Grumpy Old Lady Time

Woke up this morning  more tired than I went to bed, 3 cups of coffee and a coke and at least my eyes are open.  We decided it's the allergy pills I've been taking.  I try to avoid any extra medication, I take so many regularly, but my allergies had reached the point where my eyes were threatening to leave home and take my sinuses with them.  So I've been taking an antihistamine for about 10 days now.  My eyes and sinuses are happy, but the rest of me is wrung out.  I'll have to try an every other day regime.

Called my mail order pharmacy because instead of sending my lovely capsules for blood pressure they sent me big white horse pills. I asked why and after listening to an interlude or really bad elevator music the pharmacist said my doctor had ordered it because they were extended release and that if I wanted the capsules back I'd have to talk to him.  So before I talk to my doctor I'm going to try and swallow one tonight.

Next whinge,  why oh why do they put metal handles on pots and lids!  My hands are tired of me forgetting to grab a pot holder and ending up burning my hand.

Enough whining, it's a beautiful day and I've had a swim and I'm almost feeling human, hope you are too.

10 Random Things on a Saturday

Yesterday Amy at Love Made My Home posted a 10 Random Things on Friday and said we could join in.  Well I'm feeling pretty random so I'll join in.

First of all is the weather.  As summers go in the south this hasn't been a particularly hot one.  More days in the 80's than the 90's.  But oh it's been humid, some days sitting at 99% humidity according to our barometer and today is one of those days.

Second, We were supposed to paint Miss Kitty's bathroom today, but after breakfast when we were supposed to get started we looked at each other and collectively said, "NO", neither of us was in the mood for painting.

Third Fat Bottomed Girls (by Queen)  to Long Cool Woman  in a Black Dress ( by The Hollies) was the gamut on my MP3 player yesterday when I worked out.  And I'm much closer to being a fat bottomed girl than a long cool woman.

Fourth, we saw Queen years ago when Freddie Mercury was still alive, quite a show.

Fifth, Cleaning old meat out of the freezer and making a pork stew, added a ham hock for Mac, I don't particularly like them, but he's not crazy about zucchini and I put some of that in so it all balances out.

Sixth, Got a card from my husband's cousin Isabel, she's the only person who ever writes to us.  She's 85 and still traveling the world.  She's getting ready to fly from San Francisco to Toronto, Canada and on to Venice, Italy where she with join her cruise ship to cruise the Adriatic and  at the end of the cruise she's going to spend some time in Athens, Greece.  She is amazing.  Mac wondered how much luggage she takes with her because she is the most elegant lady we know.

Seventh I picked up a new shade of blonde to color my hair, will be doing it tomorrow.  Hope it's not too light, but I need to color that gray some way.  I can live with wrinkles, my eye sight is so bad I hardly see them, but gray hair is another story.

Eighth I've stopped doing German on Duolingo, I'm tired of sorting out the Der, Die, Das.  Instead I'm working on my Spanish as a trip to Spain seems to be in our future.  I appreciate that if you have to have gender articles you should give me a clue to which to use.  I appreciate that Spanish says, with some exceptions, if it ends in o it's masculine, if it ends in a it's feminine.  If I were in charge of languages I'd have one word for the, whether it was masculine, feminine, neuter or plural.

Ninth I'm reading a book, Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray, set in an expensive Irish boy's school.  It keep alternating between being quite funny and quite depressing.  I don't know which will win out in the end.

Tenth We're almost through July, most of the way through summer, except that summer lasts through October here.  Oh well, it was nice swimming this morning and I realized that they are only 149 days till Christmas.

If you're feeling random join in.

Pronouncing English Names

We were rewatching a favorite Midsomer Murders last night, Blood Wedding.  It deals with murder among the upper class and DS Jones mispronounces a name, Colquhoun, saying something like Cokiehound and of course they had to correct his pronunciation while looking down their nose at him, so he continued to mispronounce it.  We roared.
It reminded us of a Wodehouse Theater episode, Strychnine in the Soup, where there is a character named Lester Mapledurham, pronounced Mum.
A year or so ago when when we were in London doing a Jack the Ripper tour the tour guide asked what part of London we were staying in and we said Southwark, pronouncing all parts of the word, he corrected our pronunciation saying that's not how we pronounce it, in a rather smug way.  Later on he was checking off names to make sure everyone was there and his mispronounced our last name, and Mac said that's not how we pronounce it and told him how to.  The tour guide said Touche'.

Some of This, Some of That

It's Monday, it's hot, it's July, what can I say.  Should start cooling off here some time around the end of October.  Mac keeps checking the Almanac on line to see if the sun is going down sooner and of course minute by minute it is.  He could tell you what time the sun is setting each day.
Morning walk was
done and a quick dip in the pool before breakfast. Load of white laundry done, 21 washrags and 23 socks, had to be missing at least one or it wouldn't be official laundry.
Loved the British Open yesterday, got really worried for a while and turned it off, Swiffered the floors, turned it back on and watched the last 4 holes.  WOW!  What a finish.
We had a shrimp salad for lunch yesterday with homemade Thousand Island Dressing.  The shrimp were heavenly and as always I asked why we didn't have shrimp more often.
Today it's going to be chicken kabobs.  Nothing too heavy, too hot for that.
Today is National Cousin Day.  I've lost touch with all my first cousins, we're scattered around the country and one's too weird to be in contact with.  I do have a 2nd and a 3rd cousin, or is that a cousin twice removed and a cousin 3xs removed, that I stay in touch with.  We reconnected through Ancesty.com.   It's funny that all 3 of us are or were teachers, no one else in our families were or are.
It's also National Tequilla Day, a drink for the strong of heart, though a nice Margarita on a hot day wouldn't be remiss.
Mac's outside talking to his weed whacker.  He says he needs one that doesn't break the string every 5 minutes.
I'm going upstairs to talk to a puzzle I've been neglecting, I'll probably melt.

Saturday in the Swamp

Not quite so slothy today, I managed to clean the kitchen and finish my afghan.  No more big projects of any kind for a while.  I have a book of one skein projects and I think I'll do something from it instead.
I enjoyed my slow day yesterday.  That's the best part of being retired, no commitments and nothing you really have to do,  just check yourself into Chez Couch and relax, it's so nice.
Just finished another Joe Slider mystery Dead End by Cynthia Harrods Eagles.  She writes the Morland family saga I'm reading---starting in the 1400's no less--and one set during the First World War.  Both of those are very serious and I enjoy them tremendously.  The Bill Slider mysteries, while still being quite serious, have added dashes of humor that I'm really enjoying.
Off to exercise.

A Sloth Day

I've had such  a lazy day.  Had I  moved any slower sloths would have left me in t h e dust.  Not tired, just unmotivated.   Mac, bless his heart, cleaned the kitchen for me, even swept the floor.
I sat on the couch, crocheted and watched the British Open, go Speith.
Now I'm ready for a nap.

Christmas Present/Birthday Present

It took about 9 months to complete.  It missed its first deadline, it was supposed to be a Christmas present.  But it made it for the second one and turned out to be a good gift.  Our daughter loved it.  I picked it because it looked like an Arthur Rackham illustration and she loves Arthur Rackham.
Now if I can only finish the afghan I've been working on forever I can start my next cross-stitch--if it doesn't blind me.

A Rainy Day in Georgia

Rained off and on all weekend, more than an inch yesterday.  Saturday, the non regular mail person left out mail out in the rain.  Too much to fit in the mailbox, too far I guess to bring it to to door so he laid it against the garage where it got soaked including a gift and a letter that needs to go to my doctor😞, I'm not happy.

But what's a girl to do on a rainy day, why read of course.  And I'm reading an old favorite, Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill.  I've read it a couple of times, it's about the joys of rereading our own books.  Something that I do regularly.  I only keep books that I plan on rereading.
Went upstairs to look through my bookcases and to see what books I reread regularly.








Easily my favorite rereads are my Agatha Christie mysteries, I've read most of them several times.  Mac recently gave me a vintage one,  Cards on the Table and since I haven't read it in a while it will be among my next rereads.

Another group I regularly reread are my Georgette Heyers, no one does Regency novels better and I love her mysteries too.  In fact I think I might just be in the mood for one of them soon.

A series that I regularly reread is Jack Whyte's Camulod series that begins with The Skystone.  This is one of the best series about King Arthur I've ever read and I'm a King Arthur junkie.

I also regularly reread Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time, her book about Richard III.  My favorite English King and so badly treated in most books.

My favorite family series and I love to read family chronicles, is Elizabeth Goudge's Elliot family.  This begins with Pilgrim's Inn.  Although I'm currently rereading The Chadwick Family chronicles and they're a favorite too.

And a frequent reread is Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue.  It's about the development of the English language.  When I get to wondering why English is such a strange language I reread this one.

What books do you reread?

Saturday in the Swamp

Morning swim and it did feel good, later in the day the water will be too warm to cool you off.  The other day I dipped 24 moths out of the pool. I theorize that they had a ball and got to worn out to leave.  Saved some.

It's Friday

To all the working folk TGIF, I know my daughter feels that way.  She's off to celebrate her birthday weekend in Nagoya, Japan.  We'll Skype her Tuesday and she'll open her birthday presents we sent.
Things went well at the Dermatologist.  What I thought was an ugly black mole turned out to be an ugly brown Seborrheic keratose.  So she quickly whipped out the liquid nitrogen and burned it off.
Yesterday was a low energy day, little was done except survive the heat.
Today is hot again, but we started the air conditioning earlier and I have a bit more energy.
Mac took a bunch of photos out in the yard so I thought I'd share some.

This is a Zebra butterfly.  They're a tropical and use to just be an occasional  visitor, but now they're always here.  They love the Lantana.

This is a long-tailed Skipper, it's a native.

Another native, the Gulf Fritillary

Not my favorite lizard, it's a 3-line skink, I prefer the little green anoles.

Mac got me an Arbor for Christmas and put it out in the garden this spring.  We now have Morning Glories and Wisteria growing on it.

Out in the lagoon Mac has his Armored Battalion and he keeps them well fed.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Midweek Already

My week is running away from me.  Can't remember Monday at all.  Tuesday was spent with what Lord Emsworth would call a bit of a rummy tummy, though unlike the Empress I have not been eating blancmange.  Also had a killer backache.  I was trying to decide if my back was upsetting my tummy or was my tummy upsetting my back.  Today is much better on both counts.
Today I was putting up the laundry I did yesterday which included my arch enemy a fitted sheet.  I've tried everything to learn how to fold them so they'd fit in the linen closet---yes Martha I tried your method--  and now I've decided that what I really need to make them lay flat is a giant panini press.
Just finished making a pasta salad to go with lunch today.  I have an appointment with my dermatologist, also known as Melisandre of the flaming sword.  I wasn't due to go till next month but I have a rather strange looking mole she needs to see.  Even Mac noticed it.  So I decided not to wait.
It's been reasonably hot here only upper 80's to about 90, but that's over and it's back up to the mid-90's now.
Off to play my new opera piano book, it's quite difficult so very slow going.  It's called Opera for the Piano, but a number of people complained in their reviews of it that it had no lyrics.  Well, the last time I checked my piano doesn't sing.  If I wanted lyrics I'd have ordered Opera for Voice.

Sunday in the Swamp

The end of a hot week in the swamp.  Not a bad week, other than sitting in the waiting room at the the doctor's for more than an hour waiting to get my B-12 shot.  They'd listed me for a doctor's appointment instead of a nurse visit.  The nurse apologized, but I think I'm going to go back to the local Minute Clinic for my shots from now on.
We've had a bit of rain each day which is helpful, the weeds love it, but it does cool the pool down a bit.
I mowed the lawn today, something I enjoy doing as long as I remember to not smile while doing it.
Took some pictures of Miss Kitty, she definitely knows how to handle the heat.

Elephants

Yesterday Lea at Cici's Corner posted a question and answer piece that I thought I might do, but I got hung up on the first question and knew that's what I wanted to write about.  The question:  What's your favorite animal?
I love bears and buffaloes are right up there, but at heart my favorite animal is the elephant.  Always has been, going back to when we were in high school and for my birthday Mac gave me a stuffed elephant with his class ring on a chain around its neck.
Then about 14 years ago he took me away for a weekend and gave me another elephant with a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring on a chain.

The first elephant is long gone, our daughter played it to death.  But the second elephant is still here, along with a couple of friends.

This week Mac painted an elephant and I fell in love with it, so he's going to paint one for me too.
I may get around to the rest of those questions one day.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Ninety-eight yesterday and it's at least that hot today if not hotter.  Morning swim was nice, afternoon swim not so much.
Had to have the bugman out for an in-between spraying, he says everyone's having problems with bugs wanting to come in out of the heat.  My house is not that cool, but they're coming in anyway.
Ordered a new book to play, Opera for the Piano, late intermediate to advanced and it's hard.  I'm enjoying it, but it makes my head ache sometimes.
Saw a pretty good movie this week Tomorrowland with George Clooney and Hugh Laurie.  An interesting take on how much of the future is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And finished another book, Among Schoolchildren by Tracy Kidder, written in 1988, but just as true today.  He observed a fifth grade classroom for a year.  It's a school in Massachusetts that had just been integrated and there are loads of Puerto Rican children.

This could have been my class except the kids were Mexican and 3rd grade.
It was mentioned how hard student teaching is and the need to learn how to manage student behavior, something you only learn after you become a teacher..  I was lucky, before I became a teacher I was  an aide in special ed.  and worked with students ranging from learning disabilities to behavioral disorders to physically handicapped.  When I got my own class it almost seemed easy.  Good book.

Hot

It was 95º yesterday and it feels worse today.  The pool was hot, not refreshing at all, even with a hat on I got a headache.
Had my B-12 shot this morning, after waiting an hour and a half--GRRRRRR.  Don't have any energy at all.
Thought I'd tell you about an interesting little book I read last week--

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson.  It's the story behind the making of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.  

It gives the background on Truman Capote who wrote the book it was based on, Audrey Hapburn who starred in it, Blake Edwards who directed it, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer who wrote Moon River for it and the birth of the little black dress.
I read about this book on someone's blog, please forgive me for not giving credit, but I just can't remember who's it was.  Anyway it sounded like a good read and it was.
It was fascinating reading about how the book, which was considered unadaptable because of its subject matter--a call girl, a gay protagonist and an unhappy  ending--could ever be made into a movie that middle class America would go see.
I've only seen parts of the movie, now I want to see it all and to read Capote's original novella.

Happy Fourth of July

It has been a hot, lovely fourth and it didn't rain for the first time in forever.  Mac decorated outside and it looks good.  I fixed our Low Country Boil and it was beyond delicious.  I was so stuffed that all I could do was stretch out on the couch and have Happy Hour.
Tonight it's Root Beer Floats.  For those who don't know that's a large glass, I have huge ones, of root beer and a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Hope your 4th was good too.

On Sunday

As opposed to Never on Sunday, one of my all time favorite movies.  It's hot, just flat out hot.  We only did part of our walk this morning and then came home and jumped in the pool.  That's going to have to be the order of the day until it cools down some.
Below is a selection of my summer time hats, that plus a couple of baseball caps, I never go outside without something on my head.  Not even when I hang out clothes.  I even swim in a hat.

Our Confederate Rose handled being moved over to the pool well, it's been blooming ever since.

Yesterday I started making placemats to go on the table outside.  Had to get outdoor fabric that can take the rain and now I need some plastic dishes.  I see a Dollar store visit in my future.

Not much cooking going on, too hot in the kitchen so we'll share a steak, baked potatoes and a salad.
We'll be pigging out on the 4th when we do a Low Country Boil and have RootBeer Floats.   Hope you're having a good weekend.