For Today - July 19, 2010 - Monday

Outside My Window. . .it's partly sunny. Squirrels are playing in the trees & are running on the fences.

And a snake is underneath house. Apparently one did not get the memo that don't want any snakes near the house. There was one 2' - 3' long sunning on a shelf near the kitchen steps. He was fairly skinny, and dark. He was lumpy so I'm guessing he had been snacking on skinks? I showed him mercy & merely attempted to sweep him off but he didn't cooperate as he simply crawled down a shelf support & then went underneath the house. There is at least one snake under my house. I am not happy about that.

Snakes never were very good at following rules, were they?

I Am Hearing . . .A Jim Palmer podcast & the water hitting the house from the water sprinkler. I have one of those old-fashioned ones made of brass, with 3 or 4 *arms* that spin around, slinging out water. I like the sound.

I Am Wearing . . .white capris, red shirt, black flip/flops

I Am Thinking . . . I need to call my snake friend who lives in the country & isn't one bit scared of snakes. I need her advice about keeping them out from underneath the house.

I Am Wondering . . .if there is any possible way that snake can get into the house? I wish they would just stay on the ground. Then all I'd have to concern myself with would be grass & leaves. I don't like the idea they can climb. They can climb anything. At the other house we had one who climbed the brick wall & onto the glass window. I really was buggered up over that!

I Am Grateful. . . that God is a God of love, not of fear, regardless of what "religionanity" may say.

From The Kitchen . . . oddly enough, a pot of chicken and rice soup. You see, there was leftover chicken & chicken bones. And leftover rice. And since I had onion & carrots, etc, it was just too easy to make soup. Never mind it's 108 w/the heat index!

I Am Reading . . . an email from an online friend who is a fabulous photographer. I contacted her about an upcoming photo shoot, asking her advice & she was gracious enough to share her experiences with me. You can see some of her photos here. . . .

I Am Hoping. . .to learn more and more about my camera & develop the skills to take great photos.

Around The House . . . folded laundry to put away & a bit of a mess in the Nature Room. I changed a few things. . . & need to get rid of what I'm not going to use or find a place for it.

One Of My Favorite Things . . .is Love. Not fear. Not *should*. Not a religious *to do* list. But Love. God is love.

Something You May Not Know About Me. . . I plan to roast a turkey this week! My daughter has been storing one in her freezer for us & it's time for it to turn into a bunch of meals. This is part of my goal to not spend any grocery money this week.

About Today's Photo. . . a detail of the water sprinkler. I thought it appropriate since it also resembles a snake!

For Today - July 8, 2010 - Thursday

Outside My Window. . .it's sunny right now. Of course that may change at any moment as we've been having the wettest June/July I can remember! Thy hydrangeas & azaleas are very happy with this turn in the weather.

I Am Hearing . . .the A/C. It's the middle of the day & is necessary to have it on.

I Am Wearing . . .khaki shorts, blue chambray shirt & walking shoes.

I Am Thinking . . . I need to move more stuff around.

I Am Wondering . . .if I'm gonna' want to move the armoire into the Nature Room. I won't do it this week. . . maybe next week? Once I empty it & put it on sliders, I really think I could move it by myself but hubby said no . . . So I'll live w/the rearranged dining room through the weekend & then decide.

I Am Grateful. . . for Young Living therapeutic grade essential oils & supplements. As you may know, I have osteoporosis & do not take any of the drugs for it. I take plenty of supplements though & have added a couple of items from Young Living. I moved the dining room table yesterday (twice!), the overstuffed chairs (also twice) and a second table into the Nature Room & woke up this morning with no pain.

I am grateful.

From The Kitchen . . . same as yesterday, only not as much meat since Amanda & her hubby came for a delightful visit & dinner last night. You can go to her blog & read about our Independence Day festivities. . . . just scroll down a bit & you'll find several entries about our wonderful weekend!

I Am Going. . . to move some stuff out of the dining room. There's one little area I'm not too certain about what to do & it will be easier to get the visual distraction out of here!

I Am (still) Reading . . . You know what it is: "Essential Oils Desk Reference". I have much to learn! In fact, if you sign up w/me, you'll get a free copy ($39.99 - 49.99) value, depending on where you buy it!

I Am Hoping. . .to finally get the dining room the way I like it!

Around The House . . . hmmm - today it's just a house. There's nothing spectacularly tidy nor messy about it. I guess if you came over you could tell I'm rearranging stuff . . . but nothing special about it.

One Of My Favorite Things . . .is helping people find vitality & health! If you have skype, I can have someone much more knowledgeable than myself answer your questions regarding your particular health issues!

Something You May Not Know About Me. . . I've drank almost no caffeine for several months!

About Today's Photo. . . one of my favorite pix from the weekend.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

Ronald Reagan
40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

For Today - July 6, 2010

Outside My Window. . .Very, very warm & sunny & muggy. We had rain off & all all weekend. . . . and we need it! We always need rain in the summer. We seldom have rain in the summer, so I dare not fuss about it.

It worked out very well, though. When we had outside activities or traveling to do, there was no rain. And it mostly rained when we were inside or sleeping, etc.

Sitting on the porch was a pleasure except for those darn mosquitoes that much have hatched from all the rain? I'm going to have to find a non-toxic way to get rid of them! But I think I may have some help as my oldest grand daughter was the first to discover we have bats around the house! They were flying around the mercury vapor light that's in the driveway. Without it would make it very difficult to find the house in the dark or to get from the car to the porch, so we leave it here. . . . It might be a good thing - attracting food for the bats!

I think I wrote about that big old owl w/in the last week & he was out front too. I haven't identified him, but he is big: I'm guessing 18 -24" tall! I hope he's not planning to eat the bats!? After all, they are small mammals!

I Am Hearing . . .Crickets & cicadas.

I Am Wearing . . .white capris & blue shirt.

I Am Thinking . . . I need to mop floors.

I Am Wondering . . .if I will actually get around to mopping floors. . . . it's hard to get back into the swing of things.

I Am Grateful. . . for the wonderful weekend full of family & activities

for small town parades

and firemen competitions

for the pulled pork being such a big hit

for going geocaching

for big (there were 12 of us) get together w/my mom @ assisted living facility. They put out a great spread of wonderful food!

for daughter's neighbors inviting us over for big firework show @ their house. It was the biggest private fireworks show I've ever been to!

for grandkids fishing

for Apple to Apple game

for James Bond movie

for fireworks @ home

and the poppers too

for bats in my yard

& the owl, too

for my family getting safely back home.

For my hubby. When everyone is gone & the house is empty - I'm glad he's here to listen to the quiet with me.

From The Kitchen . . . lots of grilled meat & a watermelon.

I Am Going. . . to catch up on reading blogs & tidy house; move two pieces of furniture & two rugs; & mop floors.

I Am (still) Reading . . . There's no way to change this up - - - I have much to learn & will continue reading "Essential Oils Desk Reference"

I Am Hoping. . .to make steady progress

Around The House . . . the evidence of a houseful of people having been here. And I love it!

One Of My Favorite Things . . .family get togethers.

Something You May Not Know About Me. . . I have almost always in the past used real china, glasses, silverware & cloth napkins. It's been an idiosyncrasy of mine. But not this weekend. . . . not for the big meals. Oh breakfast did get eaten from real bowls - but the other meals were from paper plates, plastic cups & forks & paper napkins! Scandalous!

Today's Photo. . . .the last of the sparklers - - - the last of the fireworks - - - the last of the holiday.