ho hum

I gave up on today 

    It was too hot to do anything outside.  I tried to take a nap in my porch recliner, but I could not sleep.

    I have some small yard chores, but I decided no, not today.

    I did go to the chiropractor and 3 stores before heading to Cypress House for a coffee.

    Because I am sleeping so badly again, I got a decaf.  I know, might as well drink water.  It tasted great, but I do not have that burst of energy a caffeinated coffee gives me.

    Hopefully I will sleep better..

    In a moment of boredom, I made a list of things to do around the house.

    I should learn to stop doing that because I always get overwhelmed.  But if I don't make the list, I am not motivated to do much of anything.

    On a positive note, I went into Walgreen's a n saw a woman and recognized her immediately as a former student!  I knew her name!  No hesitation at all on my part.  We spent a few minutes catching up .... she now has 2 grandchildren!    

    That is one of the positives of living in a small town.  You get to see people you taught, perform in plays, do comedy, go into businesses that greet you by name. 

    But there are drawbacks too.  Today I learned a former student passed away.  In reading his obituary, I saw that his sister, also a former student, proceeded him in death. 

    Both of them were nice kids and I am sure they were great adults.

    Hug your kids.  And your friends.

Peace and Love

RIP

I am in mourning tonight 

    The Rochelle News Leader published its last issue today, Aug. 6.

    After 50 years as a newspaper, time caught up with it.  

    Not enough subscribers, not enough advertisers,  too many costs......all of it too much to overcome.

    I know the paper was reeling....there was a 2 person editorial staff and a small staff of ad salespeople.

    I worked at the paper for 11 years back in the 70s.  I started as an intern in 1970 and left the paper in 1982 to become a teacher.

    Back then there was an editorial staff of 4 and an advertising staff of 5 or so.  

    It was not easy work.  Any one who works for a paper knows there will be night meetings, weekend events, people complaining, errors in stories.....and always the deadline.

    Back then the paper was printed  Tuesday and Thursday, and copy and pictures had to be in by 11 or so for pages to be finished and the presses run.   George ran a tight ship when it came to printing the paper.  He took a lot of pride, and Mylanta, in getting the paper out on time.

    A late meeting on Monday night could mean a scramble on Tuesday morning to get the story done, edited, sometimes proofed.  And if you needed clarification or more information?   If you didn't have it by press time, you were out of luck.  

    I was part of coverage of the Vagabond fire, a murder/suicide, several fatal traffic accidents and a host of feel good stories.

    The feel good stories were the best to write.

    I met a lot of people there too.  Renee, Vicki, Jean, Robin, Ken  and  many more that are no longer alive. 

    I felt then, and do now,  that a community newspaper is important.  

    But I also know the times have changed.  People get a lot of news from Facebook and the internet, which may not be the most accurate sources 

    And newspapers pay the price.

    RIP Rochelle News Leader.  You will be missed.

Peace and Love

come on!

I am beginning to lose faith in the Cubs 

    All season long I've bee hearing they have one of the best offenses in baseball.

    No offense, but they have no offense lately.   Two games in a row with only 3 hits.  And a series against Baltimore where they only scored 9 runs in 3 games.  That is not a good offense.

    Enough about baseball.

    Beth has been sleeping in the laundry area.  I don't know if it is quieter, darker, cooler, warmer or what, but she seems to like it there.

    Tonight I put a load in the washer and set the basket on the bench we have.  Beth was in front of the dryer.

    A few minutes later I heard a crash, and went in and found the laundry basket on the floor, and Beth trapped in front of the dryer.

    She did not bark, whine, howl or anything....she just sat there until I picked up the basket then she scurried out very quickly.

    I have a feeling her sleeping in the laundry days are over.

    The big hawk was back again today, perched in the burr oak in the back of the yard.  I hope he is a regular because he can keep the ground squirrel population down.

    I have not seen as many lately, although there are trails through my yard.  Beth likes to look for them too, but they have moved out of her area.

    I was sitting on the back patio about 8 tonight and was amazed at all the sounds nature was providing.  I need to wear my hearing aids out there more often, because it was so darn soothing.  Usually I have them out and don't hear much, but tonight it was a great experience.

    That's all that I know.

Peace and love

whoa

I had a busy day, again

    We had help this morning, so I was t taking a nap when I was awakened because of the bird in our back yard.

    It was a magnificent creature and I am glad they got me.

    The pictures don't do it justice.

    But pictures are what I am falling back on to tonight.

    I mowed the yar, in about an hour.  Then I changed the battery in the back door lock so now it works when you punch in the code.  I also ran cleaners in the washer and in the dishwasher, which actually did not require any work at all.

    The back door has an electronic lock.  It came with a key.  I can't find the key.

    I thought it might be in the ever present junk drawer, but it was not.

    I did find 4 three cent stamps, a 47 cent stamp, and several 2 cent stamps.  I think if I put all of them together it would still not be enough to mail a letter.

    A reasonable person would toss them.  

    Unfortunately, I am not a reasonable person.

Peace and Love

The focus is not too great, but you get the idea. Wonderful plumage.

I think it was looking for ground squirrels.

Royal catchfly

The bur oak has acorns!  And galls!!!  Lots of galls.

This is stuff from our drawer.  The circles seem to be parchment paper, but I don't know where they came from.  There are 2 plug in thermometers, but I don't know what they  plug into.  The thingy in the upper right looks like an outdoor thermometer.....but we don't remember seeing any of these things!

It's a handy tool......never knew I had it!

Oh beans!

I picked beans today 

    I think we have plenty, but I still have a section of garden that is just now producing flowers.

    I guess I planted too many beans.

    Reflecting on the garden today, I came to some conclusions.

    I need sturdier tomato cages.  I did not stake then and the plants have tipped the cages.  I don't know why I did not stake them, but next year I will for sure.

    I don't think I will plant cucumbers again.  

    You can't save them for long, and I don't think you can freeze. them.  We do make refrigerator pickles, but there are only so many of those a person can eat.

    I should plant more carrots.  Normally I do, but this year I did not.  Not sure why.  I may buy some more seeds and see what I get by fall.

    I enjoy gardening to a certain extent.  There comes a time when I lose interest and weeds start to take over, like they have in my low bed.  I need to get out there and pull the weeds, but I just don't do it.

    Beth got me up at twice last night.  The first time I let her out and she did pee.  The second time I said, "No," and she was fine the rest of the night.

    But she did not eat her breakfast this morning.  I put kibble and canned food  in her dish and she usually gobbles it down. Today she sniffed it and walked away.

    After an hour I picked it up, tossed it, and just put kibble in the bowl and she ate it all.

    But there was no problem at supper....same food, same bowl.

    I broke a glass today while I was doing dishes.

    It was a wine glass and thankfully I did not lose any wine.

    That's 2 days in a row for me breaking glass.

    I don't want that streak to continue.

Peace an Love

long nights

 I did not sleep well last night

    I think I had too much caffeine.

    Plus Beth woke me up twice.....1:30 and about 2:30.  

    The first time I took her out, the second time I told her no and then she sulked.

    When the alarm went off at 8, I turned it off, intending to get up in a couple of minutes.

    When I heard the cuckoo  kook 10 times, I knew my plans to attend a memorial service were out the window.

    By 1 we were up and ready for the day.

    Which by now was half over.

    I did watch the Cubs, which was a bummer.

    And since Emily, Julia and a bunch of people went to a play in Chicago, I was the Official Dog Feeder.

    Things got off to a rough start.

    I had gone in and out of the dog room a couple of times.

    On my third trip, a vase with a flower came flying off a shelf up high one the wall.

    The vase crashed into thousands of pieces and water and dogs were everywhere.

    I managed to get dogs in crates and the others outside, putting in the dog door so they could not get back in.

    It took me a while to clean it up because of all the pieces.  

    Eventually it all worked out....mess cleaned up, dogs back in, food distributed.

    Liam eats outside.  He is an Irish Wolfhound and is a pretty big, yet gentle, boy.

    I went out to look in the yard to be sure none of the other dogs were there and as I was walking with the food bowl in one hand and petting Liam with the other, my pants fell down.

    I think it was the weight of my wallet and phone plus a loose belt.  So Erin, if you were looking, I apologize.

    Watched the Cubs lose a heartbreaker.  

    I hope for 3 things tomorrow:  Beth not waking me up after midnight, getting the beans picked, a Cub win.

    And I will settle for 2 out of 3.

Peace and Love

aaaagh!!

 I learned something new today

    At least I think I did.

    I post this little effort at entertainment on Facebook.  But you can also get to it tdinten@blogspot.com.

    If you go to that and comment on an entry, I don't see it because I did not realize you could do t hat.

    So Donna, if you are reading this, I appreciate the information on the mobility site.  Yes, it was 6 months ago and I apologize.

    So, that is new.

    I also saw a lot of talent on the VCCT stage tonight.

    They did Beanstalk, a retelling of the fairy tale. 

    I think there were 120 kids in the play....ok, maybe not that many, but they were all talented and entertaining.

    Jackie and I were sitting at a table, and a couple with their young kids asked if the other chairs were free.  We said yes.

    I asked them if they had gone to Lincoln School, and the man said he was from out of town, but his wife went to school in Rochelle.

    I asked her which school.

    She said Tilton, then she looked at me and said, "Mr. Dickow?"

    Yes, she was in my class a few years ago. I did ask her name and I r remember her vividly as a sweet girl.

    That, and the Cubs win over the Orioles (sorry, Pam) made up the bulk of my day.    

    And I am not sure how well I will sleep.  I had a coffee at 2 and a Coke at the play, so I may be hyper caffeinated.  But I did get a chance to talk to Camryn when buying the pop, so that was nice.

Peace and Love