July 5, 2021 Monday--9:45am

Good morning!

Our cooler (more normal) temperatures disappeared again and we were back in the 90s. 

Supposed to get back to the 70s again tomorrow and possibly some welcome rain.

My hands were not cooperative all week.  Gradually the knuckles and left thumb were less painful, but the right thumb is hanging in there...more stressful to me than the cancer--LOL!  When I can hardly even write a letter...yup!  High on the annoyance list for me.

But I did have a nice week.  Finished watching the dark and twisted Wire In The Blood.  Went back to watch more of angry, hostile Dalziel and his long suffering partner Pascoe--another British detective show.  Also slipped in some miniseries and movies.  Lots of time to watch this past week.  So grateful for so many interesting choices these days.  :)

Thursday Leah came for Craft Nite but we didn't do any crafting this time again.  Had a wonderful visit.  :)

Friday I had my eyedoctor appointment.  No macular degeneration (Mom had).  No glaucoma (Dad had and Dagan has).  But--surprise!  I now have a macular pucker in my left eye, too.  The old pucker is not quite as high, but more ripley.  They are both puckered in different ways so they fight each other and do not exactly cooperate--LOL!  No wonder I have had so much harder time focusing on print and reading gives me headaches.  Handwriting is easier--less straight lines for my eyes to bend--and with actual writing I have decades of muscle memory--ROFL!  ;)

Anyways, I needed a new prescription, too, so I ordered new lenses.  I like my glasses and they are in good shape.  So when the lenses come we can just have the lenses popped in--easy peasy!

On Saturday McFamily came over here for Ian's birthday.  

Liam helped Mama water my planters.

We hung out, had dinner, and then cake that Leah brought.

Half of it was devoured...

...in no time.  :)

Then Ian opened presents.  He kind of got sharing-with-Liam presents this year.  A big water bucket for painting and oversized brushes they can use with water outside to draw disappearing stuff on the cement, etc.

Snippet video I can't figure out how to embed anymore.

Ian also got three I Spy books--more for him to read with Liam (and be in charge).  There's a short video Leah took where I'm showing them the sample page but nothing works that used to work for me from youtube or their new direct way on Blogger to embed it.  Anyways, the pictures do have more things on them--actual photos.  And all of us had fun picking out our own things on the pages to say, "I spy..."  

Anyways, Ian has so many art and craft supplies from Gramma already that he hasn't gotten to play around with for so long due to the pandemic--went simpler this year with things both the boys could enjoy together.

And Leah sent me pics of them painting (with water) furniture on the patio! 

They can draw disappearing pictures on the driveway or the deck, etc.

And we'll have some more Gramma Days this summer--hopefully for Liam, too.

Ian is getting older and more careful so that he will be able to use some of Gramma's supplies, too.  (I ordered a couple things for us to use with mandalas!)

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I want to say thank you to all the new people who came by from Beatrice's blog post.  All those prayers and good wishes were just what I needed.  Thanks so much! 

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And David you were right!  The purple flowers in my planters are mini calbrachoa...which I googled.  Didn't realize were actually mini petunias.  :)  Why didn't they just say that.  Easier to remember--LOL!

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We have got this guy in our building who has taken to almost accosting people on the sidewalk.  I don't know if the isolation from covid has made him so lonely or what it is, but he approaches anyone with kids or dogs.  He has come up to Ian and Liam to try to give them candy before when they're on their way to my patio door with Leah...and followed them right over to my patio door.  (That's the way McFamily comes over since covid.)  I've seen him stop ladies and men with strollers...and last week...this poor woman was trying to walk her two dogs.

He wanted to pet the great dane (gorgeous dog) but the dog was afraid of him and his big walking stick.

He kept insisting and the more he walked around her the more the great dane hid behind her.  They went around in circles...and her with two leashes!

The little yorkie didn't want to be near him, either.

Animals know.

This poor old guy is becoming a real pest.  It's been too hot to sit out on my patio but when it cools off if he comes over to pester me and doesn't take the hint to leave (which he probably won't)...then I will, as politely as possible, go back inside.  He may be very lonely, but he has no boundaries or social skills.  I feel badly for him...but I sure don't want to get friendly!  He'd never leave you alone, you know?!  Sad.

I'm sure there are people who walk their dogs or push their strollers elsewhere now.  I would.  Which means I probably won't get to see that gorgeous great dane saunter by again any time soon--LOL!

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I have wondered if the small hawk got the baby partridges.  Even though I haven't seen it this year, we have had a hawk go after the sparrows in the past.  The partridge babies would have been easy pickins for hungry hawk babies, I suppose.  Circle of life.  :(

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Well, that's it from here for this Monday.  I don't know how long I will still be getting email to notify me of new posts.  Going to be an adjustment that will take a lot of eyes and hands time.  The two things I have tried so far haven't been working well.  Have to try something else, I guess.  Wish me luck!  Oh, spell check still isn't working and I do hope the font size and centering works this time.  Especially the font size has been shifting on me even when it looks perfectly uniform in the preview.  Maybe I'll be lucky this time.  

Always the optimist, eh?  lol!  

Till next week.  :) :)

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"What will matter is the good we did, not the good we expected others to do."

Elizabeth Lesser