You Got That Right, Buddy!

I have one of those electronic weather stations sitting on my kitchen table and today the thing announced that it was hot outside...wonder what gave it that idea?  Could it have been the 101F temp?  I walked outside to cut some okra, and walked back in.  My shoes were melting on the pool decking.  Great! 

I let it cool down some and then I went back out there.  I managed to pick one okra and left the others on the plants to give them one more night and then I will cut them tomorrow.  I had to water the whole garden tonight and I went ahead and added some plant food to my bucket and watered everything.  Maybe that is what that one dang tomato is waiting for, more plant food and a flood of water.  I watered the whole garden very well.  Let's just hope that tomato will take it upon itself to finally produce fruit instead of leaves.  Grrr! 

I finished off the Cherokee purple tomato and it was fabulous...great flavor but, slightly more acidic than I can handle.  Good old acid reflux kicked in courtesy of that tomato. 


I also took it upon myself to make my letters on the Cricut for the banner I have to make for the parade. We have sponsors this year and they all need thanking.  I am glad I was able to hit the craft store and purchase my paper for the thing and new mats.  Now, if someone could figure out how to recycle the glue on those things...they could make a lot of money.  Seriously! 

I am completely worn out and I need to head to bed.  I have more flags to work on tomorrow and pick up the house for Saturday.  I have a bathroom to clean and a hallway to clear out.  I have boxes of stuff everywhere in this house and I need to get rid of a bunch of junk.  I don't want to be one of those people who have to get a pack rat storage box...no thanks..I will pitch it or sell it before that happens. 

I threw some boxes out today so, I am headed in the right direction.  Or at least I hope I am headed in the right direction. 

I hit the pool tonight and swam some laps, did some back work and worked out my arms and shoulders by dragging my feet and legs behind me.  Yep, I can make it across the pool swimming with just my arms.  The water felt great but, I had to come inside and use the chlorine removal shampoo and then condition my hair.  Otherwise, I will look like the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.  My hair gets big from chlorine water.  It will stick straight off of my scalp and it is usually stiff and icky.

Cleaning it Off and Flags

I am in the middle of trying to work on flags, placing labels with our names on them, to hand out to the crowd on Saturday for the parade.  Then I am also in the middle of de-junking the cat pee couch.  It is headed to the curb this week.  It is a must that it go.  I have plans that it will be at the curb come Thursday night.  Then the love seat from the formal living room will be headed into the family room to take it's place. 

I fell asleep on the couch today and had a really horrible dream.  So, I went ahead and woke up feeling lousy.  My poor tummy is not feeling well. 

I also had to check on my best friend, she had a very bad weekend with cluster headaches and vomiting.  She was back at work today but, she wasn't her best.  I am hoping she will be here on Saturday to help out with the parade and then a nice evening of swimming and eating.  We are doing fajitas this year.  Nothing big.  Just a few people over to celebrate. 

On the 4th we were invited out to my sister's house.  I think we will take her up on it and since there will be no fireworks here..I don't have to worry about the house being burnt down by fireworks.  It is still too dry for fireworks in Texas. 

I haven't picked up knitting needles in about 2 days, dealing with flags is enough work for my poor little hands.  I have over 2000 flags to label and get ready for Saturday.  I also have to go dig for some fishing line so, I can rig up the stars I have for the trailer. 

As soon as I can remember to bring my camera upstairs, I will download my pics. 

It's Rumbling Outside

We finally have rain after being so hot and dry here.  I woke up to rain which was so amazing.  I know if you have had loads of rain, you really aren't appreciative of it.  Well, since we haven't had it in so long, we are very excited to see it. 

It has been so hot and dry here that the county agents declared a fireworks ban in effect immediately.  So, no fireworks for the 4th of July.  I don't mind since I really didn't want my neighbors burning down my home. 

I am in major procrastination mode right now.  I am knitting socks, and I am spinning merino/tussah silk fiber that is simply gorgeous.  I am thinking of plying it to make sock yarn.  Exciting, isn't it?  I think so.  Pictures will follow later. 

I Won the Nigerian National Lottery!

Today I received notice via e-mail that I won the Nigerian National Lottery...the best part, I didn't even know I was playing.  It just cracks me up thinking that I will give them personal information so, they can rob me blind...I don't think so. 

After a very bad start to my week...I am raring to go to have a better week.  We can only look ahead in our lives...no more looking back. 

I should be knitting but, I haven't done a thing in about 4 days.  I think I am coming down with swimmer's ear.  Just great...I have been using swim ear so, I am hoping this will work.  I have that awful feeling in the left ear. 

I am spinning right now and I love the fiber I am using and plying with.  I had one full bobbin and now I am working on filling another one up before I can ply it with another yarn.  So exciting.  I tell everyone I know that spinning will change your perspective on life and it is very soulful.  There is something wonderful in creating your own yarn.  I can look at it and say, I did it, it was all me.  There is something very satisfying in that. 

The leather cording had broken that was holding both of my treadles so, I had to go shopping to find more cording.  This time around, I chose braided leather cording to hold it all together.  I hope it lasts longer than the other stuff. 

Has anyone else won the Nigerian National Lottery? 

Smack! As My Head Hits the Desk

I am completely worn out.  I came home from shopping with my sister and niece and called one of my other sister's on the phone and chatted with her for a bit, Gary came in from work and sat down next to me, I fell asleep on the couch.  He wanted dinner, I didn't.  I was exhausted from the heat.  The temps today were 104F!  Yikes!  Very hot and it just wears a body down. 

My trip to wally world was expensive.  I came home with 3 bags and a giant tub and my bill was $99+.  This is sad when even wally world is pricey.  I think I will be staying home more often and not going shopping. 

I stepped on a piece of glass and really didn't notice it until I saw the blood on the carpet and then I freaked out!  I can handle other people's blood, no problem but, my own and I am going ape shit.  Gary patched me up like usual and I used the saline wound spray to clean the carpet.  It got the blood out.  Which is always nice. 

Tomorrow I am staying home and hoping to clean my family room.  Yes, I have been saying this for two days but, I am going to deal with it tomorrow.  Tonight, I am going to read some on my kindle and then go to sleep. 

I did find a place to board the doggies for when we go on vacation that is completely reasonable.  Which is amazing!  They have excellent reviews.  I have to check these things out because these boys are my world. 

A Good Swim will Cure it!

This morning, I groggily crawled out of bed, went to find a swim suit and headed out to the back yard to take a nice morning dip in the pool.  I swam laps, did some back work and then dwaddled in the cool water.  Ahhh, it felt amazing!  I am a little sore since I swam laps last night and then dwaddled in the water before coming in for an omelette with fresh cherry tomatoes, string cheese and bacon.  It was tasty. 

Now, I am pleasantly tired and could use a good nap before I start my project du jour...cleaning the other half of the family room.  I also need to find the time to clean off the love seat and get it ready for trash pick up.  It is covered in cat pee.  Not a pleasant smell.  We have a bet that if we drag it out there tonight, someone will pick it up. 

We are also selling our elliptical machine.  The goal is to get enough cash for it to pay for the tv repairs.  The repairman took our tv with them last night.  It is going to take 7 to 10 working days for it to be fixed.  sigh!  So, to keep myself busy, I am cleaning my house.  Sad when it is the only thing to keep me occupied.  I new I had to do it before July 2nd when DAR ladies will be invading and it has been ages since I have actually done anything about the place.  One day, I just said, to hell with it.  I should have just grabbed a trash bag and picked up the mess.  Now, I am really having to suffer through it.  sigh!  It all just piles up without realizing how fast. I am also picking up yarn and moving it into big plastic bins. 

The TV Died

Our tv is dead right now.  Killer since this is my main form of entertainment these days.  I am a couch potato.  So, I looked at the hubby and told him I was going swimming.  I crawled into my pool, skimmed it, and then had the time of my life.  It was so nice to swim and just relax in the water.  The temp was 88F but, it still felt good.  I was supposed to water my garden but, I was really enjoying the water. 

I will have to water tomorrow.  Otherwise, dead plants and I really don't want that.  I also have to pick okra tomorrow.  :) 

I am going to bed because that swim really made me tired.  Makes me realize how damn out of shape I really am.  sigh! 

Another Scorcher!

Right now in Texas it is freaking hot!  There I said it.  It was hot in the shade, it is hot everywhere with no rain in sight.  WE are truly suffering down here.  My plants in my garden are suffering as well.  It used to be where I could water every other day and it was fine, not so anymore.  I have to water my plants daily or they are dead, kaput, no more. 

I finished the Keltic ear flap hat.  Yay!  It is very nice.  I know what you are thinking...why are you knitting with wool in the middle of a heat wave?  Well, I didn't say I was knitting outside, I knit inside in a very cool interior courtesy of my thermal backed supreme satin draperies.  I am telling you, if you don't have any in your home, you are wasting energy trying to keep your home cool.  Wait for JCP.com to have a sale on curtains and then wait for the free shipping option to your home, otherwise you are going to pay out the ass for your curtains.  They usually have a nice coupon around about this time.  The free shipping coupon is so worth it.  Last year, I bought a round of thermal back supreme satin draperies for my entire house.  They have more than paid for themselves already.  This is a good thing. 

We have Coolaroo brand shades on the back porch, that roll down and block a lot of the heat off of the back wall.  We have had these for many years now...they paid for themselves as soon as they were installed.  I would do it all over again if I had to.  Wonderful items. 

I am knitting on several hats right now.  One of the patterns is upstairs here in the office and the other is downstairs on the couch, I have plans to work on it tomorrow.  I am hoping I will start to feel better already.  I am still taking it easy since I get tired yet, really quick. 

I was outside looking over my tomato plants.  The cherry tomato is blooming yet again and it looks like I might have a bumper crop of tomatoes, I so can't wait.  I have been picking okra every other day, I like this.  I am ready to make some chicken and sausage gumbo.  :)  I may even make another frittata with them.  :)  The green beans are blooming again, which is a good thing.  The corn didn't make it, I guess this isn't it's happy soil.  It could also be all the tomatoes surrounding it. 

I checked the lemon tree today and it is loaded this year.  I am so thankful for this.  There is nothing in the world like fresh meyer lemonaid.  It is fabulous.  I also love making lemon meringue pies with that lemon.  Tasty! 

Ooh, I have pie crust in the freezer and lemon juice frozen in the freezer, I might make a pie this week, that would be wonderful.  :) 

Something to sort of cool us off. 

Pictures

This is End of Summer Suri Alpaca/Merino yarn.  I am using it to knit Raha from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. 

This is Keltic Berroco yarn I am using to knit a hat with ear flaps.  I love the marled look of this hat and I have to say that this yarn is very nice to knit with.  It has an incredible hand and it does not split like a lot of yarns do.  This hat is being knit with US 8 needles.  Cheap bamboo needles from Amazon.  If you need dpns and don't want to spend a lot of cash, hit Amazon and buy them.  You get every single size you need in one lump sum.  I think I only spent $19.99 for them last year.  Pretty good deal. 

One Skein at a Time

I am currently knitting a hat out of Berroco Keltic yarn.  I had bought it some time ago and found it in my yarn stash.  It is quite interesting looking.  I cast on 80 stitches and I am using my US 8 dpns. 

The yarn has a marled look to it and I think it is cool looking, the hubby hates it.  Oh well, you can't please everyone all of the time.  It is going up for sale in October.  I am trying to challenge myself....use as much stash yarn as I can for this.  I am not buying any yarn right now.  My stash is out of control and to save money, I am using it up. 

I thought of actually getting out my triangle loom and making up some nice shawls.  I may do it when I have more energy.  I wonder if it would look odd to take a loom on vacation with me.  I know I would get some looks packing it into the hotel room.  A 7 foot loom and stand is mighty big.  I could see their faces. 

We decided to leave Stewie at home for this trip since he has no storage area in his trunk.  I can't see out of the back with the luggage rack on him.  Gary would have to drive.  Beau has so much more room than Stewie.  We can put the cooler in the trunk, chairs, etc.  Now, here is the big question...hurricanes.  I am hoping that they stay away so, we can go and relax for a week.  Big goal. 

It Finally Rained!

It rained today and I was so happy to see it.  When I checked the weather on the back porch it was 102F.  It was so freaking hot out there.  All of my plants were looking droopy.  I did manage to pick some more tomatoes and then I saw that one of my smaller okra plants has a pod on it.  Woohoo!  I can't wait for it to get bigger so, I can pick it. 

Today I woke up feeling worse than yesterday.  I have no idea why I felt so lousy.  I had a lot of yogurt yesterday and today I started to feel like I was about to barf so, I had more yogurt and that seems to have helped. 

I am knitting on a new pair of socks, this one is a KAL with the Socks Squared Group and it is called, Ankle Arches by Susan Meredith Pacheco.  It is a very interesting and pretty much straight forward pattern.  I am on the heel and I am using US 3 needles, not the recommended US 0's.  My yarn is one of my own merino/silk sock yarns and it is a beautiful coral.  I have no idea what size to make since I don't know who they are going to be for.  I might make them for me.  I will figure it out when I get to the foot section and then go ahead and make them for that person.  I have some time, yet. 

I am just really tired right now.  I think I did too much today and I am going to pay for it tonight or tomorrow. 

Pneumonia and Sock Knitting

I went to the doctor yesterday because the bottom of my lungs were killing me when I coughed.  Gary insisted I go and get checked out.  I went in and my doctor wasn't in so, I saw his partner and I must say, she is very thorough.  She checked me out and found out that my cold had developed into pneumonia.  Here I thought I was safe since I had the pneumonia shot last year.  Think again...you can still get pneumonia even though you have the shot since it only covers one version of the bacteria, not all of them.  Oh great and dandy!  So, I came home with samples of my antibiotic and I was given several prescriptions for inhalers and for nebulizer solution for my machine.  I was almost out of that.  I had been hitting it pretty hard. 

I was glad she gave me samples of my antibiotic since the antibiotic tends to run on the expensive side.  I couldn't even imagine.  I have a full course of antibiotics for this crap.  Let me tell you about this particular antibiotic, I have to eat a lot of yogurt since it kills off all of the beneficial bacteria in my intestines.  Trust me when I say, you don't want to have to sneeze or cough on this stuff...it creates a nasty incident and you have to sprint to the toilet.  It is better than super lax. 

Gary went to the grocery store after lunch and picked up more chocolate for me...it helps a little bit and another tub of the Greek yogurt I love.  I have the huge tubs of the stuff.  He also loaded me back up on cottage cheese.  I love small curd full fat cottage cheese.  My dogs love it, too. 

Tonight for dinner I made a frittata, I used the fresh green beans out of the garden, two fresh okra pods straight off of the plant, some broccoli we had in the fridge along with some squash he had picked up from the previous grocery trip.  I also used up the kielbasa we had left over.  The dogs had the last one, divided up into three.  I used the last of the fresh cherry tomatoes as well.  They were fabulous in that dish. 

I told him we would make another one when I had more veggies ready.  We enjoyed it.  It is a nice dish to make if you have the fixings and you don't want to make a huge meal because it is so freaking hot.  I will have to send it to my nephew, he has a garden as well and I know he and his family would love it. I have to ask him if his okra is producing the way mine is.  :)
 
So, since I am pretty much not supposed to go outside because the sun will rip my hide right off of me, I have to stay inside.  I get really tired since I can't breathe.  If I don't get better this next week, then I have to have my chest x-rayed and she said that we would go from there.  I am feeling better but, I don't want to have to get a chest x-ray.  I have the order for one, should I need it. 

I decided to go ahead and finish my socks...they are done.  I am so happy about that and I will be washing and blocking them tomorrow.  I have started on another pair tonight.  I am trying to decide who will benefit and get the next pair.  I have a huge birthday list coming up in July.  It seems everyone has a birthday in July in this family.  It is the one month that will break me.  Seriously.  Way too many people were born in that month. 

This year for Father's Day, the kids bought Gary a robe.  A nice waffle weave Turkish cotton bath robe.  I hated the old one he had and I plan to trash it as soon as I get the new one in for him.  Since Gary does so many wonderful things for me and the kids...all 6 of the 4 legged kids...then he gets a new bath robe in the style he loves.  I have already let him know that the kids bought it for him.  I guess he is excited about it, but, I am not sure. 

Last night, I finally was able to get some much needed sleep.  I have been walking around in a daze and just plain tired.  It helped me so much.  I was happy when I woke up this morning.  I had been trying to sleep for two days and nothing.  I would finally get to sleep and the wake right up hacking.  So, I slept last night and woke up at 10:30 am.  It was nice. 

I Should Have Known

I should have known when I washed the full bottle of sealed Tide, life was going to take an unexpected and not good down turn.  I caught a cold, and it immediately moved into my chest.  Freaking figures.  So, I have been fighting this crap tooth and nail.  I have been using my albuterol inhaler along with my albuterol nebulizer solution.  The inhaler is used when I can't get downstairs to hit the nebulizer. 

This stuff is kicking my butt.  I would think it is pneumonia but, I had the shot so, it can't be that unless it is a different strain of the crap.  Just pure misery, the hurting, the whole nine yards but, not much fever.  Amen to that.  I hate pneumonia.  The high fever, the misery, the whole body hurting, etc. 

I had to break out the promethazine just to help me sleep.  It is also helping to dry the crap up for me.  Loads of mucus...just horrible stuff. 

Yesterday, I ventured outside to pick tomatoes...we had 14 cherry tomatoes that were ready.  I haven't had any of the new crop...Gary has been at them.  I might have some today for the vitamin c.  Lord knows I could use some of that about now.  I noticed as well that one of the okra plants has one okra that should need picking today.  I am so ready for home made fried okra or better yet, okra and tomatoes.  Fabulous.  :)  Let's hope that more of the flowers will produce fruit.  I am ready. 

I also picked some more green beans. I am gathering them up for a meal.  I think we almost have enough for a meal.  Yes!  I love my garden, it is a truly wonderful thing for me.  I just hope my yellow bell peppers produce along with my carrots.