Busy,busy

Kate and family have only been here two days, but I'm tired already.  Not tired of them, just tired from following them around!  Yesterday, we did some shopping and then in the afternoon, went to a swim club where a long time friend of Kate's is a member.  It was a lovely pool, not at all crowded.  The weather was sunny, the water cool and the company fun.  I knew one of the girls and may have met the other, when they were in high school.  We were pretty tired after swimming, although I came home early and rested before dinner.  We had bought three beautiful T-bone steaks and planned to grill them outside.  However, the fire wasn't hot enough, so we ended up doing them in a cast iron pan on the stove.  (I didn't want to heat up the broiler, as it heats up the whole house!).  The steaks were delicious!  With them we had corn on the cob from a local farm.  Yum, yum.  After dinner, several of the family dozed off in the living room.  No, I wasn't one of them.  Sarah and I stayed awake until bedtime.

Today we went into DC to the National Museum of the American Indian.  It's a new museum - at least new to me.  Back when I was working for USDA, I watched them build that museum, but I had never been inside.  It's very impressive and well arranged.  There was far too much information to absorb in one visit, but I loved the displays of pottery, the gorgeous weavings and the wonderful masks.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get any decent photos.  Lighting was dim and the glass cases reflected the flash.  I did buy a book of postcards that show some of my favorite objects. 

We ate lunch at the museum cafe which featured native American dishes from a number of parts of North and South America.  The kids weren't very adventuresome and stuck to french fries and other standard food, but we adults tried all sorts of interesting items.  Everybody enjoyed the fry bread.

With impeccable timing, we left just as the rain was letting up.  Had only a few blocks to walk to the Metro.  Boy was that train crowded!  However, once we got away from the Mall, and on the train to bring us back to Maryland, we found seats with no problem.  I was really glad to sit down.  I haven't been walking for exercise much lately, and today we were on our feet for hours. 

Tomorrow, we are going to Splash Down - a water park in Manassas, VA.  Another busy day.  The water will be lovely, but I will probably not go down any of the big slides.  I've done that once (in England) and am not eager to repeat the experience.  Once was enough!  My favorite part of the park will probably be the Lazy River, where one sits on an inner tube and just goes with the flow! That's my kind of water fun.

what a storm!

We really had a thunderstorm last night!  Only thing missing was hail  (thank goodness).  The skinny, tall trees out back whipped around and around, making me glad they are down the hill, not near my house.  If my plum tree in the front yard had been still standing, it would have gone over again, for sure.  Speaking of that tree, the trunk and roots are now in my car, waiting to be taken to the landfill this AM.   This storm was unique in that we actually lost power for about 7 hours!  Our electric cables are buried, so our development seldom loses power.  This is only the second time since I've lived here (9 years).  My friend Patty and I went out to eat at about 7 PM.  Our whole area was out, but as we drove south on route 1, there were areas with power and others with none.  Places where traffic lights were out swarmed with traffic control officers equipped with flashing lights, barrels and suchlike.  People making left turns could just forget about it.  In several places, they had closed the roads.  When we got to south Laurel (about 5 miles from my house), lights were on, so we stopped where there were restaurants.  Steak house had a 60 minute wait; Applebee's posted 2 hours!  We drove across the street to a Chinese place which was less crowded.  We were seated after about 10 minutes.  However, they had only two wait persons and the manager who was taking orders for take out, clearing tables and doing whatever he could to move things along.  It was 15 minutes before they took our order and another half hour before food came.  It was 9 by then and we were HUNGRY!  The food was delicious, as usual and we were really glad to be in a place with A/C.

On the way home, we noticed most places were lit, so we were very hopeful about our homes.  When we got there - everybody in the development had lights, except out street!  What a didisappointment!  I had a flashlight, so searched for candles, lit a few and tried to do a crossword puzzle by flash-light.  Not a success.  I had just given up and gone up to bed when the power came on at 10:30 PM.  So then I got dressed and wandered around the house, looking for things that needed to be reset.  There are a lot of them!  I still haven't tackled the clock on the TV.  I'll have to read the booklet to do that, unfortunately.  The saddest thing is that because the refrigerator probably got too warm, I'll have to throw away the leftover Mu-shi pork!

My family starts arriving tomorrow night.  I probably won't blog much while they are here.  So if there are no new entries for a while, just think of what a wonderful time I am having with my daughter, son-in-law, 3 grandchildren, son and daughter-in-law. 

Making lists

It's too hot outside to be out there at all, so I'm working inside today.  Managing to keep busy.  Trying to get all the paperwork and housework done before Tuesday when Kate and family come.  I made a list, back in June, of all the things I wanted to get done before they came.  I have completed almost everything on the list.  Having a tree fall down was NOT on the list!  I hope to get the tree carted to the landfill on Monday and maybe the mums back in the hole.  Yesterday, late afternoon, I went out back to put up the 'totem poles' that I had removed from the front yard.  The poles are metal stakes.  I have made a bunch of ceramic tubes with faces on them.  (I"m pretty sure I've had photos of some of them on older blogs.)  The tubes slide down over the poles thus creating a 'totem pole'. (Why does the spell check function think that creating is not a word?  Am I spelling it wrong?)   Actually, I need a few more tubes, but probably won't be in a hurry to make them.  When the poles were in the front yard, I hammered them into the ground a good long ways bcause they were holding the tree up. (At least that was the theory. We know it didn't work.)  In fact, when I tried to get the poles out of the ground, several broke off just at ground level or below.  Out back, I didn't pound them in as far, so there is more of each pole sticking up and needing to be covered.  I have two of them looking pretty good, but the third will need several more sleeves.   

Anyway, back to my lists.  I write myself notes and make lists all the time.  It's the only way I can keep track of what I want or need to do.  I even jot down notes of what I want to talk about during my Sunday night phone calls to Kate.  My latest lists consist of things I want to talk to Kate or Steve (my son) about while they are here.  Things like:  the box of Karl's stuff that Nancy (my first husband's widow) sent; Steve's hat from military school; any of my ceramic stuff they would like to take home (please, please take some!); T-shirts that I am discarding that the girls might like; some snow boots and shoes that don't fit me, but might fit Sarah or Olivia and so on.  Now, as long as I don't lose the list, I may actually remember to talk about all those things.

My other list for this upcoming visit is a food shopping list.  I know that we will go grocery shopping after the family arrives, but I want to have a few things that they will enjoy eating and drinking already in the house.  Coffee needs to be on that list.  I'm not sure how much coffee anyone will want, considering how hot it is here, but I'll have to buy some.  I don't drink it at all.  I used to have some in the freezer, but finally used that up when somebody who drank coffee was visiting.  I don't even know what brand is good, although I'm sure my son could tell me!  I drink herbal teas and that's all I have in the house, but I think Kate will bring her own tea.  She finds American tea very weak, after years of drinking English tea. 

down and out, but still here

I'm talking about the plum tree, not myself.  I went out before 6 AM to work on the tree.  Got the flowers growing around the tree out and into temporary homes.  Cut all the large roots - only 3 of them - and rocked the tree back and forth until - Voila!  - the root ball came up and I was able to pull the tree out of the ground.  It's sitting on my sidewalk now, waiting to be loaded into my van for a trip to the landfill.  It's rather heavy, so I may have to have someone come with me to help unload it.  The people running the landfill aren't available to help unload.  I'm waiting to see if the recycle pickup folks take all the branches that I cut into 4 ft. lengths and bundles up.  The limit is supposed to be 4 items for each pickup, but since there are 5 or more families piling stuff at our pickup area, they usually just take everything.  Anyway, if they leave some branches, I'll just take them to the landfill along with the trunk.

The next step is to add clay breaker to the soil in the hole and then leave it alone for a few weeks.  However, I plan to put the mums back into the space.  I don't have any other place for them - and not enough empty pots, either.  I won't be buying a new tree until September, I think.  This very hot and mostly dry summer is not a good time to plant a tree.  The tree doesn't look very big, does it?  The branches that I cut off really added to its height.  BTW the stones you see in the photo were a decorative border around the tree, not some that I dug out of the hole! 

My computer was giving me trouble again this AM.  Actually, it's not the computer, it's the Internet connection.  It wasn't there.  I tried the Verizon-in- home-agent - software installed on the computer.  It was a very slow process, but eventually it did reconnect me.  I think it would have been faster for me just to turn off the router and turn it back on, which is what I did yesterday at the instruction from the Verizon tech person on the phone.  If the same problem occurs again tomorrow, I'm going to call Verizon and raise hell.  I'm sure this has something to do with what the guy did when he added TV to my package.  I REALLY don't want to have to go through this same process every time I try to get onto the Internet!

Today, I emptied some dresser drawers, so that Kate and family will have someplace to put clothes while they are here.  Still haven't finished cleaning upstairs, but it's mostly done.  It gets very hot up there, as soon as the sun hits the front of the house.  I guess I'll try to finish the cleaning tomorrow - early!  My bedroom is in the back, so stays cooler until late afternoon.  When company comes, I'll have to turn the A/C to a cooler setting, at least at night.  It's supposed to be above 100 F today. When I checked my outdoor thermometer, which is in the shade, it read in the mid 80s at 10 AM.  I won't be doing any outside work today, except for watering plants much later.  Next week is supposed to be cooler - highs only in the 80s!  My family from England are going to find even 80s to be VERY HOT.

Goodbye tree

We had heavy rain and wind last night.  I didn't hear it, but this AM, I saw the results in my front yard.  The flowering plum tree which has been supported with poles and ropes all it's life, was down again!  The stake pulled right out of the ground.  This time, I am giving up.  The plum tree has such shallow roots that it will fall every time we have wet ground and heavy winds.  No point in trying to put it back up.  So, I spent an hour or so outside in the sun and humidity, cutting off branches and bundling them for pickup on Friday.  There are still many branches left to cut off and tie up, but I got too hot to continue.  The trunk will have to be sawed as well, but I will try to get the root ball the rest of the way out of the hole before I cut the trunk.  The tree is very heavy and I don't know if I can get it out and ready for the recycle people, but I'm going to try. If I wait until my son arrives, I'll have help with taking the tree out and digging a larger hole for whatever new tree I buy, so I might wait . I'll do as much as I can before then, however. It's supposed to rain every day this week, but I'm sure I can find time to work outside on the remains of the tree. Maybe it'll even be cooler, after the rain.

I'm going to miss the shade that tree provided, but I haven't been sitting out in the front yard much anyway this summer.   In the front yards of our 8 adjacent townhouses, we have two dogwoods, a red maple and a flowering cherry.  I don't want a new tree to duplicate what is already out front. I'm considering a Japanese maple, but not like the one that is a couple of doors down.  I really like them, although the ones I like best are rather expensive. Anyway, I'll enjoy shopping for a new tree.  I have to get permission from the Architectural Committee for the tree, but they pretty much approve anything that is moderate in size.  Don't expect any trouble there.

I don't know what I will do with the little birdhouses that I had hung on the tree.  They looked so cute!  I guess they will have to do into the back yard now.  No trees there either, but surely I can find a spot for them. 

Kathy's adventures in fabric land or why I hate sewing

I finally made the July atc's and will mail them tomorrow.  (I am participating in a birthday atc swap that Kate is running.  atc = artist trading card).  Here's a photo of a July one. (Sorry, it's sideways.  I should have turned it before I uploaded it.)   I try to do these with seasonal themes - valentines for February, flowers and birds for April and May, beach scene for July, etc.  Of course, the gals from Australia have seasons the reverse of mine, but I don't try to make theirs fit the season.  Anyway, it should be easy to make three little cards, shouldn't it?  Yeah, sure!  Nothing is easy for me when it involves a sewing machine.  Did I ever say that I really don't enjoy sewing?  Anyway, first I couldn't get the border stitching on the atc's to be even.  It weaved back and forth like a drunken sailor! LOL Then the bobbin thread ran out.  I wound a new bobbin, but of course, I had to dig the instruction book out to make sure I put the darn thing in properly.  (This relatively new machine is just a bit different and rather more complicated than the 40 year-old one I used to have).  I started sewing again and the machine made a dreadful CLANK and jammed.  Somehow a very small part of the atc backing was caught in the slit that the needle goes into.  I pulled and pulled and couldn't free the atc.  I even got out a screwdriver in case I had to remove the plate, but was unable to actually do that.  So I poked and pulled and cussed and finally got the atc loose.  There was a bit of dust or thread or something in the slit, but I got that out, replaced the bobbin, rethreaded the machine and prayed!  Everything worked ok.  I still don't know what happened, but I sure hope it doesn't happen again.  Perhaps you can understand why I really don't like sewing?  I really enjoy picking fabric and little thingies to go on it, but the sewing part is my downfall.  Only five more months of atc's to go!  The wonderful thing about this atc swap is that I received in March (my birthday month) atc's from each of the other participants.  I have a lovely collection of atc's now.  Don't know what I can do with them, but they are delightful to look at.

Only 12 days until my company arrives!

I've been trying to correct something on the last blog I did - Sunday's.  One of the photos is a blank.  When you click on it (as if to enlarge it), a different photo comes up, but then when you go back to the blog, the proper photo shows up just for a moment.  I have no idea why that is.  I tried to get back and edit that blog, but couldn't find a way to do that.  Blogging still has many mysteries for me. 

I can't believe it's Thursday evening and I haven't blogged since Sunday.  Not much has happened this week, I guess.  We had a couple days of rain, which we really needed.  Plants are flourishing.  I've been busy cleaning my house.  All I have left to do are the floors upstairs.  It's just so hot up there and I'll have to drag the vacuum up the steps.  Any excuse for not cleaning!  It was lovely and cool in the basement when I cleaned down there.  I even gave the floor in the storage room a once-over. There were no nasty bugs hiding in the area rugs rolled up under the couch, although there was a spider in a web by the door.  I leave the outside light on at night, so always there is a spider living inside by the door, hoping to catch insects attracted to the light.  Usually there is a spider outside as well.  The neat thing is that, outside, there is also a toad that sits on the stoop waiting to catch the unwary insect.  I've seen him there twice lately.  I thought that the black snake seen in the front yard of a neighbor had probably eaten all the toads, but I guess the snake hasn't gotten into the back yard.  I'm not afraid of snakes, and black snakes are harmless to humans, but I don't particularly want one living in my yard!  I'd rather have the toads and lizards.

There are just a couple of items on my list of 'things to do before Kate and company arrive'.  Washing the car is on the list, but with all the rain we had, I think Mother Nature did that for me!  I did clean the inside of the car a few weeks ago.  I still have two bags of mulch and a bag of cement in the car.  Maybe it'll be cool enough tonight or early tomorrow AM to lug them into the back yard.  I can lift the mulch, but am not sure about the cement.  It's 60 pounds, although a fairly small bag.  I used to be able to lift 60 pounds, but I"m not sure I can do that now, without messing up my back. Darn, it's such a nuisance being (shhh - old)!   Maybe I'll use the wheelbarrow to haul the cement.  If I was better acquainted with the young people living next door, I would ask them to help, but I barely know the kids.  They are remarkably quiet for teenagers.  I never hear them.  Of course, if I wore my 'ears' in the evenings, maybe I would hear more from next door!  When my hearing aids are in my ears, I certainly find the world in general is much noisier than I realized.  I rather enjoyed the way it was, except for times when I'm trying to follow a conversation.

I could natter on, but I think I'll quit now.  Tomorrow I have a dental checkup and cleaning, and then lunch with friends.  This weekend, there is a shindig going on at one of the local nurseries - the one quite some distance from here.  Perhaps Patty and I will go.  We have these coupons to 'spend' and they are only good this weekend.   The only thing is:  both of us have bought most of the plants we wanted already.  Who buys plants in mid July?  So I don't know what I would spend the coupons on.  Probably if we go, we'll each find something.  They have a huge assortment of yard ornaments and furniture.  Just what I DON'T need!

Never too old to learn

This morning, I finally tried making a decorated concrete stepping stone.  It was an interesting process.  I learned NOT to use quick dry concrete.  It dried so fast that I barely had time to lay the decorative pieces on the 'stone'.  I have broken up old pottery to make shards to use in creating a design on the stones.  The one I did today took all the quick dry cement I had.  I'll buy the regular stuff to use for the other stones because I need more than 5 minutes to press shards into the surface.  I think this stone will be ok, but I may have to put grouting around the pieces, to hold them in place. I'll see what it is like when it dries.  It's supposed to rain every day this week, so I probably won't make any more stepping stones for a while.

The rain, if it actually happens, is certainly needed.  It will keep me inside, which is good for the house.  I expect I will actually finish the house cleaning.  If only it would stay clean!  I had to vacuum the living room again yesterday, because I put together a set of bathroom shelves (the kind that fit around and above the toilet tank).  They were packed in thin layers of styrofoam which tended to fall apart in small pieces as I removed the many pieces of the shelving.  This time, at least, the directions were written by someone who actually speaks and writes English.  They were pretty clear and easy to follow.  The only problem was that I could have used an extra pair of hands to keep the piece from tipping over as I added the upright tubes.  It looks very nice, now and is much sturdier than the old one.  I could take a photo, but really, bathroom shelves aren't exactly photo material.  Rather boring, actually.  Now all I have left to put together is the new shower head.  That should be easy, as I have done this several times before. 

Slow, hot week

Nothing exciting happened in my world this past week.  I'm just as glad, as it was way too HOT to expend energy on anything outside, no matter how exciting.  I did buy more mulch and yesterday, when it was cooler and almost raining most of the day, I got those bags out of the car, through the house and spread where needed.  I seem to have managed that without wrecking my back this time.  Thank goodness!  Of course, I didn't buy enough, so I need another bag or two of the kind that comes in big pieces.  I use it in the backyard under the deck, to cover the muddy bare ground.  The only problem is that the yard slopes a bit and every time it rains hard (not very often this summer), the mulch washes down toward the fence.  I keep raking it back into place, but on a wet summer, mother nature wins.

And, finally, I did some house cleaning.  I cleaned the ground floor - kitchen, dining, living and powder rooms.  Even waxed the kitchen and powder room floors!  Now, when I walk on the kitchen floor with rubber-soled shoes, my feet stick to the floor and squeak as I walk!  Weird, isn't it?  The floor looks lovely and shiny, but I know that won't last long.  Already, I have tracked in bits of stuff from outside.  It's a losing battle.  Upstairs is next.  I've already dusted up there, but haven't yet dragged the vacuum up to do the carpets.  The basement cleaning I'll save for a hot day, as it's lovely and cool down there. 

Yesterday, I finally put up a curtain rod in the basement so that I can hang curtains, temporarily across the sliding glass doors.  I thought perhaps Christine and Steve, or whoever sleeps in that room, would appreciate some privacy.  I thought this would be an easy task.  The last time he was here, Andy had checked the wall and said I'd have no trouble using wall anchors to put the rod up.  I guess I didn't have him check the right places, as when I drilled, the drill only went in a little ways and then just stopped.  I have no idea what I hit, but I couldn't seem to get through it.  I tried just using the screws, without wall anchors, but I could not get them to go far enough in, either.  I didn't have any shorter screws that would work, so finally in desperation, I found some nuts and slid them onto the screws, this making the screws shorter.  That worked!  Screws went in, but not too far, and held.  Voila!  Curtain rod is up!  Since this is temporary, I'll just use a sheets for the curtains, clipped onto the rod. 

Today is going to be hot, I think.  It's already heating up, and it's only 8:30 AM.  Luckily, most of my outdoor projects are finished.  I guess it's a good day to clean the basement.  Housework is such fascinating and satisfying work - NOT!!

Here are a few more photos of the front flowers.  My hibiscus is finally blooming!  My neighbor's bloomed weeks ago, so I've been eagerly awaiting mine.  I love that rosy red color.  The morning glories are finally climbing up to the trellis.  Mostly they climb on the lilies, which is okay, too. 

front border done

I went out yesterday evening and planted the petunias and begonias in the newly expanded front border.  Added mulch, although they could probably used some more.  I'll have to buy another bag.  This AM, they look ok, but it's going to be another very HOT day, so they will probably wilt by noon.  Here are some photos.  If you enlarge them, you can see the little ceramic critters, hiding among the plants.  In prior years, we actually had some live toads and lizards, but we now have a resident black snake, so the toads and lizards are all gone.  I haven't seen the snake, but my neighbor has and says it's a big one.  I'm not afraid of snakes, but I'd just as soon not have one under my steps.  Still, it's better than the ground hog.  Snakes don't eat my flowers!

am I crazy?

For those of you who have been thinking that I am crazy when it comes to gardening - here's confirmation.  I got up early this AM - before 6 - and decided to do a bit of yard work before it got really hot.  I had forgotten to plant one of the plants I bought yesterday.  It was in a pot and I put the potted plant where it was to go and just forgot to dig the hole!  Also I had more mulch to spread.  I had mulched the whole new flower bed, but the mulch gets absorbed into the earth and with our heat wave and drought, the plants needed more mulch.  Anyway, there I was a 6:30, digging a hole and spreading mulch, before the sun hit the back yard.  It really wasn't all that uncomfortable.  However, I was on a roll, so when finished, went out front to increase the size of the front flower bed.  The grass grows into the bed, past the border of stones, and some of the plants push their way out over the stones and so every few years, I remove grass and add a few inches to the bed.  In the midst of a drought is not the best time to dig up sod, as I soon discovered.  I had to soak the sod before I could even get the spade into it.  It was VERY HOT out front, as it gets the first rays of sun each AM.  I decided I would just move a third of the edging for today, but when I got that far, I just kept going.  By the time I finished, I had been outside working for about an hour and a half, and was very hot and sweaty.  (I knew a woman who always claimed that, "men sweat, but women glow").  I was glowing enough to light a fire!  LOL   After a shower, I was ready for breakfast and the rest of the day.  So now I have a very small additional garden space to play with. 

After my pottery class, I stopped by Home Depot and bought some pink wax begonias and purple petunias to put in the new edge of the flower bed.  This time of year, there isn't much choice on annuals, but they are available at bargain prices.  I also bought some garden soil, as the soil where I removed grass isn't the best.  Even the grass doesn't do very well there!  However, I am not entirely insane.  I did not plant them this afternoon.  The flowers are sitting in the shade still in their pots and the soil is in its bag.  IF it cools off tonight, I will try to get them planted.  Otherwise, perhaps another early morning gardening tomorrow.

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but yesterday I also spray painted an old chair.  It was green with a yellow vinyl seat.  Now it is blue, with the same vinyl seat.  This chair came from a diner that Karl's (my first husband) mother owned.  When we married, back in 1964, we furnished our house with family hand-me-downs.  Frieda gave us a small metal table and the chairs from the diner.  We had 4 chairs, but I seem to only have three now.  I should replace the seats on all of them - before I paint any more.  However, we needed an extra dining room chair for all the company arriving in just THREE weeks, so this paint job is a quick fix.  I will have quite an assortment of chairs in order to seat all 8 of us, but as long as everyone has a seat, who cares that they don't match? 

planting

Today, I went out early to dig a hole and plant the crape myrtle bush, the hollyhock plant and something called a sea thistle.  It was hot even at 7:30, and only got hotter.  I had to move a few other plants in order to fit everything into the space.  I think it looks good and will look even better next year.  The crape myrtle is already in full bloom and will be finished in a week, probably.  It really is a lovely color and will only get to be about 10 feet tall, which is exactly the size I want.  I just hope it survives our very hot summer and that we don't get another cold, snowy winter.  Our location is the coldest area where this plant will survive.

While I was outside, I also rearranged some of my 'yard art'.  This consists mostly of old rusty tools and other mostly metal junk that I have picked up at antique stores and yard sales over the last couple of years.  I have these things hanging on the fence and also from the stairs and beams under the deck.  Some members of my family (my brother Tom, for one) think I am crazy, but I like having lots of stuff, even when it is someone else's discards.

It was really very hot outside this AM.  I may run some errands this PM, but I will NOT be working outside again today.  We are supposed to get 100 highs the next 4 days.  This is by far the hottest summer I can remember.  We need rain, too.  I'll be watering every day for a while, especially with new plants.  Since I cannot work outside any more today, perhaps I'll clean house.  Or perhaps not.  I am running out of excuses for postponing that.  Oh, wait, I know another reason NOT to clean yet.  I have to buy more mulch and will be carrying it through the house.  No doubt I will track in dirt doing that, so no cleaning until after the mulch is in the back yard.  Aren't I good at finding excuses?  LOL

A lovely wedding

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the wedding of the daughter of two of my dear friends.  The bride's mother, my friend Linda, died last summer, so there were some tears barely held back among those who had known her for years, but all in all it was a glorious celebration.  The wedding was held at Londontown Gardens, located on the water, outside Annapolis.  It was a beautiful setting for an outdoor wedding.  The guests faced the water, so we saw boats sail by as we waited for the ceremony to take place.  The day was sunny and hot, but not humid, and we had a bit of a breeze, making being outside quite bearable.  Music was provided by a guitarist and was exactly right - soft and gentle, like the bride.  After the ceremony, before dinner, everybody wandered around catching up with old friends while sipping drinks and eating munchies.  After dinner, there was dancing, of course.  It's interesting that most of the music was from years ago (my kind of music) rather than contemporary tunes.  I guess the oldies really are goodies.  I loved watching the bride dance with her father.  She was so happy and he was having a great time as well.  It was one of the nicest weddings I have attended. 

An interesting thing about this couple is that the groom's family is from Thailand, although his parents live in the US.  The couple and their parents are traveling to Thailand in a few weeks for a second ceremony, so that his relatives can attend.  We truly live in a small world, don't we?

Driving home from the wedding, we saw distant fireworks from the celebration here in Laurel.  I've never been to the ones here.  Sometimes I go to Greenbelt (near where I used to live), but not this year.   Instead of sitting somewhere outside, battling the heat and mosquitoes, I plan to stay home tonight and just relax.  Hope everyone has a glorious 4th, however you plan to spend it.

wireless at last

They came, they saw, they installed.  This should be in Latin, of course, but I never learned that language!  LOL  It took 4 hours for Verizon to install wireless and get it working.  The problem seemed to be with getting the telephones to work, after the installation.  Annoyingly, I still have a wire connecting the cordless phone base to the wall jack.  I was hoping to get rid of that, because the jack is on the wall about 5 feet high, so the cord has to come down the wall to the phone.  I haven't found a way to camouflage that wire. Computer works fine, although at first, there were some pop up messages, asking questions, that made me nervous.  However, I clicked on what I thought was the correct option and all seems well.  I am, of course, being bombarded with messages from Verizon about various things which I don't think I ordered and don't think I want.  Don't they ever quit? 

I spent most of yesterday clearing out paper stuff in the kitchen/dining room.  That area has become a depository for all sorts of information that, at one time, I think I want to save.  I need to go through those papers every month and throw away most of them, but of course, I don't do it nearly that often.  It's done now, but I wonder how long it will look so neat.  A week maybe?

Today is another cool, clear, beautiful day.  Unfortunately, I have to work at the hospital gift shop all day.  Still, I'll be home in time to enjoy sitting on the deck, sipping a cool drink in the late afternoon.  Maybe I'll even grill a hamburger, although it seems rather wasteful to start a charcoal fire just for one burger.  Easier to cook it inside.

I may actually have to clean my house sometime in the next few days - horrors!.  I think I have run out of reasons for postponing it.  I really hate house cleaning.  It's a boring chore and the house doesn't stay clean for any length of time.  If the lawn gets mowed this weekend, then I'll have grass all over the floor.  Oh well - "into every life a little grass must fall" - no that's not quite the right quote!

Have a good July 4.  Enjoy the fireworks.