I'm Me-e-e-l-l-l-t-i-i-i-ng

I realize it is summer time and we are in Oklahoma, but I was hoping for a cooler summer. The forecast for the foreseeable future is upper nineties to low hundreds with triple digit heat indexes and only mid seventy overnight lows.

I went out to run some errands today and the heat must have short-circuited my brain as I reached for the garage door opener to remove the sun shades from the windshield. Oops.

First Harvest

I picked five tomatoes this morning.  One went directly into the mulch pile, but the rest are going in some pasta sauce today.  None of them would win any beauty pageants, but no doubt they are edible, and that is what counts, right?

The birds have been relentless this summer, and there are many plants they just don't seem to be able to leave alone.  This morning I noticed that the few sprigs that have come up on the asparagus crowns were stripped clean of all their leaves, and the little bits of moss rose that I have been nurturing back to health after their last munch-fest were showing more signs of abuse.  I have never seen anything quite like it!

One also might say I harvested another holly bush.  It is now nude of all its foliage and stands at the corner of the house like a scraggly sentinel with bare branches poking every which way.  It was one of the first things I noticed in the landscaping when we looked at the house--and said at that time, "THAT has to go!"  It took me two Thursday mornings with the pruners but I finally have it under submission, and I am pretty sure it won't take much to persuade Ornery to finish it off this weekend.  It is rather unsightly.  I feel sorry for the garbage man who picks up the bag as there are prickly leaves poking the bag from top to bottom.

Resurrection of the List Journal

Lately it seems like I have just been drifting through life without much purpose or direction.  I get a few things done here and there, but not nearly what I used to accomplish.  Last week  when I was cleaning things up in the studio, I came across my old list journal.  It still had a lot of usable pages in it, so I figured I might try to resurrect the old list making habit.

The way I like to work is to start out by making a list of all the things I want to accomplish throughout the week, then break it down by making five smaller lists on the same page for each day.  At the very bottom I make a tentative menu plan and add the food prep needed to the daily lists.  On the far right side, I list errands and grocery needs.  One page per week is all I seem to need to keep things going.

So far this week I have been twice as productive as I have been for the last several months, but I guess I wore myself out because this morning I went back to bed and slept for an extra three hours!  On the plus side, we have been eating better and I feel good at the end of the day knowing that I have accomplished something.  So far I have made lists reasonable enough that I am actually able to cross almost everything off.  I am trying to get to the level of not too little or too much.  I am almost there.

It was good for me to take a break from it for a while (about a year) since I had become rather obsessive about both making and following the lists. The lists were often so long and overwhelming that they drove me away from accomplishing things instead of being beneficial.   I think I can handle it again without overdoing it--if not, I'll go back to slacker mode.  I am trying to de-stress, not make things worse!

The heat has been oppressive this week.  We have been under an ozone alert each day and the lack of wind makes things feel so much hotter.  I have been trying to keep up with the watering and "tea" schedule for the garden, and so far I have only lost one plant.  The tomatoes are all split, one of the peppers has a scorch mark on it and the birds have eaten every strawberry that has come on so far, but I have only lost a couple of plants I put in from seed and I am pretty sure I will have a nice crop of jalapeno peppers in a few weeks.

Ornery finally got the fertilizer on the lawn last weekend (we had it for six months before we moved, so that is why I say finally!) and the grass looks pretty happy. It was organic and the bag said it could be applied any time.  Much as I hate to use the water, I have had the sprinkler on this week since it is so hot. I also re-potted the two shamrocks I got in March and found them a new home outside on the patio.  I got the top coat put on the little patio table Ornery built, so it is finally out there between our rockers, awaiting a cool morning for us to enjoy our coffee out there.

Ornery's travel schedule seems to have changed again, and now he won't be gone for so long.  Site trips are financially beneficial, but I really do enjoy having him home.  I think he just wishes they would make up their minds so he knew what to do!

Today's task is to do some cooking and paint the bookcase in my studio.  I am going to have to put some wild music on and wake up a bit more if I am to accomplish much!

Weekend in Review: Oooh, la-la!!

Friday...
I got busy early and started painting in the studio.  The new green (Valspar New Avocado) went on like a dream and covered the tired looking sage with one coat.  I got about 1/2 the room painted with the roller and after work Ornery did the cut work around the doors, baseboards and ceiling where I had painted.  In addition to painting I rearranged a few things in the closet to make room for some of the things from the work table.  I love the new color--just LOVE it!

Saturday...
Despite the day being a weekend, my inner alarm clock woke me at the usual 4:00 AM.  I waited a little bit before getting up to start the coffee, giving Ornery a few more minutes to sleep--because as soon as the coffee maker starts he usually wakes up. :)  We drank it on the patio in the beautifully cool pre-dawn.  If every day started that way, I am pretty sure life would be perfect!

Next I cut Ornery's hair--it's pretty thin on top, but it sure grows fast everywhere else--then I cleaned the bathroom while he showered.  He emptied the dishwasher while I fixed a big breakfast.  I asked Ornery to empty the jar we dump our coffee grounds and kitchen scraps into and in the process he dropped the lid on the patio and it shattered.  I suggested he make a replacement lid out of wood and the next thing I knew he had headed for the garage and had the scroll saw going.  I had to interrupt him for breakfast, but he was right back at it once he was done eating.  Elizabeth woke up just in time to enjoy the feast with us.

Elizabeth cleaned the kitchen and I watered outside, then sat back down on the rocker to enjoy the morning.  Elizabeth joined me for a chat, (subject matter not really what she wanted to hear)  then Ornery came out and she made an escape and headed for more favorable climes and company.  He and I enjoyed a nice visit then I was back at the painting chore in the studio.  By noon I had all the green rolled on and one coat of the blue.

While I painted, Ornery worked on the chairs he is making for M&M (the grand kids.) After lunch, he came in and painted the edges for me and I added the second coat of the Olympic Lagoon color.  We finished with the painting at about 2:30, then he took a coupon and a sale flyer to Woodcraft to check out a sale on a dove-tail jig/router special offer.  I really don't mind him adding to his tool collection, especially since he does so many projects for me!

My garden seems to be doing alright, but all the tomatoes are splitting. I need to do some research to see what causes that because I am pretty sure my harvest will be next to nothing unless I can figure out what to do about it.

Sunday...
Ornery and I had a nice long chat over breakfast at Panera, then came home and took a nap. :)  We stopped off at Lowe's for a couple things for the new studio, then to the grocery store to fill in a few gaps. After that was all put away, Ornery hung up my new mini-blind.

Here are some pictures of the studio.  I still have a few things to paint (bookcase, small table and little green shelf above the table) and eventually we will take the carpet out and put down some vinyl wood-look flooring, but I really like the new look.

This is the view from the doorway.  The closet is to the right, the window to the left of the table.  The two white units in the corner are from IKEA (Alex).  I had two sets of shoe shelves on the back of the table before, but I felt hemmed in with so much clutter in front of me, so I used half of one set in the closet and used the rest on top of the Alex carts.  They are chock FULL of stuff from plastic chests and other storage units I had utilized before.  All is very organized and neat... of course! :)  

I kept one plastic chest for my scrap paper--it is really full and until I use it up, I will continue with that system.  While it doesn't work great, it is better than any I have used before.

Sadly the color doesn't show up very well in this picture since the light was so strong.  The mini blinds should cut down on some of that.  This book case is going to be white and several things will find new homes from the closet onto the shelves. 

This is really full, but quite a bit neater than the beginning of the project.  Note: the part of the closet you can't see is not so neat. :P

I still need to get a scarf for the top of the window to soften it up a bit, but other than the few painting chores and settling into the book case, I feel very good about the room.  Ornery is relieved, as it means he won't have to paint it again for a long time. :)  Now I just need to get busy making some of the things I have ideas for!

This week is supposed to be pretty hot, so I hope to get my watering done early and spend the days working inside.  I have put off the next editing project until now, and I really should get it done.  Elizabeth leaves Friday for her trip to Washington, DC, and Ornery leaves Sunday for 17 days in West Palm Beach.  They will both be in wonderful places to watch fireworks on the 4th should they choose to do so.  There will certainly not be any sleeping around here the 3rd or the 4th since the city issues permits to those who wish to shoot them off in the neighborhoods.  (The permit fees pay for extra firefighters during that time) Last year you couldn't see through all the smoke--it was a loud and colorful couple of nights!

It was a nice weekend and I am glad to have gotten that room to a usable state again.

Hot

After spending all morning yesterday running a dozen or so errands, I spent today at home mostly in the cool house.  Summer seems to have finally settled in around us with a bit more humidity than is comfortable, but with enough wind to make sure any perspiration dissipates quickly.  It certainly dries the plants out, and my poor little hydrangea was drooping nearly to the ground this morning.

After watering everything, I snipped a few lengths off two philodendrons and am trying to start some new ones. I can't recall the last time I made the attempt at starting plants, nor do I remember whether or not I was successful.  Time will tell, I suppose.

Ornery's travel schedule is apparently changing again, but it looks like he will still be gone for the same dates, just in a different order for the trips.  Nothing is ever final until he actually boards the aircraft, though, so who knows just how it will all turn out.

Meanwhile, I have emptied my studio in anticipation of rolling on some new colors... hopefully I will be more motivated to actually take up the task tomorrow.

Weekend in Review: Father's Day

Saturday morning, Ornery and Elizabeth went to work at the airport.  The Commemorative Air Force was offering plane rides for Father's Day to help raise funds for the current renovation project. Sometime last week they gave free rides to the media and that generated quite a bit of public interest.  Between Saturday and Sunday, there were close to 100 flights scheduled.  Ornery did a little bit of work on the other plane, but mostly he and Elizabeth helped get passengers loaded and strapped into the aircraft for their 20 minute flights.

Ornery said all the passengers came with someone who took pictures and watched from the ground while they had their thrilling ride.  I am sure if we had thought of doing something like that for Ornery years ago, he would have been thrilled as well.  He had a lot of fun, but being out in the sun for several hours really sapped his energy, and he did an excellent impression of a comatose patient for a few hours in the afternoon. :)

I spent a little time working in the garage, then Mickie came over and took a bunch of stuff we were getting rid of off my hands.  We visited for a little while and caught up on all the latest news.  Otherwise, I read on my Nook, took a nap and did some laundry.  By Saturday evening, we were able to park both cars in the garage again. Happiness!

Here are some photos of the changes.  First, we moved the garden bench that had been in the garage to the patio.  It is so nice to have a work space out there for potting plants and mixing up my "tea."

Next, we emptied out the Gladiator cabinet and red paint shelf and moved them to the spot where the garden bench was.  We emptied out most of the stuff in the little yard tool section behind it so we had a bit more space.  It is probably about the same amount of floor space since we added the new bench, but it sure feels bigger!

Once we got those pieces out of the way, we had a good spot for Ornery's new work bench. We moved the drill press and repositioned the scrap bin to make enough room along that wall for everything.  At the end of the row is the new little Alex cart from IKEA.  It isn't fully occupied yet, but there is still a lot of sorting and rearranging of little things left to do.

Here is the new bench...

And the yard storage area...

The large item in the right side of the photo is the miter saw.  All the rest of the stuff that was stored in here has either been used up or moved to a new home.

Father's Day started out pretty slow.  Elizabeth went to the store about 11:00 and bought a few things for dinner while I snapped beans, cooked corn and made mashed potatoes.  Ornery grilled some steaks while everything else was cooking.  I also baked a blackberry pie--Ornery's favorite.  He did a little work outside, then talked for almost two hours on the phone to Ryan who called to wish him a Happy Father's Day.  We ended the day reading or computing.  It was a nice day.

Short Week

Well, that was a short week!  Since the weekend ended on Tuesday for us, Ornery only had to work three days, and here it is the weekend again!

All the cars have been out on the driveway since Tuesday when we assembled our IKEA purchases.  Even though the carts and island we built have all settled into their new homes, there is still a rather large pile of ... er, junk in the middle of the garage.  We sorted, culled and relocated half the stuff in the Man Cave, but there is a pile of things to go in the attic and a bunch of stuff to go to Goodwill or the trash. We had quite a mound at the curb yesterday for the trash-man, but each time we go back through we find more things we can part with. The work area is going to be really nice, though.

Not only is the garage littered with stuff, the entry hall has a much narrower passageway since a bunch of extra stuff has moved out of the studio.  I emptied a while shoe shelf and a dozen little baskets, two plastic drawer carts and several other storage pieces into two IKEA Alex carts.   We bought three in all, one black for the Man Cave, and two white for the studio.  EVERY drawer is full in my two carts now, and they are so neat! :)  The OCD side of me is very happy.  I also rearranged some things, and am preparing to paint in there next week.

Ornery is sorting little things now... like nuts and bolts and screws and washers. He is finding much better storage areas now that he has the new furnishings in the Man Cave.  I had a good time reorganizing the pegboard.  :)  I'll post pictures of the new arrangement in my weekend in review post.  Hopefully he will have it all cleaned up by Sunday night and we can park the cars inside again.

In other news, Ornery and his sister are planning a trip to Tacoma to deal with their brother's stuff and Elizabeth is going to Washington, DC during the same time frame. Ornery will be home for a week, then back to West Palm Beach for another 16 days or so.  July is turning out to be a busy travel month for him!

Weekend in Review: Finished projects

Ornery arrived home late Thursday night and we slept in a little Friday.  We both spent the day very quietly, visiting, napping, eating, and visiting some more.  Neither of us really felt like doing much, so we didn't.  He took some time off -- Friday through Tuesday -- so he could catch up on sleep and things at home.

Saturday Ornery went to work on the planes, Elizabeth stayed home to work on the shawl, then went to a movie with Michael and I worked on the table top and gardening.

The shawl almost finished, but once she got it off the loom she realized there were several skips, so she is going to make another one like it for the original recipient.

I used the same paint on the top that I used on the rest of the table, then used some of my Silks acrylic paints with a stencil of ginko leaves. I was very pleased with the outcome.

Saturday evening, Michael joined us and we all went over to Ornery's sister's house to celebrate his mom's birthday.

Sunday morning, Ornery and I decided to make a trip to IKEA in Dallas for some storage fixtures for the studio and Man Cave. Then he attached the top to the table.

Elizabeth and Ornery went to the Flight Safety family picnic Sunday afternoon.

Monday morning we got up bright and early and drove to Dallas.  We arrived at IKEA at about 11:00 and spent about 2 hours in the store, then drove back home.  We got everything we went for, so I guess that was a good thing.  We stopped by a farmer's market on the way into town and found some great summer produce, but we were pretty tired by the time we arrived home, and ended up just going to bed right after dinner.

Tuesday we spent the day building the stuff we bought.  Three storage carts and one work bench later, the garage and studio are both trashed.  Tuesday evening, we had Michael and another friend for dinner and visiting.  I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt by the end of the evening.

I'll post photos once we get our purchases in place.  The Man Cave looks like a poorly run pawn shop at the moment with tables and tools and stuff scattered all over while we re-organize and incorporate the new work bench/island in the mix.  Ornery is so excited to have another work surface and I am happy with the new changes being made.

Today I will work with some of the veggies I bought Monday, and possibly some outside and in the garage.  My back isn't altogether happy with all the extra activity, but between the occasional ice pack and regular doses of Ibuprophen I am making it.

Catching up

While drinking my coffee this morning I got a text from Ornery who was at the airport in West Palm Beach awaiting his flight home... the one that got canceled.  :(  Apparently the weather in Dallas or somewhere along the route caused some concern, so he is scheduled for the 6:00 PM flight which means he won't arrive until around 10:00 our time.  He was bonding with fellow passengers while waiting to hear the latest news about the flights, but he has a long day ahead hanging at the airport.  He returned his car, so he really doesn't have anything else to do.

I was actually okay with it if he needed to stay on site an extra couple of days, but once I was sure he was coming home today, the delayed flight gave me a bit of a set back.  I'll survive, but now I need to come up with something to fill the time...

In other news, I bought the paint for my studio Tuesday.  It is going to be blue and green--  the green is a shade lighter than the paint we chose for the kitchen (below) the blue is the same as the color we put in the guest room where Elizabeth is currently staying,

This color is called gilded pesto by Valspar.  On the same card the lightest color is called New Avocado, which is what I have chosen for the studio.

This color is called lagoon by Olympic.  I got a gallon of it since it is also the color that will go in the guest bathroom when we get around to painting in there.

I will paint one wall blue (the one that is currently orange) and the rest the brighter green.  If I am really ambitious, I will also give the ceiling a new bright white coat of paint.  It is currently sort of a dull taupe which makes the room a bit darker.  The darker wall color will also make it seem darker.

The small book case (right side, bottom of picture) I have left unfinished for all these years will be white with the blue inside the back.  I found some sheer blue curtains with polka dots on them and once we get Elizabeth's white bookcase (pictured above) painted, the green scarf that is currently covering the bad finish will go on top of the window--it will be sort of like my old craft room at Miller Manor without the beads. The new window is much smaller, there are no blinds on it, and I don't have all the butterflies left to add to the top since I have used them in other projects, but I think it will look good with the blue sheers on either side... at least I hope so!

Elizabeth plans to paint all her mismatched furniture to match in a dark brown paint.  She doesn't have plans to move out immediately, but someday she will and she would like to have some matching furniture at that time. She has a dresser and another book case besides the white one pictured in her room above.

She is nearly finished with the next shawl, and has a commission for another once this is finished.  She is really enjoying her summer break so far. She has done a lot of walking, (with Michael) movie watching (with Michael), and visiting with friends. She is currently working on helping another friend decorate his new house, and bought some art supplies to start painting again.  Hopefully once I have the studio painted and arranged she will be motivated to work in there with me.

The garden is doing great and I have really enjoyed working out there so far this year.  We got a quote on a new flower bed in the front yard, but I am pretty sure we aren't THAT interested in having someone else do it.  Ornery thinks he can do it, but it may take us all summer to complete the work.  Between that, some wood projects and the commemorative air force work days each Saturday, he has his summer work cut out for him!

That is what has been happening lately.  Nothing real exciting (at least not that I can post about in such a public forum!) but we are hanging in there.

Weekend in Review: Missing Ornery

Elizabeth and I spent a lot of time together over the weekend, which was thoughtful on her part, since Ornery is still in Florida.  We went to some garage sales and ran several errands Saturday morning, then she went to the park with Michael and gathered ticks.  I am not sure that was her intent, but Sunday morning when she showered, she either pulled off or dislodged nine of the little pests.

She started another shawl on the big loom, and spent a few hours on it Saturday and Sunday.  She went to dinner at Michael's parents then they went over to a friend's new house to check out his furniture and visit Sunday evening.  The neighbor came over and mowed the yard Saturday afternoon once it was finally dry enough.  He is about the age Ryan was when he started mowing lawns for pay, and I hope to keep him somewhat gainfully employed here and there throughout the summer either mowing or helping with other yard jobs.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday night it rained--Sunday was rather fierce with lots of wind and lightning which made it hard to sleep and both Elizabeth and I had a hard time getting up Monday morning.  I was out of the house by 7:00--first to breakfast at Panera, then to several errands (Post office, bank, health food store, Dr. G for vitamins, then grocery shopping) that finally ended at 11:00.

I had cleaned and set up the apparatus to mix up some more of the garden tea this morning, but since we have had so much rain, I figured I would wait until Tuesday and feed on Wednesday.  Everything is quite saturated and I don't want to drown the plants!  The peppers and tomatoes are all doing great, and I am excited about that.  With all the rain, the asparagus should start peeping through in a few days.

Ornery is still doing well in W Palm Beach.  He finally found Panera and a Chiptole and is quite pleased with himself.  He says right now it looks like the trip will extend through next Monday, but he could make a lot of progress today and decide staying longer won't be necessary.  We miss him.

Elizabeth is off tomorrow to take care of several items of business, so I will have company with her most of the day.  Wednesday I hope to do some cooking. I don't seem to be running out of things to keep me busy!

I'm Nooked!

A few months ago I discovered that I could immediately download electronic copies of books from my library to my computer.  My laptop is not wild about being on for so many hours and tends to get really hot, so I have a little fan positioned across the keyboard to keep it from burning up.  It is loud, makes me cold, and I am not very free to move around in that situation, so I began looking at e-readers.

Michael brought his Nook over for me to play with, and I decided I would like one with a glow light so I bought one yesterday--somewhat on impulse, but apparently the store had been having trouble getting them in, and there were 140 people on the waiting list... How did I end up with one?  I think divine providence! :)  They had just gotten a box in with 20 Nooks, and as I was standing there looking at the display, a clerk was calling to notify potential buyers they had come in.  One of the first people he called said they weren't interested, so he sold me that one!

I didn't quibble with the offer--he said "If you want one now, take this one."  I said, "Sold!"  I only felt a tiny bit bad about cutting in line before the people who were on the list, but not bad enough to turn it down.

It isn't quite as satisfying as reading text on a page, but I can adjust the font size to be less strain on my eyes, and there are several authors who publish things only in the e-format, so even though most books cost the same whether in print or electronically, it is possible to download books from the library to the nook, and there are other ways to "borrow" e-books as well.  It also allows me to download new releases immediately which is kind of cool.

The little device slips conveniently into my purse, so I can take it with me and read any time I am just sitting around waiting -- which admittedly is not very often any more, but certainly would have been handy when the kids were young and attending various lessons and activities.

I am off to plant my asparagus crowns and do one last big pot for the patio of zinnias and lantana.  The weather outside is absolutely my favorite--cool 60 degrees and sunny. It won't last, so I am going to enjoy it while I can--then I will probably read. :)