Tuesday, August 21

Up around 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. I thought about bike riding, but when I stepped outside, it seemed a bit warm to ride in the sunshine.

While I exercised, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where she relaxed until lunchtime.

Later, Daughter-in-Law advised me that an article in today's edition of the state newspaper reported that one of the young men who robbed Granddaughter at gunpoint while she was at her place of employment last March is to be tried as an adult (he's 17 years old). Granddaughter is mentioned in the article.

But since I don't subscribe to the paper online, Hubbie went to the nearest vending machine to pick up a print edition. But the article does not appear there. Until today, I didn't realize that the paper prints different editions for different parts of the state, and since the crime didn't occur in our part of the state, there was no reference to it.

However, Granddaughter posted the article on our social network site, so I was able to read it, then copy and paste it to my e-mail account, and make a print copy. Didn't accomplish much else for the rest of the morning.

After lunch, Mother prepared vegetables for a stirfry supper, and then retired to the couch for a nap. I occupied myself on my laptop, mainly doing disk clean-up, while Hubbie read a novel on my e-reader. This is the first time he has attempted to use the e-reader.

Got a call this afternoon from a water aerobics friend, who informed me that the pool is closed indefinitely. Seems the boiler isn't working again, and there's a PH imbalance. Tomorrow was to be the first day back, after a three-week hiatus for summer break. I'm very disappointed.

Later, I stirfried the veggies in olive oil, adding spices and ginger root, and a little low-sodium chicken broth. When the veggies were ready, I mixed chicken broth with cornstarch and low-sodium soy sauce, and added the mixture to the veggies, making a sauce. Served the stirfry over instant rice, with slices of whole wheat bread and butter.

Sis arrived shortly after we sat down to supper, and she joined us in the meal. Afterward, around 6:30, we went to a local plant society meeting, to which the public was invited, for a program on butterflies and the environment.

Before the speaker began, we enjoyed an ice cream social. Three kinds of ice cream were offered...vanilla, butter pecan, and strawberry yogurt, along with a variety of toppings, as well as cherry pie, and chocolate cookies.

The speaker presented a slide show of the great variety of butterflies that are attracted to the wildflower gardens of her home in a town a couple of hours east of us.

She stressed that butterflies are attracted more to messy yards with leaf-littered lawns and stick piles than to well-manicured lawns. If that's all it takes, then our yard should be a veritable heaven to the little beauties. But this year, I've seen very few, probably because of the drought. At any rate, it was a really good program that we all enjoyed.

The program ended around 8:30. It was a lovely evening...warm, but not stifling...with a beautiful quarter moon against a velvety blue-black sky.

Back home, Sis accompanied Mother home, and Hubbie and I finished the evening watching one-hour shows that I'd recorded on DVR.