Sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. That’s me today. I don’t want to work. I just looked at our bank account for motivation, and let me tell you, that cleared that fantasy real fast, heh. I don’t want to clean. I don’t want to cook. I don’t want to put up with renovations.
I am having my 2-year-old moment.
I am also disappointed with my cross stitch project. I’ve started it and I am reasonably sure that the floss colors are seriously off. The girl was supposed to have blonde hair but it’s clearly dark brown, which does not work, since Kid 2 has returned to her natural blonde hair color. I am not sure what to do. Right now I am tempted to scan the pattern in, pull the colors out via photoshop, and then just buy a bunch of DMC to match the scan. But that means I may have to rip a whole bunch of what I did out.
I don’t want to. Ugh.
I haven’t put my yarn up. It’s still in boxes. Ugh.
Ugh.
It doesn’t help that we’re having a heatwave. Our temperatures are hovering around 104 degrees (41 Celsius), and our upstairs AC unit probably sprang a coolant leak. One of the upstairs rooms inexplicably has haze in it. We bought an air purifier and already had AC system serviced (it worked fine before they serviced it but now the upstairs AC is not cooling,) and supposedly everything is clean. We can’t figure out where the haze coming from, so we are just running the purifier until it clears up.
Summer is our inside season. That’s when we put sunscreen on to go to the mailbox. They promised us thunderstorms yesterday. We had thunder. The house shook. No rain though. Bastards.
I need to get to the next scene so I can murder some characters horribly. It will not cheer me up, but at least it will match my current mood. One good thing that happened – I had found a suspicious mole on my back during the vacation, and the moment I came home, the dermatologist determined it needed to come off. It came off and it’s not melanoma. If you have a weird spot, go get it checked out. You will feel better, and melanoma can spread very fast.
We have annual physicals this week, and then we both have the required medical tests, like mammogram for me, etc. I don’t want to go to the physical. I will, but I don’t want to.
I am just bitter and sour today. Ugh.
Tell me something good that happened, so I am not all bitter and mopey.
The zucchini are a little over an inch long and the peas are actual pods. I will soon be enjoying home-grown vegetables.
Win!
Cool! My mom just started teaching my 5 yr old about growing vegetables and got her to try the zucchini!
I’ve got to say, I’m having a bad day too. I over slept so had to go out to garden at the heat of the day. I stepped too close to a wasp nest newly formed at the bottom of our wood gate ( who would have thunk they would build one there) and got several stings. Had to run and jump in the pool. Stung on both hands and feet ( was wearing sandals). I am done! Going to indulge myself and read “Iron And Magic” again then on to Nevada and Connor. Tomorrow will be a better day!
We just got confirmation this morning that our new science labs at school (new as in renovated, the walls/roof etc. are the 1908 originals still) are ahead of schedule and we’ll get to see them for the first time since April tomorrow – so that’s really exciting! (The kids won’t see them until September, but at least we can start moving chemicals etc. back from the un-renovated labs in term time rather than the summer holidays)
Hope your day improves!
That is exciting!
It was, and they are BEAUTIFUL! Clean, immaculate, ready for eager students to fill them with learning…. or at least, if we ever let them in they will be – they seem too nice to spoil with students!
I am so sorry, but I laughed and laughed at this. Yes, “2-year old moment”. Some of them spread to a bit longer.
I am planning our 2023 family cruise on the Rhine river or Danube – consensus (of 25 people) rules. Looking forward to it.
You’re a riot – thanks for the laugh today, I appreciate it.
I laughed too because I have had those moments. This is precious, Ilona, thanks for the invitation to this pity party but looks like your fans have made some lemonade and cookies for you. How truly loved you are. OMG, you are so right about this heat. Also it is extremely frustrating to only get thunder. Ugh
I had a Banana Split! I do not feel guilty. 😀
Have a better day.
Nor should you! Haha
I had an amazing lemon raspberry donut. Warm from the fryer with icing. Bliss! Nice way to do Monday I may have to make a banana split next week.
Raspberry lemon donut!?! That sounds AWESOME. Envy
Hurray for “no guilt!”
Something good?
My cats got a clean bill of health during their annual physical. They are “well-muscled” and in otherwise good condition.
They forgave me almost immediately for the indignity of cat carrier transportation (tuna was involved) so no repercussions.
Made me feel a lot better – one full year together and I seem to be providing a good environment.
Cats are very good at ripper cushions.
Good at ripping those cushions too. He. He
Yes, Selene and Rikki spend a lot of time ripping the cushions of my furniture. Scratching posts and pads everywhere that sometimes get attention, and cushions which receive loving claws every day.
+1 LOL. Mine gives me *usually* gentle loove nips and mucho purring, but gets carried away sometimes (or is not happy he’s not getting his f.o.o.d or attention enough) and then he nips just short of blood. He’s got it fine tuned to nip enough to hurt but not draw blood but maybe leave bruises…Ripper cushions indeed…
My teenager went to summer school this morning willingly even after he learned that the field trip was not today. While the goodness was all him, I felt like a had earned a parenting gold star.
These 2 memes make me happy. One is metal and the other is a little dark, so hopefully they aren’t obnoxious.
That was really super cool to learn! Thank you so much ????
This is awesome! I had to show it to my daughter, who also got a laugh (we were both terrified at the same time!) She will probably share it with her D&D crowd…too funny! ????
I don’t have much to offer, but I’m taking the MCAT this Saturday and I killed my practice test, so I’ve got a confidence boost! Hopefully your day goes much better, the rain finally arrives and your motivation multiplies!
Good luck with your MCAT.
Thank you! ❤️
I found out that I am not going crazy (or crazier, anyway!) – the pharmacy called and said they had made a “dispensing error” and instead of giving me an allergy medication, gave me very strong psychotropic meds. Only for 5 days but wow those were 5 bad bad days.
Oh my god. I hope you’re ok!
Thank you. I was considering committing myself – as in had family over and we were talking hospitals when the pharmacist called.
I am not yet all the way myself again but so relieved that it wasn’t organically me, if that makes any sense.
A small suggestion that may help people in the future. The website http://www.drugs.com will tell you what the correct color and shape is for your medication. If the pill you get doesn’t match it’s picture then ask about it.
My pharmacy includes that info on the label they apply to the container. First time they switched brands on my pill, I looked it up to confirm that it was legit, which is when I noticed that they put that info on the label.
Glad everything worked out (somewhat) ok. I wonder how the pharmacist realized the error.
Pharmacist was notified by generic manufacturer when they discovered problem – took them a few days to chase down all affected folks etc. Am super grateful for our regulatory environment and notification requirements today.
It was a factory machine error – correct capsule packed with wrong contents. The very rare exception where cross-checking would not have helped.
Wow, I’m relieved on your behalf!
I’m sorry. WTactualF?!?!?
This ^^.
Yeah. Bad enough when you get unadvertised side effects from the actual prescribed medication. This is just horrifying. I have heard of it happening in the case of particularly bad physician handwriting though. The potential is there digitally with autocorrupt I suspect.
Exactly ????
Oh dear God.
Yeah. Today is pretty sweet.
the VA tries to slip those “sweethearts” to me every once in a while, I would rather, literally, walk through the panic attacks.
Holy cow!
OMG!! Hope you’re ok now!
Wow, just wow. I don’t know if that counts as good news or very bad news. So glad they contacted you and you’re off them.
I am counting it as transcendently great news. Phenomenally great. I had some bad luck and now today I do not. Today I am on my way back to regular.
A machine went awry. There was no malice or even gross incompetence. I had some bad scary days but get to be myself again without lasting impairment. And I have gained some deep gratitude for not having the sort of illness that requires threading the needle of risking those side effects.
Sending you love, & celebrating right along with you!
So glad they caught it and that you are better!
How incredibly scary for you and your family!
Blessings!
Anne:
I am glad you are okay now, psychotropic drugs can cause all kinds of things.
I admire your willingness to forgive the drug maker but machines just don’t go awry. The machines are computer controlled and likely someone wasn’t following procedure or they had a hell of a bug.
My advice would be to talk to a lawyer about your rights, you had 5 days of hell because of their mistake. Not saying this as a get rich scheme, but rather if companies get away with things like this they are likely to write this off as a one off; the problem is they then won’t try to figure out why and it could happen again I don’t trust regulatory scrutiny to keep them honest.
Anyway, glad you came through it all right, that of course is the important part.
I work in the pharma manufacturing space. Agreed. Thus is in no way a simple or expected error. It’s one of the worst things that could happen with numerous checks and balances to prevent it. Not to be a drama queen, but this is seriously messed up.
And that right there is why even though I should get medical for some things under the VA, I get everything treated by civilians under my work Insurance. I don’t trust the VA any more than I trusted military doctors when I was active duty.
I finally received my visa to come to the US for a semester abroad (from Germany) this fall term! I will be studying in California for a couple of months and try to see as much of the US as possible ☺️
I hope you enjoy your stay! Despite our many issues, it is a beautiful country with (mostly) friendly people.
Yay! I hope you have a great time! I live here in CA so I’d also like to say “Welcome!”
Sorry CA is short for California
Welcome! Hope your stay is wonderful.
I also live in Cali so welcome!
Hurray! California is a great jumping off point to several sensational national parks!! I hope you have a great stay!!
Herzlich willkommen, Carolin! May it be all you hope for and much more.
NorCal or SoCal? It’s a big state!
If north, that’s where I am, amid the redwoods, but close to the City.
I made an A in my college algebra class! I’ve gone back to college after dropping out about 15 years ago. This was my first math class since my junior year of high school. I’m super excited!
woohoo! congratulations ???? You slayed the Maths beast!
You are a star!
The first is the hardest and the scariest and you slayed it!
Way to go!
Yey ????????????
Go you! That is awesome! Sail on.
Yay! ????
Awesome! As someone who had kind of a checkered college career but ended up completing undergrad&a masters later on ,and had a dad that completed his engineering degree at 40, I applaud you!
We thought we had major structural issues on the back corner of our building in the Quarter, and the insurance company was trying to attribute it to IDA, (it wasn’t, and there’s photographic proof), but the best case scenario just happened–the structural engineer came back with, “no, it’s not a big deal, just bricks need to be re-pointed with the right kind of mortar,” and it’s a tiny section, so less than $500. I cannot tell you how relieved I am, because the deductible is really high.
Meant to add–I empathize with the cranky mood.
Just visited the Quarter. Beautiful place, but I thought at the time I would not want to be an owner there and deal with repairs. So glad for you! I feel really happy for you.
Thank you, and you nailed it. We love a lot of things about living here, but the logistics of fixing something is a nightmare. First, the whole thing is a historical district, so we have to get permits from them, which is a very long-draw-out-process, and then just being able to get workers here, a place to park, and then hauling up the materials. It gives me hives (and we’re embarking on a final finishing-up of a remodel we’d started before I got sick a while back, so yay for the extra costs, too!) argh.
I hope you had fun here–it’s hot as blazes, but still loads to do inside.
We had the gutters replaced/repaired and the stomped on a portion of the garden. While a wild mallow I loved is a bit damaged they stomped mostly on these daylilies I never really liked and I realized it’s the perfect opportunity to dig them out and replace them with something I *do* like. It’s my version of a good murder scene!
Hope the heat wave subsides!
the beauty of wild mallow is that it self seeds so readily that it will come back.
And as a bonus you can offer the lily bulbs to friends and neighbors who will love them. Happy gardening!
I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies yesterday. The whole house still smells like freshly baked cookies, which is one of the best smells ever.
My hubby made me peanut butter kiss cookies and a lasagna in celebration of finishing my nursing contract in Philadelphia…home sweet home in the NY countryside for the summer now! BOOYAH!!
Actually, the best thing happened yesterday evening and it’s all your fault.
I had an epiphany. I’m reading your books to learn about writing. To learn what makes them so engaging and why the characters matter.
I finally got it: they care. The significant characters are driven by something they care and feel deeply about.
Not a hollow something like revenge. But something like family. Like not standing by and letting wrongs happen. Like caring for the pack, clan, etc.
So thank you.
It sounds so simple, but this one epiphany may take me wonderful places.
Damn. You’re right. Great insight. May it carry you far.
I care about these characters because they care about each other, that makes them good people to me, and they care about important things like doing the right thing for good reasons. The kickassery and humor help too, but…
Also, a heck of a nice complement for a two year old!
Our almost 16 year old rat terrier finally has her appetite back after a fight pancreatitis!
Oh, that’s a big deal and a big win, especially at her age! I’m so glad for y’all!
Rat terrors are the best! Glad yours is better!
Wonderful news!
You guys are my favorite authors in the world. You make me happy when you write anything…even your grumpy days haha and I know you do it for all the rest of the BDH too 🙂
We bought a van for our bookstore so we can stop using the owners’ cars for weekend markets. That means the owners may get a day off work (we won’t because we are workaholics but the possibility will exist).
We can’t decide on a name for her. My business partner vetoed pun names (Vanna White was my favorite) so now we’re at an impasse.
Booknerdvana? Or does that count as a pun.
I liked it, but could also be a Vanbrary.
My old van was Vincent Van Go and my one is Van Morrison.
I think we decided on Vinnie Van Gogh which is pun enough for me but subtle enough for her!
Lol drive her for a few days the name may be very obvious….have Dusty my Durango, no matter what the dashboard has dust, windows up or down. Even parked and didn’t move after detailing it, twenty mins and it was dusty. Another vehicle was a thief, stole items from passengers, item could only be found after they were gone, guess you can figure out what its name was.
Should probably add, my brother had a somewhat nice christine, car sat in a field for decades unmoved, then given to him, minor replacement tires and battery and it started. Was somewhat self fixing, with attitude, examples dashboard lights won’t work everything good so should but didn’t, until he was caught speeding as soon as the cop stepped out of his car they started working. After that it seemed to like him, but not everyone. Rear defrost only a small section worked, until a whining girl was in the backseat complaining about the car, we heard puff, and she was screaming cloud of dead bugs fell all over her, not one bug passed into the front seats, but the defrost worked great after that. It was that car that really made a convincing case waiting before naming.
Love this answer…It made me laugh after a rather complicated day…
Rocinante is the classic one.
Mystery Machine?
Five little bitty raccoon babies tumbling around in a bowl of water last evening. It was a wild water party. Not sure if they were trying to dunk each other or what, but they all managed to fit in there. When they left, they tumbled down the steps in the same tangled ball of fur, all chattering to each other.
That’s simply adorable!
That really is about as purely happy as it’s possible to get!
I had free coffee for my birthday!
I hope your days get better. That heat is awful. Where my parents live in Texas, it rains around them, but rarely where they are.
Many hugs for all of you.
Happy Birthday!
My boyfriend has a Tennessee Walker Hound mix named Shadow and I have a Dachshund named Kalliope. We are in the process of getting all our fur-babies integrated in anticipation of combining households in the next couple years. There is still a cat (Belgium) to introduce to Shadow, but we were working on the dogs first.
Shadow is a rescue and generally doesn’t do well with disruption, loud noises, or general “weirdness” — she goes right off her food.
Kalliope is a high energy bundle of weiner who is very devoted to her food and getting attention from humans — confidence is her middle name, she hasn’t met anything she didn’t think she could take, eat, or get pets from.
We are switching up every weekend going to the others house and this weekend was the first time that Kalliope coming over didn’t bother Shadow at all! She ate all her meals with no problem! This is a big development for Shadow and I am hoping she’ll come around to eating better at my house 🙂 We are taking any victory we can get hahaha
Sending positive “kill all the fictional characters” vibes.
Well, maybe not all — just the ones that have seriously annoyed you.
Huh, well I wish I had something good to share. Let’s see, okay, I looked up Stephanie Zimbalist on Wikipedia. I was watching Remington Steele on Decades, and she boggled my mind. Her work package is beyond admiration. When I’m crabby, I like to find people who do things with their lives. She happened to be it for me. Hope this helps.
My husband of the time used to say that I watched Remington Steele for Stephanie Zimbalist’s hats. There was much truth to this.
I don’t have any happy to share – right there with you, actually.
But!!!
No. No buts. I’ve got my iced coffee, and I’m staring down the day like I have to storm a castle.
Here’s some kitties.
Try again…
Awwww!
Too cute!
Okay, I have no idea how you get anything done with so much cutie adorableness! I especially like their fashionable white pointing — the mustachio, the matching bibs/cravats (gender neutral)! ~sends virtual snuggle-squeezes~
I’m sorry you feel cranky. Here’s our team mascot, Pepe, who is usually cranky too.
Love this pic! So cute!
My 10 week old nephew visited. At 14 pounds, he is marvelously squishy (even his calves). He’s learning to smile and focus his eyes on peron talking to him – fully melted heart.
Well.. during the 2000s I failed English class in school several times. After I left school I discovered that some of my favorite authors – like you – were actually translated. I learned English because I was impatient and didn´t want to wait for the translations. Ten years later – and a whole lot of adventures – I am right now writing my master thesis. In order to become an English teacher. So thank you 🙂
WOW!
That’s all I got. Just wow. And congratulations, you kick ass like Kate! ❤️????????????????????‼️
+1 That is really impressive.
Congratulations! Please tell your students about this, as it’s so impressive.
That’s awesome!
My father, 96 since last we week, and unfortunately currently in the hospital due to a string of minor ailments that have greatly weakened him, will be transferred to a geriatric rehabilitation facility tomorrow which will hopefully get him back on his feet a bit more.
That will be a lot better for him than the hospital. Take care of yourself.
Going to the lake! The good news is it warmed up(Ice has been off for about 6 weeks)!!! Yeah, time to float with the cocktail of your choice. If your ever in MN stop by for a float, I have a floatie problem, love them!
We just visited the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain, and I was overwhelmed by his craft and vision. I knew some of his paintings from the school and the internet, but to see so much of his artwork was amazing.
I was blown away when I visited, much to my surprise. It still stands out (12? years later) as one of the most WOW! experiences I’ve ever had.
It was amazing, gorgeous and grand. The enormity of his vision was awe-inspiring. I believe that this will stand out for me for years to come als well.
No real amazing news, but the hus-beast is getting things done so we can leave on our two month RV trip next week! That is a total win in my book!
My nephew and his girlfriend got engaged on Saturday!! Love them both to the moon & back. Lots of fun things to look forward to, like giving her a bridal tea.
I took a class and now I have a noncommercial drone pilot license!
I hear u about renovations. One problem after another… have to spend more $ to redo things that were done wrong… very aggravating and disheartening. But something good… I guess is for once did part of renovation by putting in solar tube cause bathroom is completely enclosed and had no problems. For once something installed was done without problems and correctly!
We had solar tubes put in our internal bathroom and shower rooms, I am still amazed by how light they are from just reflected sunlight, even on cloudy days!
Eclipse the moon comes out tomorrow!!!
Thank you for reminding me about that. How exciting. 🙂
It hasn’t happened yet, but tomorrow my husband and I go to Lisbon! I’m so excited. I’m pretty sure I left the trials and tribulations of our summer vacation on another post, but they are mostly over and we’re going to Lisbon! I have friends who love Portugal so much and I have a list from them, and a list of so much more stuff than we can actually see in 5 days (especially 5 days of 38°-40°C). We’ll see what gets pared.
But there’s a happy thing.
I should add that this is my first non-funeral travel since 2016, and my husband’s first travel since 2015.
Egg tarts! And alllllll the other outstanding pastries. Mmmmm egg tarts.
Hoping you have a smooth travels and pack essentials as a carry on, hopefully one that fits under the seat, as insurance against summer travel of `22 horror stories.
Ducklings at our local park. 🙂
Sorry, about the resolution, needed a smaller file…
I feel your pain and sending ghost hugs. Although have to hope that not all the ubiquitous “THEY” are illegitimate.
I bought yarn for two blankets!! Just to have ‘in case’ I need an emergency project. I love it. I wish I could take it with me everywhere, lol. I feel you on the heat. Here in Okla everything is dying.
Something very good? My sister met her future foster child today ???? I’m so happy for her!
Sorry you are having the “don’t wannas.” You usually make my day better, so here’s my effort towards making yours better.
Something good – I went on two dates with a guy I dated just after both our divorces 10 years ago and he still gives me butterflies, but the timing is WAY better. After many years (I won’t say how many) of meh, bleh, and yeech dates, it’s great to have ONE nice one, let alone two.
Now I just have to let it play out & see what happens.
Awww. Here’s to the good dates x
My son and I spent an hour at a senior dog rescue adoption event last Saturday. Snuggling with a Pekingese-griffon mix named Louie who was asleep the entire time, even through being transferred from one lap to another. And a white terrier named Steve who didn’t let his lack of eyes keep him from trotting around the pen, sniffing everything in sight, bouncing in and out of laps.
I saw an oriole yesterday.
❤️
Always a good day when you see a bird like that. There’s an indigo bunting hanging around my fields (because I’m managing them for early succession instead of neatly mowed pasture now, lol). Brightens my day every time I see him. I once saw an indigo bunting and a Baltimore oriole about six feet apart at the top of a willow oak. Talk about gaudy! But so cool to see.
I went to stay with my mother in law for a couple of days. She’s recuperating from an operation. She’s OK, every day a little better. We had a nice time together. I’m so relieved!
We are in N TX, so I totally get the heat crankiness. August weather for all of July is just wrong. My lettuce grow hydroponic tower is outside and the water is way too warm. My pick me up: Our full EV vehicle we ordered over a year ago arrived. That had me doing a happy dance.
It’s funny that the photo of the “cranky” cat looks similar to some of the Curran as Lion illustrations that have appeared on book covers and in the blog.
Well, I did nothing all weekend as I stayed in bed and let the cat lay all over me. She has kidney disease and hadn’t eaten in 3 days, so I thought I was spending our final hours together.
This morning blood work showed that her kidneys are not that bad. The problem is she had a head cold. One nostril was packed solid. If a cat can’t smell they won’t eat. So after the nostril got a lavage, some nasal meds, IM med, and SQ fluids we came home for happy life.
Happy life to start after she gets over the part where strangers touched her, and violated her nose. But I feel great!
So glad your kitty is going to be OK!
On Friday we are getting picture of our house taken to put up for sale. Almost 2 years of major renovation has led to this. So super excited and hoping it sales. Still trying to get my husband to decided on somewhere else besides in Texas (I am Texan-his answer) though I love my home state it’s just way to hot and going to the prettier parts are even hotter my body doesn’t like it at all.
Hope killing some characters improves your mood!!
Yay!! We’re putting ours on the market in August. All major renos are done. Just needs some paint now.
We finally bought our forever home in the mountains in February (decided to buy a house to retire in to enjoy BEFORE we retire) – and since we didn’t build it, have a LONG list of projects big and small to fix things the previous owner “home projected” together. We’ve made great progress over the last few weeks – including finally having a working front porch light so we don’t need a flashlight when coming home after dark. It’s the little things! Even if every time we mark 3 things off the “to be done list” we add 6 more things to be done 🙂
Reverse stitching is a fine art, requiring years of practice to perfect. In fact, you never perfect it; you just have to keep on practicing.
I have a good news story.
Back in May I had surgery to remove a large ovarian mass – turns out I had something called Meigs Syndrome and that diagnosis was the BEST case scenario – mass was benign and it’s removal has resolved all my issues (including fluid collecting between my lung and the sac surrounding it).
I am healing up well and feel much better. 🙂
That IS good news! Really, really good news! Virtual high fives! ❤️????
Congratulations for the good news!
That’s fantastic!
What great news, and wonderful that you are all better!
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for. I’ve got 18 months until I start my phased retirement. I’ve been a nurse for the past 35 years and I’m ready for something new. I’ll be 55 when I retire and I’m so excited. Can’t believe I’m excited about job hunting but I am sooo ready for a change.
????
I’ve been in the ” winding down” phase of a 35 yr nursing career also. I switched to travel nursing. A 13wk spring contract and then a 13 week fall contract a year…no summers,no winter’s working. Still making the same money (or even more) and we (hubby has a remote job) get to travel around the country seeing different places using someone else’s money…WIN WIN!!
The very first picture from the Webb telescope is being released today.
The others they have ready will be released tomorrow.
I’m not sure where on NASA’s site they will be available, but I did find a site that talks about the Webb project. https://webb.nasa.gov/content/science/firstLight.html
Love that you’re sharing your bitter moments as well as the sweet ones! I hope that writing it out gave you some relief, at least. I know it does for me. Sometimes I’ll type out an email to a coworker who’s driving me nuts, perfect it, and then delete it. Even though I didn’t get to send it, I do feel better. It’s strange to me, how writing something out can have the same effect as talking to someone.
I am also remodeling (ugh). Yesterday I gave my 15 year old a hammer, demonstrated the “get angry” approach to demo, and let him take down a wall. You should have seen his face when I took a hammer to the wall, lol. He had a blast though, and it was a lot of fun to watch him vent his frustrations with a sense of humor, and a lot of hard work.
This morning I’m sitting at my desk in the dining room with my new view out of the kitchen window. Even though the remaining hole is still rough and unfinished, I feel strangely freed with that wall gone.
Be careful, I’ve heard of people who accidentally pressed “send” and had to deal with the results.
Last night, one of my cats, Stardust, deigned to sleep in bed with us. Our other cat, Orion, is normally fairly possessive of the bed and there’s never enough room for 2 humans and 2 cats- it’s usually 3 bodies, max. It’s only been 6 years…
Cats, they just love to take their time to adjust to any changes, as in maybe if they wait long enough it will go back to the way it was before!
I ordered insanely expensive small batch ice cream that sells out in under a minute. This was the first time I tried to order it and succeeded. Bonus points for triggering all the people that struggle to place an order at a specific time once a week.
Congrats! Mine is at the trainer’s too (for basic riding)and my SO’s horse is going to the CGA state finals this week. (California Gymkhana Association).
I finally finished paying off my dream horse. She is sweet and stunning and my old self is absolutely thrilled. I am on my way to go play with her today before she goes to a trainer. It is 20 years in the making. I can’t be happier.
Solo Leveling has been made into an Anime and will be on Crunchyroll in 2023
I’ve started the seventh year of a three to five year prognosis. Yay for Bonus Time!
Love reading this! YAY!!!
????????????
Oh this is wonderful! Yay for you!
That’s wonderful! We’ve never met and probably never will, but your comment made me so happy for you!
My son got his first job-he’ll be washing dishes at an Italian restaurant! That’s good news for my wallet at least!
My eldest daughter, 16, is on her second week of her first job – and she loves it! Teaching littles to ride ponies on a lovely gentle farm.
That’s so awesome to hear! I would have loved a job like that at her age.
This S. Texas heat is no joke. It’s relentless and it doesn’t ever cool off. It’s still hot at 11 o’clock at night. That will make anyone cranky. And last night the neighbors were setting off firecrackers which sent my senior dog into an anxiety panic. The city is fixing the light pole at the corner of the yard. Yay! Of course they are digging up my already drought stressed yard. Boo! On a positive note. Everyone is healthy! So there’s that. On a side not you might want to check your AC filters for the haze. The AC people should have, but probably didn’t. Construction dust is extremely hard on the AC system.
The AC filters have been replaced very recently- 10 days ago!
I’m sorry you are having a crappy day.
We had cool weather for a couple of days with rain. I got one daylily bed weeded, it was horrible. And I wormed the lambs today and they didn’t fight me. I’m happy. Next I mow with the bush hog in the pastures. .
Sorry that you are having an awful, no good, bad day. Annoyances abound. Dig out some old school 1985 Bloom County comics. Pear pimples for Hairy Fishnuts may make you smile. Hang in there.
+1 for the Hairy Fishnuts!
went hiking in the weekend, a grueling 10k out/back steep incline. I learned a new skill, climbing up/down hill on loose rocks/shale surface. And my knees help up too 🙂
Daughter got her AP and IB exam scores back and will be starting her college with 34 credits (Saving her and us a whole year of classes!)
WIN!!! As my vet said, “When they graduate, it’s like getting a raise.”
Best news this year so far: My sisters has two very elderly cat and got a sweet kitten last year. This youngest cat, Bella, disappeared five weeks ago. They tried everything. She‘s chipped, posters were hung, neighbourhood walks, shelter& vet informed. To no avail. My niece and nephew (10 & 7) were in tears. For days. My brother in law decided to bring in another young cat, as a playmate if she found her way back and as a new friend for the kids.
Richie, a cute tomcat, was with them tow days an then a lady called from the local vet‘s place, she had found Bella, four weeks missing then. I think you can imagine the joy all felt! And Bella and Richie get along fine- and each of the kids has their own kitten.
A cheer up? I’d been in pre- then post-Roe depression, exacerbated by my series revolving around women’s choices and the unintended consequences thereof (didja hear about the woman who wants to count her fetus towards HOV occupancy? Heh.) Aaaanyway, after working on another mss (YA fantasy) for a week, a fellow writer gave me a nudge. “That book won’t get published by itself.” Sigh. So, this weekend, I plowed through half the book’s changes from my editor. And caught up with my layout/cover person to finalize things. So, movement despite the current national fug. Cheer up; maybe Kiddo will dye their hair to something for which you’ve got the right color? Or bribe them to change it to YOUR color? 🙂
My garden this year is pretty.
that is pretty
My youngest brother and his partner are pregnant and it’s due two days before my birthday (January) so it’s gonna be like my gift ????
They are also having a civil partnership ceremony (they don’t believe in big weddings) in September which they were planning for next year on their tenth anniversary but have brought forward in light of bubba.
So considerable shopping has ensued ????
My daughter is away doing a six-week program (ballet intensive). I saw her for the first time in two weeks and gave her a really long hug. It was fabulous. Does that count?
Absolutely!
I just got an electric bicycle and rode for 10 miles yesterday with my husband and didn’t die. I was able to keep up with him (on his regular bike) and go up hills without a care in the world.
I don’t want to work anymore either, yet here I am, on your site at lunch.
Sorry but I’m in the grouchy bus with you today. Good news…..uh….oh I know, I ate a banana for breakfast with a chocolate bar, lol. Hoping the chocolate perks up my day.
As I was cooling our house out the old fashioned way (opened doors, no a/c and 98º yesterday) this morning, a towhee hopped inside and hopped around, picking up crumbs. It made me smile.
My solar powered fountain thingy came yesterday and I plan to set it up outside and enjoy. Just finishing up coffee and Al Jarreau. Gas has dropped over $1.00 a gallon from a month ago.
Sorry about the crankiness. Sometimes ya just gotta. I hope things clear up and cool down for you. Passing some virtual iced tea and sympathy.
They got my appendix out before it burst. Yaaaay! I’d do a happy dance, but…ouch. Doing a mental happy dance while lying still.
Don‘t laugh. Don’t laugh. When they removed my appendix, my bed neighbor had visitors and they started telling jokes…
Good news
One good thing: my friend’s little girl had her first official horseback riding lesson today. She looked very serious during the lesson but she had a great time.
Something good: Our doggies are very happy after being groomed. The 17 year old grumpy one ran on her walk to show everyone how pretty she looks.
My niece and her father were having a discussion last week about the awesomeness of mangoes. They mused that there should exist a mango festival and they checked the internet and low and behold the very next day there was a Mango Fest 40 minutes away in Coral Gables, FL and that is how the family spent their day at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Mango Fest enjoying mangoes and the wonderful orchids and butterfly garden. Find your version of Mango Fest.
Fairchild is pretty great – that’s a lovely way to spend the day, with the orchids and the butterflies!
Congratulations on having a family that knows what to celebrate and goes and finds the celebration!
My oldest son had his 31st birthday yesterday and all he wanted was for my husband and I to come to his house (2 hours away) and hang out. We did house projects on his new home and bought baby clothes for the daughter they are expecting in November. It was a great weekend and I was so happy that our grown son still likes to spend time with his mom and dad. ????
That is a real blessing,to have a child that actually wants to be with you, rather than it being a duty:) We have learned to chestish any time we have with our son, he is the member of a classical string quartet that is establishing itself professionally. They travel all over and are based in Boston. We see him a day here, day and a half there if he is in the NYC area and actually has time.
His group is actually our good news story. It is such a tough thing to establish yourself in that world and they seem to be starting to make it. When I hear people tell me young ppl dont want to work I want to kick them. When not performing they are constantly rehearsing, literally 7 days a week , 7 or 8 hours a day. They have flown home,exhausted,from playing god knows where, get in at like 6pm..and they rehearse. They often are flying at like 5am, will be asked to fill in for another group abd fly to the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if they will make it in the end, but won’t be for lack of effort.
I’ve made Triple Chocolate Mousse cake. Looks a bit wonky but it was delicious
I’m trying to attach the photo:D
Yay! and ????
Looks yummy!
OMG! Yes! I want one of those!
Yummy! Great job
Something good? Brought home our new puppies Saturday afternoon. The are 7 weeks old. Parts of Husky, Lab and Malamute. Both are girls. After observation names are DaleEvans since she gallops everywhere and Vanessa (as in Williams) due to her beautiful eyes and mostly tan face. There seems to be more love bursting from their little tongues than in a lollipop licking contest. Husband is a great nap spot.
Aww… so cute!!!
My friend, a talented artist, is doing a Ruth Bader Ginsberg mural on a wall in Fort Worth, TX. She is doing it to remind woman that there is hope and that we can win our rights back if we stay strong and fight back. It is her first time trying to get funding for herself for any project, and its working:) She raised enough to pay for the paints and the mock up so far. I am so proud of her!
Love this!
My dog Phryne got sick Friday. But… in good news it was dietary indiscretion (probably something she found in the yard from jerks who walk in the alley) and after X-ray, bloodwork, a shot for nausea, four meds and a large bill… she is herself today.
I feed her the pills shoved into blackberries. Corgis are weird.
I bought an Apple Watch with my tax return and the nagging functions are working. I am standing up and walking around more instead of hunched over my current project de jour, meditating in small time bites, and going to bed on time.
I feel like at my age I shouldn’t need a minder but I tend to over focus on things and this reminds me that my meat suit needs tending.
My knitting project, a large in the round blanket/lap rug is proceeding and is lovely meditative knitting for my audible listening of the Kate daniels series. I’m binge listening all Ilona andrews this summer.
Final good thing… I’m getting a small handful of strawberries each evening, warm from the sun and extremely tasty.
Life is good.
I work in a library 9-5. This means I can’t do a lot of fun things with my 6 month old during the week. My husband brought my child to my work today so I could do baby story time with my child. It was wonderful.
I was able to spend a fantastic day out on the Bow River in Calgary, AB kayaking with my teenage son and a friend of his. It can be rare for teenagers to want to spend time with their parents so this was a treat. We had a fabulous 3 hour paddle, kids only tipped once each for added excitement. We saw a bald eagle, osprey, pelicans, and numerous waterfowl too.
This is my new cup. 🙂
Well, that image didn’t work, lol! Must be Monday!
Sooo cute!! Where did you find the mug?
I live in Denton TX. Im a native Texan but this heat is so awful and I just don’t tolerate it like I used to. You are not cranky alone. My high school daughter made a nationals club volleyball team for the first time. Much happiness in our home
Get the grumpiness. You deserve it. Me too. Almost done with my COVID quarantine. NOTE: You do not want this. But I have my feet on my desk because of the 110 pound dog in my kneehole, and things could be worse.
Not sure I can help, I am afraid. Had a lovely Saturday with friends, beautiful Irish weather. Woke up Sunday feeling shitty, thought OK.. you’re 48 with a hangover, of course you feel shitty.
Got a phone call all the friends tested positive for covid….. well…. BEEP BEEP!! ????????
So still feeling awful after 2 days but still testing negative… so yeah??????????
On the other hand, the weather is fabulous for Ireland … 24 Celsius … oh my…
Going to re read Kate Daniels… which will make me feel better…
Take care … hope tmw is less cranky
After losing the last of our pack of very senior dogs back in late March, we finally got a new pupper! Jesse was adopted through the Bastrop Shelter foster system (which is awesome considering they’ve been so overloaded), and he’s an 8 month old Pyrenees and who knows what mix pup (they call those mystery mutts the Bastrop Specials LOL). But amusingly, he actually looks like a mash up of our two late boyos: a border collie mix and a lab/Dane mix. It makes him tug on our heart strings even more I swear!
Gave my puppy his first bath yesterday and it was fine! Had been dreading
Those heart melting eyes ????
It’s ok to be bitter and mopey. That’s me every time I have to go to work. LoL
If you haven’t watched the Terminal List on Amazon Prime. It’s fantastic. It might help get you past your grumpy moments.
Good: Ilona met Gordon and their collaboration has made the BDH very happy. Thank you for the many worlds you have created that have given, give, and will give the BDH hours of pleasure. Love you ????
I know what I am making for dinner tonight. It is going to be pretty warm here today around upper 90’s. Found a easy recipe on Pinterest for Chili-Mac. The nice part about the recipe is the macaroni cooks with everything else, so one pot clean up.
Here’s hoping the day gets better, if not there is always ice cream ????
Well, I don’t have anything exciting but you made me laugh about killing some characters horribly.
I hope the rest of your day goes better.
If you like interesting hats, there is a competition over at hat talk magazine with the theme of Happy Place. There are some really fun entries. https://hatalk.com/2022-hatalk-competition-entries/
My photo, “THE LONE STAR” featuring a Texas sunset over the serpentine Rio Grande, has been awarded by the judges (Kelli & Bob Phillips of Texas Country Reporter) as an Honorable Mention in Texas Bank and Trust’s 40th Anniversary Photography Show and Exhibition, within the Landscape and Nature category. So I have bragging rights, a cash award, and it’ll be featured in the banks 2023 calendar.
The image has a secret, can you find the lone star? Hint: it’s not in the sky.
Huge Congrats! I didn’t find the star, but the pic is kind of small for me. 🙂
Thank you. ????
image on the rock looks like shape to Texas
It’s a 5 pointed star shape you’re looking for. Not a Texas state shape.
Also cranky. It’s hot in Houston too. Also had the heat thunder last night but no rainfall 🙁
Have a new puppy who is joy, but training her to stop nipping at legs and hands is hard. Had two house accidents already today because I don’t think she wants to be in the heat either.
Good tomato harvest today though-I brought them all in because of the heat and will probably pull the plants next week. They are drying up fast.
Dreaming of mountains and cool rain today…that is a good thing!
Here’s a photo of Rose looking innocent. She’s 11 weeks yesterday
That face!! ????????????
I picked my first cucumber today, I wasn’t even looking for them yet and there he was sticking out and waiving at me in the breeze. It has to be a guy because he is at least 10 inches long and it looked like he was trying to get my attention- well he did and I am having him for lunch! I also picked my 12th yellow squash yesterday- soon I will have them coming out of my ears I swear. I gardens are doing really well so far and it looks like I over did it in the potato department- so in a week or so they will be coming out of my ears too. Well, I had a photo but I can’t seem to get it under 1.6MB without cutting something necessary off.
Sorry, but my gardening news is all I got going right now. Hope you week gets better.
My daft Labrador – trying to get two balls in to his mouth in the water. Doggy equivalent of apple bobbing and very funny to watch.
Our daughter informed us she and hubby are expecting a little one in November! This will be their first baby and our first grandchild. I’m excited to be Grandma or whatever they want to call me.
How exciting! Congratulations to you all!
Thank you Karen O.
We were visiting Austin to see my brother and sister-in-law and flew back to San Diego early because of the weather. My mom’s in her 70’s and we just couldn’t take it.
It did storm a wee bit for us yesterday at the Oasis at lake Travis.
We landed back in 68° in San Diego this AM.
I am still walking, plan on going for a ride this afternoon, even if it’s just a ten minute one again. I WILL be riding again! Thank You GOD!
Go you! I remember the first day I got back on, nine months after spinal surgery. It was fifteen minutes of sheer joy.
Today is a friends birthday. Feeling much better all through the day knowing its her day. Something that also made me happy is a lil break from the heat wave in my corner of the world (around 23°C at the moment). Oh and tomorrow is another friends birthday sooo looking forward to it aswell.
Thank you for making me think of something good today. Hope your day gets better.
Telling something good. I live in The Gambia. Today is the official holiday for Eid al Adha. My house in on the beach. While it is 96 degrees, it feels like 86 because of the breeze off the ocean. I get my vegetables at the traffic light. It is not even malaria season yet.
I’m on vacation with my parents, also my brother and sister-in-law and their 4 children. This morning Sister-in-law asked 6 year old son, “are you momma’s baby”. Six year old responded “of course not I’m Aunt Laura’s baby”. My vacation is total success.
Awwwwww
Some days life goes by with the hope and prayer that tomorrow will be better…That’s all I got…
I ran my car battery totally dead this weekend. After charging and a jump, it’s now starting on it’s own. I’ll monitor for the cold PA winter, but for now I don’t have to have the car towed or buy an expensive battery.
I also finished some socks, quilt blocks and mostly finished a knitted top in the last week or so.
Good times!
May not be the best post but after moving to Tennessee a year ago I am finally in a head space to set up my sewing room(my happy space! )
Last summer we went from Washington state to visit family in Massachusetts to Tennessee (with a boat and a packed car. Then got on a airplane, back to Washington , packed up a semi with everything we own. Washington to Tennessee in a packed f150 and cargo trailer following the semi. 10,000 mile summer!
Everyone is grumpy during a heatwave. Nothing else is relevant, it’s too hot to function, even if you’re inside in the ac.
The summer veggies are starting their full stride, so we are getting more than just greens from our CSA share. In case anyone doesn’t know, that’s ‘Community Supported Agriculture’…you pay a set fee at the beginning of the season and get a share of the crops all season. I highly recommend joining one if you can!
Just had a delicious cream cheese and cucumber sandwich for lunch. Best crunchy, cool, fresh cucumber I’ve ever had! Super fresh and amazingly tasty veggies always make me happy.
Hope your day gets better….maybe a nice pitcher of icy frozen margaritas after the murder scene would help? Hang in there! ????
Sending lots of positive energy from south London, where today we hit 30 degrees C (86 F) It’s hot and I’m having moody blues & mean reds.
Please can we help kill things? Or just write something with Sean, Dina, Maud, Arland and everyone else killing things. ( Desperate BDH plea!)
Wishing you a more upbeat day soon.
Three baby bunnies nested in our front flower bed. They are so small they would fit in the palm of a hand. Going to research how best to put out some water for them given todays expected high temps, without framing out mama bunny.
Learned recently that bunnies get most of their water from eating green plants. No wonder they go for veggie gardens.
My feral kitty has decided he likes taking afternoon naps in my lap. Yay for earning trust.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Singing We Are The Champions. Paid the last payment of a 6 year old massive medical bill.
Congratulations! That’s hard and you should be proud of yourself!
The beets are rioting I have a random squash varient (hopefully pumpkin) that germinated in the compost pile and is joining said riot, and husband person likes the strawberry jalapeno jam i made last eeek (primarily to serve as a meat baste) that I think I’m going to have to make more soon (yes, i canned it, no, it will not last.) Good thing I have more strawberries!
Had a scare at vet and thought our 11 year old chi-weenie had cancer, but it turned out to be a false alarm. He was traumatized from being caged for 8 hours and pouted for a full day, but he is back to normal…well, normal for him anyways. He is the last of 4 dogs and is spoiled rotten.
I finished restoring a 1940’s American Teddy Bear. I’m ready to start on a childhood toy of a former student of mine. Dinner is in the crockpot and here in New England the temperature is only 79.
PS: I’m so glad you had the mole checked out. A close relative had the same thing happen, and while it was melanoma, they caught it very, very early so everything is fine. (This happened several years ago, so he is careful to wear lots of sun protection, go for rechecks, etc.)
My nephew is here visiting and he is in cute toddler stage AND i got to play with him for an hour this morning before I had to get ready for work (he woke us all up at 5.30)
I’m alive and breathing.
That is all.
dunno if you’ve seen this yet.
https://twitter.com/JaneyGodley/status/1508177338193924102?s=20&t=f3a8KUMjue0Vb67wpJWKrg
OMG I didn’t understand the half of that but I have tears in my eyes. That is hilarious. Wondering whether it’s Winchester VA which is one state over from here, though that is definitely not a VA accent of any kind.
We’re going camping in less than two weeks, but it’s not regular camping, it’s glamping medieval style! It’s an immersive experience with furnished medieval tents, archery, sword fighting lessons, a small trebuchet, a feast and costumes. My kiddies (ages 11 and 14) are so excited. We can’t wait!
Good things: Most of my summer flowers are blooming although we, too, need rain. Saw a bunny in the park where I have walked for years – the first time I have ever seen one there. Group stitching is tonight. The Cat wants recliner time so I will indulge him.
Hope your day goes better!
Found out today I’ve lost some weight. Sucky reason is that I’ve been sick since July 2nd. But took my last antibiotic today, feeling way better, and my pants fit better. It’s a win I’ll take and appreciate.
This weather is enough to make anyone cranky. Weeks of relentless 100s- ???? Also, I had a teeny tiny zit on my forehead. It was skin cancer. Get those things checked people.
I survived COVID!! I lost my taste and smell for a week and it just came back last night! I hope that is cheerful enough for you, it sure was for me. Not being able to taste food is depressing as heck.
Currently there. Tough to look forward to a meal, even when you’re hungry, when everything tastes like cardboard.
Happy thought- raindrops on roses
Hope your A/C guys get out there quick. Hazy room pretty suspect- I had this happen in my first car, where haze was bad enough I couldn’t see out the window and it condensed into a film on the windshield. Found out that the heater core sprang a leak. It smelled oddly sweet, and isn’t good to breathe- thumbs up on air purifier!
Based on haze similarities, I concur that your freon/refrigerant is leaking. Best wishes!
Happy thought- whiskers on kittens! Julie Andrews twirling on a mountain top in the alps sometimes helps me- I’m a bit quirky, though;)
I’m on vacation and just had some ice cream in a hammock. Going for a swim in a little while. My husband is going to cook dinner.
Life is great. No obligations, it is warm, sunny and peaceful.
Sigh.
I rarely cook since I’m just me. I made an amazing pasta dish last night. Had some for lunch today. It’s even better after being mixed together awhile! That’s all I’ve got ATM. LOL
My neighbor’s pet sitter was unavailable and I happen to be at the right place at the right time. For the last week, I have been visiting a beautiful domestic shorthair cat named Squid. She is definitely a people cat and I have had so many cuddles with her. For about an hour and a half each morning, I get to sit with her after changing litter and putting out fresh food and water. She’s one of those wonderful cats who drool. When I return home, I must change clothes and shower because my Siamese is intolerant of other cats.
What could be better than a double dose of cats? Oh, I know. I picked up another rotation at my local animal shelter where I volunteer. So I will be there all day tomorrow and half of the day Friday. Whenever I get disgusted with people, the animals are always there.
“I don’t feel very much like Pooh today.” said Pooh. “There, there.” said Piglet. “I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.” -A.A. Milne
A funny for you,
This morning I went to the gym, worked out, and then got into one of the massage chairs as my reward for bitching but getting it done. Had a wonderful massage. My time was up and the chair began doing its thing and returning from fully reclined to sitting up. It stopped. I am still reclined and 2 feet in the air. I squirm and try to get out. Result: I look like a landed fish. Still trapped. Get out cell phone, stop JD Robb and call the front desk. They know me well. Hi, this is Sandy, I’m stuck in the massage chair. Can you please come help? This was much less embarrassing than screaming, my other option. The two lovely ladies come running and break out in hysterical laughter. It is confirmed, I do look like a landed fish. I start laughing and they figure out how to get me down. ????????????????
A surprising and funny start to the day. The rest of it will be safety pinning my turtle quilt layers together for quilting. My house will be in the low 80’s as I am also in Texas and trying not to die of heat stroke.
Good news… The bear box I built kept the bear out of my garbage. Bad news… I surprised the bear as it was ripping apart the neighbour’s garbage when I put my recycle out to the curb this morning. I had forgotten how huge bears were and being in a wheelchair and making eye contact with one 20 feet away is a huge adrenaline rush in the morning. Who needs coffee 🙂 So Very good news… I made it back in the house!!
Climate change has really pushed the heat wave in multiple areas – I don’t own an air conditioner so am forced to cool the house down the old fashioned way. I do the laundry and hang up all the wet items in front of the fans.
I hope this is happy enough to cheer you up. On our family road trips, I read the innkeeper books out loud to entertain my husband and two teenage boys. (I do skip a few parts here and there, ????) they LOVE them and have become part of our family lore. This morning one of the boys asked me if there would be ripper cushions if they “forgot” to do their chores. You will never know how many times one of us quotes a character that we love and how we eagerly anticipate the next chapter. You have such a gift and we appreciate what you do.
Hope my household shenanigans cheer you up!
I discovered a reality show on Peacock called “Escape to the Chateau” where a middle aged couple have purchased an 1864 chateau in need of major renovation and they plan to do most of the work themselves. If you think your renovations are taking a long time, this should cheer you up!
Um, I’m painfully reading my home insurance policy and was relieved to know that “Coverage B – Dwelling Building 2) fences, walkways, paths, (etcetera) are insured against loss caused by …aircraft, …riot ???? because yah know that was foremost on my mind as I drive to grocery store. (Have 69 more pages to greedily peruse)
Hopefully that cheers you up.
We did get the rain in San Antonio, just .25 but still welcome. Another chance for some today and Lordy we need it.
It’s just the full moon coming on … it’ll peak on Wednesday, and the energies will change for the better, they’ll get smoother and easier … you’ve had a pile of frustrations and dissatisfactions, and somehow that’s just the way this gorgeous, fascinating, horrifyingly carnivorous planet works …. that whole yin and yang thing, good and bad, rotating around … I tend to think that you’ve been on this planet, and other planets, for many lifetimes, an intellect and creative artistry like yours doesn’t come with a newbie soul/life energy/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, so, bitter as it is, you know that this stretch of muckrat midden you’re crossing is going to pass, you’ll just all of a sudden wake up to a new day, a new clean happy energy, and you’ll have paid whatever weird dues the planet needs to slide you back onto the pleasure path.
An option that has worked for me: just go to the Good Will, buy 3 boxes full of old china plates and cups, bring them home, and tape a big target to the inner wall of your garage. On the target, write the names of things that piss you off. Then, stand back about ten feet, and start throwing the plates and cups at the target. You’ll really, really like doing that. Do it hard, do it visciously, do it with the intent to kill the f*k out of those things on that target. Of course, by the time you’ve thrown 3 boxes of plates and cups, you’ll be tired but victorious, and you’ll be laughing your ass off as you sweep up the broken mess, and dump the dead problems into those boxes to put out for the trash. And then, like any tired, victorious crusader, settle in for a quiet evening with a simple dinner and a margarita.
Oooh! Gotta try that some time. Verbal venting sometimes isn’t enough. Might have to substitute a Paloma for the Margarita, though….
As a fellow Texan living near the Valley, I feel all of what you are today.
Here’s to hoping tomorrow is a better day!
We took the kids to a parade yesterday (Bretzelfest). Forgot how much our oldest loves parades. She was so happy to dance and clap, this was my sons “first” parade. He was so happy to get a carport from the farmers, see all the tractors and eat all the pretzels. The baby slept through it all so there was no screaming in my face! All in all a great day.
I got some stuff I ordered a day early! So yay! That is my happy news for today.
I hate no good very bad days where everything is for Sh*t. And also hate this heat and I like dry heat but this is next level Hades heat. This heat dome is some BS.
Congrats on the spot removal and great news it is not cancer. I had a spot removed from my forehead and it was cancer but they caught it early and the scar is covered mostly by my hair so yay! but still I am now a huge advocate for being paranoid about weird bumps and spots.
In the “I can’t resist trying to help and just skip this if you don’t want to read advice” field- can you cross stitch blond over the brown? I am not a cross stitcher so it might be dumb but blond with some brown peaking out might maybe harken back to when she had brown hair and also show her now with blond and add dimension? Idk. Best of luck and when in doubt scream something that makes no sense like JESUS CRUST ON A CRACKER.
I’m slowly making progress on furniture rearrangement. For you–NOT MELANOMA is an awesome thing. Congrats.
My puppy learned a new command today and had fun at Tractor Supply Co.!
SO CUTE!
Gorgeous puppy!
I made Ina Garten’s Beatty Chocolate Cake for a family reunion and there were no left overs!
Yesterday we lucked into a short term rental that will not only allow us to bring both of our dogs and both of our cats but also has a field for our four horses so that we can live indoors while we’re building our new house instead of camping for the next four months. The camping might have been fun but this will be better
Yes. Yes, it will. Congratulations!
My something good is that, two of my kids spent a week on music camp. It has been 4 days since they got home and whenever I tell them to do something, I haven’t heard much complaint…yet. I am relishing this week. I hope their camp high doesn’t wear off so soon. Mwe he he!
My mom had a stroke 2 weeks ago. Today she said my name and was able to swallow some ice chips. Huge progress ????
Best wishes to you both.
Lovely news!
So glad she’s making progress and was able to say your name. That’s wonderful. Both my parents were stoke survivors and made amazing recoveries. I wish you and your mom all the best.
We threw our first kid birthday party and it was a success! It was crazy but everyone had fun, ate enough, I remembered to give out the thank you goodie bags, and there were no melt downs. Phew!
Hope your day gets better.
My husband’s brother came to visit us Sunday. He brought us a gift of organic Ethiopian coffee beans. We had grilled steaks on the back deck in the cool of the evening. He shared his photographs of Colorado and other wilderness. (He’s a shutterbug and gets some amazing images). I guess he had a sudden interaction with a ram on one of his hikes, it was a mutual ‘AAAHHH!” and run away situation.
Hubby and I haven’t seen him in many months, and it was a wonderful visit.
And this mornings first cuppa was pure magic. Made the usual Monday Grumpiness bearable.
Hope the rest of the day/week goes better.
Today is our 41st wedding anniversary!!
Celebrating with a nice lunch and a swim. (We are also in Texas with 103 today…yikes!)
Our big celebration is next month when we travel to London and Paris. Wheeee
We just moved to a new house. We have bunnies in our back yard. Bunnies make me smile. We are not letting our dog chase the bunnies. That makes the bunnies smile.
/)_/)
( . .)
C(“)(“)
I am working on a 36 inch tummytime quilt. Blocks are a 6.5 inch square bordered by 3.5×9.5 inch rectangles. Sew the first rectangle on the side 3/4 of the way down. 2nd rectangle goes across the top of the square and the top edge of the 1st piece. Spiral around the block with the other 2 rectangles and finish by sewing the last part of the unfinished first seam. It makes an easy 12 inch block. I’ve also made it in a miniature!
I tried and failed to send a picture. Oh well.
There’s a 1 MB limit for pictures that can be uploaded in comments. A good tick if you can is to take a screenshot and try to upload that ????
Success!
that’s gorgeous!
Thank-you, I made it for a charity auction. It is 18x24inches and had a doll dress and hat with it.
Lulu would be happy to lick you and snuggle, and take any blankets, no matter how ugly, for herself. (I put her in the avatar picture)
and that didn’t work. Sigh.
Baked my first apple pie as a mom! 11-week-old baby gurgling next to me as I pulled the dough together, but my apples and put them in the oven! I didn’t even burn the crust! It was delicious and my whole family enjoyed the effort
Forgot to post photo!
Adorable Baby!
My win is that I came home from work, and my doggies were both good boys while I was gone!
Our son and daughter in law came over for dinner yesterday with our two grandkids. It was wonderful
Not sure if it’s good or not but definitely worth a good laugh. I went to a doctors appointment today with my service dog and left my prospect puppy at home in a XPen in the living room (hardwood floor) with padded floor tiles with a 4” x 6” reusable potty pad over the tiles. Just as my appointment started I got a text from my housemate with one picture. My puppy was in the kitchen.
My puppy who I left in his XPen in the living room had moved the pen, potty pad and floor tiles across the living room thru the dining room and into the kitchen looking for me. Didn’t bark or cry or fuss, just some seriously determined searching. My housemate was impressed by his determination and also let me know I need to put everything back where it goes including the furniture he moved.
I should also mention he’s only 5 months old. 5 months and 52lbs as of this week, he’s a Newfoundland. Raising him is proving to be both very interesting and hilarious at times. He’s currently passed out asleep, snoring at my feet now that I’m “found”.
???? that’s the best! Thank you for sharing the entirety of that eventing! Go puppy go!
Took my first weekend off since the last time my place of business was shut down for covid. My usual days off are during the week, so I’m having a 4 day weekend. So far I’ve gone to a living history restoration site, gone rock climbing and went to see the latest Thor movie. There are no more plans aside from relaxing and cuddling pets.
I got a second coat of paint on my downstairs bathroom and my son has been waiting for 6 months for a car he ordered and it looks Ii me he’ll get it tomorrow.
I hope your day gets better
I’m sorry today is a very blustery day! I hope things are better tomorrow, the heat drops and you get some rain.
In good news, my hubby got a new job with a new company. And, my department cleared a one year backlog of cataloging! It was a lot of books and I am sitting in an office of empty shelves at the moment. It’ll be fun to work on other projects.
I am having an “ugh” day too but I have books to read, so I will manage and eventually will figure things out…. sending good vibes your way!
My good thing: I play VR games for fitness (no, it’s more of an addiction, really…) but had to take a week off because my headset was broken. My lovely boyfriend fixed it for me after buying the most ridiculously teensy set of screwdrivers and this morning I played super fast Beat Saber for an hour and a half this morning. I’m sore as heck and probably have carpel tunnel now, and everything is right with my world again.
I was thinking perhaps you could add some magical sports to your worlds…if I were in a fantasy world, I’d pay a lot of money to ACTUALLY stand in a live arena flailing like an aging ninja to slash targets with my light sabers to pounding music. LOL!
…then again, if the sabers were real I’d probably slash off my own feet. Perhaps not such a great idea.
Good news? Chewy is awesome as always and the stuff will be here Wednesday to treat the fleas my dogs picked up from somewhere. Now, the downside is that my dogs have fleas!
Don’t forget to treat your house at the same time. Hate fleas
We are gearing up for our first “Real” vacation in about 20 years. That doesn’t mean we didn’t travel, only that it wasn’t just for us, or just for the fun of it. There were work trips. There were kids’ sports trips. There just weren’t any fun just because we want it trips.
I began loading our data and images into the ArriveCan website in preparation. The best news is that the husband and I have been exempted from mandatory quarantine! More fun, less time proving we aren’t carrying the pandemic! I count this as a giant Win!
My niece is in labor so I should be a great aunt by the end of the day! 🙂
Oh, here’s my favorite Medieval Rain Spell (your results may vary, but it’s fun.)
This came from a manuscript in a museum somewhere. Translated to English this is what you do:
1. Get a small bucket of water.
2. Take it outside, and stare up at the sky.
3. Dump the bucket out on the ground.
4. Say–“See? It’s not that hard.”
5. Go back inside.
Let the magic happen.
Ok, I’m going to try that tonight! We NEED rain. But I’m dumping it on a tree, heh.
Funny!
This isn’t a big thing. We found a local supplier of Coney Island Knishes!
My strawberry beds have gone completely berserk this year. I’m picking pounds every time I visit the allotment. I’ve made strawberry gin, strawberry crumble, Eton Mess, strawberry cake. Looking for inspiration, I found a recipe for strawberry syrup – OMG, it is fantastic over ice cream and and in milkshakes, it’s like drinking liquid strawberries ❤️
Good thing I love strawbs ????
Recipe please, I too have been sharing my strawberry bounty with the housemates (we split cost of Utilities so best to keep them happy with my gardening)
I love strawberry rhubarb preserves and pie. Tart and sweet
I found a shelter spot for a stray cat after trying for months.
The positive is that both of us had covid and it was very mild. Otherwise blah
Good news. We woke so it is a good day. My grass is brown, but the fruit trees, shrubs and bulbs are fine thanks to hand watering. This drought is not as bad as 2011. The great news is you and yours make a difference to the folks that read your words. So, hugs and love.
Today is my 17 year wedding anniversary which is crazy since it only feels like 5 years lol. Hope your day gets better!!
I’m crank today also… Mostly because I’ve had my 4th ultrasound and 6th trip to radiology in 4 weeks. Had a physical in early June and at my age it’s tests and new tests and followup tests. I expect to hear this afternoon if there are actually lesions or cysts on my kidneys and if the biopsy of my thyroid came back with cancer. So a little cranky today.
All I have to do today is clean the kitchen. Tomorrow I’m making tamales and baking for the farmers market so the kitchen *has* to be clean today. I can clean the kitchen while cranky.
And absolutely get any weirdness on your skin checked out. Found Basel cell carcinoma on my head last August. Fortunately it’s slow growing and an “easy cancer” to take care of. But I just mentioned that I had an itchy spot on my head and 2 weeks later I’m getting surgery.
We picked up my new couch Saturday. I saw it when it was on sale (waiting on condo check), sale was over when I went back but the sales lady called the district mgr and he okayed using the sale price! I saved $500 and the consignment place finally had floor space for the recliner and setee I needed to move out before bringing in the couch. Then we enjoyed a tall glass of slush. Frozen mix of bananas, orange juice and lemonade concentrate, lemon juice, sugar and lemon lime soda in soda. Tart and refreshing! Yum! All the boxes are finally out of the dining room and kitchen and the floors are mopped.
We are having a puppy summer! we have slowly lost the old guard and were down to one old man “Harry” he is in the 14 to 17 year old range Australian Shepard. I had promised him no puppies to deal with in his twilight, My husband recently went on disability and decided that he needed a puppy companion Enter cute silky, sweet Springer Spaniel puppy we named Opal, I was having a fit; I new Harry would hate her and it would make him miserable. Nope he loves her and tolerates her horrible puppy teeth. So I have waited 3 years for my puppy, so we added a new girl Aussie puppy Iris. Again Harry took it all in stride (when he is done with them he puts himself in our room for privacy.) The girls are about 3months apart and are having a grand time and entertaining us like crazy. The best part of Harry still being with us ? He is a non barker . Neither of the girls bark at things , not at cars or people they don’t know . not at the garbage truck or postal worker , Amazon driver not a peep!!!!
Good work Harry!
Here is my good news!
After an extended hospitalization and recovery I found myself unable to return to work as a Physical Therapist. No income for a year. Survived thanks to God, family and very supportive friends as well as formerly robust savings.
After a laborious and long process (since October 2021) I finally was approved for disability. This allows me to continue to plan the next steps!!
My knitting is cooperating right now too!
My husband got his new heart on Memorial Day and he’s recovering beautifully.
Congratulations to your family. It’s wonderful you get to keep him.
Our first veggies are coming in! It’s a small thing but eating out of the garden makes me happy.
I talked myself into attending a fiber convention (Convergence) next week…and I’m driving there in a van. Hehehe Vender’s room here I come!
Since I first read your post, I’ve gone for my physical, got another COVID booster in left arm, Shingles booster in right arm, came home to discover I made a BIG mistake on the center block of my just finished quilt and need to take it completely apart to fix it and finally was just “gifted” with a dead mouse on my newly bared toes by our geriatric cat. (Who I lavishly praised outwardly because… I know who is really the Queen around here and she is one feline you do NOT want to see do a GrumpyCat impression!)
I’ve decided to jump into Kindergarten mode, get out a coloring book and color outside the lines, maybe take a nap and then break out the chocolate and a good book.
Actually, it reminds me of a friends conversation about Chocolate books which I’ll share as it always makes me laugh.
“Chocolate you could read would be practically perfect. As long as it was good chocolate, but poor writing. If you got a good book worthy of saving, you could never eat it – nor could you reread it on sunny days. Also, I’d have to get divorced, because I’ve never been able to convince my husband that a person’s chocolate is sacred. It’s deeply annoying when he scarfs an entire box of my Godivas, but if he started eating my books… I’d have to have him put down. (Be great if you could do that – take the husband to the vet, stroke his nose kindly, and tell all your friends that he’d got a bit old and flatulent, so you’d had him put to sleep. Obviously, being a feeling woman, I’d tell the children he’d gone to live with a nice family in the country.)
Where was I? Yes, product development. It’s a good idea, but I think there’s work to be done. You could write on the things that you always have, but never actually eat – like porridge oats, or French mustard – but – then again – I can only imagine worthy literature on oats. Things you feel you ought to have read, but don’t want to. Paradise Lost. It would have to be a book more like chocolate digestives – perfect with a cup of coffee, and you find you’ve eaten the whole packet without meaning to.”
Hope you end up having a fabulous day. As for me, I need to go ask the husband for a chocolate sacrifice and an ice pack. (I’m blessed with an understanding spouse)
This was hilarious!! Thank you so much for writing it!
Weather reporters have their own language, which varies from non weather specific people! ie: forecast 80% rain in .?. area does not mean 80% of time, it means 80% of the area…. so you might not get a noticable amount of cool off when they predict rain ’cause you are not where the rain hits. But you will get some cool off if the area they specify is small enough. Sorry it’s so hot… my heart goes out to you and yours. DRAGONBOGLE
My house did not get hit by a tornado last week. I’m happy about that. It passed within a mile of my place. Trees down and electricity was out for a few people, but I don’t think I ever heard of significant structure damage and no one was hurt, so good news all around.
My cat finally learned how to use her paws in play without scratching me. She demonstrated by tapping my nose from her high perch in the cat tree this morning.
And my plants are still alive and growing in spite of my beginner mistakes.
I wish you all the best!
Our 4 month old puppy suddenly saw the light yesterday. Because some of her siblings stayed very long we could not start them on housetraining properly, so.. But yesterday we were a lot inside because it was a cold day, and twice she went to the door looking at us explicitly. So we left her outside, where she did a big pee and immediately after came running back: I am done! We can go inside!
Such a surprise 😀
Our air conditioner failed last month on the 3 hottest days of the year. While waiting for the repairman we caved in and bought a portable window air conditioner. It took a while for my husband to get it installed because of the windows we have but it dropped the temperature in one room fairly quickly. The unit evaporates the condensation and when I put it away and drained it there was nothing to drain. It can also be used as a dehumidifier. Always drain it and follow the instructions about running it in fan mode for 12 hours before storing so you aren’t breeding toxic bacteria or mold. Perhaps one of the portable roll around air conditioners would help you in the hazy room. It wasn’t cheap. We are keeping ours for emergencies but our daughter may end up with it.
My brand (< 1 year) A/C unit stopped working last month so I had the installer come back. It started up fine when he came in (naturally!). He thinks the condensation drain was blocked outside so the water backed up in the pipe and it forced the bobbin (?) up, which automatically shuts off the unit. The tech said he used to only see that on attic units, but it's being included in more units. I guess the idea is that even if your unit is located lower in the house, you don't want water to backup inside if you're away on vacation, for example.
So lost a day of work (darn) but I learned something new. Luckily it happened when temps were lower than they had been, so I just used floor fans for a couple of days.
When I have “2 yr old moments”, I sit myself down and I eat chocolate. Dark chocolate, the darker, the better!
+1
Tony’s Chocolonely, Dark Chocolate 70% in the 6.35oz./180g bars, in the pantry at all times.
Those days are hard.
We got permission to get a dog from our landlords! So have been prowling petfinder and local shelters for pups!
I’m at the beach in Galveston hanging out with family and friends also not thinking about anything. It’s a good day even with a sunburn.
Good things…well for the most part my summer wardrobe is finished. I made 2 dresses (all cotton) a top, 2 pairs of wide legged ankle length pants (linen/viscose blend) and a two pieced swimsuit. My machines are going to be cleaned and serviced this week. And my 86 year old father decided it was time to move off the farm and into a senior living apartment complex!
As for the heat, it’s been between 105 and 109 here (south of the Dallas/FW metroplex). Something that has helped our 2 a/c units is that my techno geek (love engineers) has placed thermostats in all the bedrooms, loft and living room. We can tell a difference. Also our electric cooperative has rebate program for having our air conditioners serviced once a year.
On to our 3rd week of not using the oven or the grill!
Dear Cranky Author,
I’m sorry you’re having a bad day, we all do, tomorrow may be better but if it’s not:
You have a wonderful family – evidenced by past posts 🙂
You have your health – glad you had your spot checked out!
You (and Hubby) have a great talent – seconded by the BDH!!
You have a home – some don’t
Give thanks to all you have and prayers to those who don’t.
Get some embroidery thread that you can use to place discreet highlights in Kid2’s hair. and check the chart (using the correct brand of thread?) If this doesn’t work, there is always that discreet place that you can send projects to that can be finished another day. No riper cushions!
Hope your day is better!
First off, I recommend pulling the threads. Yes it is a lot of work, but it will be more work to finish the project and then hate it forever.
As far as good news goes, we are alive. We have food. We have running clean water. We can easily travel (no covered wagons), and we can talk to loved ones every moment of every day.
That sounds trite, but my alternative was to tell you why I am happy at the moment, and that is because my daughter’s cornea is healing well. Since March she has had a brain tumor removal, had a cranial nerve to her face removed, lost most of the hearing in her left ear, is going to undergo reconstructive surgery in August so that the left side of her face doesn’t droop, and to top it all off she splashed prescription acne medicine into her eye about 2 weeks ago and until today it didn’t look like it was going to heal. Now it is. We are happy.
omg, best wishes to your daughter!
+1 That is a lot to cope with.
I have hummingbirds at my feeder … squirrels eating bird seed that dropped out of the tree feeder. And while the UV index is extremely high, the temp is a sweet 82 degrees. I finally located my “Bird on the Wing” photo on my hard drive. (It was in with some graduation stuff … Opps!) This is the good part. I’ll not add to your cranky spell with any of the irritating pieces of this day in North Carolina.
that is very cool, thanks for sharing!
What kind of a beautiful little bird is this?
We have (for the first time after living here for almost 30 years) a pair of bluebirds nesting in our yard….and a baby bluebird hanging around very close to the house, where we can see him! ????
I’m also cranky today.
Checking this blog was my moment of procrastination/protest before I start a large, painful technical writing project. Be glad you get to murder something today (in fiction). All I get to do is write detailed directions for performing a total Kjeldahl nitrogen digestion while WISHING I could murder something.
I call it hate writing.
Ha! I remember doing Kjedahl digestions in a college food chemistry class. Glad I never had to do one while I still worked in the field. Have fun (sorry).
Thank you for that! On the positive side, I’m updating to a newer method which is much less poisonous/dangerous to use than the original methods. So that will be good.
Yes, I understand completely. I’m currently suffering the same heat, same bad mood, and trying to keep my tomatoes alive. Not blossoming, just alive, heh. Hang in there ’cause this is going to be another 2011 summer I’m afraid. All my friends have escaped to cooler climes this month, but I’m stuck here at work. GRRRR
Hoping your day improves!!
Yesterday, I found a live prairie rattlesnake on the road and a slightly singed cover board that survived a prescribed fire.
(I’m a herpetologist and the cover board is part of a research study, so these are actually really good things) 🙂
My dahlias have buds on them. My hollyhocks have opened up and the garden is beautiful ????. Come visit Wisconsin. This week it is only in the 70s/80s and beautiful ????
Cs pattern has a dmc colour picker where you upload an image, pick a pixel and get the closest dmc colour.
https://cs-pattern.com/image-color-picker.php
Good things:
My hubby is on his way home from his 20 day work stint. We will celebrate our 27 anniversary this weekend by heading out into a glorious national park where 2nd Spawn works. Said Spawn also managed to score us a reservation at a very good sushi place we’ve been wanting to try for a long time.
We are leaving for a group trip to Yellowstone NP, which we were freaking about during the floods, so Yay the trip is still on.
As for the cross stitch, can you take 2 or 3 strands of a lighter color and overlay the dark hair to give a highlight effect?
Hope your snarly present quickly turns to snarly past.
I’m cranky too. I successfully spun crepe yarn, though. It takes me a while to try new things sometimes (like, years) but it was not as scary as I thought.
Oops—picture didn’t attach.
Beautiful! As a retired spinner and active weaver I really appreciate your work.
Thank you! I will be learning to weave soon—I bought a CPW from a friend and she’s giving me a small floor loom. I’m thrilled. I primarily knit and I can’t keep up with my handspun output.
My daughter (3) calls episodes “applesode” and it’s the adorable highlight of my week
I started the day with a text from a member of the opposite sex, 12 years younger.
“Hope you have a good week :)”. I responded with some florid nonsense “Hope your week is filled with progress, grins, laughs and feelings of fulfillment.” “That sounds wonderful thank you.” Me: “Doesn’t it?! 🙂 :)” Him: “I hope the same for you and even more.”, followed by emojis I can’t hope to reproduce here. I told him he was good for my psyche and he responded it was nice to be good for something. I haven’t had the guts to tell him he is good eye candy. He looks like a Viking!!! Now that is the way to start the day
We all have those days.
My dog always makes me feel better! He thinks you’re great too!
Something good huh? I just finished making a pair of shorts out of fabric that has sewing machines all over and it has pockets! (it was a skirt but i never wear skirts! so i changed it! )
These are the shorts..
So cute!
It rained yesterday, which is great because the last three years or so we had 3 months in a row with no or nearly no rain during summer (in Germany, so we used to have rain all summer until recently). Also I’m visiting a castle with a good friend of mine tomorrow ????
Something good that happened – my two kids (9 and 7) and I spent time together yesterday adding ridiculous sound effects and Star Wars quotes to a video we made of our dog. No arguing the whole time – it was magic.
My husband went off to training last year and the AC unit broke. We live in Miami. The house was a balmy ~90 degrees. The dog was dying, I was dying, the cats napped leisurely. I was so hot that I was beginning to think it was grounds for divorce. I called my mom crying. I wanted to take the dog and abscond. Anyway, my poor husband got on his father to come and install a new one and we are still happily married and going on two years in November 🙂
My positive is that I made a calendar of food ideas finally. I was in such a rut and we’ve been eating out and getting fat. I finally sat down and came up with something semi-concrete and then I went grocery shopping and my house is stocked with food and that makes me happy.
I got to walk through Sequoia groves at and see amazing vistas at Yosemite last week. Beautiful!!!
Bucket list double-checked.
(Hoping the Washburn fires are under control soon and are not too long-term destructive.)
I hope you feel better soon. Sending as much positive energy your way as I can.
Here’s a pic (now that I figured out how to make the image smaller sized).
This is Grizzly Giant. Over 3000 years old, hundreds of feet tall.
A day of chillin’ wont hurt! Take it easy, have some iced tea.
I have a seventeen year old with multiple disabilities. After seventeen years of eating only smooth puréed foods, she has decided that some texture is OK. I don’t have to buy baby food any more.
Summer has been fantastic. She is enjoying all the fresh fruits! Apricots, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, melon, and they’re mostly just fork-mashed. Blueberries still have to go through a food processor, but she’s tolerating the skins if they’re chopped.
I’m giving her a lot of different vegetables, too, but I get much more excited about tasty fruit.
I hope things clear up for you soon.
I’m so happy to hear that, Gail!
Hooray for summer fruits! Glad she is enjoying (some of the new) textures!
My mom, who is in her eighties, decided she didn’t want to deal with living alone in rural Minnesota (winters can be especially challenging) and moved to an apartment in a nearby town. The main downside was that she had a big dog, and she didn’t think he’d be happy in an apartment with the limited exercise she’d be able to give him. I have a house, live across the street from a park, and I was between dogs, so I spent several weeks helping her pack up her house and letting him get used to living with me, and then he came home with me. It’s been just over four months, and he’s adjusted better than I could have hoped. He and the roommate’s two cats get along great, though I’m not supposed to pay too much attention to them. He’s highly intelligent (border collie and greyhound mix, we think), and has gone from only being on a leash for vet trips to learning to loose leash walk, loves watching all the comings and goings at the park (there are a LOT of dogs in the neighborhood), and we go across the street to play ball 4 or 5 times a day. Mom misses him, but he’s happy, and I talk to her every day to give her an update on his activities—today he made it his mission to check ALL the trees in the park to see who had been by over the weekend. Okay, not actually all the trees, but a significant percentage, lol. He’s a joy. Attaching a picture of Breyer and his ball.
Hi Kelly, please try again, the size limit for pictures is 1MB, maybe you can take a screenshot and upload that? ????
Try the pic again
We kicked off my grandmother’s century celebration last night (she’s officially 100)!! She was delighted with the cake and attention.
Miscellaneous things to be glad about: Be glad you don’t have to commute every day. Be glad you have AC at all. Be glad the kids are healthy.
I had melanoma last year. It was caught at stage 0 and was completely resolved by minor surgery in the dermatologist’s office. I have a seven-month-old grandson, and he is pals with one of my daughter’s cats. (The other two: not so much. It’s hilarious.) One of my nieces is about to get her doctorate in epigenetics.
Is that enough good news? I hope so, because you clearly have some major suckage going on right now. Best of luck getting through it.
My baby sister is coming to visit for two and a half weeks, arriving tomorrow. She and my father visited from Switzerland for 6 weeks every summer for 13 years and then he got sick, and then the pandemic happened… now she’s 16, and so excited to be visiting on her own!
Lovely!!
Babies on the beach for Independence Day, what’s better than that?
Had the best time playing tug with my 2 year old collie boythis morning! He absolutely destroyed one of his fleece blankies and the grin of absolute joy and delight on his face was contagious. This was his recovery from being absolutely terrified for 45 minutes when a thunderstorm passed thru. (Yeah, we did rain, but, oh, the humidity!!! 😉 ) Weve been for a walk and now he’s destroying a peanut butter chew bone with a concentrated effort that makes chess champions look like wimps.
I can empathize with your mood. Some days just won’t. Hopefully merciless, horrible slaughter of deserving characters will relieve some of the pressure
Last Wednesday my dog had an “unsanctioned” adventure when I didn’t properly close my front door and fell asleep on the couch. I spent hours looking for him then had nightmares. The next morning while I was combing the neighborhood (barely keeping it together) I got an automated call from the microchip company! It turns out he was around the corner hanging out with a young, hot, outdoorsy neighbor who he slept with all night! My neighbor showed in a roofless jeep and my dog was like, ‘hey mom, why are you cutting my vacay short?!’ then proceeded to stretch out in my unmade bed. The neighbor said he loved my dog and would babysit him anytime! Gratitude for pets and people who love them!! There is an AMAZING network of people who help find missing pets. Truly makes me feel so good about the world. ❤️❤️????????????????
Also thanks a million for the great story telling!
I feel your mood completely. I had a very hard time getting motivated, but I cleaned some and made a peach and strawberry cobbler and I did a hard workout even though my motivation was close to zero. I feel a little better having accomplished something. Now off to a cup of tea to strengthen me for grocery shopping.
My boyfriend of six years proposed.
Congratulations ????
My back is killing me.
I’ve been moving sooo many freaking boxes at work these last few months that it just constantly hurts.
Why do I write this on a post asking for good things?
Because the boxes has books in them.
The library I work at has been given a large part of a government grant to help kids get books.
We have bought thousands of books that is going to form mini libraries in… I don’t know of any English version of this but in Denmark we have after school daycare for school children, direct translation of it would be Shool-Freetime-Organization?
It’s a thing almost all children in Denmark go to after school for a couple of hours until their parents pick them up when they are done with work.
So several thousand kids are soon going to be in everyday contact with several hundred beautiful books and we are going to be visiting them and doing activities with the kids about the books and I can’t freaking wait.
A sparkly dress from an online order arrived early and fit perfectly. This was the big clothes purchase for me this year and I am so glad it worked out. For our entire bachelorette group. It’s a bit materialistic but it works!
Sorry your day is so bad. Do I have to apologize because I found so much humor in it? I am getting a massage this afternoon. Sounds like you could use one as well. On a good note, after your physical is done, you will not have to do it again for another year. I am a prolific reader and quilter. Hands down, y’all are my all-time favorite authors and I read at least one book every day.(retired)
I can’t help change your mood. I am sharing it with you. I’m going to have to rely on the comments of others. urgh (growling and gritting my teeth)
I read this article today. I’m in awe of this 16 year old young man. Good news is hardly ever reported but this will give you hope for the future of the rising generation:
https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/regional/pascagoula-moss-point-mississippi-drowning-corion-evans/522-1de1bc3d-d6e0-45ca-bd10-e60dbe7235a0?fbclid=IwAR09mL5tu3BoGVfYCmO5_otDiLJ5gI1Yna0xSqodgY-F1sEQFSV1S8CjIkI&fs=e&s=cl
Thank you for sharing! What a story to celebrate!!!
Something good. OK. I finished the Keum-boo earrings for Ann Arbor. Much swearing ensued as they have fiddly little bits. But they are done. Yeah.
We were worried a few weeks ago we might have to cancel our vacation to Yellowstone due to flooding, but other than changing our hotel from Gardiner to West Yellowstone, we aren’t having to cancel anything.
After nearly two years in a renovation that was originally “supposed to” take five months, my contractor has the final inspection scheduled for tomorrow. Second times the charm (hopefully).
If you’re feeling like a two year old, then treat yourself like a two year old — you have kids so you know what they/you need. I don’t have kids but I’m a huge fan of chocolate. Or bacon. Or phoning my most supportive friend.
Going to Berlin for five days on a classtrip on Sunday. From Frankfurt/Germany and once I’m back we’ll have six weeks of paid summer holidays. So – fun times ahead!
Finished a thing for my daughter. She likes it 🙂
115 in Phoenix. Medicare is messing with my life and this country is in the toilet. Me bad mood too. I burst into tears this morning while driving to LA when the Eagles sang “I’m standing on a corner in Winslow AZ…….” I was 17 when Take it Easy was on the radio. Now I’m an old lady.
Wishing you health and cool days!
First day of my three week vacation????????????????
Have a Basket of Kittens!
???? One of these is not like the others. Or is that another one ducking down in the back?
All five of my siblings and I spent this weekend in the same place at the same time for the first time in about six years (we had a family reunion planned for the summer of 2020 but that got Covid cancelled)
The weather was gorgeous and 82 degrees. We helped prepare food on Saturday and played cribbage on Sunday (42nd annual tournament – I didn’t win and I didn’t care), drank beer and fizz water, shared pictures and talked for eight solid hours while a horde of children of all ages ran around being crazy and having fun.
Today, the sister who is still here staying with me and I are wearing disreputable clothes, eating leftovers and lounging around with our feet up and reading (I just read her this post) while her husband sleeps in the guest bedroom. Best weekend in a long, long time despite car troubles, five people staying in a one person house, luggage and laundry everywhere, and four days now of eating and drinking things I almost never eat. I will willingly pay for that later. Totally worth it.
Dear Ilona,
Perhaps you could bleach a little clipping and if it works you could do it for highlights.Or maybe if you look at the scraps from other projects, you might have enough to mix colors. I just completed 3 sweaters made from main colors that were enough for 1/2 a sweater or 1/3 of a sweater, or completely from leftovers. One sweater has yarns used in 11 other sweaters. It turned out to be one of my favorites. That’s what comes from streaming old Project Runway All Stars. Like when you’re handed a box of scraps and given 1 hour create something fabulous. And who says the hair can’t be yellow or orange.The point is to have fun.
When I was in Kindergarten I painted the sky yellow and electric line poles blue.
The teacher told me,”You can’t do that”. MyDad the architect said, “Don’t pay too much attention to people with no imagination when you’re doing something that requires creativity.” It’s One of the best lessons I ever Learned And has served me well for the last 70 years. So just have fun and go for it .You’re one of the most creative people I know. A were-Honey badger/Doctor? You go Girl❣️
Well I live in TX too, so I’m right there with you about the heat. Have the ac folks check the thermostatic expansion valve. It can develop a whole and won’t go out all at once, but when it does….it sucks. Ask me how I know? =).
I completely understand the urge to NOT do anything too. I think its called the summer blah’s for those of use with Polar Bear genes. (Yes, I must have been a polar bear in another life…my body doesn’t like heat.) This is when I miss my Colorado summers.
All I can pass on is hang in there!
Thanks all!! Was having a blah day after a horrible week of more cancer bad news for hubby and this so cheered me eventho was all for House Andrews. My happy news is made my fav berry cobbler with new coconut keto sugar and still was delicious yay!!
My 6yo played dominoes for the first time ever on our camping trip and demolished the 3 adults he played against! I am a proud mama ????
Our horse, JR, got a new silvery fly mask and sheet so now everyone at barn is calling him a medieval war horse…I can’t share his photo, but he’s very cute and sweet and not war like. Except when he’s on the polo field! ????????
Hee hee! I hear you, Jenn! When I was younger I worked as a groom for a family who played polo. It was an adventure, and I was in heaven. I have many fun memories of those days. The horses are definitely warriers, they get soooo into it. They know the game, and are a different horse on the field than off it.
We had between 18-30 horses we transported each weekend, then of course there was feeding, exercising, etc, in addition to prep for competition. To exercise them, I would ride one and “pony” (lead from the horse I was on) 5 others at a time. There was no time to ride them all individually. It would be fine, until one decided to stop while the rest of us were hand galloping onward. Oy! I have some interesting scars and stories. But I repeat, it was heaven for me as a horse crazy girl. I have some great photos, too!. Of course now, I look back and am exhausted just thinking about it. But at the time? It was amazing. Oof, apparently I can talk a LONG time about horses. I haven’t even skimmed the surface. So I better stop. 🙂
???? so cool to meet a fellow enthusiast. The horses are so amazing…
NO F***ng Fleas appeared in the plates on the ground filled with soapy water I set up around where my 17 yr old dog likes to hang out = I don’t have to flea bomb the Kitchen & hall outside my door. Now to vacuum up the Borax & swap it for D.Earth
for next 20 minutes then I shall reward myself with a half hour battle in Castle Age.
We have new foster kittens! They are four weeks old and need to be fed every 4 hours, but they’re like little bundles of renewed faith in the universe.
Oof. I had one of those days last week. They are difficult.
On a happy note, I bought a small sprinkler splash pad for my kid so I could selfishly use the kiddie pool I bought a week ago for myself.
I took this week off because Thursday is my birthday and I am going to do silly animal things. Tomorrow I’m going to do a behind the scenes tour of a wildlife sanctuary, Wednesday I’m going to the Houston Zoo, Thursday I’m going to a big petting zoo and aquarium and Friday I’m capping off my animal adventure week with a private tour of a llama ranch. I’m going to cuddle and enjoy cute and fuzzy critters until I’m in cuteness overload
some days i too wake up chock full of “i don’t wanna!!”
i found a new local craft group to go to, like a stitch’n’bitch or a meetup group. braved my anxiety today and left the house and met new people, and it went really well! the gals were all so kind and welcoming. i’m so proud of myself for going. i lost my craft meetup group back when covid hit. the organizers of the group opted to close the group rather than keep paying for it. i haven’t been able to find another group nearby and have really missed it. it was so nice to sit there and crochet with them. i started a new baby afghan with dinosaurs. it was a good day.
43 more days til Ruby Fever! Yay!
My friend gave me a bunch of knitting stuff! Found really cool earrings on clearance!
Hope your tomorrow is better!
Woo hoo! Maybe we should start a countdown for Ruby Fever? I’ve already reserved the day to just enjoy the book. Has been on pre-order for … hmmm, months now.
There’s a handy dandy countdown on the first page of the website ???? https://ilona-andrews.com/
Ugh. That heat sounds awful!
We have visitors this week, friends with two very active boys ages 7 and 4. We’ve been impressed with how careful the kids are with my mom’s extremely geriatric retriever, and they’ve been adorably wonderful with my little blind dog. My girl seems to enjoy the kids as much as they enjoy her, and she’s been equally good with them.
My husband’s MRI was negative. My COVID test was negative. My kids are healthy.
Jessie Mihalik’s new book drops tomorrow – or in my case at midnight tonight. And yes, I will be waiting with my Kindle app primed and ready to download! Life is good.
Thanks for the reminder. I’ve got the audio version on order. Can’t wait to get started on it.
I have belonged to a knitting group for a while (make shawls for people in need of emotional support; I.e grief). I finished a special request color and made someone very happy.
Had a girls weekend with my best friends and one of them got me a “Cutting Edge investigations” t-shirt. I feel very official and awesome, like I could intern with Kate in another world, lol.
LOL, Crisis 1 – Japanese Chin got tangled up in a fly strip. Had to spend 2 hours with Goo Gone and Dawn dish soap cleaning all of the sticky out of her fur because we have a show on Sunday. Crisis 2 – Black Lab countersurfed and knocked 5 avocado pits and skins on the floor. 6 chihuahuas and 2 Japanese Chins scarfed it up before I could stop them. Skins and pits can be toxic. Spent the next two hours administering hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting (vet approval was obtained) and cleaning up after 8 very upset little dogs. Was definitely ready to go back to work today.
My fav craft designer demonstrated his new collection. It’s marvelous. I ordered it and on its way to miserably hot, humid and dry Kansas. It’s indoor season here, too.
I used to cross stitch and if I made a mistake I just applied the proper color over the top.
Also I cleaned my chicken coop today and we’re (10 red hens)
still in awe of our framed picture of the space chicken, with Christmas lights.
I bought dino thumb tacks for my office and they are glorious.
Oooo! They ARE!!!!
The weather alone is enough to make one cranky. The ongoing construction… so difficult to deal with, especially when you work at home. I hope they finish soon and you have a cold spell and get the floss and yarn things sorted.
~tossing sparkling luck dust your way ~
Your comment “They promised us thunderstorms yesterday. We had thunder. The house shook. No rain though. Bastards.” made me laugh so far I cried. Same damn thing is going on here in Houston. But my hot peppers LOVE it.
My Boston Terrier had 2 adorable squishy faced babies. Mom and puppies are doing great. Imagine puppy breath. Puppies are usually happy thoughts!
My Jack Russel Mix (brought up in an apartment) caught her first vole, I am so proud and very happy she gave it to my husband.
Cranky 2 year old moment is excused. You’ve got a right to be a bit cranky. My two year old tantrum occurred 10 days ago when I moved in to my new Florida home, complete with a ‘smart’ thermostat. Arrived at 3 am in the morning after a 15 hour van ride in the back with the cats in cages (all 5). Stuffed between boxes and bed rolls. A Bouncy jouncey rouncey fun on the back of the bus ride, every bump we hit… Sleep deprived, hot and ready to cool off and SLEEP. Needed to cool house, went straight for thermostat and .. I hit the wall. I could not figure out how to make the Smart Thermostat temperature to set the AC “go cooler”… I cried, I hit my hands on the wall and I kid you not I screamed “NOOOOO, I just want AC to WORK. NO I want an on and off and an up and down!” My kind van drivers helped fix the thermostat and set it to 76… But dang. I really did hit a toddler moment of rage at not getting what I wanted, AC NOW! My brain just couldn’t cope anymore. On a positive note, I’ve since figured it out, have enjoyed evenings in the shade with breezes while sipping a drinkie and all the cats all hiding like little tigers under the palm trees and the sea grapes…
Did yardwork today in 90 degrees, maybe not the smartest, but took lots of breaks and drank lots of water. The mulch won’t spread itself, and I don’t have lawn orphans. But I now have some new trees and hibiscus/rose of Sharon bush. Snuck the kids to the zoo over the weekend, got to see palace cat kittens, sand cat kittens, the baby Asian elephant calf, Frankie, and we fed the lorakeets. It was a good day.
I painted a black pencil-holder a lovely light lilac yesterday.
And I had lunch at a lovely small cafe/coffee house called Two Wrasslin’ Cats. Nice food, and the place is covered in all sorts of cat decor — with an outside cat-fountain!!! Also, a side room with actual live cats to watch through glass doors!
I can tell you one good thing. I discovered your Innkeeper audio books and I love them. I had never tried audio books before and didn’t expect to enjoy them so much. I suspect there aren’t many that are as well conceived and produced though, so maybe I’m ruined for all other audio books. Full cast, background sound, tight scripting. Who knew? I didn’t but I do now. I promise to buy audio versions of as many of your books as you choose to make audio versions for. I hope that’s a mood brightener if only on a very modest scale.
Hi Mzcue,
I’m so glad you like the Graphic Audio adaptations! They are a bit different, with full cast, sound effects and script like dialogue as you well point out.
There are actually audiobooks for all of Ilona Andrews’ books, but the more traditional type which are read by one narrator for all the characters.
There may be news on that front soon however ????
I know those kind of days so well! I myself am on vacation in Finnland at my favourite husky camp. Fifth time in three years. Most of the working stuff know me by now. I love this place so much. I love the dogs and I love hiking with them in the woods here. Today my “adopted” dog refused to go any further and just lay down in the shade after only half the way. Never had that before. But it was pretty warm and his coat is still pretty thick, so I gave in and we slowly made our way back. He was happy and I took a lot of pretty photos of the nature.
Tomorrow I want to do a night hike with my very favourite husky (I love them all, but he’s so special to me) up the nearby mountain. I’m far enough in the North that it will be light as day outside still with hopefully enough sunshine. Fingers crossed.
Thursday I have to fly home. Then I will be heart broken and moody for at least a weak again.
I love different shower gels and hand washing gels but usually finish one before opening another. This AM I decided to indulge myself – there are 4 refreshing shower gels & 3 yummy hand gels residing in my bathroom. A wild and crazy life!
We have all had those days, you just make yours sound so much more interesting. 🙂 I’m sorry you had to live through it, but thank you for sharing.
We are in Portland, Oregon (you remember that place, right?), well technically Gresham, but who knows where that is? It is 78F and I’m dying from the heat already. It will hit 92F today! That probably sounds like Arctic chill to you, but for us it is awful. One day 72, next day 92. Ugh. To quote my favorite author. At least we do not have scorpions! And my cats are happy. I’ll try to attach a photo to make you smile.
I live in Central Texas, and the heat is a real killer right now. 108 yesterday with heat index of 114. No joke.
Woke up grouchy — knew it was bad when the dog brought me her favorite toy, put it on my foot and walked away. So I “started my day over” at 11 am.
Spent the weekend working at an estate sale, helping shoppers. Scored some wonderful & beautiful yarn and floss for myself as well as 3 great tea pots from all over.
Cleaned the tea pots last night & am enjoying a wonderful cup of “Paris” while sorting floss for my new project. (Ah, bliss).
(While ignoring the cleaning & chores my grumpy butt self was refusing to do! ????????).
Paris!!! You followed Ilona’s recommendation of the wonderful team merchant! Try Paris cold – like for ice tea if you haven’t already. It is sooooooo good.
My hubby, who hasn’t been offered a steady job since lockdown started in 2020, just found out a gig he landed for August will pay him a lot more money than we thought it would. Yay!
Omg I feel you on the heat. Humble here ( suburb of Houston) and no, no rain for me yesterday either. As my granddaughter would say… not good. On the bright side I haven’t had to cut my grass. It’s too burnt up .. smdh
My daughter is in Japan going to University. I came downstairs Friday and there she was for a surprize visit!!!! My husband filmed the reunion. He kept the secret. Love that man.
My 13 year old daughter, who has band heterotopia that causes CP and epilepsy, has gone a whole week without a seizure. That’s the longest she has gone in about the last year. We are very hopeful that her new medication will get her seizures under control.
Good luck and will keep my fingers crossed. That is truly amazing.
My boy fur baby had a “mlem mlem” moment and forgot to put his tongue back in after grooming. For twenty minutes. His sister and I were dreadfully embarrassed for him!
The Dr FINALLY got my asthma meds working and I can breathe! It’s $190 for the inhaler and another $45 for the anti-histamines and I have no insurance, but I have energy for the first time in over 10 years. I thought I felt tired and old because I was tired and old- turns out I just didn’t have enough air! It’s a happy day for me 🙂
well. It was 104 here on Saturday, and its Monday and 66. Go figure. The world is very confused. Well done on the mole. Some days are just cranky days. Yesterday was my pity me and do nothing day… so it goes.
Feel better tomorrow?
I got a pair of new pets. A 4 year old ex breeder female, who still has no interest in some strangers petting her but she is GORGEOUS (image attached) and likes to sunbathe and a 4 month old kitten shorthair who talks, plays, snuggles and purrs non-stop. First pets in over 2.5 years after 54 years of having pets non stop. I am in love!
So gorgeous! I hope she is a talker, like most Siamese! We have an Abyssinian and an Ocicat (cross between Siamese and Abysinnian), not an “exotic.” Both of them inform me of the errors of my ways (leaving the house for 10 minutes!!! TOTALLY unacceptable!!!) or their needs, in a surprising variety of vocalizations. Why do cats vocalize to humans? Because it works. 🙂 Enjoy your new fur baby! So happy for you!
My son Tim (18) and I drove overnight (14hrs) back from our 1 week visit from my parents, from North Sea Germany to Switzerland. It was slow driving because we had our camper-trailer with us. We arrived tired but in one piece ????????! It was a weird day with 26hrs awake, so I am letting the rest of the day go by, with all the little things to do after beeing away. Now I am sitting with a glass of wine on my balcony watching the sunset an enjoing the smell of freshly mowed hay! ????
Cheers from Switzerland!
Inga
I am sorry that you are having a cranky day. Don’t worry too much, cranky people live longer. Or, maybe, it just feels like they never die.???? My husband was happy 98% of the time and he did explain it to me. First, you wake up alive, then your brain is working (fairly well), and then you are able to get out of bed. Those were his requirements for being happy. I still haven’t managed it for every day but, it does help me from being too cranky. For cranky days a significant intake of chocolate is required to mellow me out. I do hope the haze clears and the medical visits are boring and happy.
Right there with you on this heat! I’m in Houston and my AC is working overtime. I’m not looking forward to that bill! But I’m ecstatic that I finished my cross stitch project-it took 7 years.
I was offered a new job! Now waiting for HR to call to get papers signed 🙂 Next I’m tackling the permit/license for CDL school bus driving.
Went to the doctor today to complain about a pill added last time that raised my blood sugar. Instead of discontinuing that one, he added another more expensive medication to lower my blood sugar. I guess he doesn’t want me to stroke out, but it is like an ouroboros
with one pill chasing another and so forth. Not exactly good news but I did not wake up not dead, so there it is.
I made the best arugula-based chimichurri (so…not actually chimichurri) yesterday with dinner and it rocked my world.
Tagged along on spouse’s work travel and got to bike around the south side of Lake Erie. (Threw our bicycle in the back of the truck. Yay, driving!) It’s beautiful.
I live just north of Dallas TX. The heat is getting to me so bad. A friend told me it was my own fault for moving to Hell and that I “should move back to America.”
But bothAC units in the house are working again!
Due to a long and complicated string of events involving everything fromCOVID to ADHD, I don’t have any valid ID and can’t get a new debit card without that. I also can’t continue the process of getting a security clearance for my job. And in my part of Texas, appointments at the DMV for getting license (my license from my old state is expired) is out a couple of months. My appt is at the end of next month.
But I am alive and I live in a nice house with nice people and AC.
The veggie garden is in full production, and I don’t expect to buy veggies again before October (except carrots, which don’t like clay no matter how much you amend it). We’re solidly into berry season so no fruit to buy either. Second-cut orchardgrass is the best mulch ever. I spend more time training the beans up the bamboo than I do weeding.
I switched puppy foods a couple of weeks ago, and the 10 month old rescue pup stopped chewing inappropriate things within four days. She and my 6yo heeler are best buds now, so the heeler doesn’t miss my ex-husband as much (although she still misses him a lot more than I do).
The flooring guys finished another job early and got to me a week ahead of schedule, so the basement (previously the man-cave) has a new carpet and LVP at the patio entry. It’s much lighter and brighter, looks great, and feels great to walk on when I go down to do laundry. Life is good.
Oh, and I’m meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow – first time we’ve talked in person since the pandemic set in. This is more a function of our schedules than anything else. She’s the one I texted in November to ask whether I could stash my horses at her place if I needed to get out of here in a hurry. She called immediately to find out what was up, and told me to bring them straight over if I needed to, no matter what time of the day or night. Also would have met me in 45 minutes with a shovel, but fortunately that wasn’t necessary.
I’m really liking your friend. 🙂
And here is a photo of my gorgeous boy.
A close friend is coming to visit for a few days and she arrives tomorrow, yay!
My sister in law had her first baby this morning! I’m so excited as we are pretty close. I can’t wait to see and snuggle her. She lives 2 and half hours away but I’m more than willing to drive to see her.
I like taking pictures. Especially barns with barn quilts on them. I found a new one, utter joy!!
I am alive and healthy And I have two cute kittens that I will just go home and cuddle after work
My tomatoes are growing nicely, the garden is overgrown perfectly, the night flowers are blooming, the butterflies love my overgrown garden, I have shade even though it’s supposed to get up into the 40°C by the weekend, I started painting my window frames a wonderful blue (they’re ugly red at the moment) and the full moon is shining above it all… 🙂
I turned 60 6 months ago and I have decided to just sit in a room, read my kindle, sell my house, no more responsibilities. I don’t want to go into an office anymore, people are something else, I would like to do remote work. My 2 boys are looking at me kinda funny. A Senior-Life crisis, LOL
A little girl who has been learning to say her name was able to say it today without help. She was so proud!
I always get a chuckle out of this one. My dog has figured out how to recline in my husband’s recliner. She’s not spoiled, not spoilt at all.
Well, that picture is only 225k – not sure why it didn’t upload…
One last try
I saw my friends over the weekend (after more than a year). Much catching up between laughter and tears, delightful food.
???? being hopeful about everything that is going on seem to be the rule.
The cat came back!
While i was gone i left food in a timed feeder for the feral cat that I have been trying to befriend, but a raccoon tore the feeder apart and the cat was missing but 2 days after I got home it was back and winding around my ankles so we’re good. And the raccoon has been excluded from the breezeway so the cat has a safe place. I will be making an appointment with the vet for all the necessities in a couple weeks, then working on finding a good home (it doesn’t get on with my indoor cats).
Also, I was gone seeing my folks for the first time since covid happened so that is awesome too!
I’m sorry about your crummy day. I just got my headshots done. The photographer is amazing! My makeup is amazing! I have false eyelashes on which means I HAVE eyelashes again. ????
Found a cool new author on kindle unlimited
Stayed up very late reading while spouse did cross-stitch
I’m with you –
We have annual physicals next week – I don’t want to go to the physical. I will, but I don’t want to and I’ll bitch and whine about it until two days after they’re done.
Good thing –
I spent Saturday with my daughter – always the best thing.
Chapter 19 Part 1 came last week and another should arrive this week – that’s always a good thing.
Thanks, Ilona,
Sheila
All the items in our online grocery order are in stock and available. Huzzah!
I feel your pain. I regularly look at my bank account to see if I can become a beach bum… no luck so far… I also haven’t found an eccentric person prepared to support a lifestyle of lying on a boat deck in the Caribbean.. might be something with age/bodyshape/unwilling to do anything in exchange.. I don’t know… some random man hasn’t run up to me, grabbed me in a clinch and totally changed my life.. so… oh well.. I guess I have to go to work…
This does end well, promise!
Our twelve year old black German Shepherd rescue Jake celebrated his probable birthday in early May by being ill, before that he had started going indoors occasionally which obviously concerned us, and was becoming a little arthritic, but nothing really worrying. Then he had a weird day when he was just behaving oddly culminating in lying flat with his front legs to *either side* quivering unable to stand up, as he clearly wanted to get up we helped him stand, he stopped quivering and *seemed* to be back to normal. You can imagine how we were freaking out 🙁 Alex the vet examined him thoroughly, did all the tests including a blood panel, and that came back with higher levels of liver value than anyone in the large practice had ever seen, like normal is 480ish units and his level was over 4,000. Other than that one odd result the vet didn’t find anything obvious wrong (which was frustrating!), she suggested it *could* be food poisoning or *maybe* his liver was giving out, and told us to bring him immediately if he had another quivering incident (and to try to film it), but otherwise come back for another blood test mid-June. It did mean that Jake couldn’t have his regular vaccinations which were due as he wasn’t entirely well.
We went home and spent the next six weeks watching Jake closely for anything out of the ordinary, he was more affectionate, and much quieter than normal, but nothing else scary happened. He had his next blood test, which showed better (2,000 units), but still very high liver results and Alex asked us to bring him back for another in mid-July. At the end of June we took him on holiday to an old manor house in Somerset with a group of our friends. He was more affectionate with all of the friends, insisting on strokes and even the odd cuddle which is unusual for Jake, but otherwise playing with his big outdoor ball and sticks (he collects sticks wherever he goes, all the sticks belong to Jake!) with the guys as normal. Jake did tire earlier than usual, but it was hot, and if I was sitting out in the manor walled garden he would say for a while then take himself off to lie on the cool stone floors inside. And he had no accidents inside at all while we were away.
Jake went on toiletting outside when we returned, he had one last blood test and the liver results were 800 odd units, still high, but so much better than they had been and confirming that whatever had happened Jake was on the mend. On Friday Jake was able to have all of his vaccinations, and to have an injection of Librella, a newish slow release painkiller for animals.with no reports of affects on the liver, unlike all of the other available animal painkillers. Alex warned us that although Librella worked pretty much immediately for cats it often took until the second injection to see a result for dogs, especially for big dogs. However he has has already taken to telling off people using the pavement in front of our house again, bringing his indoor ball to us insisting we play again, reminding us it is dinnertime again, and he is moving more freely than he was as well as standing up straighter with his back legs.
We know the age statistics for German Shepherds, and have had to let all of our previous ones go at twelve years, so we were preparing ourselves for having to make that horrible decision, but Jake has stuck his tongue out at the odds and is doing great!
So glad it is going well for Jake! My son and daughter-in-law recently had to say goodby to their doberman/lab mix Trigger. On the way in, they stopped and got him a whopper and fries. He was SO happy and excited! Not food they normally allow him, but under the circumstances…. He was such a great dog. But he was having trouble walking, etc (will spare sad details, but it was time for kindness). Will look forward to seeing him on the other side. Ooh, going to be such a busy place! RIP Trigger.
Hachi Says Go get your favorite Wally Walrus and give him a cuddle
(yes he did this face/pose by himself, he is ridiculous)
Oh sad my photo is too large.
Today I learned about the engineering practice called Chaos Monkey. It was created by Netflix engineers to test the resilience of their platform.
My takeaway – it is now the new (loving) pet name for my toddler! She too tests our resilience consistently 🙂
We also made a huge dent in getting rid of our recycling pile which is soothing to my frazzled self that has hated the growing clutter.
I am fostering a hive of bees and been having so much fun! I have a pond for them with floating plants that they love. My bee garden is coming along nicely. They seem to enjoy my 12 foot tall Skeleton named Jack. I see them buzzing around his head all the time!
My cat is staring at me, wanting dinner.
My brother invited us to come swim in his pool, on a day the air and water temperatures were perfect for it, and as we swam a trio of teenager racoons walked along his back fence, chose a spot, and all sat down to stare at our swim performance and (non) bikini bodies.
Today is my daughter’s second day at her new dream job! She had to work the last year doing something she didn’t want to do, but she powered thru and was able to switch over to what she really wanted. Sometimes you got to take a few sideways shuffles before a big step in the right direction.
I went outside to water my tiny garden and had to wait. Inside one of the flowers I was confronted with a bumble bee butt. Its little legs were kicking like mad. I just stood there grinning like a fool. How can life be without hope when you have bumblebee bums?
To clarify, the legs belonged to the bumblebee rather than the aforementioned butt.
The good is about my dog. But I have to give you a back story first. This was in May, and I had been having a 2-week bout with Sciatica. Really awful pain. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, went about 6 steps into the en suite, grabbed the counter, and couldn’t move. Frozen in pain. I start calling for my husband because I can only stand so long before I’ll fall. He’s down a 24′ hallway, and around a couple of corners, sleeps like the dead, and can’t hear me. I’m crying with pain and calling as loud as I can, and our dog walks into the bathroom, and looks at me like “What is your problem? You’re being awfully loud.” I’m still calling for my husband, and the dog leaves.
He went and woke up my husband, and brought him to me! (Timmy’s in the well, and being loud.) I knew the dog was smart, but I had no idea he had it in him.
Our dryer was acting up. We kept getting error DOOR. Internet research said door switch is culprit and easy to replace. Well. The switch refused to come out as shown in videos. So I jerry-rigged it since it was halfway out already and the loose connection is not loose anymore.
I had called three local repair shops and they had a couple of weeks backlog and 89$ call out fees before any repairs or diagnostics.
Dryer works like a charm now. I did order replacement switch in case the work-around fails.
My almost 8 week old daughter smiled at her daddy for the first time today. She’s been smiling at me and her brothers (while awake and focused on us) for a couple of weeks so it totally made his day that she finally smiled at him, too. ????
Also, my oldest son has decided he wants to try some ballet classes before he starts “ninja” classes (a combination of martial arts, parkour, and gymnastics) when he turns six (he just turned 5). He wants to do ballet first because it will help him get stronger and more flexible so he can be a better ninja lol
I had an amazing lunch. Cowboy caviar from yesterday, my $1 grocery special shredded cabbage and brown rice. Cabbage microwaved for a minute. All mixed up with some balsamic vinegar for more flavor and a thinly sliced Serrano chili.
Also drinking my rose and saffron tea. Which I think is good for many things.
That is a lot of posts!
I feel joy at being alive and safe:)
Parents have moved close to me.
Children are happy being children.
On final chronicles of Elantra book.
After the heat dome and constant heat wave in the PNW last summer, here in Vancouver, the temps haven’t hit 80F once so far this summer. If I could send you our perfect weather, I would.
I am cat sitting for friends. Their cat isn’t social and hates to be touched but I am proud to say – she has stayed in the same room with me more than once. And hasn’t hissed at me at all! This is a big deal in the life of Joni the cat.
I received a dreaded bill today, for installation of my new washer dryer. Surprise, it was not bad. Later this week my college friends and I head to our college reunion; so for 4 days I will pretend to be 18 again. Some days you are the nail, not the hammer.
I’m glad your mole wasn’t melanoma. Good things – I’m visiting my sister here in Texas. We’ve missed each other a lot since I’ve moved to Germany I too have to make all my doctor visits this month. Better safe than sorry!
Our heat wave in Illinois is on its way back. And I don’t want to do things either. But it’s adulting. Today is my birthday ???? the Fantabulous 50 and I did a photo shoot. Hubs will be surprised again. – maybe. We shall see. Now I’m waiting for hubs right er home so we can do the birthday dinner things
In our neck of the woods, the flowers are blooming like mad. Peonies, roses, iris, lilies, poppies. Just came back from a wonderful garden tour this morning. Well marinated with sunscreen & got several compliments regarding my little parasol that I took to ensure I had shade wherever I walked. Had a lovely conversation with a local metal worker who will be building me my giant peony cages. Our long established peonies have outgrown the readily available peony rings by a considerable amount, hence my seeking out custom work.
Always difficult to feel upbeat in extreme heat. Hope your mood improves & your AC troubles will correct themselves. I hear mint juleps help! I’m sure there are non-alcoholic versions that would soothe the throat & cool the body…..
Had a chance to work with a very cool kiddo in summer school who sometimes gets described by rough days. And he was a delight! He showed me his artistry, shared his math prowess, had a few fun classmate interactions, played racing games at recess. Just a treasure of a day & I am grateful for him! Now motivating myself to get me to the library to work on my own homework!
I volunteer at our small, local food bank. Today I visited a grocery store to ask them about buying larger quantities of the basic food we distribute. I don’t want to deplete their shelves but need to buy more groceries in fewer visits to save on gas and time. The manager was super nice and said we could certainly do that, order ahead and all, but in the meantime to continue shopping the shelves. And THEN he asked me if we could use any frozen meat! The meat they carry always has a sell-by date and if not sold they put it in their big walk in freezer. He wheeled the cart full of frozen meat and said to take what we need. I took it all. And the best part was that it was free to our organization! This will mean the world to our guests and will add much needed protein to their meals! I am blown away by the generosity and support of this local grocery store (The Grocery Outlet)! It’s been a very good day!
I’m so happy for everyone and thank you so much for what you do!
You need to google cute kitties or utube cute kitties. It’ll cheer you right up!
Puppies works also. Funny animal videos also crack me up.
I hope your day gets better. And that we get some relief from this darn heat! I have to limit my dogs from going outside because I’m afraid their little paws will burn.
I live in a large apartment building and some residents pull the lazy card and rather than doing a goodwill donation drop-off, they’ll leave behind their stuff near the recycling bins.
Luckily, I happen to be in a Buy Nothing Project group online and I manage to rehome the majority of the items I find.
Not too long ago, someone left behind a disassembled cat tower with no instructions, and loose screws haphazardly piled up in a box. I hauled the box up to my place, scrutinized internet images to find a match (oh my eyes), found a tentative match, and then sat down to put this thing together.
It took me two weeks because this was an after-work project, but I got it together and today I found a home for it. The lady who picked it up has two young cats, and she was thrilled to have a 5.5-foot cat tower that would spare her curtains from further destruction.
Yay!
Its a really small parenting win. But my youngest (8) has finally started sleeping in past 5am. This weekend he was out till about 930am.
Him and my oldest are those weird people who dont need a lot of sleep to function, even though their mama loves sleep. Neither napped as toddlers and it didnt matter how late we kept them up or how much we tried to wear them out they still woke up between 5 and 6am. We have a brief period of them keeping each other company in the wee hours but the oldest left for college last July and so hubby and I took turns being up with him on weekends.
Fingers crossed this trend continues at least until the end of summer.
I had cancer in my tongue. Operated on in December, six weeks of radiation.
PET scan last week was clear, and I have been declared to be CANCER FREE!!
Congratulation!????
My happy right now: my son is (finally) engaged to his amazing other half. We love her and they’ve known each other since high school! AND our nearly 2-year old granddaughter will have a sibling to have tantrums with/about in February.
I hope that tomorrow has you feeling lighter and brighter and brings us more fictional assassinations! ????
I went to my favorite thrift store, Grace and Mercy in Hopkinsville, KY, and enjoyed my 25% off for senior citizens, by their definition anyone over 55. While there I found a cute fabric remnant to add to my stash, a coke glass for 75 cents, and a ceramic owl that may or may not impact the bloody woodpecker who took our month-long trip to TX as a green light to attach the new porch timbers.
I also ogled the yarns for you.
You are WORD WIZARDS who cast spells that ensnare the minds of your readers and hold them captive for the rest of their lives!
Non-melanoma is FANTASTIC! I also play the Whack A Mole game and so far it’s always a benign result. I don’t mind physicals, my 3rd colonoscopy is this Thursday, but the blood draws are what get to me. I have found that lots of cool water before, during and after helps, but sometimes I wonder just how much blood they are actually leaving me and every few years they find a reason to add another vial. I hope you get a phlebotomist who can do a good stick! The other kind are pure hell!
My paternal grandparents were Swedish. My grandmother was a master chef and gardener who did cross stitch, a unique Scandinavian form of crochet, knitted, and crocheted fine lacy edges to her pillowcases. Your stories remind me of her. Thank you for sharing the beauty that you fill House Andrews with! Mazel Tov on your soon to be released book. May it give you good nachas!
Just got back from a trip to Canada (youngest daughter’s wedding). The weather was perfect, the wedding beautiful, and the horses gentle. (I rode and I am 70 years young)
Can’t ask for more than this.
The white mist in the room is concerning me.
Is it possibly freon leaking from the a/c?
My first grandchild! A girl, 11 days old today, and I was there to see her come out of the factory. Her mom and 2 siblings are also members of the BDH, joining me as a devoted follower. The next generation is in good standing.
Artemus offers his belly for rubbies – always helps lifts everyone’s mood.
(Picture – had to get it small enough)
Yesterday for me, today for you, because of the time difference; I took my dogs to the beach. My shiba Bones, who normally barely tolerates the water, actually went deeper into the water yesterday. He went up to his knees which is great progress for him. It allowed his brofur, Spock the corgi, to do some swimming which he loves. Which gives me hope for a wetter summer here in Okinawa.
Hi Madelynn,
Unfortunately you cannot add videos to the comments, only a picture of under 1MB in size ????
Hugs to you! Here is a somewhat less grumpy pic of my son’s new kitten :).
Hmmmm, no pic. Trying again.
I’m sure you already know this but I just found out about this!
What is a question mark followed by a exclamation mark called? A Interrobang!
That word just makes me smile – like saying bubbles does haha
I loved the Graphic Audio version of Sweep of the Blade. It was fun as hell. That’s a good thing, right?
Dear HA,
I love your books and this blog.
Thank you for both. Your words saved me very frecuently in the past.
And when I have a look at the number of the comments I have the feeling that there are a lot of people feeling the same way.
I hope that this makes you feel better.
I am sending you a virtual hug.
Marina
No AC here in Sunny South Dakota and 95 degrees. Was happy to come back to work in the cool AC world! Happy being a relative term.
If the hair color is going to eat at you each time you see it, I would suggest ripping out the stitches, as annoying as it is to have spent the time for no forward progress. I think it’s a crafter’s curse some times, that we tend to remember the small flaw that nobody else notices.
On a less grumpy note, the bumble bees are very happily buzzing around my coneflowers