so I am happy for the space.  

I truly loved this lovely one of a kind cabinet, but I just cannot afford the space.  It is going to the brother in the family who has kids.  They have some really cool WW2 artifacts to store in it.  Pictures on the room make over soon!

Here is my cute sitting room

Here is the same small guest room before we bought the house.

Before I go, just wanted to share a delicious thing I have been doing with fresh veggies, greens, frozen veggies - whatever you have!  I have learned that I prefer my arugula cooked.  So I cooked it in generous amount of butter.  Sauteed some slivered almonds and then I toss it with cooked pasta (I have used rice noodles for less gluten option) and I throw in some vegan faux cheese, and or feta cheese and or goat cheese and it is DELICIOUS.  My In laws loved it.  I have used fresh and frozen veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, zuchhini, etc) and greens - kale, spinach and/or arugula.  

s

Free Lawn Decoration - Score!

My brother in law has some land.  He saved me a giant flat rock that was broken in half.  I picked it up when DH was up in the city for a doctor's appt.  We buried in ground couple of inches, flanking our driveway.  I am going to fasten house number on one side.  The solar light faintly lights the rocks at night.  We buried these Sunday afternoon.  It was hot work.  It was good timing that BIL and his wife were in retirement town to see DH parents, we got to see them.  We missed them when we stopped by their house in city Thurs.  We had dinner with everyone Sat night and lunch Sunday.  We shared some of our homegrown tomatoes. 

We are still getting a few tomatoes.  They did not grown large, but better than a lot of people's.  We are still getting quite a few grape and cherry.  Some are split from all the rain.  I just cook those and keep in freezer.  I blend them up peel and all with hand held blender.  I will use this for pasta sauce or soup stock this winter.

Monday we mowed and I watered everything.  I got a couple new hoses from Walmart.com that are silver and look sort of like aluminum.  They are lightweight and don't kink.  Don't take up so much room in the grass to mow around.  While I am gone this week, DH is installing a couple of hose keepers on the front and side of house.  We did have a keeper hung on back for large house - that does most of my rear garden/landscaping. 

DH is also going to buy pool noodles and electric tape and repair/rewrap the 3 outside/free standing water spouts to insulate them.  He also said he would research how much insulation/what type of machine rental to blow it in we need.  Then we are going to install a little more flooring in attack to store stuff we don't need down below taking up room. 

Honestly, we go back and forth between continuing to work on this house and look for a smaller yard.  But, I am fine with taking over all the mowing, if I have to.  The riding mower is nice, but not high dollar like some of our friends/relatives.  I know people who have $1000 in just their seat.  So, seat bounces DH around quite a bit, hurting his back.  Next time we mow, he going to try push mower.

We went through lake area on our way back Friday afternoon, spent one night with our Florida friend.  We missed his wife this trip.  DH staying home with the dogs this weekend, I will be by lake again.  Spending some time with my aunt/cousins at the lake, then some time with an out of state school friend - we are all 4 girls going to run by see our other friend who has cancer.  I will get to see friend and wife too, from Florida.  Going to be away from DH for 10 days, which we hate.  I told him I have about 4- 6 weeks left at work.  Then I am taking another break.  I am tired.  Got up this morning and drove to city at 4am.  Not too bad when it is warm, I can't imaging trying to do this when it is cold.  Yuck. 

Dog Days

Went to see a family member in the hospital last night, more about that another post.  On the way back, I went by our old temporary extended stay hotel.  I snapped a pic and sent it to DH for a laugh.
It is hot and possibly stormy here in city this weekend.  I think supposed to be drier my state, rain-wise.  DH is wondering if I will have to put up the convertible top.  We bought it in April and have not put the top up yet.  I will let you know.

Kali Coleman of MSN wrote this article, which I found interesting:  The “dog days of summer” refers to the hottest, sweatiest, most oppressively sweltering stretch of the year. And though you might think the phrase comes from worn-out, overheated pups laying lazily in the sun, too hot to play even one round fetch, you’d be incorrect. Turns out, the phrase “dog days of summer” has very little to do with dogs at all.

According to Christopher Klein of The History Channel, the phrase dates all the way back to ancient times, when civilizations tracked the seasons by sky patterns. During the hottest days of the summer, ancient Romans and Greeks noticed that Sirius—the brightest star in the sky—set and rose alongside the sun. And as Jay Holberg, the author of Sirius:  Brightest Diamond in the Night Sky, explains, Sirius is known as the “dog star” because it’s the brightest star in constellation Canis Major, which literally translates to “greater dog” in Latin.

Since Sirius moved in tandem with the sun during this time of immense heat, ancient civilizations believed the star was radiating all that extra heat to planet Earth. The Romans, therefore, referred to the phenomenon as “diēs caniculārēs,” which translates to “dog days.”

Thanks to advances in modern science, we now know that though Sirius is indeed the brightest star in the sky, it’s more than eight light-years away from the Earth. One light year, per the scientists at NASA, equates to nearly six trillion miles. For comparison’s sake, NASA puts our own sun as 92 million miles away from the equator. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to tell that Sirius is way, way too far away from our solar system to contribute a single joule of heat to Earth.

Additionally, our dog days are hardly the same dog days of ancient eras. The Old Farmer's Almanac says the current precise dog days of summer fall between July 3 and August 11. The ancient Romans and Greeks, however, are said to have experienced their dog days starting in late July. What’s more, as the universe shifts and changes and shrinks and expands at a never-ending rate, Sirius changes locations in the night sky.

“In 26,000 years, the dog days would completely move all around the sky,” Bradley Schaefer, a professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University, told National Geographic.   “Roughly 13,000 years from now, Sirius will be rising with the sun in mid-winter.”

Wow, I love stuff like this.  I hope you get a chance to see the stars in between the fireworks this weekend.  And have the love of family and friends around you.  Today I am going to lunch with my aunts, it is my Aunt C birthday.  And later I get to see my DH and my dogs.  Can't wait!  Friday we go to Sam's - good times.  And Saturday I spend with my sister's family.  I already told her I was going to bring the 7 layer dip.  Now I am seriously wanting some - I am making a dairy free version.

Have a great holiday!

Speaking of dogs, this is me and my dogs in our closet when a bad storm came through this spring.

Cousin D response

Cousin D responded saying we should plan a girls' weekend and said she was currently job searching.  I told her that I would call her tomorrow.  She pointed out that Cousin's Day is July 24 so we are shooting for that weekend.  We have to do something cheap because she and I are both broke right now.

I am very surprised she is job searching.  This does not bode well for her plan to retire and have a wedding venue.  I suppose I will get filled in tomorrow.

My budget buster this summer is 1)  going to Arizona, and renting a car.  2)  starting back to work had some start up costs, such as food for work location, since I live here Sun - Thurs.  Parking and gym membership/yoga classes.  Also trying to figure it out, because I am not really sure where we went wrong, but clearly we are doing some emotional/feel good spending and we must get that rabbit back in its cage.  It looks like even with me working (I am saving 2/3 of my weekly pay to contrib to savings/Roth) it is going to take my month of July to get back to the black.

At least I am feeling like my weight loss is coming along.  I did not work out last night, left early to see my Granny (but postponed because she is a little puny and wanted me to come next week instead).  So since I left work early, I got myself and my friend T a smoothie and we met and had coffee talk.  Then on way home I bought my uncle (asked my aunt first) some rootbeer and we splurged on 3 shows together with some good ole fashioned cheese curls.  I stayed up too late (10pm - I know, so crazy) and today I was tired.  So, after work today, yoga and 1 tv show and to bed early.

DH is excited I am coming home tomorrow and so am I.  I am also excited that he was at Sam's today and I won't have to go.  So, we are going to celebrate with a little kayak ride this weekend. 

Happy Thursday, Friday is coming!

Grain Moon

The Old Farmers Almanac gives the Native American names for each month's full moon.  The Native Americans named them to track the seasons.  Tonight is Grain Moon.
 

The corn here in the midwest is tall and close to harvest, but not quite ready.   It is still green, so it is also known as The Green Corn Moon.
 

We spent some time admiring the corn as we drove home to the city to get in another week of work.   We also have enjoyed seeing the moon this weekend.  I came home and went to the store,  grateful my food gathering is as easy as driving to a store.  I can imagine for the Native Americans, it was time to gather as much as they could to both process and preserve it, along with the wild game they hunted to get ready for the fall and winter. 
 

I walked after I fixed dinner and fixed lunches for Monday and Tues.   I cut it close, sunset is now 8pm.  Days start to get noticeably shorter now.
 

DH and I both had headaches this weekend,  fatigue and aches and pains...sort of grouchy we both were.  My back is also giving me fits making me think I need to tighten up my diet and get back to yoga soon.  Native Americans and early settlers did a lot of physical labor and moving around.  Today, our culture benefits from so much convenience, they we have come too far the other way.  DH and I sit long hours at computers at our jobs.  We need to keep moving.  My 5 mile walk felt wonderful.
 

Going to bed, so my body can rest up.  Happy Grain moon to you.

So Much for Down Day Feeling!

So usually golfing qualifies as a down day, at least it was recreation for a change!  We have been consumed with moving and caring for 2 houses last couple years (first world whine).  But darn was it hot yesterday!  We were just melting.  Sweat in our eyes, just humid.  Made me really fatigued and my game was bad.  But, I did enjoy being out.  Then humidity eased a bit and I did about half my normal walk.  I was listening to a good FBI crime mystery audio book by Med Gardiner "Into the Black Nowhere".  So, I forced myself.  I wanted to enjoy the book, encourage some grit and assist in the puffiness my bad eating has caused.  Then we ate cool summer food - egg salad, fruit and avocado.  I do enjoy summer eating!
Back to work today and then yoga tonight.  But I am really glad the last 2 weekends of moving are behind us!  DH has hand surgery tomorrow, so I will try to schedule my truck oil change late afternoon.  Have a great Tuesday!  Can't believe May is almost over.  The golf course showed some weird signs of heat, burned grass, moss on the ponds and we could even hear the locusts starting up.  It really seemed like late July/August out there - I hope this is not a portend for the rest of the summer.