In A Fit of Madness

In a fit of madness I mowed the lawn today, I figured if I could cut the flowering off the rye grass life might be easier for me.  And I think it will be, once I stop sneezing.
Beautiful day today, again in the 80's, much too warm for March, but they've promised us cooler weather for next week.
Sent SPQR back to the library, didn't finish it, read about 100 pages and realized it was telling more about Cicero and Catiline than I ever wanted to know.  There are things I would like to know about Rome, but this wasn't what I had in mind.
We started rewatching a movie we've seen before last night.  It's Gosford Park, directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame.  It's so good.  I think this is about the 3rd time we've watched it.
Time for lunch, roast chicken pasta salad.

Hello Spring Fever

Some of the pollen on our driveway.

Or is that spring allergies.  Don't get me wrong, I love spring, seeing the new plants coming up, seeing what survived the winter.  But I could do without the overload of pollen that we get here in the south.  It rained last night and now everything is covered in yellow pollen,  I walk out the door and start sneezing and my eyes start watering.  The pollen count all week is in the very high range.  It's predominantly tree pollen.  The worst offenders for me are the maple and oak trees which we have many of.  The pine trees are covered in pollen too, but the pollen spores are too large to cause most people problems.  The other thing I didn't know about is rye grass.  Well guess what we overseed our lawn in during the winter, rye grass and it's flowering now. I had no idea it could cause a problem.
I finished a couple more  of my library books,  Brooklyn and When Breath Becomes Air, good reads both.  Brooklyn a rather simple story of a young Irish girl who comes to America in the early 1950's.  She meets a young man and he falls in love with her, then she has to return to Ireland after the death of her sister.  It becomes rather complicated.
When Breath Becomes Air is the true, but sad story of a neurosurgeon who nears the end of his training, but is given a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Now I'm working on SPQR, a 600 page history of Rome.
In lighter news we're thinking about painting our kitchen cupboards.  They're a rather dated looking light color.  I don't want to stain them, but I would like to paint them a green color.
Here are some of the color choices I'm looking at.

Book Overload

As I've said many times I read a lot, and to save money I buy used books and check out e-books from the library.  We're 9 miles from the library so we save gas, time and money by checking books out electronically.  Unfortunately it's usually a bit of a wait to get the books I want.  They have loads of audio books, but I'm too hyperactive to listen to books, 10 things would distract me from listening.  So I put the books I want on hold and wait to move up the list to get them.  We're allowed to put 5 books at a time on hold.
At the beginning of January I put Finders Keepers by Stephan King, Brooklyn by Coln Toibin, SPQR by Mary Beach, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanighi and The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende on my hold list.  Well guess what, after waiting almost 2 months they became available, all of them at the same time.  I now have 14 days to read them all.
So I've been plowing through them.  I read while I eat, but I don't usually use my Kindle, just a regular book because I don't want to get messy fingerprints all over my screen.  But time being of the essence I've put away the paperback I'd started, The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett and started reading all my e-books.
I finished Finders Keepers, it's a follow up to Mr. Mercedes and I liked it better, I usually "enjoy" Stephen King books, he knows what frightens me.
I then read The Japanese Lover and really enjoyed it, I know I need to read more Isabel Allende books.
And now I'm reading When Breath Becomes Air, it's not a long book, but not one you can rush through.
Next up will be Brooklyn and then SPQR.
That's what's ahead for me for a while.

Five on Friday

Tis' Friday again, I'm beginning to think there's more than one of them in each week.  This week some of the bunnies decided that you should see how they navigate around this house after dark, because it really gets dark with all the high ceilings and few outdoor lights.  Though bunnies eat lots of carrots that are full of vitamin A they still need some help seeing in the dark so we have lots of nightlights.  They're  just for the bunnies, I don't need nightlights, I'm not afraid of the dark.

The First nightlight is in the hallway bathroom, it's a froggy and I gave him to Mac for Christmas to put in this bathroom because it's the one he usually uses.

The next light is under the desk in the living room.  The living room has 20 foot ceilings and only 2 narrow windows, it truly gets dark at night. It's a teacup and our daughter gave them to me as a gift one year.

The Third light is in the master bathroom and it's a bear.

The Fourth one is in the hallway upstairs, no windows so it's really dark at night.  It's another teacup.

The last light isn't a nightlight, but rather a small lamp we keep on in the upstairs bathroom any time we have guests staying over.

That's my Five on Friday, hope you visit Amy at Love Made My Home and all the other bloggers who are participating.

Mid-Week Ramblings

It's Wednesday and it's going to be hot today, not warm, hot.  Our morning walk found the temperatures nearing 70º already.  Hope it doesn't get too much warmer I want to work in the yard today, the house can pass the day by manufacturing more dust for me to deal with.
Laundry is on the line, ran out of line and my poor socks are hanging on the railing of the deck.
Yesterday was taken up with doctor's appointments.  I had to see my optometrist to get new glasses and contact lenses.  My prescription hasn't changed, as I said to the doctor how much more far-sighted can you get, but my glasses are about 5 years old and a bit wonky.  So I picked out new frames,  and paid enough money to support a family in a 3rd world country for a couple of years.  My contacts will come in quickly, my glasses will take a while, I have a really intricate prescription.
While I waited to pick out glasses and have them fitted I watched a young mother struggling with about an 18 month old little boy who wasn't the least bit interested in having glasses and I wondered how she planned to keep them on him.  I've worn glasses since I was about that old and my daughter since she was 3 so I know what an adventure that can be.
I talked about that with the girl fitting me and she said she struggles to get her son to wear his glasses because kids tease him about them.  When I was teaching I had a little boy who I knew wore glasses, but wasn't wearing them to school so I called his mother and she assured me he was leaving home with them.  Turned out he was hiding them in a tree on the way to school and picking them up on the way home.
In addition to my appointment Miss Kitty had a veterinarian appointment because of a lump she had on one of her  back legs.  It didn't bother her, we could squeeze it, but it bothered us.  So while I saw the eye doctor she saw the vet.  Turned out it was just a run of the mill cyst, vet drained it and sent her on her way.  They did say she needs a teeth cleaning, at the price of $200, so that's not going to happen, she'll have to get some tartar reducing dry food.
So that was our day yesterday, today it's weeds.

Monday, Monday

The Honk and the Honkette, we usually get a pair each year
sometimes they nest on the island in the lagoon.

\Up with the birds, euphemistically speaking, and out for our 2 mile walk before breakfast.  Beautiful day!  Should be in the lower 80's before the end of the week, not too shabby for March.
We don't eat a big breakfast, unless we're going out for breakfast, here at home it's toast, coffee and orange juice.
Then it's housework time, whichever penance  I've chosen for the day--today it was the blinds in the master bedroon and bathroom, then the floors.
Next was piano practice, I really enjoy Baroque piano music, Handel, Purcell, Telemann, Scarlatti.
Then it was aerobics time, got to workout to  Copperhead Road by Steve Earle (and boy if that doesn't get you moving), That Smell by Lynyard Skinner, You're 16 by Ringo Starr and Sunday, Bloody Sunday by U2.
Watching Qi this week we learned where fat goes when you lose weight and it's not where you think. The fat is metabolized into a gas and you breathe  it out---how weird is that!
My 3 books for this week are Finders Keepers by Stephan King--it an e-book from the library--, Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment, told from 3 points of view--the elderly Alex who is doing illuminated pages of their FBI records, Ruth who is trying to sell their Manhattan Coop and Dorothy their dachshund whose back legs are suddenly paralyzed, and Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.  The last one is a satire, but I think I would have appreciated more when I was in my 20's than I do now.
That's how my week is starting, how's yours?

Sunday Quickie

Just a quickie to say my sister is doing better and may get out of the hospital in a couple of days.  They need to stabilize her sugar and oxygen levels.  Thanks for all your kind words.

Sunny Saturday

The Azaleas are so pretty this year!

Sunny but cool today, just enough nip in the air to remind us it's March, still winter.  Vacuumed the stairs today, it's so much fun, I wish we had more steps---NOT!  Is there an easy way to vacuum stairs without your back having a hissy fit?  If there is I haven't found it yet.  Did a little bit more on my puzzle.  I gave my sister-in-law a 1500 piece puzzle for Christmas and she said it was a bit of work, but she got it done.  I can't stick with it long enough to get much done, it's going to take a while to finish it.  Right now I'm enjoying crocheting more than working on puzzles.
My older sister is in the hospital, we're not close, but I do worry about her, hope they can get her straightened out, she's having breathing problems.  Did I say she's a life-long smoker and has diabetes?  Well, you get the picture.
Changed my header, again, one of Mac's paintings, but it's a copy of an English watercolor, can't remember exactly where it came from.  He doesn't like to to copy, but sometimes he'll do it for me.  He did this big one in oils and it hangs over our bed.  He also did a small one in oil and I did one in watercolors.

Five on Friday

Another month, another Friday, so it's time to join Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.
We've had a beautiful week here with temperatures mostly up in the 70's with lots of sunshine.  Last night brought thunderstorms and cooler temperatures.  The sun is trying to break through and then it will be warmer this weekend with promises of 80º weather by the middle of next week.
Two weeks till St. Patrick's Day and then just 12 days till Easter, I don't like it when they come so close together, I like my holidays spread out.
With that said, here's what's looking Eastery around here.

First are the daffodils, they've been blooming since December and now I have them in 3 different colors.

One is all yellow, one yellow and gold and one white with yellow,

Second is my table set for Easter, who knows, we might even eat there.

Third is my Easter Egg Plate.

Fourth is my new bunny who we put out by the front door with a basket of eggs.

And Fifth is the Easter Wreath on my door.

Just for fun I'm throwing in the Easter critters sitting on the couch in the living room, someone should use it,  the only time we do is at Christmas time.

We're off to pick up some Chinese food that Mac's been craving.  That's about the least Easter sounding food I can think of unless you count Egg Foo Young or Egg Rolls.  Have a great weekend.

The Down Side of Sunshine

Are we having fun yet?

Woke up this morning to a beautiful day, the sun was shinning, the sky was blue, birds were singing and every bit of dust and debris in my house was dancing in the sunshine.  UGH!  Had to dust the blinds, clean window sills, sweep floors, dust everything, vacuum, sweep behind the couch after dusting the blinds.  What a terrible way to start the day.  My back says I should have left the blinds closed.
Just finished reading a rather sad, bittersweet book that  Marianne of Let's Read recommended, My Wish List by Grégoire Delacourt a French writer.  It's the story of Jocelyn and Jo who live in the French town of Arras; a quiet life, their 2 children are grown, he works in a factory and she runs a fabric store.  Then Jocelyn wins the French lottery, €18,000,000 and it scares her, she hides the check while she thinks about what she should do.  She makes lists, she worries and her worst worries come true.  A bittersweet story, not very long, 163 pages long.  It makes you think about what is really important in life.
Back's feeling better and I have one more room to vacuum.  No rest for the wicked.

Super Tuesday

Well that's what they call it, I'm not so sure.  We did our civic duty and voted for anyone who was not Donald Trump.  Then we went for a walk in the sun and fried my little brain.  We voted at the local government offices which sit in our new local park so we decided to do our daily walk there.  We took the route that went around a lake which was full of large mouth bass and turtles.  What it wasn't full of was shade, no trees sat near it and at 12:00 noon it was really hot out there, probably around 78º and in the clear air it felt even warmer.  So at the end of the walk I was red-faced and tired.  Been tired ever since.
Tomorrow we'll do our shady morning walk and then I'll have to read how Donald Trump is going to be the nominee of the Republican party, EW!