Day 244 - Lisa

Still working on the hutch.  Took me almost all day to get to the last layer of paint.  Threw on some flat white to cover the black so I can cover with tangerine.  Why does everything end up black, white and orange?  LOL  Just need to do the glass doors and hopefully next weekend the hutch will be finished.  Aye yi yi!  Praying all the knobs and brackets are going to go back on it ok.

  

Day 244 - Sis

Only took months of care to find three of the six tomatoes now showing promise to become future components of a beautiful salad.  Love the smell of them.  May not be blue ribbon category but they made my day!

Day 243 - Sis

So the world of children's books has apparently left my world because I haven't heard of the "Flat Stanley" series.  My niece, Kellee, apprised me of their existence when she asked if I was willing to help her daughter, (my great-niece), with a school project.  Autumn's, (the great-niece), class will be using this character's format to learn about other geographical areas.  Since I live the furthest from any other relative or friend she chose me to take "Flat Autumn" to some of the places I visit. It doesn't have to be a tourist or special place, just anywhere I go for whatever length of time I want.  I can send her back with menus, maps or little souvenirs but it requires a pictures of Flatty and me of these sites.  I didn't take a picture of the Target store visited today because her Grandmother, (my sister, Kellee's mother), works for Target in California and that might be overkill for Flatty since she visits that particular store regularly. Maybe I'll take her to Walmart because I'm sure her Grandmother never takes her there!

Day 243 - Lisa

So I learned today that Mini Cooper has a vehicle equivalent to a small SUV, a 4 door.  Ugh!  This is such a tough choice.  I HATE car shopping.  Sure is cute. And my mom and I would have no problem reading the dials!

Day 242 - Lisa

I learned this week that peanuts from the baseball field are just as good at home courtesy of MLB.  I ate a whole bag watching the Republican Convention this week.  I can tell you watching baseball and eating peanuts is a WHOLE lot more fun!

Day 242 - Sis

Look what's here!  We decided to subscribe to the local paper  but only on Thursdays and Sundays for now.  I miss the printed news and reading it just seems a better way of grasping the world around me and not get lost in the over made-up, reporter's faces on tv.  TV and websites hit on the big and quick stories but sometimes you want to get a more in-depth view of a smaller or particular one.  Plus being raised in a home where a paper was read daily, it's just an act I hang onto and enjoy.  Reporters described and wrote articles that opened up the world and made you think about ideas, culture, politics and people, that weren't always available on tv in those days. Words were there in print so if you didn't understand, a dictionary was opened and you absorbed and felt good about learning it.  Articles were written, some in a series, on stories that delved into worlds or ideas you had never thought or knew about.  I like the smell too, I still enjoy the comics section and I can read something that doesn't require a battery!

Day 241 - Lisa

I saw this on TV while channel surfing.  LOL  He'd be special alright!

Day 241 - Sis

Praying for the Gulf states being hit by heaving rain and waiting for Isaac to blow through.  I, like many, wonder how do these citizens do it?  Then I go to New Orleans and understand once again what draws some of us and keeps many in this region.  God bless all the people there and hope this picture, taken in City Park, will reflect the areas soon.

Day 240 - Sis

On the subject of breakfast, remember yesterday?  My Mom, though very loving and entertaining, she was no Julia Child but she did make some dishes that are still favorites. The fact that she was not chef rated would show up especially when for breakfast she would call, " Breakfast, it's pancakes!"  Now you're thinking, wow, homemade pancakes, light, fluffy, maybe a 1/2 inch thick.  Again, keep in mind she had seven kids. This is kind of tricky because I don't know if she was really bad at making those above dream pancakes or if she was just being efficient in serving up a filling and fast meal to her hungry children. Mama's pancakes were at least an inch and half thick, not always round but almost as big as the pan she made them in; probably weighing in at half a pound.  Needless to say syrup was bought in the largest container and dispensed in great quantities to cover these monsters. If you could get through two of them, your next meal would be dinner.  One of the reasons you could last to dinner, you were inert for two hours after consuming them!  I mean if we ate at someone's house and they were serving those dollar size pancakes, we thought they were hor d'oeuvres.  But have to say the pancakes were much better than her biscuits, which my father swore he was going to sell to the military as weapons.

Day 240 - Lisa

This little guy didn't care that I was about 4 feet away.  He was singing his heart out.

Day 239 - Lisa

Oh man, this made me snort when I seen it on the website womenunite.org.  I usually watch both conventions every election season.  This year I don't know if I have the stomach for it.  I just know this;  I grew up in the late 60's and into the 70's.  I was witness to ERA amendment fight, civil rights change, I participated in sports at the time of Title 9 and was a part of history, if you are a woman and you are not voting or worried, well then I just don't know what will move people to stand up for their basic rights. My opinion.

Day 239 - Sis

While eating my cereal this morning I thought about this old radio show we listened to at home during the weekdays.  It was a morning ritual, especially on school days. Why?  My mother was very good at keeping her brood, ( in 1948, only 5 with an increase of 2 daughters by 1951 ), entertained and one of the ways was listening to the radio, no one had tvs yet.  This show had a variety of things going, comedy, music, audience participation, even a moment of prayer, but Mom's favorite was the quarterly hour, "March Around the Breakfast Table".  "Everybody up and marching," or something like that was announced over the airwaves. She managed to get the ones going to school, my older brother Frank and I, at the time, out the door while listening to the sound of marching feet and music. In case you're wondering, Frank was five and I was 4, no preschool in those days.  Of course later with the younger siblings attending school they joined us and it was a mini parade streaming out the door. Oh but there was no "minivan" ride, we walked on our "mini" feet to the bus stop. ;-

Day 238 - Lisa

Six bags of clothes donated to Goodwill and the local Women's Shelter.  Finally all my clothes are in the  closet hanging or folded.  Now to get a dresser and nightstand.  My room will finally be complete. I brought no furniture to ATL.  I spent all day Sunday unpacking and organizing my closet.  No knick-knacks though.  I do not have time or energy to hit any box labeled "cats" or "Disney" till I'm on vacation.  However, sitting in my room looking at my views, my kitty napping on my bed, knowing I had a home I felt very blessed.  So I decided to burn some mugwart.  Smelled so good.  Flooded me with good memories.  And then I got home sick for Indian World.  <sigh> 

Day 238 - Sis

We are so happy. along with my hip and Lisa's knee thanks to a friend/co-worker of her's.  Yesterday he spent some hours installing, then re-installing to his standard, that much needed step from the garage into the house's  back door. Also added a guard to the bottom of the garage outside back door, fixing a light fixture and a leak from a toilet tank.  Cost? Oh yeah, parts and dinner.;-