Last day of May. Can't believe how fast the month passed, though I'm glad to see it gone after the tornadoes that decimated much of Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and even caused damage in our state. This has been the worst spring in memory for tornadoes and floods. Now the heat's on. We seemed to have bypassed pleasant spring weather and jumped right into summer.
All the rain has made for positively lush vegetation, though. We noticed while traveling to another town to visit Hubbie's relatives last Saturday that wildflowers were growing in clustered abundance among the rocks on the hillside along the road leading up the mountain.
Queen Anne's Lace, Common Vetch, Showy Evening Primrose, Black-Eyed Susan, Pale Purple Cone Flower, Ox-Eye Daisies, and Field Thistle shared space. Along pasture fences grew fragrant Honeysuckle, and white and pink wild Roses.
Our yard, too, is host to grass growing faster than Hubbie can mow it, as well as flourishing flowers and veggie garden plants. Clematis grows thick and blooming on posts, early Lillie's are opening, and tiny tomatoes are showing in the garden.
We were up around 7:30 this morning, and I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Mother came over while I was getting ready for the day, but there wasn't much for her to do here.
The first thing Hubbie discovered this morning was that one of the upstairs bathroom scatter rugs was missing after we'd washed them at the laundry yesterday. I was the one to take all the rugs out of the washing machine, so if one was missing, it was my fault.
I asked Hubbie to go immediately to the laundry mat to see if the rug was there, though I figured if someone found it, they would probably keep it. Since I was convinced that the rug was lost and gone, I began plotting to buy a new set when we get back from camping, use the old ones in the camper, and then donate the very old ones that were already in the camper to the Humane Society.
But when Hubbie got back, he confessed that he soon found the missing rug, hanging on the railing of Mother's back steps...right where he put it when we got back from the laundry!
We had a good laugh and then busied ourselves gathering stuff for the camper until lunchtime. For lunch, I fixed Mother a fried egg sandwich. Hubbie and I opted to stop by a fast food restaurant for ice cream frosty drinks as our lunch, before we went to the WDCS for last-minute groceries for the trip.
Later, for supper, we had Long Soup, a Chinese recipe that calls for a chicken soup base, to which is added fresh ginger, soy sauce, sliced green onions, shredded cabbage, and a package of Ramen noodles. Biscuits and honey accompanied the meal.
Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I watched a movie called "The Hollow," a silly modern version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In this one, a young man named Ian Cranston is the last relative of Ichabod Crane, and he must try to save the town and his girlfriend from a sword-wielding headless horseman. It's typical teen horror film fare, wherein the evil force picks the teens off one by one. Stacy Keach, Judge Reinhold, Eileen Brennan, and Joe Mazzello try to lend credibility (and sometimes humor) to this bit of nonsense.
The second feature we watched was the 2004 suspense film, "Fatal Lessons/The Good Teacher," from Lifetime Movie Network. A woman makes friends with her daughter's teacher, and then things go downhill from there.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 30
Hope everyone has had a good Memorial Day. We celebrated by flying the flag, and watching the PBS special presentation of the National Memorial Day Concert. It was actually broadcast live yesterday, but I recorded it on DVR. It was a very moving concert that featured not only patriotic music, but heart-tugging personal accounts of returned veterans, and of a mother's anguish at losing a son to war. These were narrated by professional actors.
Today is Granddaughter's and Niece's birthday. Happy Birthday Granddaughter and Niece!
We were up around 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast.
Spent the rest of the day doing this and that, including getting things ready for an upcoming camping trip. I decided that scatter rugs in the camper needed to be washed, and since we were going to a laundry mat to wash those, I gathered others from the kitchen and bathroom in the house. They made for a very large load for the industrial size washer.
While they washed, we went on a short drive to check out the river, which is still swollen, but not flooding the park as badly now. A walking path is still partially under water, and the water is lapping against a concrete picnic pavilion, but the park is perfectly usable.
Back home, we continued doing tasks related to our camping trip. And then for supper, we had barbecued pork chops, baked potatoes, coleslaw, and leftover Lima beans.
Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I watched the 2006 Lifetime Movie Network feature called,"Engaged to Kill." A woman doctor is abducted by a young couple wanting a million dollars in ransom. She escapes, but the young woman of the abducting couple is killed in the process. Now the young man (whom the doctor has never seen) angrily insinuates himself into her family. He creates havoc, including making the teenage daughter fall in love with him, and causing the teen son to run up debt on a credit card playing online poker. Things go from bad to worse before the problem is resolved.
Today is Granddaughter's and Niece's birthday. Happy Birthday Granddaughter and Niece!
We were up around 8 a.m. this morning, and I did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast.
Spent the rest of the day doing this and that, including getting things ready for an upcoming camping trip. I decided that scatter rugs in the camper needed to be washed, and since we were going to a laundry mat to wash those, I gathered others from the kitchen and bathroom in the house. They made for a very large load for the industrial size washer.
While they washed, we went on a short drive to check out the river, which is still swollen, but not flooding the park as badly now. A walking path is still partially under water, and the water is lapping against a concrete picnic pavilion, but the park is perfectly usable.
Back home, we continued doing tasks related to our camping trip. And then for supper, we had barbecued pork chops, baked potatoes, coleslaw, and leftover Lima beans.
Mother went home after that, and Hubbie and I watched the 2006 Lifetime Movie Network feature called,"Engaged to Kill." A woman doctor is abducted by a young couple wanting a million dollars in ransom. She escapes, but the young woman of the abducting couple is killed in the process. Now the young man (whom the doctor has never seen) angrily insinuates himself into her family. He creates havoc, including making the teenage daughter fall in love with him, and causing the teen son to run up debt on a credit card playing online poker. Things go from bad to worse before the problem is resolved.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 29
Flew the American flag today in honor of the Memorial Day weekend. Did the same yesterday, as we will tomorrow, the actual holiday. Hope everyone is having a good weekend and enjoying summer foods and activities, while remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice to assure our freedom to celebrate.
Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!
Slept late today, until after 8 a.m., but did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. I usually skip my exercises on Sunday, but since I missed a session yesterday, I felt that I should make up for it today.
Mother came over mid-morning, but we didn't accomplish a lot beyond our usual Sunday morning routine. She worked on her jigsaw puzzle for a while, before we had a lunch of leftover beef hash, topped with fried eggs, and served with toast and jelly.
Mother went home afterward to get her clothes ready for an upcoming camping trip. I also washed a couple of loads of clothes and ironed some others. Hubbie went out to work in the yard for a while.
Later, after a light supper, we all went to a local college, where the arts council sponsored an outdoor movie..."Field of Dreams," a 1989 film, starring Kevin Costner. This is a classic film, seen by most everyone, I suspect, about an Iowa corn farmer who hears voices and interprets them to mean that he is commanded to build a baseball diamond in his fields. He does, and the Chicago Black Sox come.
Bad news: yesterday, we learned that a three-year-old great-nephew broke his leg while playing in the swimming pool. This is the second youngster in our family to break a leg...the first was a great-grandson of about the same age.
This is the second major injury to Great-Nephew. He nearly cut his upper lip off with a pair of scissors recently. I've always heard that boys must get seven scars before they can become a man. I think Great-Nephew is aiming for all seven before he reaches the age of seven!
Note: well, we did indeed go to the college to see the outdoor movie, "Field of Dreams," but due to multiple glitches it wasn't shown. First, someone had taken down the frame for the large canvas screen, so the screen was strung across the back door of the fine arts center, where the bottom of it flapped in the breeze, and was partially blocked by an iron railing.
Then, the three ladies who set up the movie found they needed to move the table that the DVR was on closer to the screen. When it still wasn't close enough at the bottom of the steps, they lifted the table up several steps, where they tilted it, allowing the DVR to go crashing to the concrete.
Fortunately, the DVR did not break. But try as they did (for about twenty minutes), they simply could not get the speakers to work. They finally gave up, apologized, and advised the ten or so of us in attendance that the evening was a bust, but they would schedule this movie for another time, and asked that we please return in two weeks for a showing of "Back to the Future."
That movie doesn't really appeal to us, so we will probably wait until the movie following that one..."Mama Mia." There will also be a showing of "Blind Side," which Hubbie and I have seen, but might want to see again, and "Secretariat," which Hubbie and I have also seen. Mother hasn't seen either of these, though.
The rest of the series consists mainly of animated features, which Hubbie is not fond of.
One thing we noticed tonight is that the mosquitoes are out in full force already. I'm thinking (and dreading) that all the rain we've had has made for a magnificent breeding opportunity for these terrible pests.
Since we couldn't see the outdoor movie, we watched one on TV instead..."Criminal Intent," a 2005 Lifetime Movie Network feature. A woman is killed, and her husband is accused of the murder. The woman's best friend, who was a defense lawyer, but is now a divorce lawyer, is asked by the husband to defend him.
Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!
Slept late today, until after 8 a.m., but did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. I usually skip my exercises on Sunday, but since I missed a session yesterday, I felt that I should make up for it today.
Mother came over mid-morning, but we didn't accomplish a lot beyond our usual Sunday morning routine. She worked on her jigsaw puzzle for a while, before we had a lunch of leftover beef hash, topped with fried eggs, and served with toast and jelly.
Mother went home afterward to get her clothes ready for an upcoming camping trip. I also washed a couple of loads of clothes and ironed some others. Hubbie went out to work in the yard for a while.
Later, after a light supper, we all went to a local college, where the arts council sponsored an outdoor movie..."Field of Dreams," a 1989 film, starring Kevin Costner. This is a classic film, seen by most everyone, I suspect, about an Iowa corn farmer who hears voices and interprets them to mean that he is commanded to build a baseball diamond in his fields. He does, and the Chicago Black Sox come.
Bad news: yesterday, we learned that a three-year-old great-nephew broke his leg while playing in the swimming pool. This is the second youngster in our family to break a leg...the first was a great-grandson of about the same age.
This is the second major injury to Great-Nephew. He nearly cut his upper lip off with a pair of scissors recently. I've always heard that boys must get seven scars before they can become a man. I think Great-Nephew is aiming for all seven before he reaches the age of seven!
Note: well, we did indeed go to the college to see the outdoor movie, "Field of Dreams," but due to multiple glitches it wasn't shown. First, someone had taken down the frame for the large canvas screen, so the screen was strung across the back door of the fine arts center, where the bottom of it flapped in the breeze, and was partially blocked by an iron railing.
Then, the three ladies who set up the movie found they needed to move the table that the DVR was on closer to the screen. When it still wasn't close enough at the bottom of the steps, they lifted the table up several steps, where they tilted it, allowing the DVR to go crashing to the concrete.
Fortunately, the DVR did not break. But try as they did (for about twenty minutes), they simply could not get the speakers to work. They finally gave up, apologized, and advised the ten or so of us in attendance that the evening was a bust, but they would schedule this movie for another time, and asked that we please return in two weeks for a showing of "Back to the Future."
That movie doesn't really appeal to us, so we will probably wait until the movie following that one..."Mama Mia." There will also be a showing of "Blind Side," which Hubbie and I have seen, but might want to see again, and "Secretariat," which Hubbie and I have also seen. Mother hasn't seen either of these, though.
The rest of the series consists mainly of animated features, which Hubbie is not fond of.
One thing we noticed tonight is that the mosquitoes are out in full force already. I'm thinking (and dreading) that all the rain we've had has made for a magnificent breeding opportunity for these terrible pests.
Since we couldn't see the outdoor movie, we watched one on TV instead..."Criminal Intent," a 2005 Lifetime Movie Network feature. A woman is killed, and her husband is accused of the murder. The woman's best friend, who was a defense lawyer, but is now a divorce lawyer, is asked by the husband to defend him.
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