Monday, July 08, 2013

Monday-10am

Goodness!  Been a while since I've posted anything.  I guess I really do feel like I'm on summer vacation.
I've been reading, writing letters, watching TV/movies, and just puttering about.  It's been so hot!  Upper 80s to low 90s every day.  I know for some of you that is normal, but this started in June and is a little warmer than we are used to up here this early in the summer.  Karma loves it, though.  Here she's out protecting her string.  From what?  The only thing out there was a moth and a few lone mosquitoes. 
We've had rain and thunderstorms off and on, too--but the big cotton-ball clouds are my favorites.
Miss Karma lounges in the heat... 
...and watches for bugs... 
...while I stay nice and cool inside and perform doorman duties for Karma.  ;)
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The first item arrived from my monthly Amazon order.  (I do order almost every month, don't I?)   
It's copper mesh that is actually used to plug holes to keep mice out of the house.  But I thought it might be perfect for some abstract wall art.  Dagan and Leah like fall colors (me, too) so I was thinking of trying to create a textured canvas that they would approve of for their new house.  I give them rejection rights so that they won't feel obligated to have something hanging on the wall that they don't really like, you know?  And I never make anything that I wouldn't like to keep for myself--so we're cool.
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I have some more boring stuff coming from Amazon (like filters for my water pitcher, Karma's big bag of cat food, envelopes and such) but I do have a few crafty-art things, too, like this copper mesh.  :)
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Finished the two library books on the food industry.  Was shocked at how our food is made and what they put into it so I decided to try to start reading all the packaging.  Spent a lot of time crawling about in my pantry, kitchen, frig and freezer reading boxes and bags.  Some of them have very few ingredients (usually what I bought that was organic), but--even bread baked at the local grocery store has a long list of mysterious ingredients. 
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I know Dagan and Leah have a bread maker so I emailed Leah to ask her what brand it was and if they like how it works.  She said they haven't used it for ages and that I could just have it!  Whoohoo!  At least I'll know what is in my bread.  ;)  They're planning on bringing it over on Wednesday.
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They spent the long holiday weekend cleaning the basement and garage.  They stopped over for about an hour and a half on the 4th of July to sit in the dark with me and watch fireworks displays all across the horizon.  At that point they were almost done with the basement and were starting on the garage the next day.  I haven't heard, but I expect they can finally get their cars in the garage now.  With storing all Leah's brother Aaron's things (he went into the navy) and her youngest sister Ariel moving back in--there's just a ton of stuff at their place.  I bet it feels good to have it all at least sorted out a bit.  
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They had gone down to Minneapolis the weekend before to pick up a shelving unit from IKEA for their living room (and they picked up a couple small things for me, too) and they had already put those shelves together, too.  I'm going to want to go visit sometime soon and see the results of all their hard work!  :)
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I offered to help, but was gently reminded that my mind wants to make promises my body can't keep.  True.  True.  Just climbing into the end of the senior van put my knees out for about a week.  Doesn't stop me from wanting to help, though.  Sometimes I need to be protected from myself.  ;)
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Well, I thought I'd give a quick hello.  I'm on The Cat Who first book now.  Pam comes on Friday with more books!  I am definitely still on summer vacation.  Seems to be helping the sciatica, too, so I plan on more of the same for a while.  I have been pretty much keeping up with everybody online, too.
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  So glad I am following by email now--although I miss a few who don't have the follow by email option.  :(  Even if I, apparently, don't always get every single post and they do come a day late--I love it!  Much, much easier for me.  My Google Reader was totally gone on June 28th and then my Blogger reading list has been acting up for at least a month.  It disappears for days at a time and says I'm not following anyone and then suddenly reappears for a day or two--only to vanish again.  
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Been a wonderful quiet week.
Very best to everyone and have a fabulous week!!  :):)
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"Our business is to be happy."
Dalai Lama

18 comments:

Queenie Jeannie said...

Oh! You'll love having a bread machine!!! I used it nearly every day in Italy, as Bella needed sandwiches for school lunches and the bread was ALWAYS stale, if not moldy, when you bought it! I don't use it nearly enough now...gotta fix that! I've been obsessed with pasta, lol!!!

I hope you keep cool and enjoy your vacation! Sounds pretty perfect to me!

Zue said...

I love the copper mesh, you will make some great art with it.
Food! At the moment we are just eating vegetation, but I do know you must check labels...... Confusing they can be!

We are having a heat wave and I don't really enjoy hot weather, but there is a breeze today, so some gardening got done.

Stay well and arty!

Sue xxx

Zue said...

Ohh, forgot to say, happy bread making!
Sue xx

GrandmaG said...

Good to hear from you, again, via blog! Also trying to stay cool here in MO. Biggest problem is the heat keeps me from taking my neighborhood walk. Take care!

BTW, if you're still responding to my comments, I'm still not getting those messages :(

TexWisGirl said...

the bread maker would be too dangerous for me to have in the house! glad karma's having fun and we have those same puffy summer clouds here, too. :)

Intense Guy said...

Nothing beats the smell of fresh home made bread!! You might have sesame seed toppings (aka mosquitoes) and it would still be good tasting!

:) Karma looks happy.

DJan said...

Reading those books on food would have made me change my eating habits if I hadn't already done it! I learned that there are a few things I thought were food that actually aren't! So I've made a few change. I look forward to seeing pictures of that first loaf! :-)

Jenny Woolf said...

Rita you will love the bread maker! I put all kinds of interesting stuff into my bread. Try a teaspoon full of caraway seeds, for instance. Sometimes I put oats. It's really fun. And still seems a bit like magic to me to just sling the stuff in and have it make itself into a loaf :)

Shelly said...

All your pics are great, but you have to know my fave is of course Miss Karma guarding her string! Sweet girl- she loves her string!

Far Side of Fifty said...

We make bread in the winter but usually not in the summer. Too busy I guess. The heat is oppressive with the humidity good thing you can stay in. Karma looks good being a bug attack cat:)

Dana said...

I loved my bread machine! (Unfortunately, it wore out long ago. I really should get a new one.) Enjoy it!

It's great to see you posting. Have a lovely week, friend. ☺

SandeeNC said...

Glad to see that Karma is keeping up her vigil on the porch, never know when the string thief might stop by or a daring bug enter her realm...and I so love that you are well trained in your door duties! lol waving hi from the hills of North Carolina ♥

Friko said...

Thanks for the good wishes Rita.
It’s very hot here too and I hardly want to move.

Happy to see you reading and thinking of being creative in spite of the heat; it helps to keep the mind active even if the body says no. As you know, I admire your creative bent, wish I had some. Still, I write and that keeps me going.

Have a good week too - what remains of it - and enjoy the weekend.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a relaxed way to spend the summer!

Darla said...

The copper mesh looks like a fun product to use in some art. Can't wait to see what you create.

We have a bread machine and DH makes bread once a week. At least we know what is in it.

Darla

Furry Bottoms said...

You sound so happy! :) I had a breadmaker that I liked at first... but then I realized that everytime I baked a bread there was a big hole through the middle.... now I know to look for breadmakers that don't have that thing in the middle that makes the holes. You will love the smell!

Fresh black cherries are good for fibromyalgia.

AliceKay said...

Sounds like you're feeling better. Enjoy the books and have a great rest of your week.

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to catch up on posts....feeling off sure does put me behind with my friends. Asthma this year has been darn hard. I hope we can get it under control soon. (I know you know this, you read my blog...duh)
I see you are now on the reading all the labels band wagon. We do too. We buy mostly fresh foods, hopefully we can find them grown locally (even our meat) but I have a hard time eating just food that's in season in the winter (you can only eat so much winter squash LOL)
I haven't read as many books as I did last year by this time. And I should have, I've barely been able to get out of bed. I got a Kindle for my b'day 2 years ago, I love it. Well, I'm on my 3rd one..the first had battery problems after about a year (just out of warranty, but Amazon replaced it anyway) then the second one died a couple of days before my birthday this year (I'm pretty sure I killed it by spilling water on it during the middle of the night) And Amazon replace it too, with the newer touch screen. So I read books on it because I can't hold big books up to read them. Some I have to read the real book as it's not at the library in Kindle form.
But I've read over 250 books on that thing. I really do love it. So light and easy to read with it. I rarely buy books for it, I think I've bought 2. I get free Kindle books, and I read books I'd never have thought of before. Or I check them out of the library, so happy they have books in Kindle form now.
well I've rambled.
and have more to read.
hugs...wendy