A Change Of Seasons.

 I woke up last night freezing and stumbled over to the air conditioning to turn it off. The cat was jammed up tight, annoyed I hadn't woken up earlier - it's all about the cat if you hadn't guessed. I'm not sure if fall is right around the corner or we're all hoping it is- this summer has not been pleasant, has it? Usually we only get a month or so of hot dry weather, this summer it seems up until the past couple of weeks it's been breathtakingly hot. But when I stuck my head out this morning I was thinking I would wear long pants to walk today, it might even be cool enough for that. Pearl is doing well enough, but we've had to add prednisone as even with the new medication the tumors were getting big. And it's not the ones we can see that we worry about, it's the ones we can't. But she was good this week and she loves her walks in the park. I'm also bringing zucchini with me, it just keeps coming in unstoppable heaps. Charlene will take some and one of my patients said you can freeze it. To slice and freeze it on cookie sheets, then freezer bag it. I think I'll try it with a couple today and see how it comes out. I just cannot look at another zucchini dish! David counted a dozen watermelons in various forms of production, we'll see if we still love watermelon by September!  I still am too chicken to pull the beets, I wish there was a way for me to peek at them without pulling them first. I've got a compost pile going near the garden, it works out for everyone. Whatever the local wildlife wants to eat, they can, the rest is composting away. The sunflowers appear to be going to seed which is super interesting, at least to me. My shawl is coming along, I've got one more time with Chart One and then on to Chart Two. My new glasses are great, I can really see the stitches now and no longer have to turn on every light we own to knit. My appointment for the extensive eye exam is at the end of the month, not wanting to do that but I suppose I should.  David and  I went out to breakfast yesterday for the first time in ages, I had pecan pancakes at Cracker Barrel - we had to drop my car off for the rest of the repairs. I'm going to keep my car til at least January which is the best month to get a car deal and then see if I want to trade it in or not. With the cooler weather we're starting to make plans to finish the house, that will cover the weekends!

For Where Art Thou Reuben

 Reuben, up until now has had his moments but for the most part has been a pretty good puppy. That all changed yesterday when I came home to a re-enactment of The Day After Tomorrow. I was so stunned I didn't even take a picture. What was left of my footstool sat next to a giant pee spot - on the carpet. The edge of the end table had been gnawed but the piece de resistance was the wing back chair. Or what was formerly a wing back chair. It looked like it had spontaneously combusted in the room, fabric hanging in shreds, the floor a sea of batting and splinters. I quickly removed the gate so Pearl could fly up the stairs, she wanted no part of this mess, no sirree bob. If you need her she'll be under the bed thank you very much. Reuben hid by the sink but it did him no good (he is terrible at hiding you might have noticed). I more screamed then anything else, when you're that mad you need to keep your hands to yourself but be assured it will not be happening again. No, he is still alive to tell the tale but we are back to crating him - he's just too young to be left to his own devices and no one enjoyed yesterday at all. We'll start leaving him out for short periods of time since I'd like to eventually for  him to have the run of the house but for now for eveyone's sake (and safety! He ate a WHOLE chair and I didn't kill him! It was like a Dr. Phil moment) he will be a prisoner for time during the day. Pearl just looks at him in it like she cannot believe anyone can be  that stupid. Oh well, I guess we all have our moments. Didn't know what I was going to do this weekend but I guess we'll be out furniture shopping. For a new chair REUBEN. The temps have dropped a little - by a little I mean it hits about the mid eighties but after this summer we can deal. My garden is still producing zucchini by the foot, by Sunday whenI see Charlene I should be able to fill her trunk. And then some. The sunflowers are growing heavy, their  blooms facing down, they look a bit ashamed I think. Or maybe so the birds will leave them alone, I've noticed we've been attracting finches lately.  I'm not sure how the seeds get formed but I suppose I'll find out soon. I have about 6 good sized watermelons, about 3 pounds about now and hopefully will be getting bigger soon. I have four beets now but not sure when they're ready to pull, I know that once you pull them you can't put them back so that's a big nerve wracking. I have  ONE  ear of corn.  But it's a really nice ear of corn, it's probably the Best Ear Of Corn In The Universe. As you can tell summer is starting to wind down and after this year - I can't wait for fall!

See You At The Fair!

 The Mannington Fair was this weekend - we met over at Big Lots in town and Susan drove. We stopped at her parents house down the road for the bathroom and to store our purses, then off to the fair. Susan remembered it much busier, it was once the second largest fair in the state - but I think that's endemic all over. The rides and games are very expensive now, up to five dollars a game or ride. If you have two or three kids, they each want to ride 3 rides.......and that's before you eat. And eat I did! There were rows and rows of fair food, all deep fried and liberally coated with sugar.  Jessica did not believe me that the deep fried oreos were a point a piece. I did have vegetables, however I'm sure the nutritional value was negated by the think batter they swam in prior to being lowered into the deep fryer for a spell. The ranch dressing didn't look too low calorie either but you once the pony's out there is not point in shutting the gate, is there? I did peek in the trailer of where they were cooking it - big mistake but then realized nothing viral or bacterial could survive the hot oil bath so what ever. I was not TOTALLY bad - I got the small vegetable plate instead of the large and split the oreos with Jess and Susan. We went up to the community building to see my shawls on display - I won ribbons for ALL of them, two first place for the large ones, second place for the smaller one. We met up with Susan's family and had her nieces with us for an hour, they're hilarious of course, Claire is 8 and Lily is her 13 year old put upon sister.  I did find it very funny that Susan refers to Claire as her brother's payback - she's a pretty rambunctious child and rather hilariously speaks her mind. Loudly.  It's always funnier when it's someone else's relative, isn't it? We watched the tractor races - the one from Morgantown was so slow. He had more safety equipment on than a NASCAR driver, we think that's what slowed him down. We did the craft sale, the horse pull (the Belgium horses were beautiful). I didn't get home til after 12:30 but what a fun night. Today we went walking with Charlene, Pearl spotted her friends right off and went racing, tail wagging and dancing. We did the very easy trail, Sophie has slowed down a great deal too and Pearl does well, but gets short of breath if it's too much. I have been bringing water and food with us on a regular basis, my little backpack serves me well. We're doing it again next weekend, even though it might be a strain on Pearl she enjoys it so much it's worth the effort. I have work on Monday, coming too soon. This weekend has been really really nice.

A Sight For Sore Eyes

 I got my glasses yesterday - they called when I was part way home so I turned around and went back. The woman handed them to me to try on and turned a mirror. I shrieked and yipped "ACK! I'm old!". It took her a second but then we sat there, laughing our butts off much to the amusement of the other customers -  one should always enjoy old age. I got bifocals without a line and it is taking some getting used to but I can see what I'm knitting now and that was the whole point of this expedition. Seeing where I'm going is secondary. David and I have been discussing the kitchen a lot lately, trying to figure out how we'd like to finish it. We are repainting it white because of the darker  wood that's been added, he's putting in skylights,we need to change out the lighting fixtures (low ceilings and fans just don't work for me!) -  the counters are a huge and expensive decision. The bathroom will have to wait - that we look at, can't figure anything out and leave it be. With an older home it's a little tougher, up until the 70's football stadium sized kitchens and bathrooms were not in. The bathroom here is the same size we had when I was growing up, just enough room for the toilet, tub and sink and not much else. There were no decorative niches, floor to ceiling shelving or heated towel racks. The same with the kitchen - so you have to scale it all down. The living room has been settled, we have our big furniture, just not a lot of it.  The backyard remains the same, we are waiting til next month to replace the lawn furniture when everything goes on super clearance. By then it will be cool enough to actually sit out there and we can use it right into October. I guesss I'd better get moving - a lot to do today!

Show Me The Weigh

 I got weighed last week after putting it off. Actually, it was just hard getting there  with all that's been going on lately - and keeping my weight from creeping back up has become a balancing act. I'm still around my goal weight, but closer to it than I am comfortable with. I like to keep a few pounds between me and exile back into Rolypoly land - if you go past your goal weight by more than two pounds Weight Watchers will start charging you again - as long as you behave you get to be a Free-Bee.  It's a good system I suppose, except for us that are happily sliding to hell in a hand basket, a cookie in each hand and a case of Yoo Hoo in the back. In the past 3 months I've gone down to once a month meetings and it is starting to show. I find it so easy to slide back into old habits - giving my self the weekend "off" and acting as if it doesn't count. But just because I don't count it, doesn't mean it doesn't show up on the scale. Falling off my diet when I was on vacation I expected to do, having such a hard time getting back on it I didn't. But I am doing it - a bit at a time. I've stopped rewarding myself with food, stopped telling myself I'll start my diet again tomorrow - I promise! - that TODAY is the day I'll get up and exercise, not Monday, not Sunday - Today. No more last suppers, last donuts - if I eat it I write it. And for now I''m trying to plan things for the weekend instead of hanging about the house which I love to do. I've often said we don't spend enough time at home, we work so hard to have nice fun things- and then we spend all of our time frantically running around trying to make money so we can have more things. But it's time to get out of the house. With fall (hopefully) around the corner I'm trying to get Pearl out more. She's doing OK by the way - she had a vet appointment that went well  and the pill we started her on did make the tumors smaller. She seems more herself and if she continues to feel good we can start walking some more. Also too we are considering how to finish up the house. I see David pulled up the last of the stained carpeting upstairs revealing the hideous 50's style linoleum (you realize if this HG TV he would have pulled up the rug to reveal perfect oak flooring from the civil war. But this is our house. You get tan speckled linoleum, live with it). I want to finish off the kitchen, the rest of the carpet will have to wait, we are going to do something with the basement as we spend a lot of time down there with our home gym. We have expensive equipment in a welfare housing room. There's always something to do around here. I have to rearrange the kitchen, between moving in and David redoing a lot of it, everything got shifted and shifted again. The coffee, some spices and dog's medication are next to the oven. The pots are next to the fridge and the dishes are next to the stove. The canned goods are spread all over, etc and I found some swanky plastic ware that has the sole function of sucking up space. We have things piled on the counter and empty cabinets beneath.  I'm on call in a couple of weeks and have to be home so I figure that will be a good day to do those things. As we get closer to fall I'm getting back to cooking - dinner has been low calorie affairs most night due to all the fresh vegetables I have to try and eat. My zucchini plants have become manic little things, sneaky making more zucchini when they think no one is looking. We have nine in the house and there are more forming as I write. Kind of like that movie with the people pods.Maybe zucchini will take over the world. Or Garards Fort.  

My Eyes!

 I had a list of Things To Do yesterday, get my oil changed, haircut, eye exam, grocery store of course. We didn't get to the oil change but I can do that during the week. I did get a BOFFO haircut, I took a picture with me this time of what I wanted. You can buy haircut magazines and page through at home you know - then just take the page with you. It's easier than trying to describe it, trust me.  I've found if I don't take a picture I tend to come home with a bowl cut.  I had an appointment with the eye doctor who's office is in the mall - hooray for that I might add - and it went well. He asked why I thought I needed glasses and I told him quite sadly that I am Old And Stuff now so I seem to having a lot of trouble reading lately. So we did determine two things. I do need glasses and I have a prescription - and that there was something else possibly wrong with my eyes and I am being scheduled for more in depth eye testing. There is a possibility I might be in the early stages of glaucoma which I do not find amusing at all. No sir, not at all. However, it was a big maybe and he said if you catch this stuff early it is VERY  treatable. Since I have a tendency to skirt the edges of medical mayhem I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. My entire life I've been poked and prodded, cat scanned, sonogrammed and bone scanned for a variety of things I look like I have, but don't. I have had a total of 3 operations to remove a variety of tumors and calcification, all benign. My breasts have been more closely examined than Marilyn Monroe's at times due to my family  and personal history and the fact I am a lumpy bumpy thing at times.  I have a lovely three inch scar running down the side of my chest from the removal of calcification, one across my abdomen from the removal of my uterus plus a softball sized tumor, etc - it doesn't bother me because I know how lucky I am all I walked away with was a scar and nothing else. My retirment career plans of being an exotic lap dancer will probably not happen now, but what ever. I can either take up sheep herding or knitting for money.

What Goes Up Does Not Have To Come Down

 David and I have a giant Sears freezer in the basement, it's what I tend to refer to as the "hide a body size". We've never even entertained the idea of getting rid of it, I have no idea how they got it down there and less of an idea of how to get it out. It's still working of course, and working well. I cleaned out well last weekend, scrubbed and dried and left open to air. It has that fun late 60's- early 70's star burst design on the inside of the top, the hanging baskets are all accounted for - all and all a fine example of Sears Best. We are plugging it in this weekend for test run to see how much electric it will use - and the reason for all of this is the never ending climbing price of food. I almost sucked all the air out of the supermarket last week when I bought a spaghetti squash and it cost almost seven dollars! We buy very little meat, nothing too fancy and yet cannot seem to get away for less than $150 - $200 a week. A lot of the reason is we buy tons of fruits and vegetables and with the drought that hit us this year it can only get worse. My garden actually is producing but it's useful only if you're prepared to live on zucchini and sunflower seeds. We see things on sale, but have limited space to store it so we think we may be plugging the freezer in and starting to stockpile the things we see on sale. Speaking of food I did get to Weight Watchers this week - I was getting emails that if I didn't get my butt to a meeting and get weighed I would be Weight Watching from the outside. I admit I have been putting it off because this summer, before, during and after I had my vacation I did not fall off the wagon - I went catapulting into the stratosphere, sailing away on cupcakes and pizza slices. I thought it would be easy to get back into the diet mode - but it's not. It's the one more and then that's it. Well, after Sunday that's it. Welllll.....after  NEXT MONTH  I am Totally Serious, That's It. I did stay under my goal weight but only a little. I am working on getting back on track and have lost a pound and have gotten back into my morning routine. I'm hoping to take Pearl walking this weekend if it is not too too hot. We'll have to see.