Summer solstice occurred a little after noon today. Happy summer!
We were up around 8 a.m. this morning. I usually take my thyroid med as soon as I get up, so I can wait thirty minutes or so before having breakfast. This morning, I came downstairs and lolled around for thirty minutes until Hubbie asked if I was ready for my orange juice. I slapped my forehead. "You forgot to take your medicine, didn't you," he grinned, as I hurried upstairs.
So it was around 9 a.m. before we had breakfast, but I hopped on the treadmill and did resistance exercises afterward. Mother came over while I was getting ready for the day. As soon as I was back downstairs, I tried to call our beauty shop to make an appointment for Mother and myself for next week. But the number kept being busy, so I gave up.
Instead, I planned tonight's supper, which necessitated shopping after lunch for the ingredients. Hubbie and I ran several errands before going to the WDCS,to the beauty shop to make appointments, and to the bank.
While waiting at the drive-up window, we saw a guy we know in the lane beside us. Through our windows, we asked about his wife.
"She broke her foot," he said.
"Omigosh!" I exclaimed, how in the world did she do that?"
"She shopped 'til she dropped," he joked. "She was wearing a pair of flip-flops, and when she stepped off the curb at (the store that has a sale every weekend), her flip-flop caught on something and down she went."
So many broken bones lately and so many ways to break them...a great-grandson breaks his leg in a shopping cart accident, a great-nephew breaks his leg while roughhousing in a swimming pool, a Master Gardener lady gets her foot caught in her bedsheets, and breaks a foot when she falls, a neighbor breaks his ankle in an accident between his motorcycle and a deer, and now a friend breaks her foot in a flip-flop accident.
From the bank, we went to the newspaper office to drop off this week's word search puzzle contest, and to sign up for a year's subscription, using the gift certificate we won at the silent auction last night. Then it was on to the WDCS, where we shopped for both ourselves and Mother.
Back home, I got a call from our friend who lives in a town about an hour and half east of us. She's visiting our other friend for a few days, and we made a date to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack and a chat tomorrow.
Small world: at the WDCS, I ran into the lady who recently got her second novel published, and she commented that she'd just come from a Red Hat luncheon, where she was the guest speaker. She talked about her new book, of course. Then, when I talked to my friend on the phone this afternoon, she said she and our other friend had gone to a Red Hat luncheon. She was surprised that I knew who the speaker was, until I told her I'd just seen her at the WDCS.
For supper tonight, we had braised pork chops, oven fried potatoes, and wilted lettuce...a recipe that uses vinegar, lemon juice, a little oil and sugar, turkey bacon bits, and radishes.
Before Mother wilted the beautiful lettuce from the garden, I snapped a photo of her holding a big pan of it, and uploaded it to my social network page.
While Mother was preparing supper (she insisted she needed no help with this), I registered my new Kindle e-reader, connected to WiFi, and ordered a free Jane Austen short story from an online bookseller. The e-reader is pretty amazing...as soon as I ordered the story, it arrived on the unit almost instantaneously.
After supper, Mother went home, and I baked a double batch of blueberry muffins, in order to use a couple of cups of the berries that were in danger of going south. As soon as the muffins were out of the oven, Hubbie drooled over them, so I gave him one. I do want to save three of the best looking ones to enter in the fair, and keep a few to take on our next camping trip, but after that, he can eat his fill.
Later, we watched the 2011 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Final Sale." A young woman is years away from the top of a list to receive a kidney, and she will die in a couple of months without one. Her husband, an LAPD detective, decides to buy one illegally. Except the very young Hispanic girl donor dies during surgery, and is disposed of in a dumpster. Now the recipient becomes determined to stop illegal transplants, even while feeling torn about her own.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Monday, June 20
Up around 7:30, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, I spent time preparing a lesson plan for a tutoring session with my student this afternoon.
In the meantime, Hubbie called the highway department about the dead deer that has been bloating in the ditch at the west corner of our yard since last Friday. But no one came today to remove it, and it's getting very odoriferous.
Mother stayed home this morning. She had several personal tasks to complete. Hubbie spent time in the yard.
At noon, Mother came over, and we had leftover barbecue, potato salad, and baked beans for lunch. Mother went back to her house afterward. At 2:15, I went down to the college library to meet my student.
We worked on the differences among: "I want to, I need to, I like to", with sentences such as "I want to buy a jacket," "I need to buy bread," and "I like to go shopping." We also worked on: "I like," and "I don't like," with questions such as, "Do you like apples or oranges?"
We also noted the difference in "This is my watch. It is here." And, "That is my watch. It is there." She learned the meanings of open and close, and bring, have, and come, as well as do and don't.
In the word list, she had trouble pronouncing refrigerator. But once I broke it down for her, and she practiced it a few times, she got it.
At 4:30, I came back home and changed clothes to go to our arts council's Summer Celebration. It began at 6:30, but we wanted to arrive at six to get a good table and avoid the crowd.
The crowd was much thinner this year than last, however, because (I think) of the rather steep ticket price. As usual, the food selection included many items with yellow cheese, which I couldn't eat...cheese dip, stuffed mushrooms with yellow cheese, ham roll-ups with yellow cheese, etc. I ate three or four tortilla chips with salsa, fresh veggies and dressing, roast pork on a bun, and a couple of chocolate desserts. Our ticket price included two drinks...either beer or wine. We chose wine.
A live band, with Elvis-like singer, performed, and Hubbie and I took a couple of turns around the floor. The event included both a live and silent auction. We came home with a Kindle e-reader, a subscription to our local newspaper, and tickets to a symphony concert.
We were back home around 9 p.m., and watched a couple of one-hour TV shows, and then headed to bed.
In the meantime, Hubbie called the highway department about the dead deer that has been bloating in the ditch at the west corner of our yard since last Friday. But no one came today to remove it, and it's getting very odoriferous.
Mother stayed home this morning. She had several personal tasks to complete. Hubbie spent time in the yard.
At noon, Mother came over, and we had leftover barbecue, potato salad, and baked beans for lunch. Mother went back to her house afterward. At 2:15, I went down to the college library to meet my student.
We worked on the differences among: "I want to, I need to, I like to", with sentences such as "I want to buy a jacket," "I need to buy bread," and "I like to go shopping." We also worked on: "I like," and "I don't like," with questions such as, "Do you like apples or oranges?"
We also noted the difference in "This is my watch. It is here." And, "That is my watch. It is there." She learned the meanings of open and close, and bring, have, and come, as well as do and don't.
In the word list, she had trouble pronouncing refrigerator. But once I broke it down for her, and she practiced it a few times, she got it.
At 4:30, I came back home and changed clothes to go to our arts council's Summer Celebration. It began at 6:30, but we wanted to arrive at six to get a good table and avoid the crowd.
The crowd was much thinner this year than last, however, because (I think) of the rather steep ticket price. As usual, the food selection included many items with yellow cheese, which I couldn't eat...cheese dip, stuffed mushrooms with yellow cheese, ham roll-ups with yellow cheese, etc. I ate three or four tortilla chips with salsa, fresh veggies and dressing, roast pork on a bun, and a couple of chocolate desserts. Our ticket price included two drinks...either beer or wine. We chose wine.
A live band, with Elvis-like singer, performed, and Hubbie and I took a couple of turns around the floor. The event included both a live and silent auction. We came home with a Kindle e-reader, a subscription to our local newspaper, and tickets to a symphony concert.
We were back home around 9 p.m., and watched a couple of one-hour TV shows, and then headed to bed.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, June 19
Today is Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all the dads in the family!
Had trouble going to sleep last night, so I wasn't ready to get up at 6:30 this morning. But I did, so we could prepare to go to a town 45 minutes away for the program Hubbie's daughter was to present.
The first thing I did was give Hubbie a Father's Day card I'd chosen from my greeting card stash. He read it appreciatively, and commented that he guessed the sentiment would work for any special occasion. I agreed. "Because," he said, "this one says Happy Anniversary." Rats! I apologized profusely, castigating myself for my stupidity, and then we had a good laugh about it.
We were ready to get on the road to the other town around 8:30. The program was to begin about 9:45. Daughter was not up when we left, but Mother had come over. Later I learned she let Daughter sleep until around 10 a.m., since Shih Tzu didn't need anything.
We arrived at the church around 9:30. Hubbie's daughter, who was dressed in a black skirt, topped with a cotton African-print jacket, and accessorized with one of the handmade necklaces she purchased in Uganda, was busy setting up her power point presentation.
She remarked on my animal print blouse, complemented with a multiple-strand necklace featuring ivory-looking elephants, and an African continent pendant necklace. I reminded her that she had given me the elephant necklace as a birthday present years ago (probably 20 years ago). She vaguely remembered it, and joked that she'd like for me to bequeath the necklace to her in my will, since she's now so intensely interested in the African mission experience. I said I would, but I wasn't planning to leave anytime soon.
Hubbie's daughter did a wonderful job of presenting the slide show. We noticed that the program for the service revolved around the presentation...hymns like "Tell me the Story of Jesus," "Now in This Moment," "This is My Father's World," "This is My Song," and "Go Now Forth into the World," as well as the Call to Worship, the Response and the Prayer for Peace all related to the mission trip.
I thought the church had done a great job of planning the music and service to complement her program. Later, when I mentioned this to her, she said she was the one who actually planned it, to take the burden off the churches at which she spoke.
The service ended around 11:30, and while Daughter, her husband, and Hubbie's grandson stayed behind to pack up her things, Hubbie and I headed back to our town, so we could go to the WDCS to pick up a couple of rotisserie chickens and a loaf of sourdough bread for lunch.
At home, Mother and Daughter had baked potatoes, cooked corn-on-the-cob, and cut up salad veggies. Hubbie's family arrived a few minutes after we got back with the chicken and bread, and we sat down to lunch right away.
After lunch, Hubbie's daughter brought her laptop in and presented the slide show program to Mother and my daughter. She also brought in a plastic tote of the handmade jewelry from Uganda. As soon as she noticed which necklace and bracelet that my daughter was taken with, she gave them to her.
Shortly afterward, she and her family headed back to the town about 45 minutes away to deliver Grandson to church camp, scheduled to be held all this week.
My daughter stayed around for another hour so we could chat. Before she left, Hubbie found an old ice chest in the garage, which I packed with containers of potato salad, baked beans, and chicken. I also gave her slices of the sourdough bread, chocolate cupcakes and a small bottle of her favorite wine (not to be enjoyed with the bread and cupcakes, I presume).
After Daughter left, Mother went to her house, and Hubbie and I settled in to watch a 2009 movie..."The Open Road," starring Justin Timberlake, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Jeff Bridges. The estranged adult son of a baseball legend prevails upon his father to return with him to the hospital, where his Mother is to undergo heart surgery. They, along with a female friend of the young man, embark on a road trip, on which the father and son explore their relationship.
Then we watched the movie, "2010: Moby Dick," starring Barry Bostwick, from the Syfy channel. As the title implies, it's a modern adaptation of the classic novel, about the captain of a high-tech submarine who becomes obsessed with destroying an enormous prehistoric whale that maimed him.
Had trouble going to sleep last night, so I wasn't ready to get up at 6:30 this morning. But I did, so we could prepare to go to a town 45 minutes away for the program Hubbie's daughter was to present.
The first thing I did was give Hubbie a Father's Day card I'd chosen from my greeting card stash. He read it appreciatively, and commented that he guessed the sentiment would work for any special occasion. I agreed. "Because," he said, "this one says Happy Anniversary." Rats! I apologized profusely, castigating myself for my stupidity, and then we had a good laugh about it.
We were ready to get on the road to the other town around 8:30. The program was to begin about 9:45. Daughter was not up when we left, but Mother had come over. Later I learned she let Daughter sleep until around 10 a.m., since Shih Tzu didn't need anything.
We arrived at the church around 9:30. Hubbie's daughter, who was dressed in a black skirt, topped with a cotton African-print jacket, and accessorized with one of the handmade necklaces she purchased in Uganda, was busy setting up her power point presentation.
She remarked on my animal print blouse, complemented with a multiple-strand necklace featuring ivory-looking elephants, and an African continent pendant necklace. I reminded her that she had given me the elephant necklace as a birthday present years ago (probably 20 years ago). She vaguely remembered it, and joked that she'd like for me to bequeath the necklace to her in my will, since she's now so intensely interested in the African mission experience. I said I would, but I wasn't planning to leave anytime soon.
Hubbie's daughter did a wonderful job of presenting the slide show. We noticed that the program for the service revolved around the presentation...hymns like "Tell me the Story of Jesus," "Now in This Moment," "This is My Father's World," "This is My Song," and "Go Now Forth into the World," as well as the Call to Worship, the Response and the Prayer for Peace all related to the mission trip.
I thought the church had done a great job of planning the music and service to complement her program. Later, when I mentioned this to her, she said she was the one who actually planned it, to take the burden off the churches at which she spoke.
The service ended around 11:30, and while Daughter, her husband, and Hubbie's grandson stayed behind to pack up her things, Hubbie and I headed back to our town, so we could go to the WDCS to pick up a couple of rotisserie chickens and a loaf of sourdough bread for lunch.
At home, Mother and Daughter had baked potatoes, cooked corn-on-the-cob, and cut up salad veggies. Hubbie's family arrived a few minutes after we got back with the chicken and bread, and we sat down to lunch right away.
After lunch, Hubbie's daughter brought her laptop in and presented the slide show program to Mother and my daughter. She also brought in a plastic tote of the handmade jewelry from Uganda. As soon as she noticed which necklace and bracelet that my daughter was taken with, she gave them to her.
Shortly afterward, she and her family headed back to the town about 45 minutes away to deliver Grandson to church camp, scheduled to be held all this week.
My daughter stayed around for another hour so we could chat. Before she left, Hubbie found an old ice chest in the garage, which I packed with containers of potato salad, baked beans, and chicken. I also gave her slices of the sourdough bread, chocolate cupcakes and a small bottle of her favorite wine (not to be enjoyed with the bread and cupcakes, I presume).
After Daughter left, Mother went to her house, and Hubbie and I settled in to watch a 2009 movie..."The Open Road," starring Justin Timberlake, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Jeff Bridges. The estranged adult son of a baseball legend prevails upon his father to return with him to the hospital, where his Mother is to undergo heart surgery. They, along with a female friend of the young man, embark on a road trip, on which the father and son explore their relationship.
Then we watched the movie, "2010: Moby Dick," starring Barry Bostwick, from the Syfy channel. As the title implies, it's a modern adaptation of the classic novel, about the captain of a high-tech submarine who becomes obsessed with destroying an enormous prehistoric whale that maimed him.
Saturday, June 18
We were up around 7:30, but had to delay my exercises because a thunderstorm cropped up. This one produced some rain, though probably not enough for the thirsty gardens.
As soon as the storm passed, and we'd had breakfast, I hopped on the treadmill, and then did resistance exercises.
We expected Daughter to come sometime today to spend the night and then be here tomorrow, when Hubbie and I are scheduled to go to another town about 45 minutes away to the church where his daughter will present a slide show program about her mission trip to Uganda.
But it was a bit dicey as to whether or not Daughter would be able to come, because her car was giving her trouble. But she called later in the morning and said she'd be here around noon. She did indeed get here at noon, in time to join us in having turkey bacon, tomato, and lettuce sandwiches.
After lunch, Daughter joined Mother in working on a jigsaw puzzle, while I uploaded photos of Hubbie and his family (taken yesterday) to his social network page. Then I snapped a picture of him with his new (decorated) mop, which I then uploaded to my social network page.
After that, I did this and that until time to prepare supper...which was round two of yesterday's meal of barbecue, potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw.
Following supper, we all got ready to go to a local college to attend a community theater production of "The Foreigner." We all thoroughly enjoyed this very professionally done play that kept us laughing from opening scene to the end.
The play was done in the colleges small and intimate three-quarter round theater, where the seating is on unobstructed view levels. Because we were so close to the performance floor, we had no trouble hearing the actors.
The set was wonderful...built to look like a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. It was constructed by the director's husband. The director is a member of the community theater board.
The play is absolutely hilarious. A shy-guy, who supposedly can't speak English, stays at the lodge for a couple of days, where he overhears private conversations, and builds a relationship with a "slow" boy, who "teaches" him to speak English and read Shakespeare in only two days.
A greedy preacher, and a county inspector, try to get the lodge condemned, so they can use it as a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan. The preacher hopes to marry a wealthy heiress (whom he has already impregnated), so he can get his hands on her inheritance. The stumbling block is the woman's slow brother, who must show some intelligence in order to get his share of the inheritance. The preacher hopes to get him declared incompetent, so that his future wife will get the whole enchilada.
Scenes between the slow boy and the shy-guy are gems, with the boy (who by the way was played by a girl) carefully pronouncing words for the shy-guy, making two syllables out of one-syllable words..like "fo-rk."
A scene where the shy-guy is trapped into telling a story in his "native tongue" kept us in stitches. We don't know if the pretend language was scripted, or if he made it up as he went along, but it was sure hilarious. Listening to the story and watching his actions made the four of us believe he was relating the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." But the woman who owns the lodge declares that the story is about a tractor.
It was nearly 10 p.m., before we got home from the play. After a choice of lemon cake or chocolate cupcakes and ice cream, Mother went home, and the rest of us headed to bed.
As soon as the storm passed, and we'd had breakfast, I hopped on the treadmill, and then did resistance exercises.
We expected Daughter to come sometime today to spend the night and then be here tomorrow, when Hubbie and I are scheduled to go to another town about 45 minutes away to the church where his daughter will present a slide show program about her mission trip to Uganda.
But it was a bit dicey as to whether or not Daughter would be able to come, because her car was giving her trouble. But she called later in the morning and said she'd be here around noon. She did indeed get here at noon, in time to join us in having turkey bacon, tomato, and lettuce sandwiches.
After lunch, Daughter joined Mother in working on a jigsaw puzzle, while I uploaded photos of Hubbie and his family (taken yesterday) to his social network page. Then I snapped a picture of him with his new (decorated) mop, which I then uploaded to my social network page.
After that, I did this and that until time to prepare supper...which was round two of yesterday's meal of barbecue, potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw.
Following supper, we all got ready to go to a local college to attend a community theater production of "The Foreigner." We all thoroughly enjoyed this very professionally done play that kept us laughing from opening scene to the end.
The play was done in the colleges small and intimate three-quarter round theater, where the seating is on unobstructed view levels. Because we were so close to the performance floor, we had no trouble hearing the actors.
The set was wonderful...built to look like a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. It was constructed by the director's husband. The director is a member of the community theater board.
The play is absolutely hilarious. A shy-guy, who supposedly can't speak English, stays at the lodge for a couple of days, where he overhears private conversations, and builds a relationship with a "slow" boy, who "teaches" him to speak English and read Shakespeare in only two days.
A greedy preacher, and a county inspector, try to get the lodge condemned, so they can use it as a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan. The preacher hopes to marry a wealthy heiress (whom he has already impregnated), so he can get his hands on her inheritance. The stumbling block is the woman's slow brother, who must show some intelligence in order to get his share of the inheritance. The preacher hopes to get him declared incompetent, so that his future wife will get the whole enchilada.
Scenes between the slow boy and the shy-guy are gems, with the boy (who by the way was played by a girl) carefully pronouncing words for the shy-guy, making two syllables out of one-syllable words..like "fo-rk."
A scene where the shy-guy is trapped into telling a story in his "native tongue" kept us in stitches. We don't know if the pretend language was scripted, or if he made it up as he went along, but it was sure hilarious. Listening to the story and watching his actions made the four of us believe he was relating the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." But the woman who owns the lodge declares that the story is about a tractor.
It was nearly 10 p.m., before we got home from the play. After a choice of lemon cake or chocolate cupcakes and ice cream, Mother went home, and the rest of us headed to bed.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday, June 17
Today is Hubbie's birthday. Happy Birthday, Hubbie!
We were up around 6:30 this morning, so we could finish getting ready for company. No matter how much we prepare ahead, we can count on three more hours of preparations on the day of an event.
I skipped my exercises, of course, so I could start the day by making lemon pudding for Hubbie's favorite cake. While the pudding cooled, we had breakfast. While I was getting ready for the day, Mother came over, and she and Hubbie did some last minute swiping of counters, cleaning the downstairs bathroom, etc.
When I came downstairs, I sliced tomatoes, while Mother made coleslaw. Then I made a meringue icing for the lemon cake, which I had topped with the cooled lemon pudding. After we set the table, made tea, etc., we were ready to relax.
Just before lunch, Hubbie's oldest daughter arrived, followed by his son and grandson. Soon his two sisters arrived. And finally his other daughter, who came the greatest distance (a four and a half hour drive) arrived.
We had put the baked beans and barbecue into the oven around noon, so we were ready to sit down to eat by around 1 p.m. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal and lemon cake dessert.
Hubbie received several cards to one of his favorite home improvement stores. Mother (at my suggestion) gave him a mop for the camper, because several days ago, after we'd bought a new mop for our home kitchen, he said he'd relegate the old mop to the camper. Yuk. I was having none of that. If the old mop was too scuzzy for the kitchen, then it was too scuzzy for the camper.
Anyway, I bought a mop, and Mother and I decided to make it more interesting by decorating it with flowers, adding ribbons to mop string braids, and putting a pair of kids' cheap sunglasses on it. We also added a sign to the mop that says "Take Me to Your Camper." The family got a good laugh out of it.
After a tour of the yard and gardens, folks decided to head home. It was around 3 p.m. by then. Everyone seemed under pressure to get home and complete tasks for upcoming events...the daughters needed to shop and decorate the church fellowship hall for a baby shower at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon for the wife of a grandson.
One of the sisters is getting ready for a trip to Illinois to visit her daughter, so she needed to get back home to pick up an order of something she's to take on the trip.
Hubbie isn't up for traveling the hour and a half east of us to attend the baby shower, so we sent a card and cash.
After the family left, Hubbie, Mother, and I went to the local farmers market, where I bought three cartons of sweet banana peppers for the freezer. I'll go back next week and buy more, since it seems we won't be getting any from our garden (only hot peppers growing there).
Back home, Mother went to her house, Hubbie went out to work in the yard, and I created a web cam message for a home improvement store video gift card. The card is a novelty that I'm obviously more interested in than Hubbie. But he'll be interested in spending the gift, I'm sure. I was at a loss for an idea of something to give him this year, so the novelty gift card, and a bunch of scratch-off lottery tickets, are what I came up with. As usual, the lottery tickets yielded less than half of what I paid for them. But they were worth it for the amusement they provided Hubbie.
Funny: at the grocery store where I bought the scratch-offs, there is now an automatic digital ticket dispenser. I didn't know how to use the machine, but upon reading the directions, I saw that no one under age 18 can buy the tickets, and to verify the buyer's age, he or she must scan a driver's license. This information is on a window with what appears to be a camera eye.
So I swiped my license across the window. Nothing. The machine wouldn't accept my money. Maybe I needed to turn the license around. No, nothing. Maybe I needed to hold it vertical instead of horizontal. Nope.
A young woman walked up, but said she had never used the machine, so she didn't know how, either. I said I was probably wasting my money on it, anyway, to which she responded that her brother won $75 on a ticket recently.
She walked away, and a man approached. "Let me try it," he said, whereupon he basically went through the same routine I had, with no better success.
I finally called a store clerk over to help me. Turns out there is a small awning-like thing low down on the machine. When a license is passed under it, a scanner activates. Then the machine will accept money, and allow the buyer to push the buttons for a choice of cards. The clerk assured me I wasn't the first to be confused by the machine. Obviously not, since two other folks were mystified by it as well.
Later, Hubbie and I watched the Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Patricia Cornwell's The Front," starring Andie McDowell. In this sequel movie, a woman attempts to breathe new life into her flagging political career by ordering the re-opening of a decades-old murder case of a supposed blind woman.
After that, we watched the 1966 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, "Torn Curtain," starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. An American scientist (Newman) publicly defects and goes to East Germany in hopes of stealing a formula and then sneaking back to the U.S. Andrews'character is in love with the scientist, and when he tells her he is leaving and won't be back, she follows him to Germany, where the two get into cloak and daggar situations that threaten their lives. Eventually, they are aided by sympathizers who help them escape the country.
Note: another accident near our house tonight: about 9:30, a neighbor was riding his motorcycle and hit a deer on the highway at the west corner of our yard and the neighbor's yard across the street. We are personally acquainted with the injured neighbor, who has a broken ankle, a cut on his head, and road rash on an arm from the accident. Police cars, a rescue/fire truck, and an ambulance visited the scene, where traffic was held up for quite a while. This accident reinforces my hatred of motorcycles.
The wife of the man who had the accident is our former insurance agent (she is now retired), and the injured man was in cardiac exercise classes with me a couple of years ago.
We were up around 6:30 this morning, so we could finish getting ready for company. No matter how much we prepare ahead, we can count on three more hours of preparations on the day of an event.
I skipped my exercises, of course, so I could start the day by making lemon pudding for Hubbie's favorite cake. While the pudding cooled, we had breakfast. While I was getting ready for the day, Mother came over, and she and Hubbie did some last minute swiping of counters, cleaning the downstairs bathroom, etc.
When I came downstairs, I sliced tomatoes, while Mother made coleslaw. Then I made a meringue icing for the lemon cake, which I had topped with the cooled lemon pudding. After we set the table, made tea, etc., we were ready to relax.
Just before lunch, Hubbie's oldest daughter arrived, followed by his son and grandson. Soon his two sisters arrived. And finally his other daughter, who came the greatest distance (a four and a half hour drive) arrived.
We had put the baked beans and barbecue into the oven around noon, so we were ready to sit down to eat by around 1 p.m. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal and lemon cake dessert.
Hubbie received several cards to one of his favorite home improvement stores. Mother (at my suggestion) gave him a mop for the camper, because several days ago, after we'd bought a new mop for our home kitchen, he said he'd relegate the old mop to the camper. Yuk. I was having none of that. If the old mop was too scuzzy for the kitchen, then it was too scuzzy for the camper.
Anyway, I bought a mop, and Mother and I decided to make it more interesting by decorating it with flowers, adding ribbons to mop string braids, and putting a pair of kids' cheap sunglasses on it. We also added a sign to the mop that says "Take Me to Your Camper." The family got a good laugh out of it.
After a tour of the yard and gardens, folks decided to head home. It was around 3 p.m. by then. Everyone seemed under pressure to get home and complete tasks for upcoming events...the daughters needed to shop and decorate the church fellowship hall for a baby shower at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon for the wife of a grandson.
One of the sisters is getting ready for a trip to Illinois to visit her daughter, so she needed to get back home to pick up an order of something she's to take on the trip.
Hubbie isn't up for traveling the hour and a half east of us to attend the baby shower, so we sent a card and cash.
After the family left, Hubbie, Mother, and I went to the local farmers market, where I bought three cartons of sweet banana peppers for the freezer. I'll go back next week and buy more, since it seems we won't be getting any from our garden (only hot peppers growing there).
Back home, Mother went to her house, Hubbie went out to work in the yard, and I created a web cam message for a home improvement store video gift card. The card is a novelty that I'm obviously more interested in than Hubbie. But he'll be interested in spending the gift, I'm sure. I was at a loss for an idea of something to give him this year, so the novelty gift card, and a bunch of scratch-off lottery tickets, are what I came up with. As usual, the lottery tickets yielded less than half of what I paid for them. But they were worth it for the amusement they provided Hubbie.
Funny: at the grocery store where I bought the scratch-offs, there is now an automatic digital ticket dispenser. I didn't know how to use the machine, but upon reading the directions, I saw that no one under age 18 can buy the tickets, and to verify the buyer's age, he or she must scan a driver's license. This information is on a window with what appears to be a camera eye.
So I swiped my license across the window. Nothing. The machine wouldn't accept my money. Maybe I needed to turn the license around. No, nothing. Maybe I needed to hold it vertical instead of horizontal. Nope.
A young woman walked up, but said she had never used the machine, so she didn't know how, either. I said I was probably wasting my money on it, anyway, to which she responded that her brother won $75 on a ticket recently.
She walked away, and a man approached. "Let me try it," he said, whereupon he basically went through the same routine I had, with no better success.
I finally called a store clerk over to help me. Turns out there is a small awning-like thing low down on the machine. When a license is passed under it, a scanner activates. Then the machine will accept money, and allow the buyer to push the buttons for a choice of cards. The clerk assured me I wasn't the first to be confused by the machine. Obviously not, since two other folks were mystified by it as well.
Later, Hubbie and I watched the Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Patricia Cornwell's The Front," starring Andie McDowell. In this sequel movie, a woman attempts to breathe new life into her flagging political career by ordering the re-opening of a decades-old murder case of a supposed blind woman.
After that, we watched the 1966 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, "Torn Curtain," starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. An American scientist (Newman) publicly defects and goes to East Germany in hopes of stealing a formula and then sneaking back to the U.S. Andrews'character is in love with the scientist, and when he tells her he is leaving and won't be back, she follows him to Germany, where the two get into cloak and daggar situations that threaten their lives. Eventually, they are aided by sympathizers who help them escape the country.
Note: another accident near our house tonight: about 9:30, a neighbor was riding his motorcycle and hit a deer on the highway at the west corner of our yard and the neighbor's yard across the street. We are personally acquainted with the injured neighbor, who has a broken ankle, a cut on his head, and road rash on an arm from the accident. Police cars, a rescue/fire truck, and an ambulance visited the scene, where traffic was held up for quite a while. This accident reinforces my hatred of motorcycles.
The wife of the man who had the accident is our former insurance agent (she is now retired), and the injured man was in cardiac exercise classes with me a couple of years ago.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, June 16
Up about 7:30, but skipped my exercises, so I could bake a lemon cake and do household tasks to get ready for company tomorrow. I needed to get as much done as possible before lunch, because Mother and I were scheduled to go to a scrapbook club meeting at 1 p.m.
One of the members called this morning and asked to ride with us to the meeting, which was fine. She has an open invitation to do that each month.
She arrived around 12:45, and by the time we got to the Extension Services office, the other member was already there. We started the meaning by taking up annual dues to be submitted to the County Extension Homemakers Council. It's really expensive to be a member of the council...a whopping $4 a year.
At the meeting, too, the member who rode with us prevailed upon me to take over the treasury, in case she has health problems (she's been experiencing dizzy spells lately). So now, I'm both president and treasurer of our four-person club. Lucky me.
We also discussed the meetings for the next couple of months, and decided to go on a field trip in July to a nearby town, where there is a big discount business that offers scrapbooking supplies. We plan to have lunch at a blue plate restaurant, where only one menu item is offered each day.
In August, the member who rode with us will bring her Cricut machine to the meeting for us to play with. I'll also bring the newest rubber stamps and punches I bought on behalf of the club.
Back home, Hubbie completed a couple of tasks...bathing Shih Tzu, and removing the old feather mattress from our bed, and putting on the new one (that arrived by UPS this morning). He didn't make the bed, since he wasn't sure if I wanted to use the old mattress cover or buy a new one. Of course, I wanted to buy a new one. So off I went to the store that has a sale every weekend, where I found one at 50% off.
Once again, a young sales clerk launched into a lengthy discussion about the marriages of her various family members. At one point, the other, middle-aged, clerk, distracted as she rang up my purchase, lost the thread of the conversation and said, "you didn't know your brother was married?"
The young clerk assured her that of course she knew her brother was married...she was talking about the brother of his wife's cousin, or something (I couldn't sort out what she was talking about, either).
"Sounds like an episode of "Wisteria Lane," I said. "Or Peyton Place," the other clerk laughed.
As I was leaving, the first clerk launched back into her recitation, as the other clerk smiled blandly and nodded.
Spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to spruce the house, including using lint rollers on the couches to remove cat hair.
For supper, we had the remainder of the sauteed squash and steamed potatoes, to which we added helpings of baked beans, and sliced tomatoes.
We debated whether or not to attend a community theater play tonight, but we are pooped, so we decided to go to the final performance on Saturday night. That might be a better night, anyway, since Daughter will be here, and I'm sure she'd like to go.
So Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I watched the 2003 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Wicked Minds." A young man returns home from college, and meets his abusive father's stunning, flirtatious wife. He falls for the wife, the father turns up dead, and there's a long list of suspects. Surprise ending.
The second feature we watched was another Lifetime Movie Network offering..."Alone With a Stranger." A man adopted a very young child is raised in a well-to-do home, but as an adult is surprised when a twin he doesn't remember shows up. The brother lived with an neglectful alcoholic. He is enraged about his brother's fortune and his own misfortune. He plans to see that his brother is killed, so he can take over his comfy life.
One of the members called this morning and asked to ride with us to the meeting, which was fine. She has an open invitation to do that each month.
She arrived around 12:45, and by the time we got to the Extension Services office, the other member was already there. We started the meaning by taking up annual dues to be submitted to the County Extension Homemakers Council. It's really expensive to be a member of the council...a whopping $4 a year.
At the meeting, too, the member who rode with us prevailed upon me to take over the treasury, in case she has health problems (she's been experiencing dizzy spells lately). So now, I'm both president and treasurer of our four-person club. Lucky me.
We also discussed the meetings for the next couple of months, and decided to go on a field trip in July to a nearby town, where there is a big discount business that offers scrapbooking supplies. We plan to have lunch at a blue plate restaurant, where only one menu item is offered each day.
In August, the member who rode with us will bring her Cricut machine to the meeting for us to play with. I'll also bring the newest rubber stamps and punches I bought on behalf of the club.
Back home, Hubbie completed a couple of tasks...bathing Shih Tzu, and removing the old feather mattress from our bed, and putting on the new one (that arrived by UPS this morning). He didn't make the bed, since he wasn't sure if I wanted to use the old mattress cover or buy a new one. Of course, I wanted to buy a new one. So off I went to the store that has a sale every weekend, where I found one at 50% off.
Once again, a young sales clerk launched into a lengthy discussion about the marriages of her various family members. At one point, the other, middle-aged, clerk, distracted as she rang up my purchase, lost the thread of the conversation and said, "you didn't know your brother was married?"
The young clerk assured her that of course she knew her brother was married...she was talking about the brother of his wife's cousin, or something (I couldn't sort out what she was talking about, either).
"Sounds like an episode of "Wisteria Lane," I said. "Or Peyton Place," the other clerk laughed.
As I was leaving, the first clerk launched back into her recitation, as the other clerk smiled blandly and nodded.
Spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to spruce the house, including using lint rollers on the couches to remove cat hair.
For supper, we had the remainder of the sauteed squash and steamed potatoes, to which we added helpings of baked beans, and sliced tomatoes.
We debated whether or not to attend a community theater play tonight, but we are pooped, so we decided to go to the final performance on Saturday night. That might be a better night, anyway, since Daughter will be here, and I'm sure she'd like to go.
So Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I watched the 2003 Lifetime Movie Network feature, "Wicked Minds." A young man returns home from college, and meets his abusive father's stunning, flirtatious wife. He falls for the wife, the father turns up dead, and there's a long list of suspects. Surprise ending.
The second feature we watched was another Lifetime Movie Network offering..."Alone With a Stranger." A man adopted a very young child is raised in a well-to-do home, but as an adult is surprised when a twin he doesn't remember shows up. The brother lived with an neglectful alcoholic. He is enraged about his brother's fortune and his own misfortune. He plans to see that his brother is killed, so he can take over his comfy life.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 15
Up at 7:00, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. While I was getting ready for the day, county workers were busy in our yard trimming branches from trees that hung over power lines on the pole in our yard. They took the time to trim other dead limbs from the trees, too.
Mother came over early and cut up veggies and boiled eggs and potatoes for potato salad. Hubbie had peeled the potatoes earlier. While the potatoes cooled, I put together a baked bean recipe for the oven. I made two large dishes of them...probably too many for Hubbie's birthday party Friday, but we won't mind having some left to put in the freezer to take with us on a July camping trip.
After lunch, I ran errands while Hubbie worked in the yard. I went to a couple of places to pick up gifts for Hubbie, and then went to the WDCS for groceries for the party.
At one of the stores, I stood in line for quite a while behind an ancient gentleman and his wife, who obviously had been farming folks. He was regaling the young woman with information about how to cure poison ivy...make a paste from coffee and baking soda and rub it on, or rub the affected areas with fresh lettuce leaves. On and on he droned, until the young woman finally asked if she could help me, and the man moved on.
"I love that old couple," the young woman said, "but he sure likes to talk."
Then she asked if what I was buying was a Father's Day gift. "No," I said, "it's for my husband's birthday." Whereupon she launched into an explanation of how her grandmother makes her favorite dessert, including a list of ingredients and how to bake it.
Back home, I put together two potato salads...one without pickles and salt for me, and one regular batch for everyone else. In the meantime, Mother chopped more veggies for coleslaw.
Then we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. At 5 p.m., I went to an art gallery meeting, where we spent the hour filling out bid sheets for silent auction items that will be offered at the Summer Celebration event next Monday night.
Back home, about 6:15, we had a supper of leftovers from last night...mac and cheese, sauteed squashes, and steamed potatoes.
Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I watched (or should say tried to watch) another ridiculous Syfy Channel, 2006 movie called, "Silent Hill." Based on a video game, a woman is traveling with her young daughter on a foggy day, when she has a car accident. She is knocked unconscious, and when she wakes up, her daughter is missing. The daughter sleep walks, and after once rescuing her from the edge of cliff near a thundering waterfall, the woman is terrified of what might have happened to her. She runs to the nearest town, where she meets up with ghouls.
After a while, we tired of that movie and moved to another Syfy feature...the 2011 movie, "Ice Road Terror." Two truckers, and an environmentalist female scientist traveling with them to deliver explosives to a mine site in Alaska, are threatened by a dormant prehistoric creature awakened by the mining operation. The creature isn't satisfied with eating the miners, it wants the truckers, the scientist, and any other hapless people it runs across.
Mother came over early and cut up veggies and boiled eggs and potatoes for potato salad. Hubbie had peeled the potatoes earlier. While the potatoes cooled, I put together a baked bean recipe for the oven. I made two large dishes of them...probably too many for Hubbie's birthday party Friday, but we won't mind having some left to put in the freezer to take with us on a July camping trip.
After lunch, I ran errands while Hubbie worked in the yard. I went to a couple of places to pick up gifts for Hubbie, and then went to the WDCS for groceries for the party.
At one of the stores, I stood in line for quite a while behind an ancient gentleman and his wife, who obviously had been farming folks. He was regaling the young woman with information about how to cure poison ivy...make a paste from coffee and baking soda and rub it on, or rub the affected areas with fresh lettuce leaves. On and on he droned, until the young woman finally asked if she could help me, and the man moved on.
"I love that old couple," the young woman said, "but he sure likes to talk."
Then she asked if what I was buying was a Father's Day gift. "No," I said, "it's for my husband's birthday." Whereupon she launched into an explanation of how her grandmother makes her favorite dessert, including a list of ingredients and how to bake it.
Back home, I put together two potato salads...one without pickles and salt for me, and one regular batch for everyone else. In the meantime, Mother chopped more veggies for coleslaw.
Then we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. At 5 p.m., I went to an art gallery meeting, where we spent the hour filling out bid sheets for silent auction items that will be offered at the Summer Celebration event next Monday night.
Back home, about 6:15, we had a supper of leftovers from last night...mac and cheese, sauteed squashes, and steamed potatoes.
Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I watched (or should say tried to watch) another ridiculous Syfy Channel, 2006 movie called, "Silent Hill." Based on a video game, a woman is traveling with her young daughter on a foggy day, when she has a car accident. She is knocked unconscious, and when she wakes up, her daughter is missing. The daughter sleep walks, and after once rescuing her from the edge of cliff near a thundering waterfall, the woman is terrified of what might have happened to her. She runs to the nearest town, where she meets up with ghouls.
After a while, we tired of that movie and moved to another Syfy feature...the 2011 movie, "Ice Road Terror." Two truckers, and an environmentalist female scientist traveling with them to deliver explosives to a mine site in Alaska, are threatened by a dormant prehistoric creature awakened by the mining operation. The creature isn't satisfied with eating the miners, it wants the truckers, the scientist, and any other hapless people it runs across.
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