eh

 Today was kind of an eh day

    I did laundry, watched the Cubs, made supper, and walked Beth.

    We did not walk very far.  I got halfway down the block and realized I I did not have my phone.  If Jackie needed anything I would not be able to skedaddlee home.

    Of course, at my age I don't really skedaddle anymore. 

      We met a neighbor walking his little dog and while we talked the 2 dogs happily sniffed each other.  I was proud of Beth for not growling and barking.  Their dog is a King Charles Cavalier, I do believe. 

    For supper I made mini meat  loaves.  I cook them in muffin pan.  We eat 2 and I freeze 2 for those nights when we need a quick meal.

    I realized I like beef.  Hamburger, especially.

    Considering what is happening with the beef herd in this country, my liking it could get pretty expensive.

    Tyson closed a couple of plants, including one near the Quad Cities, because they can't get enough cattle to keep the plants operating.

    That's a little scary.

    Beef up, chicken up.......and being a vegetarian now is dangerous.  Who wants exploding diarrhea?

    Not me, for sure.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

oops

I sometimes do irrational things 

    Like taking my evening meds in the morning.

    For the most part that is no big deal.  After all, I take several of the same drugs morning and night.

    But at night I take 2 nighttime Tylenol.  And I take a sleep inducing drug to help me, well,  sleep.

    So this morning I took a lot of sleep inducers.  That explains my 90 minute nap.

    It also may explain my on and off confusion during the day.

    But I persevered.

    Went to PT, stopped at the bank, went to Walmart, and met one of my favorite authors.

    The mistaken doses may explain the bank issue.

    When I went in, there was only 1 other customer and there were 2 tellers.  When I finally stopped gabbing, I looked behind me and there were 3 people in line!  And they are all thinking, "When is the old man gonna shut up?"  So I did,

    I stopped at Cypress House and had a caffeine free drink off the kids menu.  Then I waddled to the back of the store and The Rochelle Hub book store, where Molly Fader was signing her new release.

    I purposely shorted my PT time to get here early, but after only 20 minutes they were out of her book.  I am on the wait list.

    It was great to talk with Molly.  She was never a student and I think I got to know her through theater activity.

    In case you don't know, she has written dozens of books, a lot of romance novels, and has won several awards.  I don't read the romance novels. Jackie does.

    But the non romance novels are pretty darn good!  

    If you want romance, look for Molly O'Keefe.  If you want good fiction, look for Molly Fader

    Also ran into friend Dianne at the book signing and she was singing Hi Lili, Hi Lili, Hi Lo.  Seems my ear worm was catching.

    I finished running my lawn sweeper over the back yard.  Now I have 4 huge piles of grass behind the native plants.  I can't see them from the house and I am hoping they go away.

    If not......??

Peace and love

    Especially Peace

My eighth grade teacher  taught me a valuable lesson:  Rain has to start and stop someplace.  I think this is an example of his wisdom.

A butterfly!!!!

Molly and me

argh! ear worm!!!!

 Sometimes I don't understand me

    I was working on the beans yesterday and a tune came into my head.

    I could not get rid of it!

    I could not remember r all of it, just part: Hi Lili Hi Lilli Hi Lo, Hi Lo....a song of love is a sad song.....

    I kept singing that part, and the Hi Lili refrain and it was driving me crazy

    So before I went to bed I Googled it.  The song is a simple little tune from a movie  called, strangely enough, Lili.

    Then I Googled the lyrics and was shocked that they were so familiar to me!  It was like I knew the song, but forgot it.

    The movie came out in 1953 and the song has been performed by a variety of artists.   Guess at some point I had heard the song and really liked it.

    As a. matter  of fact, I still do.

    Julia came over today to help me install my new bird feeder.

    Trouble is, I seem to have misplaced a key part.....the one that holds the feeder on the pole.  My task tomorrow is to hunt in the garage, den, closet, mud room and ant other place I might have wandered with it.

    I almost finished mowing the lawn, again.

    I just don't seem to have enough time to get the last bit done.

    I do have to pick up garden debris before I mow, but that should not take long.

    And I have to trim.  Grass is a little long around the gardens and house.

    While I am working I will probably sing Hi Lili.

    And now I know all the words.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

Whadda change

 It sure feels nice out tonight

    I was out earlier in the day and it seemed hot and humid.  Close, is what my parents called it.

    I think that was code for "I am hot.  I am sticky. Get too close and I will bite your head off."

    But I am not sure.

    I went out tonight to water the porch plants and it actually felt comfortable.  

    Normally I would have put the porch plants out on the sidewalk and let Mother Nature take care of the watering.  But I did not do that.  I should have.

    When I checked my rain gauge last night it had 1.9 inches in it!  That's a lot of rain.

    Today was blanch, chill and bag beans day.

    Jackie and I spent the better part of our day cutting beans.

    Then I blanched  them, stuck them in cold water, dried them, and finally bagged them and put them in the freezer.

    We ended up with 2 1-gallon bags of green beans and 3 1-gallon bags of Italian beans.  That should be plenty for the next 10 months!

    Next weekend....corn.

    I made a huge mistake last night.

    After I got Jackie to bed, I did my blog, played solitaire, read some articles, checked Facebook and before I knew it, it was 1:15!

    I am not making that mistake tonight.

    I hope.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

picking time

 I picked beans today

     I planted 2 kinds....regular green beans and Italian beans.  The Italian beans are flat and we cut them into 1 inch or so pieces.  The green beans we just cut the ends.

    Tomorrow we will be cutting, blanching, and packaging beans for winter and spring use.  I may keep some out for supper, but we also have broccoli I bought at the store.  

    In years past I would bend over and pull each bean off the stem, leaving the plant to produce more beans.

    This year I pulled the entire plant out and then pulled off the beans. 

    I could do the pulling while sitting in the golf cart, which is a lot easier on my back.  Besides, I have enough of both varieties and don't need any more.

    What is puzzling is the tomatoes.  Still don't have any.  I think they just got too much rain.  There are a lot of green ones, but no red ones yet.  I am hopeful.

    I noticed my hickory tree is producing nuts!  I don't remember any last year, so. this is kind of exciting.

    Of course, nuts mean squirrels. which means I have to check the yard before letting Beth outside just to be safe.

    Played cards with friends tonight.  We play Eucher, or however it is spelled.

    I had a perfect hand tonight.  Double red jacks, queen of diamonds, ace of diamonds and ace of hearts.

    Never got a chance to call trump with it.

    That was the most frustrating feeling.....knowing you have a loaner in your hand and not being able to play it.

    But it was a fun evening despite that.

    We talked about a mutual friend and someone said they were over 80.  I said that was hard to believe they were that old.  Then I realized I am 78...... pretty dang close to 80 myself.

    Stay dry.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

    

peace

 I declare the Bug War officially over

    I am not a wasteful person, but I did throw a lot of stuff out today.

    You have to know, I am an impulse buyer.

    That is why I bought a shoo fly pie kit while up in Amish country.

    All I have to do is preheat the oven, pour one bottle into a pie dish, pour the pouch into the pie dish and stir.  Pop it in the over and wait.

    I decided last night to make it today.

    When I opened it the pouch had exploded inside the box!  Something gooey was all over the inside, so I pitched it.

    Then I realized I have not been to Amish country in several years.  I could not find a best use date on the box, so that was no help.

    I picked up an unopened 1 lb. box of spaghetti. I know the little bugs like grains, so when I turned it over to look, sawdust fell out of one end of the box.  Into the trash.

    Beth's container of treats?  Buggy.  Tossed.

    But I just looked around carefully and saw no bugs.  None.  Zilch.

    So I am calling it a victory.

    I just hope the little suckers agree.

    Friend Nadine and I made our annual trip to Amboy today to buy raffle tickets.

    Maybe it is just me, but I honestly think the lady at city hall remembers us. 

    Anyway, I also got some for Linda and Dan.

    Amboy started this drawing years ago.  The first year I think it gave $600 to the winner and $600 to the museum.  Over the years it has grown in pot and popularity.

    Last year the winner took home somewhere around  $130,000.

    The money is used for all sorts of projects that benefit the residents and the museum.

    Our museum is in its third  year of a 50/50 drawing, I think.  Our prize last year was a bit over $600.

    I have tickets....$1 for 1, $5 for 6,  $20 for 24.  Plus, you get one year of museum membership if you buy the $20 pack.

    And if you buy the $20 pack directly from me, I will treat you to a drink at Cypress House.

    And yes, Jen I owe you 2,  SK I owe you 2 and Ken I owe you 1.

    Let's get together and sip!!!

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

PS...I hope you liked the video!  

Into the bin they go!!

Potty Cast

 We did a very informative museum podcast

    It dropped today.

    Why not take a peek when you are done reading this little missive.  The link is at the end, if I copied it right,

    The Pantry Bug War is continuing.  I have declared victory.  But the struggle is on going.  I won't give up until the foe is totally vanquished.

    Or I might just give up and put it off until tomorrow.

    I am. turning into a sock idiot.  Or just a plain idiot, I don't know.

    I get deep marks around my ankles when I wear ankle socks.  By the way, those are different from crew socks, as I found out after ordering 6 pairs of the wrong socks.  But they are non binding, which is what I wanted.  I just did not want crew socks.

    I have a pair of ankle socks that are great.  so I ordered 8 additional pairs.  Same sock.  Same brand.  Totally different fit.  When I take them off I have huge rings around my ankles.

    So last night I found exactly what I wanted.  By the way, that is the third sock I have said that about.

    I ordered them, and got a confirmation.  But, and I don't know how I did this, I ordered 2 different sizes!  I ordered a pack of large and a pack of small.  I wanted 1 pack of large.

    I could have sworn I did it right the first time.

    Now I have to go through another return process,

    Damn, life gets hard when you don't pay attention.

    OK....here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/.../19YtGwEFRztkyiqylQmrrFD.../view

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace