Thoughts on a Wednesday 7-27-2022

Svenja M

I hope your Wednesday is starting out nicely.

Amber and I are having a recurring ‘discussion’ about whether or not I have dog biscuits in my jeans pocket. Since I usually do, Amber is convinced I’m lying when I tell her I don’t have anything. She is doing a combination of lying down just to the left of my office chair, staring at me, moving every few seconds so I don’t ‘forget’ she’s there. If I make eye contact, she is up and climbing up into my chair with me before I can get out the words, “Get Down!” She has had breakfast, but she thinks she should get cookies on demand. I’ve decided to fill my pocket with dog cookies when I go to refill my coffee cup…

Heat index of 111 today. Wonderful, right? We may get some rain toward the end of the week. I won’t believe it until I see it, but there is hope. I’ll check for tomatoes in a minute, but I think the plants are simply giving up with the heat.

The big planter of tomato plants is almost completely done now. The niche planter (in the corner formed by the back of the house and the deck) is still okay, and produced these two tomatoes. The top side of each has deep grooves, again pointing to water issues, but the plants ARE producing slowly.

No big plans for us today. I couldn’t sleep, so I’m happy we have a quiet day. I did the finishing touches on the last two Christmas presents this morning. As soon as they are dry, the next step is spraying all of them with a protective spray to prevent stains as much as possible. Next, tissue paper, gift bags and the making of handmade Christmas cards – (I have an idea for them) then pack them away until the holiday.

Enjoy your day. Stay safe and cool.

Sunday 7-3-2022

Ulla T.

Right now we have our front and back doors open and ceiling fans on, enjoying a nice breeze airing out the house before it gets too hot and we have to close up and turn on the a/c.

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I got a good start yesterday on the Christmas presents I’m making for my friends this year. I’m painting themed tote bags, personalizing them for each of my friends.

Yesterday I brought them downstairs and ironed them. I decided I would leave them on my desk down here so that I can work on them in-between other things, doing a bit at a time. There is a LOT of sketching to do on each of them. I don’t want to run the a/c upstairs in CASE I find time to work up there, and my life is such that good session times are harder and harder to find. Having them down here in the office will allow me to make some progress without disrupting our routine a lot. I wrote down notes on what I want to do on each one, and printed some reference pics from the net. I’ll work on them down here until it’s time to paint.

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I didn’t SEE anything last night, but our down-in-the-valley-behind-us neighbors were setting something off, with a lot of popping and banging. Amber woofed some, but didn’t freak out.

We shared a tomato at lunch and another one at dinner yesterday. YUM! We could get used to this! :0)

My friends, Kay and Bud, are enjoying a visit from their son this weekend. My friend Linda is in Tennessee, enjoying visiting with one of her daughters and her family. It’s just my husband, our animals and me here, but I had a nice online chat with our son this morning. We’re all so lucky to have family.

I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday.

A Nice Afternoon

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I spent much of the afternoon scheming, planning, and prepping what will be Christmas presents for my friends this year. The theme is an over-arching one, then personalized for each of my friends. The ideas started coming and the time flew past. I just stopped for a break and it’s almost 6pm! (I started soon after lunch.)

I had a GREAT time, recording details for each one, printing some things off as reference, prepping the actual items, etc. We’ll see how it all comes together now.

I hope that you have had a great Saturday.

Good Start to the Day

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(The above is NOT what I’m making for my friends, but the picture make me smile. What FUN this child has had, thinking of something and trying to make it come to life.)

Since our heat index here in Arkansas is forecast to be 110+F. this afternoon, , I decided to get my body moving earlier than usual this morning and get out to the shop to continue work on the refurbishment of the dragonfly plus working on my Christmas presents for friends.

I’m working on the eyes of the dragonfly now. I cut a black rubber ball with knobs on it in half and glued them on the dragonfly. Now I am using glitter glue paint to try to make the ‘eyes’ sparkle. I finished the main part of the work on the 6 Christmas presents out there. As soon as they dry, I’ll work on the accents and finishing touches. Upstairs in my art room, I think I’ll finish the 3 other Christmas presents I’m working on up there today. I love it when I figure out what I want to try to do early and have lots of time to work without feeling rushed. I find myself remembering lots of happy times with each of the people I’m making a present for, hoping they’ll enjoy the gift. :0)

Since today is the first day of September, and kids are in school here now, we will change the mailbox decoration, hoping to make the bus riders smile as they pass our driveway. Here is the decoration we’re putting out today –

Godzilla

Have a happy first day of September!

Despite the Weather –

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I’ve had a good morning.

Our weather experts are predicting scattered showers and a heat advisory this afternoon and evening of 100+, so I got out this morning and did another session of weed whacking in the waist-high area behind our shop and beside our garden. You can actually SEE the 250 gallon propane tank now! I also cleared the area around the trash cans where we keep the ingredients for Mel’s Mix for the square foot garden.

While I was out there, I went into the shop and worked on the Christmas presents for my friends some more.

We’ll eat lunch in about an hour, so I have time to cool off, drink a bottle of water, treat myself to another cup of coffee, and enjoy being at the computer before I need to get our meal together. :0)

I hope your Saturday is shaping up to be a good one.