Meh

Today will be the day I see if the ancient a/c unit works. We already have 89% humidity and a 74 degree dew point. There is severe weather forecast for late afternoon/early evening. Fun times.

If the old unit fires up I will attempt some much needed work inside. I've been comfortable without air conditioning if I don't do much and stay in front of a fan. Dinner has been anything simple I can come up with. It's too hot to even grill.

What's up with blogger now? I have captcha turned off on comments yet I have to do the photo square identification on any reply I make. Yesterday I had a different reply screen, one I preferred and today it's gone.  The trials and tribulations of life, I'm telling you.

Time used to fly when I was busy and drag on when I wasn't. It doesn't seem to matter which it is anymore, it is going by at the speed of light. Wasn't it just April? Why is August knocking at the door? It feels like I'll wake up tomorrow to Jingle Bells and yet I haven't finished weeding flower beds. If you watched Seinfeld you know about festivus for the rest of us. I'm celebrating early.

Animal Central

My personal assistant.

It's been hot and quite humid the past few days. When did we become Florida? Ah, well. 

This photo of Rocky Raccoon was taken in the dark through a window pane. I will feed her sans her brood. There are too many rambunctious young'uns and I don't want them hanging around. No raccoon village needs to be developed on this property. Rocky has been here since she was an older baby. She thinks she is one of the cats. She gives Mr. McCool a wide berth. 

This is the sum total of life as we are living it. Cats. Raccoons. Elderly horses. Elderly two-leggers.

There Was a Man From Nantucket.....

My Days of Poetry 

I'm not a poet and I know it!

Hot. Humid.

What happened with leftover pork chops.

Wednesday and Thursday were moderate in temperature and humidity. I spent both afternoons on the lawn tractor. We are now back into high heat and humidity, so all my grand outside plans are on hold. It's been disappointing that when it's nice outside that we cannot sit on the deck or porch. The black flies are awful. They swarm. I need to clean up the screened-in cat porch. That's what I have been telling myself. Often. I don't listen even to myself.

As is blatantly obvious, I got nothin', so I think I'll sign off and quietly go about, whatever.

 

Flowers and Other Things

I am giving a tour of some of the flower beds out here in the wilds of the edge of the west metro of the Twin Cities.

 

When we moved here in January 1994 I felt I had fallen off the earth. I had lived in a city my entire life and suddenly, by my own doing, I was in unfamiliar territory. It was tax season, so Mark had long hours away from home, my horses were still in Stillwater, which is on the eastern edge of Minnesota, next to Wisconsin. They didn't move here until June. I had five dogs, my three and two the prior owner had left, and two cats. I was certain I had made the biggest mistake of my life and let me tell you, I'd made a few big ones. I went into one of the nearby towns one day a week or so after the movers had dumped us here. All furniture, etc. was left in the large part of the house. Another story. Anyway....I was in a small shop buying something, a nice older woman checking out my purchase. She asked me how my day was going. I started to cry, I never cried, telling her my story. That woman kind of saved me. Saved me more misery. She was so gentle, assuring me I would be ok, change is hard. Her compassion helped me accept where I was and why I was there. I saw her often after that. What a treasure she was.

Change is hard. I stopped feeling scared after awhile. Funny, that. People in the area thought I would feel safe after leaving the "dangerous big city". I'd never heard gunfire until I moved here. Having five large dogs did help. All this to say, it is rural, but not that rural. In ten minutes I can be in front of the studio/compound of Prince. Minneapolis is 20-25 minutes away. At that time, though, it felt like I was in the wilds of Alaska. It was January in Minnesota, after all.

Over thirty years, still not seen as a member of the community, but you need to be here at least three generations for that to happen. Then you are, maybe, ok. 

The Time Is Now

I'm with her.

Let's do this!

Keep it Light

Last evening we were sitting in the living room. Mark looks down at himself (his belly) and says "I'm officially old. I'm a stuffed shirt who drives a Buick and hangs out with fat cats." Yes, I married this guy!

What you do with leftover rotisserie chicken.

 

Deer Ones

Mama and her babies came for a snack on the unmown lawn yesterday morning. My zucchini plant has already been devoured but she must not like tomato or eggplants. They are doing fine. I took the photo through my office window. She saw me but didn't run. She is beautiful.

I spent most of yesterday outside on the mower. I got it all done in one day, which hasn't happened for quite awhile. It takes hours, more so now because I go slower for the sake of my back. Today I plan to start cleaning up the flower beds Mark didn't get to. I also need to get the new weed whacker assembled. Our push mower is with Bill for some work, so the weed whacker is needed. The daylilies and phlox are blooming. It is colorful out there.

Today is my son and DIL's ninth anniversary. Time does fly by. We were clipped by the outer edge of a tornado the evening before. A huge maple tree came down across the driveway, leaving us no way out. Mark, Bill, Bill's neighbor and Bill's son worked valiantly with chainsaws to get us out. If that hadn't happened we would have missed the wedding. As it was, we got there just before the ceremony. I did not recognize my first husband, Matthew's bio-dad. That was embarrassing. In my defense, he was beardless and I had never seen him that way. I also never see him, so I only remember his young self. I didn't recognize the photos of David, my was-going-to-be second husband, either. My memory kept him a twenty-something and couldn't see anything else. I wonder if this is so with others?

Today I will make the weeds in the flowers a memory.

A Good Day to be Outside

Mark tells me he has alleycat charm. 

Finally. Finally we have nice weather. Sunshine, mild temperature and lower humidity. This sounds like a day outside for me. The grass is long and I could do with a bit of sun. That will be my afternoon, after the dew is off the grass.

That's about it. Take it easy out there. If you can't take it easy, take it anyway you can.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Deck

Yes. Sometimes I do make quinoa.

It's raining again. It should be over in another hour, then less hot with high humidity. Bah. The cats are fascinated for some reason. It's laundry day so I will at least do that. I have had absolutely no motivation. None. Climate, weather and political, have sucked it out of me. I need to find equilibrium. I hope to get out in the gardens this week, that will help me a lot. It will also help the gardens. I must remember, one foot in front of the other.

With that high note, I will leave you. 

Cats in a Porch

Cats in Repose

We don't use this porch for ourselves anymore. It's a shame, but the change in heat and humidity over the past years, along with the large tree that shaded it coming down, have made it uncomfortable. Except to them. It is a cat room. They think it's great.

We had more rain overnight and strong wind. Two trees came down in a pasture, otherwise all is intact. We are saturated. The foliage sure is happy, which makes me feel better. The large pines were starting to show stress after three years of drought. It would be devastating to lose them.

Otherwise, nothing going on here. We all know what happened at the rally in Pennsylvania. We will never deal with the gun issue. 

Baby It's Hot Outside

We just had a thunderstorm, now ended. It will be a stifling day, as it is going to be in the 90s F. The humidity will be off the charts. Complain, complain. What would I do without the weather?

 I took this photo many years ago. When I look back at my photos, the difference between my Canon and my phone is apparent. More so in photos such as this than in the general 'grab a photo' photos. I know I wrote a couple of months ago about wanting to pick that camera back up, but that hasn't happened. Surprise. These iris traveled with me from Saint Paul over 30 years ago. They and the day lilies. If we have temperate weather I need to transplant some iris from beds that are crowding them out. I don't want to lose these.

That's my story for today. 

Two of Bambi

Aren't they adorable?!

They had been happily romping about before I started taking a video. Of course they stopped the show. Still cute. Mama is attentive. Taking about mama, Rocky Raccoon had me fooled. I was certain Rocky was a male since this is the second year hanging out here and no sign of little ones. Last evening that supposition went out the proverbial window when Rocky came onto the front porch for HER evening meal of cat food, followed by two tykes. Oh, boy. I hope they disperse after they are weaned from mama. One raccoon's enough, some might even say it's one too many. Wild life seems to be flourishing this summer, even if I'm not. We have a large turkey family, a teenage deer, mama and her fawns and now the Rocket and company. Also, rabbits and the red squirrels seem to have made a comeback.

Along with the perpetually high humidity we now are coming into a hot spell. I may have to turn on the ancient air conditioner, if it actually will turn on. The thing is amazing in its longevity. 

Oh, as you can see the falling down arena fence is still falling down. Between the uncooperative weather and just plan business on Mark's part, it is still its ugly eyesore self. He promises by the end of autumn. Somehow I think I've heard this before.

 

And So We Go On

The funeral of Mark's brother was yesterday in Spicer, Minnesota, an hour forty-five minutes from here. All siblings were able to be there. A sister who lives in Huntington Beach, CA, a brother in Florida, one brother in Wisconsin and two brothers in South Dakota. The remainder are all in the greater Twin Cities area. Sudden death is difficult to grasp. Mark said his brother's wife and children were having a tough time, not surprising. Mark seemed to handle it well. First one to die of ten. I'm certain that was on everyone's mind.

This is a reunion of one branch of Mark's family in the early 2000s.  

Ummm, Ice Cream

I do believe we can guess what he is thinking.

The birds are twittering, I hear a mourning dove mourning. Humid, still. The undesired consequence of lots of rain. I am committed to no complaints about rain. May I sneak in how I cannot handle humidity? 

Bill brought the mower back a couple of days ago so that is what my afternoon will be. Mowing. Bill will be here this afternoon to help Mark put the new batteries in the truck. It has two. My horse trailer pulling one ton diesel dually. 1997. It's been with me a long time, I wonder which one of us will depart first. My son would love to inherit the truck!

  

Food and Other Delights

Good Morning

We have bright sunshine and humidity. There seems to have been a light rain overnight. I believe we will be humid until frost. Yesterday I talked about personal memories. Today I have food. Why not?  When I said Mark often says he won the lottery, in full disclosure, it's after dinner. The man loves food. He really does. Five meals from last week, each one had him nearly levitating. One would think he was starved as a child. I did expand his horizons with herbs, spices and variety. He grew up on a dairy farm in SW Minnesota, in a family of ten children during the 1950s. Often pasta is a way I use leftover protein, it makes a completely different meal. A fritta comes in handy when I have no idea what to make. A quick and flavorful meal in no time. I am all about ease these days. Long gone are the days of my attempting to cook my way through Le Cordon Bleu At Home. 

This was obviously before I decided to emerge myself in horse farm life. After I left my job in property management and had time at home. Before barn clothes and muck boots. That was a looooong time ago. Before I was telling stallions to put it away, before I knew what winking meant with a mare. One year, souffles, the next manure piles! I don't think I've ever known moderation.

 

Memories in the Corner of My Mind

Good Morning

It's sunny, mild temperature and unfortunately....high humidity. Image that. Rain. Sun. Rain. Repeat. Mark has his brother's funeral this week. I have, strangely, gone through a grieving process over the death of a man I once loved, a death that happened five years ago, hearing of it in April. Grief is a strange thing. Emotions will do as they will do. Forty-five years just sort of washed away as my mind took a slow walk down memory lane. When you look at your past, your memories with purpose, it surprised me how long the trip is, going back to when we consider ourselves adults. The mistakes, the accomplishments. The sorrow and the joy. The birth of foals, the birth of a baby boy. A marriage. A divorce. An intense relationship. A sad parting. A geeky, kind man who waits for you to decide. A man who still tells me he won the lottery. A man who encouraged me to talk about my feelings about David's death. I think, just perhaps, I won the lottery.

 Someone else who won the lottery.

Cute, Naughty Kitty.

Gatto loves himself a box. I ordered a new weed whacker and was feebly trying to assemble it. Gatto squeezed his plump body into the box and made himself comfy. He is a major character, this one.

It rained all day yesterday, clearing in time for the people down the hill to do their huge and never ending fireworks. They aren't legal in Minnesota, but that law is not enforced. 

Other than the fireworks, it was a quiet day for us. We did nothing special, other than binge watching The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling was a genius with a story. Too bad he smoked himself to death. I used to smoke, I quit when I was 23-24. I worked with a woman who had one lung removed and still smoked like a chimney. It was motivation for me to stop. Which I did.  Well, that was uplifting....

There is nothing planned for today. I will probably make some bread, my go-to when I haven't much in the way of vim and vigor but want to accomplish something. It's overcast, perfect weather for lack of motivation.

It seems I am in a bah-humbug mood. I will end before I infect anyone else with my blahness. Another time.

It is Fleeting

Stop and smell the roses. 

Mark got some bad news last evening. Mark comes from a family of ten siblings. One called, the second oldest, a brother, to tell him the third oldest had a heart attack and died instantly at 6:00 pm that day. This brother was three years older than Mark and the first of his siblings to die. I have not been a part of Mark's family so any sadness I feel is for Mark. He has been handling it well, but I am certain there will be an emotional break at sometime. The call prompted Mark to bring up my mantra on life as aged people: smell the flowers, enjoy the moment, drink the wine. He said this drove that home for him. 

May you all follow a similar way, living life for all it is worth.

Yard Care

What we have been doing the past two days.

Mark finished this flower bed yesterday. It was overgrown with phlox, which he pulled out, leaving just a few. Now I can move some more iris in there and manage the phlox. I got a largish iris bed weeded and also cut all the saplings out of it. This place so wants to be a forest. We have four more flower beds to go, also foundation planting. Whew! 

We had a light overnight rain, just enough to make everything wet. More on the maintenance front, we concurred that cutting saplings out of the fence lines is a hopeless project. Something about the change in our climate has put the growth of these pesky softwoods on overdrive. There is no controlling them. I figure a solid wall of trees is also a barrier and we don't need the hot wire anymore. The elderly beasties aren't looking to go through a fence. In two years a forest has sprouted in the south end of Zing's paddock. They were saplings last year, now they are trees.

It feels good to be working outside again. I have to take breaks and my back finally does give out, but I am doing it. That's what matters, I am out and pulling weeds! I need to finish the Monday washing today. I did a load and then went outside and that was that. Oh, news......Neighbor Bill has fixed my mower! He is going to get a new battery and then I will be riding the home range once more. Yippee. I was pretty sure we were going to need to buy another.

 Isn't she pretty.