Well Tatoulia
If you were thinking of going shopping for you & your Mom...

I'm heartbroken for The United States Of America.
I'm crying for us all.

YES Tatoulia

Sleep in the back tonight away from the street view windows.

Glad Mom is not fretting ((((HUGS))))

Very relieved BF is home safe and you are at home safe too.

I saw Boston on TV and it looks like the police are making good strides in keeping it contained.

(((((HUGS)))))

Hi Subclinical

I completely and wholeheartedly support the peaceful demonstrators.
It's the anarchists, looters and vandals that are ruining the entire message.
They are there only to destroy all that is good.

We will all be watching the virus numbers closely in these cities.
Along with all the places where people decided pool parties and other gatherings were ok to do too.

Very relieved your kids are in safe areas of the big cities (((((HUGS)))))

They better keep updating you with any changes even the quiet things.

WAY TO GO! for evaluations, weeds, dishwasher and a plate!!!

Did you get the crib?
You must have cake or something special when the virtual baby shower is happening.
Such an exciting time!
Wishing it wasn't during a pandemic quarantine ((((HUGS))))

Stay safe everybody
these are interesting times
Love, Tillie

CM, I did not mean to leave you out! I am happy for your sewer miracle and hope you get a brake miracle to go with it!

Things have taken a turn here. I understand. My mother doesn't sound worried and feels very supportive of the pain and rage. It's not up by us yet but it's taken a bit of a turn. I may sleep in the back. My couch folds out. I live on a main thoroughfare and not sure if it will head up here or not. Bf made it safely home.

Tatoulia, be careful and stay safe!

All my children live in protest cities, but in "safe" areas. They keep messaging me that the rioting is not near them.

Dsil was on call to potentially go bail a friend out of jail last night, but fortunately things did not go that direction.

I am very angry at the anarchists and opportunists who are just using this as a chance to destroy things and steal. Especially when they destroy small businesses that support the communities that are already suffering. I also worry about the protestors getting sick.

Tillie, it sounds like your house is getting very nice.

I did my minimum evaluations today. Pulled a few weeds. Ran the dishwasher. And got a plate ready to go in the kiln. Also talked with dd1 for a long while. We are having a virtual baby shower on Saturday and she will be showing off her nursery and wanted to show me how they were setting it up.

The "school" room is slowly getting neater as I do evaluations and recycle notes.

Been thinking seriously that I should go grocery shopping this week.

Really missing FRESH produce. 🙁

If I do decide to go I will go on Thursday when from 7am to 8am only old people are allowed inside.
Last 2 times I went then and the store was practically deserted and the few people in there were courteous.

A miracle on the sewer line! 😀 It turned out to be not nearly what had been thought. Only $250 instead of $5-10k. Hallelujah!

I couldn't help that I woke at 3:00 a.m. and had a doozy of a worry session, though. Just had to pray and ride it through. My brain was like a dog with a bone but it finally lost interest in the bone.

Still I only got a little over 3 hours of sleep, so will nap this afternoon. First will call mechanic re brakes. Hope that is easier than expected too.

I actually found when he worked on them last by checking my past posts here! It was October 2019 and it was the front brakes then. Wonder if there's any chance something is still under warranty to reduce the cost.

Keep fingers crossed...

Tatoulia, stay safe...

Good Afternoon Everybody

YEA!!! CriticalMass
So relieved the sewer line was so much less than feared!!!
So, is it fixed yet? If not when will it be fixed?

My fingers are crossed your brake noise will be as easy to fix and hopefully still under warranty.

Have a great restful nap. ;D

Hi Tatoulia
Yes, I must admit that little booger Cowgirl Cat has me trained.
But in my defense she is just so darned cute!

Glad you have such a lovely day.
1pm here & 70 degrees with a very pleasant little breeze.

I used to always brew black tea for iced tea but have been enjoying the change to the herbal raspberry.

Detroit had some horrible riots in the 1960s.
So depressing to ride the busses and see all the rubble where there once were family owned businesses.
The people on the bus said "leave it" as a reminder of what has been lost.
The people on the bus also told me it was their own family members, young men who rioted and destroyed the businesses that had housed and fed them all their lives.
So heartbreaking.
I was living with my Granma in Detroit when Martin Luther King was assassinated.
There was a curfew and a lot of tension but fortunately no rioting.

Decided to draw a line through one more item on my June cleaning list.
I washed and ironed curtains.
These aren't window curtains but curtains for shelves and my tiny cubby hole closet.
Just looks so much better with a curtain rather than seeing what is stored on the shelves.
Plus I made a curtain/cover for my mesh hanging shoe holder because I don't like looking at the soles of my shoes hanging there.

Good Morning

Hello CriticalMass
I'm really hoping the repairs on the sewer line and van brakes are quick, easy and relatively inexpensive.

Unfortunately those two things are so very important and can't be put off.

Try not to see too much news.
It is very distressing and makes our souls weary. 🙁

Hello Subclinical
Glad you have nice weather and hoping you can get away from evaluations enough to enjoy being out in it.

Nice you had a video visit with your friends.
Worth staying up late for. ;D

WTG! for planting basil, evaluations and eliminating 3 post its!

Did you enjoy your properly socially distanced donut? 😉

Hello Tatoulia
You are heavy on my mind, living in the big city with so much unrest going on.
Take care, stay safe (((((HUGS)))))

Temps went down into the 40s over night.
I'm cold, the cats are cold. ;p

SubC-congratulations on your progress. And your donut!!!! You are doing a great job with your evaluations and your post it notes! Great system!!
Cm I am so sorry about the sewer line. And the brakes. I'm just so sorry.
Tillie I love how Cowgirl cat has you trained. It's so sweet. WTG on your drapery project. Take good care of your spine today.

I feel like myself today. It's beautiful and cool (not your nice 40F overnight drop, Tillie). It's beautiful and sunny and no humidity. Lovely. I've been enjoying coffee since I can. My iced tea is generally black tea although sometimes I work in a little bit of other tea, too.

I will get dressed soon enough. I watched live on YouTube last night, too, Tillie. Right on my tv. So far things are calm here. I don't know what will happen but so far we are seeing fairly good leadership. I love Atlanta's Mayor. She's so strong.

Well I must now figure out my next steps for the day.

I need to keep moving forward.

So much going on!

Yesterday I planted basil, did my minimum evaluations, got rid of three Post it notes, and added one.

Dh played golf, and this time he brought me donuts.

He also brought me a picture of the donut shop with masked employees and the one other man in the shop at the same time and the Xs on the floor.

I got a slow start this morning because we stayed up late last night video chatting with another couple. It was good to catch up.

The weather has been nice and I have been feeling sad because I am tied to the computer trying to crunch through evaluations.

It sprinkled a little!

Just enough to get Cowgirl Cat a little wet as she sat on the front porch begging for her supper but not enough to bother her.

She sits by the front porch watching the window looking to see me.
When I see her there she runs around to the back porch and waits for me to bring her the food.

It's me

Has this week felt a month long or what. So much terrible news. I pray about it all, and feel sad.

Tillie, I hope you get moderate weather - I know I'm not ready for triple digits.

Tatoulia, happy for you getting to see your mom, and SubC, your family.

There had been an ominous smell in the laundry room. Roommate had been already thinking sewer line was overdue for cleaning. And it's imperative it get done before her radioactive treatment because it wouldn't do to put repair people in danger of having to work on it with the radioactive stuff in the pipes.

Our guy came today and started to snake it, then discovered the line has collapsed. Big job, how big depending upon how much is collapsed. It may be costly. We just don't know.

Then this afternoon a grinding sound came from the brakes in my van. I'm like, really?

We are both pretty mind blown, weary, dismayed, and stressed. Keep us in your thoughts, please?

Good Afternoon Everybody
4pm

The wind is very boisterous blustery today
making it a high wildfire danger day.

Got the trees and Lilacs watered.
Decided to take down and wash diningroom area drapes.
Washed all the hardware.
Washed the windchime I have hanging at that window.
Got the drapes all fresh & clean & rehung.

That kind of work is very taxing on my spine.
I still need to do the livingroom area drapes but not today.

Had to clean up a scarf & barf on the carpet so went around and did a little spot cleaning on the carpet since I already had a bucket of soapy water.

The wind has blown in cloud cover that is helping keep it cooler today.
An early high of only 80 degrees and now it's 77 degrees.

Not much chance of rain because I never get much rain. 🙁

Steven went to the grocery store AND the barber shop today. >:(

The testing of non symptomatic people has not done many tests to date.
But a little over 200 are negative with no reported positives.
The symptomatic testing has not been doing many tests either and not reporting any positives.
I believe they are not reporting positives so that businesses can reopen without anybody protesting.

I plan to keep doing everything I have been doing even though self quarantining has been lifted.

Ok
Decided what I will challenge myself with for June.

Doing the dining area drapes today has motivated me to actually do the Spring cleaning.
Since some things really hurt my back I will slowly chip away at it.
And I won't allow the constantly blowing dust to discourage me.

I need to vacuum and wash the baseboards & up the wall "cat height" to remove dust and cat boogers.
Wash ceiling fan and dining area light fixtures with all it's fussy little crystal dangles.
Finish washing all drapes & curtains that haven't been washed yet.
Wash rugs and wash floors that they lay on.
Wash all wooden furniture with Murphy's oil soap and polish with Pledge or something similar.
Wash refrigerator inside & out.
Wipe, wash & dust everything because it's all dusty.
Also do general house cleaning like bathroom and dishes and such.

I think that's enough to keep me busy. ;D

Yay SubC!!! Great to have your family around!!! I'm so happy for you!!!

Tillie, mineral oil mixed into the lotions sounds so soothing! Great idea!

There was a fence between mom and me but it made no difference. She sat in a chair and looked very comfortable. She wore a dress and a pink sweater. Adorable.

I'm up. I streamed some of the protests last night. I'd been watching them and hit up fir a glass of water when I decided to do my dishes and brew iced tea. So I woke up to a clean sink and fresh iced tea. First of the season abs it is delicious.

Today I have to run up to mom's; she gave one of the workers her new debit card so I'll pick it up. I've been paying for everything since March 13. I'm pretty sure I'm the one who has her debit card but it's hard to say so she ordered a new one and then her banker was very kind and helped me choose a new pin since mom couldn't read it. Im lucky that there are good people in my life and mom's life and I can just solve problems without a lot of rigamarole.

I'll ttyl. Want to get to PO today. Mail some office paperwork and mail a package to our friends' kids. Sunglasses, seed packets, little care package.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Happy you got Mom's banking things all sorted out without a big hassle. 🙂

WAY TO GO! washing dishes and brewing ice tea!!!
Always nice to wake up to a clean kitchen.

I've been drinking iced raspberry zinger with fresh lemon, make up a whole gallon and it only last 3 days at the most.

I watched some protests last night on youtube on the tv with the Roku.

Good luck with all your plans for today.
That is so sweet of you to send kids the "care" packages. (((HUG)))

Have the hose very slowly watering trees this morning.
The wind has already picked up.
The Honeysuckle smells so beautiful in the yard.
A large deep red Rose has bloomed.
My allergies are driving me crazy today.

Finished watching "Dark Shadows" and have started watching "Dark Shadows, The Beginning".
It has been a lot of fun. 😉

LOL CriticalMass 😀

Thanks for the new pics.
Those flowers are beautiful! 😀

Oh Tatoulia! I am so glad you got to see your mom!

My family had a nice spread out campfire in the yard yesterday. Dd and dsil brought their own food and drink, but Dd let dsil accept a piece of pie.

Ds's "other mom" came over for a little while today and stood in the yard talking. Then the kids headed off for the wedding stuff.

Ds put a couple of boxes of plastic containers that I had been saving because I can't recycle them in the back of his car because he had room. He can recycle them in his curbside bin when he gets home. So, those are out of my basement.

Dd2 is spending the night again.

She looked through some of her left behind stuff and put a three inch stack of papers in the recycling.

I've been eating badly again with the kids here.

HOW WONDERFUL! Subclinical 😀

So happy you got to have a nice visit with your Family!

WTG! Dd2 for finding all that paper to recycle!!!

YEA! for plastic recycling on it's way to being recycled!

It's perfectly alright to neglect eating strictly property.
This was a special occasion for you. (((HUG)))

I got to see mom today! She sat on the patio and I stood in the bushes!!!! Great fun.

Very humid here. I will put the ac on and lay down as soon as the end of the workday. I'm skipping today's happy hour. I just don't feel like it. The topic doesn't interest me and the person leading it is not a favorite, either. Smart person and competent and all, he just rubs me the wrong way. For no discernible reason.

Tillie that is amazing about the weather and laundry. I have never lived without humidity. Do you just drink water constantly? Is it hard to keep your skin nice? The humidity makes me very tired.

HOW WONDERFUL! 😀

Will you be able to arrange another visit from the bushes?
So happy you got to see her with no barriers between the two of you!

I get it, some people just generate the wrong "vibes" somehow.

I do drink a lot of water and constantly apply lip balm.
Since I restrict all salt consumption except that found naturally in some food/food products
There are time I must eat some salty things and also watch potassium in order to stay hydrated and alive. LOL

You can never apply too much lotion. We all get flaky and itchy.
I fortify my lotions with some mineral oil to help make them better, longer lasting on the skin.
I vividly remember the humidity in Michigan and think arid air is so much easier to live with.
We can add moisture to our homes and use lotions.
Your humidity is just constantly pressing on you. (((HUG)))

Got ALL my Winter weight items all clean and safely stored!!!
I store off season bedding and window coverings in eight plastic totes that I stack in the corner of a closet in Steven's room.
Also all the little cat quilts & blankets.
I put my homemade sachets in each bin.
The stuff has remained clean, fresh smelling and bug/rodent free in there, so far.
Absolutely no place else to keep them.

Good Evening Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
YEA! for a cute dress at such a great price and it will make a cute nightgown too.
I wear some dresses as nightgowns too. 🙂

WAY TO GO! for eating better and avoiding sugar and fat!!!

Good luck getting Summer clothes all out and freshened.

Keeping two Winter throws is good.
I like being able to swap them out for a change and also having more than one if one gets messy.

Sometimes, many times closets and dressers seem to be too full.
But sometimes it's just because the storage area is not large enough to accommodate the well curated items.
I have no hanging closet space so I must fold and put stuff in drawers.
I have two dressers with three drawers each.
Also a 4 drawer chest of drawers.
All these drawers are not all that roomy and two in the chest of drawers have sewing notions in one and kitchen linens in the other.
I put shelves in my tiny cubby hole closet where I store all my bed linens, table cloths, towels/washcloths, etc. plus a stack of jeans.

It all looks like way to much stuff but when I count the individual items, I really don't have much, just very limited storage space.

So I can't have excessive things that I don't need and use like blouses, dresses or linens unless I keep strict to the "one in one out rule".
Rather than buying more dressers I just keep only the best and most useful.

Good Morning Everybody

Going to be another 100 degree day today but tomorrow is supposed to be ten degrees cooler.

Plan to water grass & garden this evening.
Lilacs & Ash trees tomorrow.

Last evening I washed my comforter and will pack it away today.
Also washed table cloths and table top protectors and rags.
It all dried before it was totally dark outside because it was like living inside a clothes dryer. ;p

This time of year it's either get up early to get things done before it's too hot or stay up late after the sun has set.

Thank you for the advice and understanding, Tillie. I think I need to look through the shelves in my bedroom closet for a bit. Try to get a handle on what is taking up so much room. I also need to find my summer clothes and freshen them up.

I ran a few errands with BF tonight. I told him, I'm as dressed as I'll ever be. I'm in a casual dress that I bought at Lord and Taylor end of season for about $11. It's cute. Casual little dress that will eventually be a nightie.

Yes my little friend is so happy to have cotton to sleep on! I'll wash her bed over the weekend. I'll have dealt with part of my closet by then, so I will have space for her bed.

I'm going to go do the dishes. I'm still off sugar and fatty foods. I still drink some juice, diluted with seltzer, but off the heavy stuff. No brownies a la mode. Of course now that I've written that, it's all I can think of. Darn it!

SubC and CM I'll go back and read your posts. It looks like you've been doing a lot and that is terrific! I also am curious as to CM's roommate and any schedule for the treatment.

Tillie, I just heard the news to the Marathon. It's for the best, and I guess I never believed it would be held in September so it hasn't hit me hard. Obviously it was a real disappointment and shock when it was canceled in April.

Yes very good news on the eagle front!!!

Tillie I will make more bags to go out. I have one now. I'll just keep reducing. It's all I can do. I have two winter throws, both very nice, both in excellent condition. So I'll be keeping them. But it's two. So I have to look at other things to get rid of. I'm still working on my dining room closet too. I'll just keep forging ahead but I think I'll skip the papers this weekend. Too many little bits of paper that I can't control. So I'll give myself a week off from that so I can work on other things and not deal with the aggravation.

Hi Tatoulia
That's a good idea to take a break from the papers.
In a week when you get back at it you will be refreshed and have a clear mind.

Figured she'd sleep on whatever you put down for her. 🙂

Still 100 degrees here and the cooler is on putting cool moist in the house.
Makes my sinuses feel better too.

Not surprised you are a bit lazy today.
That work project must have taken a lot out of you.
It's OK to take time to regroup. (((HUG)))

Yes, the way things are going cancelling the marathon is for the best.
Next year!

Can you take a drive out and Eagle watch?
Here they keep the nest locations secret because of cruel inhumane humans.

Today I washed my lightweight coat and will pack it away when dry.
If it gets cold again I will just deal with it.

Keep adding to those donation bags.
I find it as cathartic as doing laundry to fill a bag. ;D

The bad news is The Boston Marathon has been cancelled.

The great news is that Massachusetts has a large nesting Eagle population this year.

I love driving out around the farms & fields where the huge old Oak trees are and seeing the Golden Eagles perched in the trees.

WTG Tillie! Getting your feet in order!!!!

It's humid here today so I've kept the windows shut. I have the ceiling fan on. I found kitty's white table cloth and folded it on her chair. And now she's sound asleep on it.

I don't know if I'm going to leave the house today. I'm a bit slower today than I've been. I did catch up with a girlfriend. We worked together many years ago and I cane across her address while shredding papers, so I sent her a note. We talked for just over an hour today. It was great fun.

Okay I'll need to figure out what I'm doing here. I'm a bit lazy today.