Project Runway

Project Runway is back!  It started Thursday night with a 90 minute show, don't know if the rest of them will be that long, but I liked the extended length.  I don't watch much reality tv, Project Runway and Top Chef are about it.  And I love Runway!  Is it because I'm so into fashion I ask as I sit here in my ratty old shorts.  Is it because I spend thousands on clothes each year?  Is it because I know all the latest designers, the latest looks and subscribe to all the fashion magazines. NO! NO! NO!
It's simply that Project Runway is good tv.  I love Heidi Klun, love it when she tells someone the outfit they've designed is "butt ugly" or when she says there's too much boob showing.  Heidi is hilarious.
I love Tim Gunn the mentor for the show, he's so unflabble, well usually, Thursday he about had a heart attack because one of the designers design about left the model naked.  His line, "Make it work" has almost become a cliche.
I like the judges Michael Kors, an outstanding designer himself,  and Nina Garcia, editor of Marie Claire magazine, they're  great judges, they know what they like, what's good, what's trendy, what's dated and what will sell.  Always enjoy their opinions.
And the contestants, well some years are better than others and it looks like they've got an interesting crop this year.  It is a kick to see what they can design from little or nothing (sometimes produce, once the news paper, once the interior of a car) in such a short space of time.
Project Runway is so good that I've got my husband hooked on it and he truly doesn't give a d**n about fashion, Tim Gunn is his favorite.
So if you've never watched it give it a try, it's on the Lifetime channel on Thursdays at 9pm EST, and if you're familiar with it, sit back,  relax and enjoy the ride.

Too Damn Hot!

It's going to be around 102 here today and that is way too hot.  This is not Phoenix, Arizona, it's coastal Georgia.  Where's my sea breeze?  The water temperature out at Tybee, our nearest beach, is 90 degrees.  I take cold showers and and I don't want to swim in water hotter than my shower.
This is the third day this week that the temperature has been at least 100, and except for a light, and I do mean light sprinkle on Wednesday, we haven't had any rain in over 3 weeks.
I feel so sorry for my garden, we water every day, but it's just not the same as a good soaking rain. I've seen my Zinnia's wiping the sweat off and usually they breeze through summer.   I'm not eveb enjoying swimming in the pool this summer, I get in, clean it a little, sweat and get out.
My electric bill is due next week and this is an all electric house so I figure we'll have to refinance the national debt, again (I just ransomed my car from our local mechanic), because we've been running the air conditioner and all the ceiling fans night and day.
Mac tells me to stop moaning because last winter I begged for warmer weather and now I've got it.  So just goes to show be careful what you wish for.

Worth Waiting For

What do friends do when they meet up?

My long-lost friend got here yesterday afternoon and it was a visit worth waiting for.  Hours and hours of nonstop talking sharing stories of our kids, parents, husbands, state of the world and how good it was to see each other.
Talking to her it was hard to believe it had been 20 years, it was like picking up a conversation from yesterday.
When she left she was on her way to Videlia to visit her old 6th grade teacher who had found her on Facebook last year.  I hope she had a great visit I did.

Waiting On A Friend

Yes She Can Walk Like an Egyptian

Yes I know that's an old Stone's song, but that's what I'm doing.  A friend I haven't seen in 20 years is coming over.  Patty and I met when we were both in the Education Program at Augusta College in the late 80's.  She was in her early 20's and I was in my early 40's trying to finish college after I'd been taking classes  20 years.
We were very different, she was young, I was old, she was a devout Baptist, I don't know what the heck I was, she had a young child, mine was in college.  But none of that seemed to matter, we laughed at the same things, hated the same professors, both couldn't wait to become teachers.
Well after a year of teaching Mac and I decided to leave Georgia and go home to California, Patty said she drive one of our cars to California for us.  So off to California Mac and I went to buy a house, but while we were gone Patty got engaged, so no trip to California for her.
We tried to stay in touch, but she and her young family moved around, new babies were added, her husband became a minister and along the way we lost touch.
Then last year she found me on Facebook.  Well I'm back in Georgia and she's in South Carolina and today she's driving down, except her car got wonky and so she is going to rent a car, except the man who rents them doesn't come in till noon, so here I am waiting on  a friend.

Drive Friendly

I had to drive my car into town yesterday to get it serviced and a "lady", notice I put that in quotation marks, tailgated me the whole 6  miles or so.  Yes I know the speed limit is 55, and that's what I usually drive on that road.  But when the cars in front of you are doing 45-50 that's all you can do unless you want to drive up their tailpipe.
The "lady" behind me, in her Mommymobile (that's what I call cars designed to haul about a dozen kids) stayed about 6 feet from my rear bumper.  I don't know where she was going that was so important because I've never gone anywhere that I was willing to endanger my life or that of the drivers around me, to get to.
When we got closer to town they gave us another lane and she flew past me doing 50 in a 35 mile zone.  She needed a ticket.
For future reference town isn't on wheels, it won't roll away, your job will still be there even if you're a little late, soccer practice isn't going to disappear if you aren't on time.  Is this how you'll teach your kids to drive when they're old enough?  Lighten up, ease your foot off that gas pedal, you'll have a better day and so will I.

Fans

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Gold Bedroom

There are ceiling fans all over my house.


We have 2 in our bedroom, 1 in the living room, 1 in the family room, 1 in the computer room, 1 in the white bedroom, 1 in the gold bedroom, 2 in the pub, we even have 1 in the master bathroom.





 In addition we have 3 standing fans and 2 central air conditioning units, one for downstairs and one for upstairs.  But in spite of this it's hot!  It was 85 degrees in the house at midnight when we went to bed and 85 when we got up.  Granted we don't run the air conditioner at night, but 85 is awful, so tonight it'll probably run.

 It was 87 by noon, in the house, past 90 outside so the air conditioner is on already and the ceiling fan is spinning around over my head.  When someone asked the weather man last night when we might expect some relief he said mid-September, maybe.

Living Room

Pub

Family Room

Computer Room

White Bedroom

Stay Out of My House!

The Carolina Red Wasp is native to this part of the country killing caterpillars and not doubt doing other worthy jobs.

It is also known as a paper wasp chewing up bits of wood pulp to make their nests, which are all too frequently near people's houses.
For years I just ignored them and then last year I walked out the front door and got stung by one who had built a nest in a wreath on my door.  Normally this would have upset me but not too much.  Unfortunately my body decided after a 100 years of bee and wasp stings that enough was enough and I had serious reaction that caused me to go to an emergency clinic to be given antihistamines and a prescription for an EPI pen to be used in case of further stings.

So I've spent the last year being cautious outside and not using the front door a lot.  The wasps are still around, that's just a fact of life.  But yesterday things changed.  I was in the bathroom with my nose in a book when I  reached over for toilet paper without looking, at first.  I guess I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned to look.  There was a wasp on my toilet paper roll, I about had a heart attack, ran out yelling for Mac who quickly removed it.  Today he's been going around killing every wasp he can find.  No more Mr. Nice Guy!
You may be a paper wasp but you definitely don't belong on my toilet paper!

Paintings

Mac has finished a couple of small paintings, one of a Hummingbird and one of a Japanese Maple Tree.  They'll probably end up in our etsay shop, but for now they're hanging on my walls.

Cell Phones Redux

I still hate cell phones, still don't know my cell phone number, still just carry it in case of emergency and as I watch people with them I'm still  amazed.  I was out shopping yesterday and saw more than one Mom with her kids.  Was she talking to them, was she pointing things out to them?  Of course not, they were all talking on their cell phones.  One lady had a toddler crying in the front of her basket and a young boy at her side plaintively saying, "Mom, Mom", but to no avail, whoever she was talking to on the cell phone was more important.  Whatever she was talking about   was more important than her kids, how sad.
I've seen them at the beach, in parks, everywhere, talk, talk, talking, but not to their kids.  What's wrong with them?
I guess when the kids are older they can call them on their cell phones, maybe then they can talk.

Talk About Relaxed

The squirrels in our backyard are so relaxed that after eating all the birdseed out of the feeder on the back deck they just chill out on the railing waiting for us to refill it.  If I knock on the window they ignore me, if I open the door they'll leave, briefly.  But as far as they're concerned it's not a birdfeeder it's a squirrelfeeder and if I were doing my job correctly it would never empty.
Looking at these pictures Mac said he wasn't sure if the squirrel was eating the birdseed or smoking it.

We let the cat chase one of them up a tree one day, but it didn't scare him, he just sat up there chattering throwing empty pine cones down.  So I'm looking for suggestions as to how to make my backyard less squirrel friendly because when they're this relaxed you know it's not good.

Come and Gone

Our daughter flew in from Maryland Friday night, 2 hours late, bless her heart for putting up with flying through Atlanta to come and see us.  It was a hot, beautiful weekend that went too fast.  She left last night and was more than 2 hours late getting home, good old Atlanta again.
Saturday, we talked, ate fresh Georgia shrimp and barbqued ribs and for her birthday I made her a Key Lime Pie that turned out delicious, I had never made one before.

Saturday afternoon I tried to entice her into the pool, but she said absolutely not, she'd stay in the shade.
We watched a Netflix Saturday night,  The Young Victoria, is was quite good, I always try and have a movie that I don't think she'd get for herself, but that I think she'll enjoy and Young Victoria definitely fit the bill.

Sunday we went down to Savannah for brunch, it was very crowded, full of tourists and we had to search for a parking place..  We went to Huey's to eat, it's one of our favorite places.  Sadly the food was just so-so, but after eating we went and had gelato, Bailey's Irish Creme gelato which was heavenly.
All too soon it was time for her to fly home, each visit just reminds us how much we miss her.  When we retired we moved back here to the east coast to be closer to her, I wish we were even closer but I just can't deal with the cold winters she has up there.  So we'll just keep on using up Frequent Flyer Miles and seeing her as often as we can.

Daughters

There is nothing in the world better than having a daughter, I know because I have one and she is the best.
She was born in Bad Krueznach, Germany where we were living while, Mac was in the Army and we were stationed there.    At that time I thought I wanted a son,  and as there were no sonograms  I didn't know the sex of our baby, but I was convinced it was a boy and only picked out a boy's name.  And then came April our beautiful little girl.  Her Dad was thrilled, he'd wanted a daughter, and I quickly found out that having a daughter was wonderful.  Having had her I always said that if we had another baby I'd want another girl, just like her.
We enjoyed every age she was, the tiny little girl who looked so much like her Dad,  the little Fraulein who always had a smile , the horsemad little girl with her first pony , the college grad and the grown-up woman she is.  When others complained about their kids I'd just smile, I knew how lucky we were to have a daughter like her.
She's coming tonight, flying in, so we can celebrate her birthday tomorrow, and for me to say again how lucky we are to have her for a daughter.

Fish and Big Government (and small minds)

When we moved here , about 16 miles south of Savannah, 7 years ago, I thought I would spent the better part of my time fishing, especially with the lagoon in the back yard. Well, at first I did spent a lot of time fishing, crabbing and shrimping, but that has tailed off, not from lack of interest, I still spent a lot of time around the lagoon, but NOT fishing. I've come to the realization that  I indeed did enjoy fishing, but what I really enjoyed much more  was being somewhere to fish, being around water full of life, the beauty to the senses, the movement of life and the smells of nature. At this time of year the lagoon is bursting with life, not only in it, but the air above it is full of winged life, below the surface the little fry are shyly active, feeding and trying not to be an immediate  part of the food train.  In short fishing was just a way to get me around water. However I do fish now and then, sometimes every day, but only to see if I can outsmart the largemouth bass, that lurk around on the far shoreline. Sometimes I have to try and catch a large bass that has taken up a position that allows him to attack my sunfish when I feed them. Always catch and release.

 Which brings me to the title of this rant. A year or so ago Janet and I wanted to go up to the Great Smoky Mountain area, we could hike, paint, and I could try my hand at some long missed trout fishing. So I did my homework about the large park there, run by one of the states, or federal govt, or perhaps men in Black Helicopters armed with M-16s and high powered binoculars. For I learned the the only trout fishing allowed was by artificial lures and tied flies, basically the fish get nothing .....but hooked! They wouldn't even allow you to use any bait found on the very shoreline, or vegetation adjacent to the water, something I love to do, seems only fair to the fish, I give them a worm, pull them out gently put them back and they have something in their stomach. Considering it takes multiple worms, crickets, whatever to hook one, they get a meal of sorts, mana from heaven. Fed up with the smug riperian nazis, I delved farther into their web site, I guess what I found! One of their own reports detailed how the fish in this park could not maintain their population naturally, that it was necessary to introduce farm raised trout on a yearly basis. Reading further I found where they came to the conclusion that the fish were not reaching the neccessary maturity to breed, and why................... for the simple reason of MALNUTRITION...... I guess plastic and bird feathers do not a meal make!

Getting Old and Cranky

I know I''m getting old and cranky, little things bother me that I use to ignore.  Perhaps I've just gotten  more obsessed with hygene as I've  grown  older, God knows I've got friends who take every vaccination, vitamin and supplement  known to mankind as they grow older. Whatever the reason I'm tired of seeing people on TV who look like they need to wash their hair!  It's so distracting, I want to hold them down and give them a good shampooing. In addition their stringy, greasy hair really glares against their store bought white washed, bleached, and all but sand blasted teeth!  Their hair bothers me so much I forget what the movie, show or commercial is about.  Is dirty hair the new "in" look?  Did I not get the memo?  Should I stop washing mine all the time?
I think not, I think there's just a grungy bunch of idiots in Hollywood who thinks this is a great look.  Memo to them, "IT'S NOT!"  Go wash your hair!

Cleaning House, Again?

Yes, sad but true, I must clean house this week.  Our daughter is coming Friday to spend the weekend and celebrate her birthday,  and I must clean this place up before she gets here or she'll be looking to place us in Elder Care because we can't take care of ourselves any more.
But it's not that we can't take care of ourselves but rather that it's too hot to clean, I do a much better job of housekeeping in the other seasons.  And I'm particularly good at cleaning when we're going to have company.
In addition to our daughter a friend I haven't seen in years is coming to visit at the end of the month, we reconnected on Facebook last year and have been trying to get together ever since.  She and her husband have begun the process of adopting a child so I know her house is spotless (all those home visits) so I don't want her to go into dust shock when she gets down here.
I started upstairs today cleaning  the bedroom and bathroom our daughter  use and I'm now soggy, though I ran the air conditioner.  Unfortunately  that only cools it enough  if you sit very still, slowly lifting a glass of ice tea to your overheated lips and don't move.  If you actually do anything the sweat will pour.  So I'm on break now.
The attached picture is what happened to me last year when I attempted a real clean out last summer.

Well We Did It

It you read this Blog you know that our Miata died on us a couple of weeks ago as we were driving down the road.  Our car guy got it going again, said that there was a short somewhere in the electrical system and though they'd changed the fuse that it had blown they had been unable to find the short.  He said that next time it happened they wouldn't change the fuse and would stand a better chance of finding the short.   And let me tell you that was a very expensive fuse.  Considering the fact that we'd changed the engine in this car in 2005, its radiator in 2007,  that it needed a new roof (base price $1,000), that Mac wanted new low profile wheels (about $1600) and the fact that it was 11 years old we decided to start looking for a new Miata.  We went to our local dealer, but they wanted $25,000 once you added everything on, so we searched the Internet and found one we liked north of Atlanta (about a 4 hour drive) at a price we liked, asked our local dealer if they could match the price and I'll be darned, they could.  So Saturday we picked up our new car, looking not unlike our old car.  We're happy.  

Miss Kitty

I don't want to say that my cat is strange, but she's definitely different.  She love ice, the feel of it, the look of it and even better the sound of it.  Each day she waits for me to set some ice up on the stainless steel sink  (which means I do lots of scrubbing  on the sink) and she hops up to work with it.  She sniffs, she touches, she wacks it.  And once it lands in the sink she studies it some more watching it rattle around.

The first year we had her she take a nap holding an ice cube by her paw.  Strange, strange kitty.

Triathalon

I decided to start my own middle-aged Southern Triathalon.  I do these things every day and have decided I need some recognition.  Because I don't bike any more, we even gave away the recumbent bike I had to find an event to replace it.  So the first event will start with the 500 weed pull in the garden, the temperature must be at least 90 degrees with a humidity of at least 80%.  In addition to the 500 weeds pulled there must be a verified weight lose of 1 pound due to sweating.
The next part of the event is a 2 mile walk through partially shaded streets the majority of which may not have a breath of air.  You are allowed one bottle of water and your walking partner can not go and get the car to drive you home.
But the finale is the pool swim with a glass of sweet tea which may be consumed once you have dipped at least 75 leaves out of the pool.
That done I want my medal.

And the Lights Lit the Sky

I sat on the back deck and Mac lit the night sky.  Lots of fountains, tiny tanks attacking Godzilla and strobe lights galore.  I won't say there were any Roman Candles because they're illegal here in Georgia, but when they do go off they are spectacular .  I of course always have to have sparklers.
Mac says that he always remembers his Uncle Ekes letting off fireworks at their old house.  He also remembers his brother Ron and cousin Sharon sneaking fireworks back from Tijuana to let off in Malibu, quite illegally of course.
My best firework memory was of my Dad buying up a load in Missouri when we were on our way to Oklahoma to visit my Grandparents, we sat on their big old wrap around porch and he set off fireworks for what seemed like forever.  Watching the night sky light up, listening to cicadas and eating homemade ice cream.

I always enjoy the 4th, every town around had firework shows, Tybee Island does them out over the water, Savannah on the river and in Richmond Hill it's in the park.  Down the road from us is Fort McAllister and they always put on a show that includes cannon firing.  And to top it off the weather was perfect, hot enough to swim, but not too hot and low humidity.  Great weekend.

Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet

When I was growing up that's was what the Fourth of July was all about, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolets.  But I'm older now and the hot dogs are made out of turkey or tofu, the apple pie has to be gluten free and Chevrolet is in receivership.  So on our 4th we're having a fresh green salad, pasta salad, pork n' beans, barbequed chicken and ribs topped off by watermelon.
And when we wake up from our food coma we're letting off a ton of fireworks brought back from South Carolina.
Happy 4th of July to all my friends and family, hope it's a good one for you full of good food and those you love.

Why I Won't Be Doing Business With Bank of America Any Time Soon

We were over in South Carolina today and decided to pick up some fireworks for the Fourth of July.  Reaching the check-out counter Mac gave the lady there his Bank of America Mastercard, she ran it and the transaction was refused, how embarrassing!  They didn't take American Express and we couldn't use our Visa because they'd called us this week to verify some suspicious purchases using our card (they'd been made in Colorado) and we told them they weren't ours, so they stopped payment, told us to cut up our cards and they'd be sending new ones with a new number, so we paid cash for our purchase, but were still very embarrassed.
When we got home I called the 1-800 Customer Service number on the card, entered the card's number and found out that the account had been closed even though the expiration date on the card wasn't until late in 2011.  So I waited to talk to a Customer Service Rep who welcomed me as a long-time customer (we've had the card for years) and asked how he could help.  And I told him that according to their automated service that I wasn't a customer that my account had been closed and I wanted to know why.  He checked and said that unfortunately that was true, we hadn't used the card in a while so they'd closed the account.  I asked if they'd informed me of that fact and he said no, they didn't have the personnel to do that.  And I said so you just left me to try and use it and get embarrassed when it wouldn't work.  He said, well, it is on your statement that they have the right to close accounts that aren't used frequently.  I asked if that was in the small 1/16 of an inch print on the bottom of the statement, and he said that on the new statements it is in larger print.  He then offered to take down my credit information and reopen my account.  I told him I didn't like the way they did business and didn't want a card from them.
That was Bank of America Card Services doing business, but not my business.