Friday Fragments

This is our indoor reader of the outdoor temperature yesterday afternoon.  Yes, the humidity was 16% … that’s definitely not normal either.  In the heat of the summer, the humidity in these parts matches the air temperature.

And the forecast for the next days days is for much of the same, with another 108 for today with a gradual “cool-down” to a high of 101 on Thursday … with cooler temperatures later next week and maybe even some rain.



I’ve got some kind of contact dermatitis on my left arm.  DD is convinced that it’s poison ivy.  I was outside with her and the Ts Monday evening … I saw a vine-y plant growing at their foundation and tried to pull it out by the roots.  DD wondered, at the time, if it was poison ivy … I responded that I didn’t think so, but since I wasn’t allergic to poison ivy, I’d pull it out for her (she is dreadfully allergic to poison ivy).  I still don’t think that vine was poison ivy, the outbreak is on my arm not my hands, and I was exposed frequently to poison ivy as a child with no reaction whatsoever.  Yet, I have what sure looks like a poison ivy reaction on my arm (the under side about a third of the way from my wrist to my elbow). 



DH is going to the baseball game tonight.  A neighbor had 2 tickets for him and his son, but his son isn’t going to be able to go to the game, so DH is going in his place.  I’ll be watching the game from the comfort of our air-conditioned living room.  Ha!



I noticed yesterday afternoon that the ice tub in our refrigerator had only about a third of the ice it normally does … sure enough, there was another ice cube stuck in the feeder … in the same place that the previous cube was stuck.  I got out my handy hairdryer and by the time I got up this morning, the tub is once again full. 



We’ve got the refinishing of our hardwoods scheduled … Monday July 23.  It’ll be a 3-day job, but we should be able to walk on the floors (in our stocking feet) by evening each day, so we won’t be displaced. 

Hot, hot, hot

108?    The last time it has been that hot in this area was 58 years ago!  And it’s only June! 

It’s also been so dry that many area towns are issuing water-usage restrictions and some area towns are cancelling their fireworks shows for the 4th. 

Thank God for air conditioning. 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. What do the words 'freedom' and 'liberty' mean to you? Does your mind go more in the direction of not being persecuted or discriminated against or does it head in the direction of doing what you please?

My mind does go a little in the direction of doing what I please.  There are, of course, limits to doing what I please … personal limits, moral limits and legal limits.  But to a degree, I am able to do what I please.  But it mostly goes in the direction of not being persecuted or discriminated against.  I have neither freedom nor liberty if I am persecuted or discriminated for what I doing whatever I please.   

 

2. Nathan's sponsors a hot dog eating contest every 4th of July. Last year over 40,000 people attended the event and almost 2 million watched it on TV. The winner ate over 60 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. How do you like your hot dogs?

On someone else’s plate.    I’m not a fan of the hot dog.

 

3. If you were going to enter an eating contest what would be on the menu?

Watermelon?  I’ve never entered an eating contest and frankly don’t see myself ever doing so.  But I’ve been on a watermelon kick, so maybe I could stand enough of it to eat myself silly.

 

4. Do you run your house more as a dictatorship or a democracy?

DH and I work as a team, so I would say that our house runs as a democracy.

 

5. Where was your favorite summer place when you were a kid?

We didn’t travel when I was a child, so my favorite summer place was our neighborhood.  I could get on my bike and ride, there was an empty lot where we’d play ball, my friends lived on the next street over … we never tired of stuff to do in our neighborhood.

 

6. Do you have a guest room? Would you want to stay there?

We don’t have a room designated as a guest room.  We do have a daybed (with a trundle) in what we call my sewing room and a sofa bed in our living room.  We almost never have overnight guests – other than the Ts, but when we do, we’re certainly able to accommodate them.  

 

7. Next Wednesday America celebrates her independence. Do you have any special plans for the 4th of July? If you live outside the USA when and how does your country celebrate its own patriotic holiday?

As of right now, we have no special plans for the 4th of July.  If the weather cooperates, we might grill out. 

 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It’s going to be hot, hot, hot in these parts over the next several days. 

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

 

It was a pretty busy weekend at the end of a busy week. 

 

 

We had more corn on the cob this weekend … or maybe I should say that I had more corn on the cob this weekend. DH had a tooth removed on Friday and wasn’t up to eating corn on the cob.  He had a difficult time of it Friday evening, but thankfully he’s doing just fine now.

 

I’ve reported that we’ve had trouble with the ice maker in our refrigerator … without any warning, it would stop making ice. We could get water … but no ice. It stopped again this weekend … this time I decided to do a little investigating … and I think I found the problem. There was an ice cube stuck in the feeder … I couldn’t get it out, but after a little bit, it occurred to me that I could get the blow dryer and melt that pesky ice cube. It didn’t take long after that for the ice maker to start making and feeding ice cubes.  

 

Our hibiscus has sprouted its first bloom!  We put the hibiscus in the basement every winter and bring it out in May when the temperatures stay at or above 50.  Every spring, it loses all but 2 or 3 leaves and recovers from the shock and produces lovely blooms (although this year’s first bloom might not be considered too lovely … not sure what caused the holes in the petals).

 

I didn’t get any quilting done this weekend.  But we started and got a good bit of work done on a puzzle.  (I don’t expect this week to be nearly as busy as last week, so I plan to get back to work on quilting my log cabin quilt.)

 

I also had the 4 Ts all day Saturday as DD had an Initials, Inc. party and DSIL had to work. 

Friday Fragments

 

 

It’s Friday … and time for fragments … which is about all my poor mind can muster after the busy week here at Chez Nana. 

 

Tonight is the last night of VBS.  Hopefully the people who agreed to work in the nursery will all show up tonight.  Last night we had 3 babies and 3 toddlers … and none of the other workers showed up.    Thankfully they drafted a couple of workers, and the evening went well. 

 

 

We had someone here this morning to give us an estimate on refinishing our hardwood floors.  Yes, the floors are only 4 years old and yes, they’re oak … but they sure couldn’t stand up to 2 large dogs.  I’d been dreaming of getting to the beach next month (just cannot wait until September for some beach time) … instead we’ll refinish the floors.   

 

 

DH gets a tooth pulled this afternoon.  He had a root canal several years back, but they couldn’t locate one of the roots.  It didn’t seem to bother him until last month when the dentist found an abscess during his routine check up … he wasn’t having any symptoms from the abscess.  Strange. 

 

 

DD is having a home party tomorrow afternoon, and since DSIL is working, that means I’ll get some T-time! 

 

 

Our neighbors called us this morning to come over and help ourselves to some fresh veggies out of their garden.  We got some zucchini, onions, and green beans.  Add that to the homegrown sweet corn DH picked up at the Farmers’ Market on Wednesday and I think we’re going to have a mighty fine meal this evening!

 

 

DD & her family gave DH a puzzle for Father’s Day … a baseball-themed puzzle for the baseball lover. 

 

 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 
1. Summer officially rolls in with the Hodgepodge this week, for those of us in the Northern hemisphere anyway. What song says summer 2012 to you?
I don’t know that I can identify a song that says summer to me, let alone summer 2012.
 
2. What's your favorite quintessential summer food?
This will be a hard one for me … I don’t want to have to choose between watermelon, peaches, and sweet corn on the cob.  But since I “have” to, I’ll choose watermelon.  It’s so refreshing, and eating watermelon always reminds me of my childhood summers … a slice of red, ripe watermelon served on my mom’s Coca Cola tray while listening to the Cardinals game on the radio.
 
3. I've spent a lot of time traipsing up and down the NJ Turnpike in recent weeks. Did you know the rest areas on the turnpike are named after people who lived or worked in NJ? Clara Barton, Walt Whitman, James Fenimore Cooper, Molly Pitcher, Joyce Kilmer, Thomas Edison, and Gover Clevland just to name a few. Of those I listed, who would you most like to have known and why?
Thomas Edison … he invented so many more things than just a long-lasting electrical light bulb.  “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
 
4. At what age did you move out of your parent's house and what prompted the move?
I moved out when I was 20, when I married my ex-husband. 
 
5. What's more satisfying to you-saving time or saving money?
Saving money is more satisfying, although I’m always on the lookout for ways to save time (patience is not one of my virtues ).

6. Name something you think brings out the good in people.
Listening … really listening to them is a good way, I think, to bring out the best in people. 
 
7. This last question comes to you courtesy of Kathy over at Reflections...will you be taking a vacation or a staycation this summer? If so where will you go? If a staycation is on the calendar have you made any special plans to fill the time?
Neither.  We don’t take summer vacations … we travel in the spring and the fall, when the beach is less crowded and it’s easier to get affordable lodging.  But I’m sure having beach withdrawal this summer … I want to go SO bad.
 
8. Insert your own random thought here.
It’s been/going to be a busy week here at Chez Nana.  I’m in the baby/toddler nursery every night for VBS, I watched the kiddos for the Moms Group at church yesterday morning, this morning my dad has a follow-up appointment for his cataract surgery earlier this month, I’ve got a semi-annual dental appointment this afternoon, I’ll be watching my Ts tomorrow during the day (and possibly on Saturday, too) and DH gets a tooth pulled Friday afternoon.  
 
I’ve switched to comment moderation because I’m getting some spam comments.    In checking out my comments section in Blogger, I found a good 25-30 comments from the last year and a half that were incorrectly identified as spam and never delivered to my email (or published) … from people who comment regularly.    Hopefully by switching to comment moderation, all comments will be sent to my email for my determination if they’re spam or not … but I’ll be checking out my comments section in Blogger regularly now. 

Weekend Wrap-up

 

Another weekend has come and gone … how time flies when you’re having fun! 

 

DD is selling Initials, Inc. bags, and I ordered the Modern Woman set … which came in this weekend.  It’s a little bigger purse than I normally carry, but I’ll be able to carry some of the stuff that I can’t get into my other purses … including my camera!  I always think “I should take a picture of that”, but I’d never have my camera with me.  Now I will!

 

My butterfly bush is HUGE!!!  I probably will want to trim it back a little before next spring (as soon as I can figure out the ideal time for pruning a butterfly bush).  But the benefit to such a huge bush is lots of blooms –> and lots of butterflies.  I waited and waited to get the butterfly to open his (her?) wings … and then was in such a hurry to get a photo before he (she?) closed his (her?) wings that I didn’t focus correctly … hence the blurry photo. 

 

Of course, I managed to get in some quilting.  Not as much as I had planned, as DD & DSIL planned an impromptu date for Saturday.  I love quilting, but I love time with my Ts even more!

 

Sunday was spent at DD’s to celebrate Father’s Day … and more T-time! 

 

It was a busy but wonderful weekend!

Friday Fragments

 

 

My sister and her crew left.  They arrived Tuesday afternoon and left this morning.  We had a nice visit, but by the same token it is kind of nice to be able to settle back into our normal routine.  We visited the City Museum and the Magic House and took in a Cardinals game (while my sister and her S.O. are Cardinals fans, they do follow the White Sox since they live in the Chicago area).  

 

 

Next week looks to be pretty busy, too … my dad has a doctor’s appointment to follow up on his cataract surgery, I have a dental appointment, I’ll be watching some little ones Tuesday morning during the Mom’s Group meeting at church, and I’ll be in the toddler nursery during VBS every evening.

 

 

There’s been a robin chirping right outside our front door for several days now … such a pleasant sound.  Hearing that makes me think of spring, even though the thermometer is telling me that spring is a distant memory.

 

 

Speaking of the thermometer, summer weather is here with a vengeance … the 90+ temperatures are back.  I guess I should be thankful that the humidity isn’t as high as it normally is when we have 90+ temperatures in July and August.

 

 

And speaking of summer weather, we had a near crisis today.  There was no display on our thermostat … DH was just about to make a phone call to the HVAC people because it’s going to be in the upper 90’s today … not the day we’d want a non-functioning thermostat!  Thankfully I thought to check to see if it might not just be a case of dead batteries … whew!  What a relief to hear the air conditioner run.

 

 

As we left the stadium last night, T#2 asked me if I had the best time ever (she knows I’m a big Cardinals fan).  I told her that I did … that any time that I was with them is the best time ever for me.