Nice Tuesday 4-23-2024

Karin de Haas – Funda Altincekic Aysel

6m assets – Freepik

It’s a really pretty morning here in Arkansas. It’s supposed to get to 80 today. I’ll spend as much time as my body will allow outside, trying to get at least one more planter weeded. As I said in my previous post, the rains are due to start overnight. One of my weather sources is showing the rain tomorrow not beginning until about 5 in the afternoon, so maybe I have a bit more time than I thought. :0)

Peace, Love and Low Carb.com

I have been making beef stew in my crock pot for a hundred years or so – using mostly the same ingredients. Today I’m trying a KETO beef stew recipe for the first time. It’s from Peace, Love and Low Carb and it has 4 net carbs per serving. The only starchy veggie included is one carrot, mainly for color, I think. The picture here is showing some green onion tops, so I’ll include those as part of the onion included. I hope that it’s a good substitute for the beef stew we’ve always loved. I’ll let you know.

Lowe’s

I’m working on two wood burning projects in my art room (when I can make the time to be up there) – that hopefully will be presents for two of my favorite people. Shhhhhhhh! I should be able to make some time with the coming rains.

Boo – @333too3 on X

If I’m suddenly ‘gone,’ I hope I’ve escaped to this dream! I absolutely LOVE this place. I’m going to keep this photo so I can continue to dream….

Time to get the beef stew into the crock pot –

Make this a wonderful Tuesday.

Tiny Bit of Progress Today

HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy

A short while ago I finished most of the major revamp of my Etsy site. Of course, there is ALWAYS more, or another good idea I can try. I’m still trying to figure out how to offer deals on multiple purchases, for example, but the main reorganizing is finished.

I just came in from the first session outside. I have all the iris plants out of one planter in the back, and am now relocating them in the front. This may take more than a day, because my back is already reminding me that I’m not a spring chicken anymore, but I’m making progress. I’m trying to get outside each afternoon that the weather is cooperative and get SOMETHING done.

When I finish my outside stuff for the day, I plan to try out the new Dremel and see if I can do any good with it. Fingers crossed on THAT.

Happy day to you.

Rainy Thursday 10-26-2023

Maximillian R. – flickr.com

It’s dark, windy, and rainy here today, but not cold. It’s supposed to get up to 80 this afternoon! This looks like the last week we’ll have of the unseasonably warm weather. It may actually freeze here over the weekend, so I’ll get out and get last pictures of our elephant ears.

To give you an idea of size, the “leaf” in the middle lower row is above my head…

Gardening Know How

I need to get serious about starting to ‘put things away’ for the winter with final weeding, trimming, pruning, etc. I’ll cover my raised bed square foot garden planter boxes with tarps for the winter and unhook our watering system for it. I’m not absolutely sure I’ll have a garden out there this coming spring. I’ll make that decision later, but I’ll take care of what I have. We have two planters of the six that need to be rebuilt, but that still leaves four I could plant.

Rasulovs – Getty Images – iStockphoto

My body is having a pity party this morning because I was scheduled for a massage. My wonderful therapist Lynn Moody 479-629-7601 texted me, saying she had been exposed to Covid and wanting to know if I wanted to reschedule. After waffling for a bit, I decided I didn’t want to expose my husband to whatever I might bring home, so my massage is rescheduled to NEXT week. Even my BODY is having to undergo character-building exercises. :0(

My husband worked hard to change another of our fluorescent fixtures into ones that will accept the new LED tubes. This fixture was 8 feet long, out in the shop. It took him all afternoon to do it, because the gnomes that live with us decided to give him as much trouble as they could devise, but he got it done. I think he has two to go, but those can wait.

He complained of the bedroom being too warm the night before last, so I turned the a/c back on to cool things down before we went up. He took a nice shower and managed to sleep really well last night, catching up for several nights. He just came down, and it’s after 10am. :0)

Enjoy your day!

Tuesday 9-19-2023

Amigurumi Rat-cottontailandwhiskers.com

I’m going to check out more of this company’s stuff and I’ll share it with you. I’m not big on ‘rats,’ but this one made my heart melt.

Today is the wonderful day that we’re going to drive over the new bridge on the ‘old’ shorter way to town. I’ll try to stop and get some pictures to share with you. I think we only get to enjoy this for a couple of months because the paper said they were starting the bypass in November, and the route we take to town goes through the main intersection they will be tearing up.

Play Kettering

I finally got time in my art room yesterday. I started doing some etching on the glassware I’m trying to do for my friends, plus I started two new signs. I plan to do more up there today.

I’ll see if there is a quick project I can do outside, too. Starting this evening, we’re supposed to have a rainy week, so it looks like time outside will be limited.

I hope that you are able to make this a good day.

Heat Indices

5News

The local TV station says heat index ‘up to 108’ in my area. My computer heat thingie says “110”. (You say tomaaato and I say tomahhhto…. ) At least we’re agreed that it’s TOOOOOOOOO HOT!

Kay and Bud were at Lunch Bunch. We went to the local grocery afterwards to get some stuff. Even with the truck A/C on, we were hot. By the time we unloaded the truck, we were both wilting. We got a cold drink when we finished putting things away.

Needless to say, I’m NOT working outside now. I’ll check to see how things feel at around 5 this afternoon (though the heat warning is active until 9pm), plus whether the planter I want to weed is in the direct sun or not, and then decide. We don’t have anything scheduled tomorrow, so maybe I’ll just wait until tomorrow morning.

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I would like your opinion on something, please. My friend, Marsha, suggested that I show more of what I’m listing for sale on HandmadeHavenbyLinda, my Etsy site, on this blog on a regular basis. I would really like to know what you think. Would you rather I didn’t do that? Would you find it irritating?

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Guess what! In the category of ‘adding insult to injury‘, the Dyson people said on their website that they are no longer making the battery-powered vacuum I have and are not offering parts for it. We got a battery that was supposed to be compatible with it a couple of weeks ago. It won’t charge and make the vacuum usable, so we went to the Dyson site. NOW we’ve ordered another one that is supposed to be compatible that has more power. If that doesn’t work, we’ll either have to buy another vacuum or I’ll just use my regular vacuum.

Please try to stay cool and hydrated.

Heat Index of WHAT?!

Adobe

Summer became official last Wednesday and it’s already pushing the boundaries of the season.

We’re going to try to cook out for the first time for the summer this evening. The heat index today is going to be 108. GREAT. We may end up eating at midnight.

Meanwhile, after we finish our errands this morning, I’m going to TRY to get some things done outside. I need to –

• check for ripe tomatoes
• finish weed whacking
• and continue cleaning out my spring garden

I know I’ll check the tomatoes, but am not sure what else on that list will actually get done. If I DO continue out there, it will be really short sessions followed by longer resting periods and lots and lots of water.

I AM looking forward to cooking out, though, even if it’s really hot. We have a rope of LED lights around the deck cover and they give it a festive air. I can put my feet up, enjoy a drink, play with our animals, and enjoy talking with my husband while the charcoals get ready and then we cook. Tonight we have steaks – a splurge we haven’t done since last year.

I’m having to watch my husband carefully because he doesn’t ‘prepare’ for being outside. I have to TAKE him a hat and sunglasses as he mows, and bring him a cold drink if I can get him to take a break, or when he finishes. He works until he can barely get back in the house. We talk about it rationally, he agrees to try to do better, and then repeats the same behavior. Arrrgh!

He did get the mowing done yesterday, so if he’s out today, it will be puttering, cutting down branches that get in the way of his riding mower.

Be careful wherever you are, making sure that you weather the temperatures as well as possible, and watch for storms popping up that can cause problems.

Resting

Slagathor Deb

I’ve been out weed whacking. I was going to take a nap after lunch, but my leg was twitching, so I got up and did a session in the front. I did two sessions yesterday, concentrating on the back yard. I’ll do another sometime this afternoon and see if I can get the job finished. I’m trying to do several short sessions to give my back a break. It really doesn’t like the position I need to get into to do a good job with the whacker.

We did a short trip to town today, starting with my husband’s haircut and ending with retrieving our trash can and tying it to the pole toward the bottom of the driveway. Married couples usually argue about money, the kids, and other important stuff. OUR arguments are about whether we should tie the trash can to the pole and what color we should paint the newest mailbox decoration…

We DID put a piece of plywood over the inside of the cat/dog door yesterday, so we won’t have to worry about critters getting into the garage at night anymore. Hopefully, that will also mean that Amber won’t bark at what’s going on on the other side of her wall. (She sleeps on a bed in the utility room, and that shares a wall with the garage.) The cat’s opinion on all this hasn’t been shared yet. (She sleeps in a cat cube on top of the wood pile on the shared wall.) I’m HOPING that she won’t decide to leave us ‘treaures’ on the floor since she can no longer go out in the middle of the night. The garage door is open all day long and until we go to bed, so hopefully she can adjust graciously to the change.

I’m going to do a bit more resting and then head back outside. I hope your Tuesday is a fun one.

Friday Thoughts 12-9-2022

Fanpop

Just hanging around, trying to figure out what I’ll do with the day today. It’s pretty, so I should try to lop off more weed trees in the back this afternoon. We have Lunch Bunch this morning, in about an hour. I’m hoping we’ll have a full house today. It’s been awhile since we were all able to get there, so it would be great to be able to catch up. After we eat lunch, we’ll go grab some groceries, since rain is supposed to start overnight and last through the day tomorrow.

I’ll get presents ready to mail and try to get Christmas cards going. I always do the envelope addressing, signing the cards, etc. I’ll see if my husband wants to dictate the Christmas letter we enclose to people we don’t see during the year. If he doesn’t want to, I’ll think about what to write. I love hearing from people at this time of year. It’s a wonderful way to virtually hug someone you can’t travel to see.

I wish you the happiest of Fridays, good weather, good company, and lots of hugs and laughter.

Seasonal Help with Eating

BoredPanda.com

I’m grateful for spring also because this season of the year helps me in my efforts to lose the lard.

I’m growing leaf lettuce, head lettuce, radishes, yellow squash, zucchini, red onions, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and celery. Being able to look forward to harvesting some of this straight from the garden to our table at night makes a big difference in my eating. I can throw off the comfort food of the winter and embrace being outside longer each day and eating big, healthy salads for our dinners.

All of my outside activities encourage me to drink more water, as well. My pedometer takes notice of my increased mobility and that encourages me to do even more.

Fingers crossed that this all comes together and I can make some good progress on my efforts to get healthier, stronger, and more flexible.

123RF.com

Ahhhhh!

American Kennel Club

I’m leaving shortly to have a massage. Ahhhhh!

My wonderful massage therapist will be having surgery very soon, though, and the recovery time is pretty long, so this massage will need to last me until February or so. My wish is that the surgery goes smoothly and that she heals thoroughly, feeling good again.

I was going to call to arrange to have our fall checkup on our geothermal system, plus our quarterly bug spraying, but both companies called ME to schedule! We had the geothermal check yesterday and are good to go now through the winter into the spring. Not only is our guy super competent about how our system works, but he crawls up into the attic to change out one of the filters for us – saving my husband and me the chore – AND our dog, Amber, is in love with him. She wags her tail so hard the whole time he is here that she sleeps soundly after he leaves. He always stops to talk to her and give her a lot of love before he leaves.

Our fish are swimming around in a sparkling clean tank again. They thanked me in their way, for the nice digs.

Our weather has warmed up again, so we’re able to open doors in the afternoon, airing out the house. :0) I’m hoping to be able to do some work outside this afternoon.

I hope that you are having a great day, too!

You Know It’s Hot

Patsy Saudeda – quotesgram.com

The heat index is 105 degrees right now. Not fit for man nor beast.

Thankfully, my husband mowed the yard last night right before dark, so the Lewises are lookin’ pretty good (for the Lewises). One of the many reasons we don’t live in the city limits is that we didn’t care for trimming our lawn to a required height and in the proper frequency, agonizing over brown spots, moles, voles, or other ‘ole’s, etc. We usually mow once a week, weather permitting, and my husband is delighted when we get to the stage in the summer where we aren’t getting any rain to keep the grass growing before our eyes. “Brown and crunchy’ is his favorite grass.

I never got back outside yesterday after gathering tomatoes and getting into the hostile ant pile. My ankle is FINALLY only a bit puffy today. The swelling is such that you can actually SEE the bites/stings rather than my ankle being one pink puffy area all the way around.  I’m planning to try to get the garden cleared tonight, but I’ll mix up more EIGHT to spray all the plants, all the raised bed planters, and the ground around them before I try to start clearing things out right before dark this evening.

I’m going to pull out all the plants, including the onions. I’ll put the onions on a screen we have on the side of a trailer so that they can start drying. They’ll need to do that for several days and then I can store them in mesh bags in the pantry. I’m hoping we got a good crop this year. Last year we had home-grown sweet onions throughout the winter and into the start of April!

If you’re having similar weather, don’t forget to take frequent breaks and drink lots and lots of water.