Cuckoo

Couldn't help myself or have said it better.

Challenge

Hey Kids! Have you ever noticed how life sometimes just comes up and swoops you away?

July is almost here and I don't know what the heck happened to June.  No time to write, well, actually, I could have been blogging but I got caught up in Netflix show, Bloodline! What a train wreck! I'm ashamed to say, I couldn't turn it off. Maybe it was because I kept waiting for someone to slap four of the characters.

July is booked.

This weekend our grandson and his Kate are getting married...long time coming! We're thrilled for them. Later, a granddaughter will be coming to visit from Massachusetts, then she and I will head to visit family in L.A.  (beach...beach...beach!)

August will be here before we know it.

I have a challenge for any of you photo-bloggers, or any one who just wants to play.  It's a 52 week photo challenge.

Photo Courtesy of TECHRADAR

Techradar has a suggestion for each week and advice on how to accomplish it.

I'm going to jump in and take the challenge.

The suggestions look like fun. Not #11! I have an instant gag-reflex if I look at it. Could be my astigmatism but the room starts spinning just taking a little peek.

Anyone want to play?

It's Okay Tuesday

 

Amber got the It's Okay idea from Glamour magazine. Amber is the host at Airing My Laundry, One Post At A Time,

Lots of OKAY going on this week, personally. Lots of 'not okay' going on in the bigger world, but It's Okay, if this one day, I choose to shut it out.


It's Okay that it only cooled down to 80 degrees last night.  Uber hot weather today means the sidewalks and asphalt are too hot to walk the dogs. That's Okay because it's too hot for me to be out there, too.


It's Okay that it's supposed to be 111 degrees today because I have a pool and ice cold beer. It's Okay that my personal goal is to resemble a drunk prune at the end of the day. A cool drunk prune.

It's Okay that being in the water causes our fingers to 'prune up'! Our bodies designed it so it is easier to grip things...like bottles of 805 and a good summer novel.

It's Okay if I sit in the pool and read for awhile. I've got a hat, my phone will be in reach and the beer will be in a cooler across the pool, so I can call it exercise!

It's Okay that we will be eating a salad for dinner. It's good for us and the cook may be too sloshed and pruney to use a gas stove. It's Okay that it will be too dang hot to turn on the oven.

Photo Courtesy of Pitara

It's Okay to float on my back, every part of my body immersed in cool water except my mouth and nose, because I can hear nothing but my heart beat and my lungs at work.

If anyone needs me today, you can find me here.

 Have an Okay Day, ya'll!

Too Hot To Type

104 in my front yard. The huge tree shades the entire front of house.

108 in my backyard by noon.

78 in my pool. Guess where I'll be this afternoon!

Too hot to type. Projected high temperature for the day is 112....Got. To. Get. To. Pool.

One Of Those Good Days

The weatherman is warning that we may reach 112 degrees tomorrow, the low tonight is supposed to be 78; 77 if you choose to believe the weather app on my IPhone.

Let's not talk about tomorrow. Today was only 103 degrees approximately 4 miles east of home. Up the hill from home it was 101 and home (Home Sweet Home) was only 100! The low last night was 72 here at the house. Good for heating up the pool water but those temps demand the folding and putting away of the top quilt. Washing and storing of the bottom quilt along with the flannel sheets...bye flannel sheets. Welcome back bamboo sheets, welcome back.

We hit the highway early this morning, headed to the mountains. Frank taught a photography class way, way up where the temperature dare not exceed high 80's. Wonderful. Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta were bright and shiny, still wearing most of their winter white coats. The snow melt has the rivers flowing fast and high. The Pit River was just barely missing the bottom of one of the bridges. So good to see after such a long, dreadful drought.

His class was huge, almost 30 people! That's big for small town classes.  I passed on the class. Shot some flowers, did some reading in the cool-ish mountain air and painted my nails!

The drive home was beautiful. There is absolutely nothing better for the soul than a ride in the mountains, unless, of course, it's camping or living in the mountains!

Coming back to the furnace that is Redding, we ran into an old friend. She is now the manager of one of the large chain stores in town. She trained under Frank when he managed a Thrifty's another lifetime ago.  What a treat to see her and catch up on life. 

We made a quick stop at home to let Lily and Rex out for a quick potty break. Redding is not a town where pets can be outside in the middle of the day. 

Headed to our great-granddaughter's birthday party. Three years old! Yes, Really!  Good party. Lots of Littles, lots of Bigs, even some In-Betweeners! Some old friends and some new friends. Best of all, there were misters. Glorious, cooling misters.

Screw all the blow drying it took to get my hair straight this morning! The mist and bubble blower made it seem like it was only 80 degrees. It was heaven.

Also, my sister-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday JT!

Yup, it was a good day.

Tomorrow? Well, we'll see!

Rules

Sisters, are you tired of being told what we should and shouldn't do, especially when the rules are directly related to our age or weight? Me, too!

It's the hardest when the person who thinks they are the 'boss of me' is a woman who is thirty years younger than I am. It's bad enough that there are a whole lot of rich old white men who want to rule my body, but, women (?), really?


A friend sent me the following link. I think most of you will love it. I concur with her philosophy 100%.

Warning: Curves Ahead

To be honest, I did visit the post referred to in the link above. I was appalled when it advised women over 30 not to wear non-matching socks! Is there any other kind?  I immediately shut it down and refuse to link to such a shallow-minded article.

All I Really Need To Know...

By Linda Harris

What About You

Yesterday I was sitting in a waiting room; magazines were all a hundred years old. Almost bored to tears, I decided to clear my IPhone of ancient stuff.

As I cleared my 'Notes' which frankly consisted mostly of grocery lists and things to take my folks in 2015 and 2016, this little item jumped out.

An article, Mille Femmes, from the March 2016 edition of Good Housekeeping, which I probably read in some other waiting room. The note I have asks,

"How do you see yourself in one single word?"

"Is there one single moment of your life that encapsulates your core being?"

Wheels started turning.

Then, this morning on Facebook, Janis Ian asks this question?

Let's send some happy energy to dear old Socrates and practice a little self-examination.

For me:

Single word: Mother

I choose 'Mother' because it is not just a word, there is a depth to it, a meaning that does not just relate to my relationship with my three children, but to the world.

Single moment: WARNING: CRAZY LADY AHEAD. PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Many years ago, sitting in the kitchen at the ranch, my friend asked me a question. I didn't have an answer. I don't even recall the question, but I do remember walking down to one of the dams to think.

Sitting on a large stone, looking out at the valley, a small village appeared where there were only cows and oaks. The village kind of vibrated in and out of vision, each time it appeared it was a little different. In between appearances, the valley itself changed, evolved.

I'm not sure how long I sat there but I was overcome with the knowledge that linear Time really is just an illusion. I have (rarely) been able to astral travel but never forward or backward in time, only to other places experiencing a horizontal time. (Yes, I have had my medication today!)  The feeling that 'All' was happening at the same 'time' was overwhelming, if not happening at the same time, at least past and future events were accessible.

Encapsulating my core being? Yes, my friends, you can answer, 'WooWoo'!

Now, having written that, I am sure I will never qualify for a concealed weapons permit, or to run for public office.  Crap!

How old would I be if I didn't know how old I am?

As old as the universe, an infant and, oh, let's say 41!

So, before the guys with the white jacket get here, share with us your single word, single moment and your inner age!

It's Okay Tuesday!

Amber at Airing My Laundry discovered this idea in Glamour magazine.

I don't post every Tuesday. Not because things are not okay but sometimes things are so okay that there is no time to post!  Other times, things are not okay.

This past two weeks have been a bit of both, but that's life, isn't it?

It's Okay that almost every waking moment is full and demanding. We are trying to make plans for the care of our parents. That's okay because we love them and want them to have quality in their lives and a certain degree of independence.

It's Okay that we are planning the Great Coffee Table Conspiracy of 2017. The folks coffee table is dangerous. It doesn't bite or anything like that, it's just a falling hazard. Mom agreed to having it go but she doesn't like change (that's okay, too) but this time we are going to 'act', not just "think about it!"

It's Okay that I am spending the money and time I would typically pay for therapy to transform the backyard.

It's Okay that I have stripped the backyard of lawn,  moved thousands of rocks, placed weed cloth down and moved thousands of rocks (plus some) onto weed cloth.

Dirt on pool deck is from capping off sprinkler head.  Yay!

It's okay that I dug a ditch, lined it with weed cloth, filled it with good soil (bye-bye crabgrass) and planted Agapanthas to line the rocks.

It's Okay that I built a hill in the curve and filled it with succulents.

It's Okay that the work is going slow. It is not okay to work in the yard when the temperature is 95 plus.

It's Okay that I drove a friend up to an Ashland hospital last week for a total knee replacement. Once we were there, IV in arm, all prepped, the surgery was cancelled! We ended up having a wonderful day wandering through beautiful Ashland, enjoyed a great lunch.





















It's Okay that the drive, both back and forth, through the mountains was beautiful and the conversation stimulating (and filled with good humor).

It's Okay, no matter what, that I have good friends, who are there for me and make some tough times easier to march through and don't mind when things are not okay.

Laughs, tears, celebrations or stresses, they are there to say, "It's Okay!" (Tuesday or not!)

Jeopardy: In So Many Ways