Cool Weather, Rain, and a Prize

It has been cool and rainy all day...very un-August like. We slept late, rising around 8:30 a.m. I did a session on the treadmill, and was in the middle of cool-down exercises when I was called to the phone. A member of our scrapbook club was returning my call to find out if she wants to go with a group of us to another town next week to shop at crafts stores and have lunch at a favorite restaurant.

She said her son's father-in-law has suffered a heart attack, and she might be needed at home next week. If that's the case, we'll postpone the trip until September. We postponed it last month because another member's brother was having a procedure related to his heart. My own son has undergone tests to check out his heart after having chest pains, and we won't know the results of those tests until late Monday afternoon. So my being able to make the trip will depend on what is scheduled for my son. And since I'm the designated driver for the trip, no one will go until I'm able to, I guess.

Following that phone call, I called a member of the Master Gardeners, who asked yesterday if I could go to her house and photograph her and several posters that she wants to use in both a presentation at the capital city, and in a book she is writing. We settled on 4 p.m. today, when I felt the outdoor light would be right. I want to do the shoot outdoors because I don't have appropriate studio lighting.

At 11 a.m., we decided to go to an open house at a new veterinary clinic, where they were serving hamburgers and hot dogs, bags of potato chips, cookies, soft drinks, and bottled water, as well as giving away door prizes.

We toured the very nice facility that included a glassed-in area with cages for recuperating cats. Hummingbird feeders hang outside the windows, which our tour guide said the cats love watching. In the evenings, neighborhood cats gather to visit and peer in at the caged cats. Today, the cages held several beautiful cats, including a long-haired Persian, and a calico.

Dogs of several breeds were caged in another room. Along one corridor are two boarding rooms with dog beds. Each room is theme-decorated. One, called the boat room, has a seascape painted on the walls, and the bed is shaped like a boat. The other features a bed shaped like a car, with automobile designs on the walls.

Outside, the local Humane Society was promoting several puppies and dogs for adoption. And a local radio station was in charge of issuing door prizes. But by the time we arrived at their table, we were told the prizes were already gone. Looking into the prize box, though, the DJ discovered there was still one slip of paper left. He gave this to Hubbie, who went inside the clinic to redeem it. Lo and behold, the prize that was left was the most expensive one...a collapsible dog carrier, listed at $60. It's large enough to accommodate at least a medium-sized dog. We think it might come in handy for Shih Tzu to get away from little kids when we visit family in their homes.

Just as we were getting our lunch sacks, it started raining. So we rushed to the van and came home. After lunch, Hubbie groomed and bathed Shih Tzu, while Mother and I watched a new DVD I received in the mail this week from a popular online music/video store. I bought three movies, all musicals, which were on sale at 40% off. Today, inspired by our visit to the veterinary clinic, we watched "Cats," and loved every minute of it.

The show ended at 3:30 p.m., and since the rain seemed to have stopped and the sky was lighter, I gathered my photography equipment, and Hubbie and I headed out to the Master Gardener's house. Halfway there, it began raining again, so I called the MG, who said it had been raining on and off all day at her house. Agreeing that we need to wait for the photo shoot until tomorrow, or when the weather is better, we turned around and came back home.

Supper tonight was chicken pot pie left over from last night. This version of pot pie has mashed potatoes as a topping rather than pie crust. The chicken and veggie filling features lots of herbs, but no salt, and it is thickened with cornstarch rather than flour. We served cole slaw as an extra vegetable to the meal.