Friday, July 1

It's July, and the heat's on. I dread to think what it'll be like in August.

The first thing Hubbie did this morning was hang the flag on the well house, just as he did yesterday. We'll fly the flag through Monday.

We were up early, around 6:30, because we expected a plumber to come at 8 a.m. to unclog the sinks in the upstairs bathroom. Hubbie used a plunger on them yesterday, after I complained that water wasn't draining properly, but nothing he did took care of the problem.

I wanted to have breakfast done, get dressed, and then spruce the bathroom, including unloading the cabinets under the sink, before the plumber got here. He arrived right on time, and corrected the problem quickly.

After he left, I changed into my exercise clothes and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. Mother came over while I was doing that and began working on cards. When I'd finished my exercise session, I spent some time helping her by punching designs on some cards, searching out appropriate stickers, etc. Her creative juices don't seem to be flowing, so I tried to give her ideas for card designs.

While we were doing this, Hubbie went to the farmer's market to pick up yellow and zucchini squashes, and new potatoes, that we'll cook with country ribs for our Independence Day meal Monday.

Once I'd showered and dressed, I joined Mother in making greeting cards. Today, I focused on using rubber stamps for wedding, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, and St. Patrick's Day. I completed cards for all but the wedding. I'll do that one tomorrow, along with ones for other holidays, like Easter and Mother's Day.

Great news: while I was working on the cards, I got a phone call from our water aerobics leader, who said the pool will be open next week. It has been closed for several months due to a fire in the dining hall (the pool area was being used to store equipment). Although I've been pretty dedicated to exercising on the treadmill, I can feel a decline in muscle strength without water aerobics and swimming. So I'll be glad to get back to the pool next Wednesday.

Around 4 p.m., Mother and I headed to the kitchen to prepare a supper of Ziplock bag omelets, potato pancakes, and biscuits. Mother went home after supper, Hubbie went out into the yard for a while, and I played on my laptop computer.

Later, Hubbie and I watched an old Alfred Hitchcock movie...the 1948 "Rope," starring James Stewart. Two young men murder another young man as an intellectual exercise. Then they decide to have a dinner party, with the body hidden in a nearby wooden chest. They even dare to use the chest as a buffet table. Will the body be discovered?

The second feature we watched was, "The Return," a 2006 movie about a traveling business woman, who returns to her Texas town to follow a lead on a 15-year-old murder about which she's had nightmares.