Watcha doing today?

[snapshotmiki]

@Littlesister, I've tried the strawberry Dr Pepper.  That is good.  I will have to try the coconut!  Thanks!

Good deal on your harvest @Becca_Anne!  I have gotten my first two tomatoes.  Woohoo!

 

Bo and I already walked.
I get a haircut at 1 pm.
I'm going to find some stuff to do today.

[Littlesister]

My weeds can wait until cooler weather. I can't handle this kind of heat.  Waiting for Neighbor to get back from the doctor. She went with another neighbor as they both go to the same one.  Then we are going to post office to buy stamps. They are going up end of month again, so going to buy a roll of them. 

Mt. Rider, enjoy the cool weather, though you don't need to be stingy with it. Send some my way. I'll even take the snow. It's getting really hot here. Don't know what the index factor is yet. 

Working in house for a bit this morning getting things put away where they belong. And now the devil has hit the floor. Yes, he's up and in kitchen making another mess. One thing I haven't been able to teach him yet is how to clean up behind himself. That is a work of art in progress. I will wait till he leaves for work and then go clean up kitchen again. Need to go out to garage and move all the empty boxes to one place and finish breaking those down. I keep adding more boxes to the pile as I go through them to empty. Will need to make a trip to Good will soon also. 

[Jeepers]

Do they have recycle dumpsters over there Littlesister? All of our schools and churches and some businesses have them over here. Our elementary school has a huge one like you could put furniture in. All they ask is you flatten the boxes so they don't fill up the dumpster too fast. I just slice through the tape on the bottom of the box and they fold down flat. My drugstore on the corner has two of them. I keep a small box for junk mail and when it gets full, I dump it in the dumpster. It helps to tame the amount of trash I have to bag up and throw away. I'm not one of those 'greenie' types but I like to move trash out and I do get a lot of cardboard boxes. Saves filling up my trash bags too. You might do a drive by at some of your schools to see if they have any sitting out.  

[The WE2's]

Just finished dishes, did the vacuuming yesterday, got the bedroom window sealed up with refectice (sp?)...now for a break!  Garden is looking really good, but a couple of my tomato plants (patio type) not doing too good.  The Big Boy, the  two variety of cherry tomatoes and the Jet Star's are doing great. Bush Beans, Egg Plant's, Bell  Pepper's, Okra are doing really good.  The Container's with Speghetti Squash, Yellow Straight Necks, Acorn's and Zucchini's blooming really good.  My Peppermint plant comes back every year just where it's been for many years, the Cat Nip and Orange Mint doing great also.  The Elderberry bushes have beautiful blooms so I'll be putting up the juice only again this year.  I can turn the juice into syrup or jelly or ???.  Abby-girl is "aging gracefully" but at 12 she has some weakness in her hips.  We have hardwood floors but we keep skid proof pads throughout the dining room and bedroom so she can "get a grip" and not slip or fall.  We were without a/c for most of this year, but finally got our a/c people to live up to their commitment after hubby stopped by their office and "got up front and personal" with them.  It's wonderful to be cool and to see Abby-girl stretched out and enjoying the cool air.  It's been in the 90's for so long we were all really suffering.  Still need to water the garden stuff though because we've had little to no rain for some time, and there's no rain in our near future.  The rain barrels are full so we try not to use them at this time until we know we've got rain to re-fill them.  The basement has several water safe containers that hubby will sanitize again, and we have saved several old non-functioning water heaters in the basement.  He'll fill them also. Hummy's and Bees enjoy my flowers, as well as the blooms on my Comfrey plants.

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, we used to have those many years ago and then VA started with the recycle pickup. They give you a huge can that is in blue for recycle and the green one is for the usual trash. Recycle is picked up every other week. Some cities have stopped doing it and there is nowhere to take recycle items now. They really don't recycle anything any longer. We pay for it but it really gets dumped with the regular trash. They have been caught many times doing that. But they still want us to pay for it. I think they call that getting double for your trash tax. 

 

WE2, sounds like you have been really busy. Glad your garden is doing well. I wonder if moving the 2 patio tomatoes if in pots and not in ground could be moved to a better location? 

 

Been working on stuff in the office today. Then went to post office after neighbor got back from doctor.  The price of stamps is going up from 68 cents to 73 cents. So, we went and bought stamps today before the July 14th deadline to get them before the increase. I only bought one roll but might go back after the 1st of month and get another roll. That will hold me for a long while.  I am getting tired now for some reason. Might run down to corner store and get a Dr. Pepper. Maybe the caffeine will help. I am not taking a nap though I feel like taking one. Too late in the afternoon for that. 

I have a few more things I need to get done. Paid bills last night so that is out of the way till the 1st. 

[Jeepers]

Great to see you We2's. Always good to hear Abby Girl is hanging in there. Bless her fuzzy little butt. She's been a good dog!  

 

it has been so miserably hot here. I haven't turned the air on yet though. The downstairs is nice and cool but it's sweltering upstairs. And I have to sleep upstairs. What to do? When you walk into my house from the garage, you'd swear I had the AC on. It's that cool downstairs. But half way up the stairs, you can actually feel the heat rise. 

 

I'm going to have to water the shrubs this evening. We haven't had any rain for quite awhile. They keep saying its going to rain but it never does. Things are starting to wilt and bake. 

[themartianchick]

So nice to see The WE2s back! 

 

Dad had PT today and he did really well. I think that the therapist wore him out. It was around 90 degrees today, but is seemed just as hot and humid as yesterday's high of 98. Yesterday, my daughter called to let me know that her power had gone out due to excessive AC use. Dad's power flickered once, but never went out. Today, the cable and internet went out in the middle of the day. Due to the rural location, my wifi hotspot and mobile phone won't work. When I am in my own home, there are several redundant options/devices and I can just roll with whatever happens. In the boonies, not so much! The landline could be used for calls, but I could not do any online work for my client.

 

As there is no AC here, I had Dad's fabulous retro fan running. I remembered to ask him about the generator. It is here in the house, but it has not been installed. If the power goes out, we are leaving. The thought of having hot flashes and no fan in the current heat wave is unappealing. In a true emergency, we'd have to tough it out. Actually, I'd be the one toughing it out. Dad is enjoying these hot temperatures and counting the days until the raspberries are ripe. Only a few more days of waiting...

[Littlesister]

It's been really hot here as well.  We are now in that heat wave they have been talking about. Just hope it doesn't last long. My yard man said he will be backing off of cutting grass also if we don't get any rain. The type of grass I have St. Augustine if cut during these hot spells with no rain could die out. Though it does handle a draught well as long as it is not cut to short. I want to get out in garage and finish cleaning both that out and the one shed out. I am wanting to set up a fan in the shed as it gets so hot in there. Might put one fan blowing in as that window is buried under a tree that is growing near there and stays shaded. I could then put a small fan at the other window blowing heat out as that is always sunny side. All I can do is see how it goes. But the heat in there is really bad. The garden shed gets hot but is on other side of yard and doesn't get as hot. 

 

Change of plans for tomorrow.  DGD is bringing the baby to me tomorrow instead of me going to her house to keep the baby. She said baby is bord.  GD hasn't taken her outside now as with the poison ivory she has to wear a long sleeve shirt to keep it from touching the baby. And now with the hot weather and the meds drying up the poison ivy, her eczema is flaring up. Baby is tired of the same toys and not going outside. She loves the outdoors. So, she decided for a change of pace she is bringing her to me. Different toys and she loves playing over here. So that works out for me either way. At least I don't have to drive home after 9 or 10 pm. I hate driving at night but will do it if I have to. Just not used to night driving anymore. 

 

The mosquitoes this year are really bad. I don't remember them being this bad. I have to be in the house by 6 pm or get eating up. Went out to close the windows in the car and they all hollered dinner is ready and attacked. 

[Mt_Rider]

4 hours ago, Littlesister said:

they all hollered dinner is ready and attacked. 

LOL   Even I saw a couple mosquitoes tonite.  We rarely have them.  (worth putting up with 3' blizzards?...mebbe so) 

 

WE2s     Been too long.  Glad to hear you two are doing fine and Abby is still with you.  That MO steamy weather will grow gardens, that's for sure.  Glad you got A/C working again!  Yeah...gotta PUSH some repair folks to get a job done! 

 

Jeepers and Martian....yeah, Ohio and New York are both in the middle of this heat dome.  Are you in triple digits yet?  Michigan/Indy are getting it bad too.  Virginia is on the edge but more today than earlier.  But now the weather folks are showing that it slips down the eastern states going south???     Who ever heard of a weather system that seemed to be heading NE - now going south?  Not like this, I mean.  So all you southeastern states....keep an eye out. 

 

Mother....I saw the quad cities has been beastly HOT!  Hope you and yours have been keeping cool enough. 

 

Glad your dad can tolerate the heat, Martian.  But I'm with you - gotta have some cooling or ....I go sit in the basement.  But we're nicely cool right now.  Sweater outside after the sun goes down.  And minimal bugs.    Yeah...rural problems with wifi / Internet access.  For what reason??  A mystery most of the time.  We've got a dish to the satellite.  Sometimes have to brush the snow off the dish - which I can reach with an long extension broom thing....out the window.   Not an issue in this season.  

 

MtRider    .....ow, headache.  Hmph!

[Ambergris]

I am watching the rain, listening to music, and leaning back against an ice pack today.  One kitten is purring on my chest, under my chin.  Another is sleeping on my lap.  I think I'll to try to read some later.

[Littlesister]

Ambergris, other than your back it sounds like you are having a nice relaxing day. At least the kitties are. 

 

Not doing a whole lot today as I will be babysitting later, so just doing some general cleaning and a bit of catching up. 

 

GS should be waking up soon and getting ready for work. Dummy didn't go to bed till after 4:30 this morning. That should teach him. He is usually up by now. 

 

Sat. weather will be like today and then on Sunday the temps will be going up more. 97* with possibility of thunderstorms in the evening. All of next week will be hot and possible storms as well. At least we have that possibility of rain with this heat. So, weeds will wait and work on inside of house will get worked on instead. I have loads of boxes to break down soon. GS won't be off again till I think Monday. So, hoping the weather will have cooled down a bit so we can work outside. 

[themartianchick]

We were told to expect thunderstorms all day today. We haven't seen any.  Today's temps were a little kinder, with a high around 89 degrees. We did yard work until 11:30 am, so we avoided the worst of the heat. I have done nothing else except to reheat some leftovers for Dad's dinner. I don't like to eat full meals when it is hot, so I have been grazing all day. This evening, I plan to relax and stream something on tv. Tomorrow's temps are supposed to be in the high 80s with thunderstorms in the forecast. I think that laundry will be the only thing that will be accomplished.

[Jeepers]

Oh my. It is so hot here too. In the mid 90's all week. I hate it. The hottest has been 97 so no triple digits except for the heat index. I've had to water the shrubs every day so far. Which is also helping the weeds to grow. Sigh. I think one of my grass shrubs has died and the little tree at the corner of the house looks dead. I still water them just in case. The tree has a 1 year warrantee so it can be replaced Shrubs 6 months. I'm still watering my hosta nubs that the deer ate. There is still some green on them. They have called for rain every day but we have gotten nary a drop. They say rain and cooler weather Sunday. We'll see. 

 

I took some more stuff from the family room to the dumpster. I had four nice baskets full of corn cobs, pine cones, fat wood and paper twists that looked so nice on the fireplace hearth. And useful for starting a fire. No one wanted them. I could have emptied the baskets and donated just them but I'm tired and tired of it. I just put each one in a trash bag and dumped them. I don't care any more. 

 

I dropped in Wal-mart and bought a tank top and some booty shorts.  LOL. They are actually sleep shorts. And they are short! But that will be my garage cleaning attire. It's gonna be hot out there. I'm going to go out there tonight and try to get the top shelf cleared off. If my ladder is tall enough. I just noticed my little water bath canner up there. I could have used that last month doing sauerkraut. It's hard to tell what is lurking out there.

 

One side of the garage. The other side is almost as bad. 

[Littlesister]

Be careful on that ladder Jeepers, no jumping off by accident. 

 

Baby just went home about 15 minutes ago. I had her in playpen to sleep but all she did was play.  when mom picked her up, she just looked at me and grinned and laughed. I said yep, you got out of bedtime for now. And as soon as she put her in that car seat she started screaming. Guess she wasn't ready to go home. They had a dinner party to go to for her DH's friend that is getting married. He is part of the wedding party. I think they also had a practice run at the church. 

 

And no, I would not spoil the baby.  GS should be home in about an hour or so. I'm just sitting here with a glass of tea unwinding now. Playing with toys is exhausting. But the baby had fun. 

[Jeepers]

I ventured out again after the sun went down. Ugh, still hot but I really needed a hair clip to get this hair off of my neck. Wal-Mart didn't have any earlier today. So I went to Meijer. It's only about 2 miles away. And I needed more fruit. 

 

I was so happy to get my 1 liter pop at the Dollar Tree this week for $1.75. Tonight at Meijer they had it on sale for 7 for $7.00. A dollar a bottle. And they had all different kinds. Including orange crush, grape crush, Mt. Dew, ginger ale, root beer etc. I didn't need any but for that price, heck yeah I got 7 more. In this weather I'll drink it and it won't go bad any time soon. I just got Pepsi and root beer though. I'm not too adventurous.

 

And that moon tonight...stunning. 

[Mt_Rider]

Checked for the moon.... 100% cloud cover.  Hmph.

 

Have to get up EARLY for 9am horse ride tomorrow.  Early is usually better for missing the afternoon inclement weather: as in thunder/lightning.  Being on a horse on narrow trails....not good idea. 

 

I keep having to take naps.  Can't get enough sleep.  Ugh! 

 

MtRider ...trying to get to bed earlier...need to do Duo:  Hawaiian

[snapshotmiki]

I forgot about the moon.  Might check tonight.

 

Bo and I just walked.
Will walk dogs, next.
Make baked beans for a Birthday Party today.
Go to party.
Maybe PC the rest of the potatoes.--Probably not. LOL

 

Mid 90's here this week, also!  3 more months.  Sigh

[Becca_Anne]

Martianchick sounds like you're getting things done depsite the heat. I'm the same I prefer to graze in the summer heat

 

Ambergris sounds like a lovely way to spend the day! 

 

Jeepers looks like you're making great progress that garage looks like you can get through it, just be sure to do a bit at a time and take breaks and stay hydrated and make sure the area around the ladder is clear in case you need to step off quickly. I like the one shelf at a time approach. Just let as much of it go as you can and  hopefully you can get to IN soon. Is the house listed yet?

 

Littlesister glad you are getting to enjoy the baby 

 

Mt Rider sometimes it can take a lot longer than we think to readjust to time zone changes. It took me a few weeks when I was in the East coast a few yrs ago and went back to Pacific time. I also think going East in time zones makes me sleepier for some reason than going west I noticed that when I went to Japan and came back to the states I would sleep, get up then have to go immediately and take a nap. Of course I was pregnant so that was probably part of it.

 

Today my plans are to harvest my garlic! I will need to use a shovel as the test one I harvested was pretty deep but I should have a nice harvest as it did bulb up 

[Littlesister]

Rough night last night. Didn't get much sleep. GS came home complaining of stomach pain. And I ended up taking him to the ER this morning. Didn't get out of there till almost 3. So, nothing getting done today. He has a mild case of gastritis and was told to change his diet. And to take Pepcid. That's not going to happen. So, he is off work today. He was told to eat fruits and veggies and that he won't do. But he will do Burger King, McDonalds, pizza, fried chicken, I could keep on going on junk. 

Might take a nap in a bit. I am really tired. GS needs to get in Coast Guard soon. He will be the death of me yet.  He insisted he had appendicitis. Nope, nada, that is not it. But who am I to know these things. I think I am a retired nurse. That trip to ER was no emergency. I had told him about the issue during the night last night. So now he has another medical bill to add onto what he already has to be told what I told him. 

He really needs to stop drinking, smoking and learn to eat right. 

[Mt_Rider]

Well, the HEAT finally got here.  Not the Eastern heat dome.  Just summer.     Have had the A/C window unit sitting on the porch for ...a week?  It's a bit of a pain to move EVERYthing out from in front of the only window possible for it.  But convenient from the outside cuz it's on the porch.  Really was wishing for it today...first time this hot.

 

I had the EARLY horse ride.  Well....9am ride means arrive at 8:30am which means leave here before 8.....  Getting up a couple hrs earlier so I'm actually awake and functional... 

 

The morning was fine and the ride warmed up as we went.  Not too warm and some banking thru the drive-up before noon closing.  Then home.  Oddly, I was feeling sick by then....and no idea why.  Spent the day in coolest bedroom -reading Kindle.  Eating cold sandwiches.  DH made a fruit CoolWhip thing: Mandarin oranges, coconut flakes, canned mangoes, pineapple?  Dunno but it was cool and fruity.  No appetite for much.  Still not feeling quite settled and it may just be the heat.  Thankful for our cloud cover by sunset time.  (tho I'll probably miss the moon again).  Feel some better but wrung out!    And that too.

 

MtRider  ...going to lay down and read again.  Blech!

[Jeepers]

I've had it for today. I went out in the garage and attempted to clear out stuff. I looked at the thermometer out there and it was 98 degrees. I had a fan blowing right on me but it didn't really help. I was getting weak and dizzy and the more I drank to stay hydrated the more nauseous I got. I finally came in and hit the bathtub. That really cooled me down and felt so good. I love that tub. But it wasn't all for naught. I did get the top shelf out there cleared off. A few things I'm keeping and I got 6 trash bags ready to go. I'm going to have to move them out of the way as they are blocking my Jeep from leaving the garage. Oh, and everything is so disgustingly dirty. I found a new, still in the box Food Saver and a Ninja juicer/ ice crusher set still in the box.   Things like that and power tools I'm saving. It looks like there are two shelves but each one is divided in half. If I can get one half of the shelf done each day I can knock that unit put by the end of the week. I just need to keep picking away at it.  Hope for cooler weather. This heat is making me so sleepy. 

[Becca_Anne]

Jeepers Glad you were able to get through what you needed to, and found some treasures to move with you, probably best to hit it very early in the day before it gets too hot! I let my morning get ahead of me so will have to get up early to get to the garlic tomorrow. I did get it watered and boy did it need it! 

[Jeepers]

I thought it would be cooler in the evening but I was wrong. I'll try early AM tomorrow. 

 

I've had to water every day this week. Even so I think a shrub and the tree died. I didnt get to water today. I'm hoping for rain tomorrow. But they keep saying that with nothing. 

[euphrasyne]

We made the 1K mile round trip to drop off DD16 for the summer yesterday.  It was a 19 hour trip.  The weather was nice and we saw a lot of trees, small towns, and mountains.  We traveled through 3 states.  DD3 enjoyed running around in the grass at the rest stops and playing on the equipment at McDonald's at lunch.  She did start to fuss after we dropped off DD16, so we stopped got some drinks, a new squish, and streamed Numberjacks for the rest of the car ride.  

 

It was not my intention to get her a new squishmallow, but she wet herself, so we stopped at a truck stop, I went in to change her pullup and dress, and DH cleaned up the car seat.  When I came back out with her, he had bought shop towels and a rainbow bug squishmallow.  I have to say I much prefer truck stops to gas stations all around.  Pilot, Flying J, Loves, TA.  They are all usually clean, have large bathrooms with adequate baby areas, have wide isles, and carry everything I need and then some.  

 

Today I am arguing with DH over us getting a dog.  I said I wanted a new fluff awhile back (we are currently down to 2 indoor only cats who are around 8 and 14.)  I want a dog, but only if he wants a dog and is willing to share responsibility.  He just wants to say 'fine, whatever you want.'    I need more commitment than that to a yes or no.  We do agree that if we get one, we want something big, not yappy, good with kids and cats.  I'm home all day to let it in and out, so that isn't an issue.  Housebroken older dog would be even better than a puppy.  We've been looking into it for a few months now.  

[themartianchick]

While peeking out the window this morning, I noticed a catbird pulling raspberries off of the canes. That was all of the encouragement that I needed to get picking! I picked 2 pints of the darkest berries and left a lot that should be perfect tomorrow. The weather was a little more tolerable today. It was warming up, but the sun kept dipping behind the clouds. Today's temps should be in the high 80s, but we do have a breeze and the day is becoming more overcast.