For Today - August 25, 2010 - Wednesday

Outside My Window. . .It is sunny and thankfully not as hot as yesterday. The weatherman says he thinks the triple digit temps are a thing of the past! Yay!

I Am Hearing . . .A/C humming.

I Am Wearing...a blue chambray nightshirt

I Am Thinking . . .I'd rather be praying & editing photos.

I Am Wondering . . .How my grandson is doing at college.

I Am Grateful. . . for a hubby who loves me just as I am.

From The Kitchen . . . Dishes in the dish drainer, waiting to be put away. I had a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, jam & Earl Gray tea.

I Am Reading . . .everything by Debra Raybern. . . .

I Am Hoping. . . to finish tidying house.

Around The House . . . Even smaller bits of messes than yesterday! .

One Of My Favorites. . . Friends!

Something You May Not Know About Me. . . For the first time in my life I have fingernails that do not easily peel & tear!

About Today's Photo. .A happy little guy at the pool on Sunday .. . .

For Today - August 24, 2010 - Tuesday

Outside My Window. . .It is sunny. And hot, hot, hot.

I Am Hearing . . .A/C humming & a car just drove by.

I Am Thinking . . .Within the past 4 years the number of people being serviced by the east Texas Food Bank has increased by 90%. 90%.

Don't forget to donate & volunteer at YOUR local food bank. They need you.

I Am Wondering . . .How to go about utilizing the etsy account I set up some time ago. I would like to offer some of my photos for sale . . . .

I Am Grateful. . . for being contacted by KBJS to furnish them w/photos for their website.

From The Kitchen . . . The need for me to tidy up. Dearest friend Debby was here for 10 days & we played & organized, but there is now a need to sweep & mop. . . . you know . . . all those not-so-fun things that need to be done.

I Am Reading . . .everything by Debra Raybern. . . .

I Am Hoping. . . to tidy house.

Around The House . . . Little bits of messes. . . . nothing that a couple of hours can't take care of. . . . maybe even less.

One Of My Favorites. . . Family, photography, friends, organized drawers!

Something You May Not Know About Me. . . have a new photography website . . . .

About Today's Photo. . .From the new website & hopefully will be able to soon offer as greeting cards.

For Today - August 5, 2010 - Thursday

Outside My Window. . .It is sunny.  Yesterday's heat index was 115 degrees.  I heard on news that the South is better off than Chicago or NYC because we have air conditioners!  Of course not everyone can afford A/C, but the middle class & rich have air conditioning.  I'm guessing that the middle class in other areas of the country don't bother installing a/c because 1) it's usually not so extremely hot & 2) their hot weather doesn't last more than several weeks.  But when it's hot - it's HOT!  And I know upstate NY gets HOT!

Although I don't see them right this minute, it appears we have two Barred Owls hanging around the property.  We saw them again the other night.  I'm guessing it's a pair, but we don't know for certain.  Owen, the first one we saw weeks ago, even escorted me about a quarter of a mile on my morning walk one day last week! How fun, since the owl has been associated with not only wisdom, but protection, too!

I Am Hearing . . .Cicadas & air conditioning.

I Am Wearing . . .red chambray nightshirt & white shorts.

I Am Thinking . . . the economy is not doing better.  We know two men, in their fifties, who got laid off from work; one in east TX & the other in Houston metro.

And when I volunteered at Good Sam  yesterday, we had 3 more families sign up for  food.  There were a lot of them waiting when I arrived at 8:55AM.

I Am Wondering . . .if I, or any of my friends, would have waited hours in Tuesday's heat, for a big bag of carrots, a huge head of cabbage & a loaf of bread.  Actually, I'm not wondering - I know I wouldn't!

One lady passed out.  It's a wonder it was only one.  Heat index got up to 108 that day.

I Am Grateful. . . for a good night's sleep!  I slept straight through 8 1/2 hours!  This is unheard of for me, as I normally get 3 - 4 hours sleep.  This is how I did it.  I hate to bore you & feel free to skip, but I want to be able to come back to this to try the formula again!  And again!


I went for an almost 2 mile walk in the evening.  The side road is in the shade & even though I got all sweaty, it wasn't terribly bad.  I came home & bathed, adding salts to the tub.  I then ate a very light supper, since it was now after 8 PM.  A great big salad!  I then rubbed lavender oil on the bottom of my feet, drank my magnesium & took a lot of my supplements that are suppose to be taken before bed.  I went to bed a little after 9 PM, read for a while & lights out by 9:30.  I woke about 5:45 AM. . . . went back to sleep & got up at 8.    I feel wonderful!

From The Kitchen . . . Pork in the slow cooker!  This is the best pulled pork ever!  It's Hungry Girl's recipe.

I Am Reading . . . nada

I Am Hoping. . . to finish editing & burning CDs.

Around The House . . . Laundry is sorted but can't wash as hubby disconnected the water in that area of the house.  He took out the sink & tore all awful wall board from the guest bath & since the laundry is nearby, it too has no water! 

One Of My Favorites. . . Well, apparently a good night's sleep!

Something You May Not Know About Me. . .  I have a plan to tear down & relocate all the out-buildings within the next couple of years!

About Today's Photo. . .

Little orange bowl is what my grandparents kept bacon grease in!  I don't think many do that anymore.  Blue Fiesta plate was a thrift find for a dime.  Red mug holds hot peppermint *tea* (really just hot water & peppermint oil!) was bought w/a friend on a rare shopping trip.  She lives in Florida.  Pears were part of photo shoot payment!

It was a happy, albeit slow morning.  A gentle reminder to pray for family & friends.  Amen.

For Today - August 2, 2010 - Monday

Outside My Window. . .It's sunny, without a cloud in the sky. At 10:30 it's almost 90 degrees. It's hard to keep the hydrangeas & azaleas from wilting. :( In the evening there are bats & cicadas. And Owen the owl. He even accompanied Shiloh & me on our morning walk one day. . . :)

I Am Hearing . . .Cicadas.

I Am Wearing . . .blue chambray nightshirt.

I Am Thinking . . . that I very much miss my flowers from the old house. There were lots of aromatic Antique Roses, Sunflowers, Black-eyed Susans, Cannas, Yarrow, Buddleaia, & Milkweed.

And there was the blooming Vitex, always full, so very full, of feral honey bees. The sound of their humming was reassuring. I'm grateful I took a couple of naps beneath those trees. I wish there were photos.

It goes without saying I miss the Buick-sized Rosemary. And the mint & figs.

And the small kitchen garden that gave us plenty of tomatoes, peppers, & basil this time of year.

I miss the yard a lot.

I don't know how to grow anything in this yard. There's an awful lot of shade - - - and we don't know a thing about this soil. It is foreign soil to us.

We knew the other soil. It was full of vitality. We composted & mulched & layered & fed it good healthy stuff. It was alive with earthworms. It was alive.

We don't know this soil. We have lots to learn about it.Last year's summer bouquet

I Am Wondering . . .how long it will take to be at home with this spot of land? The house feels like home, although I think we should have gone with my initial idea of painting all the interior white. I think this house can do white. Maybe it's because of all the surrounding trees? I don't know - - - but I'm guessing when it's time to repaint we'll repaint a lot of it white.

I'm also wondering if the exterior would be better off white? Right now it's red. I'm thinking white with black trim.

I Am Grateful. . . for 41 years of marriage. We've had ups and downs, joys and sorrows, good times and not-so-good times. But I am his. And he is mine.

And I wouldn't change that for anything.

From The Kitchen . . . the refrigerator is full of fruit & veggies, although none of it grown my us. That seems strange to me - to have to buy/trade every last morsel that goes into our mouths. This is not how it's suppose to be!

I Am Reading . . . nada

I Am Hoping. . .to edit a few more pix for Samantha & burn her a CD of them.

Around The House . . . A store-bought bouquet. How strange it seems...almost some type of alien. I've always told hubby he doesn't need to buy me flowers for any special occasion because I have plenty outside. Now that I don't. . . . he bought me a bouquet. And while I very much appreciate the gesture. . . . they're are not nearly as beautiful as the homegrown variety!

One Of My Favorites. . . My husband!

Something You May Not Know About Me. . . I seldom lack inspiration . . . . it's motivation I run short of!

About Today's Photo. . . Wedding day 1969.