It’s “Hey Rene J” Today!

Yesterday I was on the eighth wheelbarrow load of pine needle relocation (they create a mess right by the house!) when my neighbor comes driving over with his newly acquired Kubota tractor. He offered its use to me even though he had yet to run it on its maiden voyage and he also knows my track record with mowing equipment. That’s a trusting neighbor!

If he hadn’t come around I was going to quit for the day, but I found that a cute little piece of heavy equipment can spur a person on! Good thing, too, as I have a mountain of mulch to also relocate. Three loads of that thankless work and I called it “quits” for the day.

Need some exercise and arm strengthening work? Call me.

A liberal arts education provided me with one of my favorite classes – philosophy – and one of my least favorite – psychology. Neither relied on the teacher in my enthusiasm as my philosophy professor was as dry as a desert.

As I age I do think I perhaps should have spent a tad more time in psychology trying to understand the learning process and what our little heads are doing. This only popped into my mind as I awoke from a dream occupied with paint on a child’s clothes, piles of yard work detritus, a stranger helping me somewhere in a foreign house, and the song, “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again.”

My great philosophical take-away from that is, “Sometimes things make sense, and sometimes they do not.”

You may quote me.

The world is a swirl. Ideas, thoughts, dreams, words all spinning around. Are there coincidences?

After publishing yesterday, within five minutes a hummingbird alighted on my Indian Paintbrush. He returned in the afternoon. During my granddaughter’s nap I read my novel which mentioned the Ibsen Museum in Oslo, as the setting of the book is in Norway. Today’s puzzle clue: home to the Ibsen Museum. Those puzzle clues often mirror what I’m reading, doing, or the answers to the Jeopardy clues that night. The world conscience in play.

It’s a delightful diversion to make connections and to see how everything is united. I shall be seeking more today as I dine with my spouse at one of our favorite restaurants, make a major decision on a new sofa, accompany on the keyboard for a funeral, and hopefully just get my plants watered.

Good news! We just made a sofa decision. Things are progressing quite nicely.

This summer the hummingbirds have not made my Indian Paintbrush a stop on their migration. Perhaps they don’t like rain?

Yesterday, however, the largest and most beautiful butterfly I have ever seen alighted on my now-blooming geraniums. It looked like a swallowtail, but I don’t know if they even reside here. It was gorgeous. It was my morning entertainment and may have to satisfy me for the rest of summer.

That – and the hawk who sits on the neighbor’s roof each evening hunting for dinner.

Your Nat Geo update for the summer.

It really works! I diluted about eight drops of spearmint oil and a drop of Dawn dish soap into half of my spray bottle of water. Voila! No wasps. Last night, no mosquitos!

This was a little Pinterest hint I stumbled upon as I was looking for a natural way to get rid of the few wasps hovering under my deck floor. I have a granddaughter to consider, after all. (Never mind I would have sprayed Raid all over when my children were little?)

After each rain in the past weeks I faithfully sprayed the edges and one spot where they seemed to linger. Within days I had no wasps, so I kept it up. Last night we sat out on the deck for the first time longer than five minutes this summer. No mosquitos. I did keep my spray bottle at hand but didn’t have to use it.

A daily spritz is part of my new routine. There is quite a bit of spearmint oil left. Anyone want to give it a whirl?

My sister gifted me a mood ring back in May when I visited. I decided to wear it to the dentist today as that would be a good indication of its abilities.

“Mixed emotions.” That was the determination, which in fact, was true. Although I was irritated at having four reminders from the practice about my appointment and then having them be LATE in seeing me, I knew I needed a good cleaning.

It turns out I had the best hygienist I’ve ever had. My ring returned to a calm color and I left feeling relieved, although exhausted from the initial dreading of the whole ordeal. God bless the people who make a living keeping our mouths in fine form!

I shall relish brushing my pearly whites and getting the fluoride off of them this evening. I’m ready for Candid Camera!

Believe it or not, I wish this was me today.

However, two weeks ago I managed to begin mowing and encountered “issues” with the newly replaced belts and blades. My repairman has been absent, so I haven’t been mowing! It’s a jungle out there, with more rain to come.

Hopefully my neighbor’s son and mower will come to my rescue today, before the deluge begins again. Until then, I’m firing up the trimmer and heading out to continue abating the growth with my little battery-operated tool.

Looking forward to the return of my gas-fed mower, which is really the ONLY way to successfully mow this property.

“Shark Week” on Nat Geo occurs during July when sharks are active in the warm water?

Hm. Could we be swimming near a shark nursery? Are we being stupid and acting like prey? I’ve been binging the shark-fest shows. Such cool and amazing photography! How do they get inside the womb of a shark and show the fetus devouring its siblings? Instead of fear, I feel like I’ve missed out on identifying sharks when I’ve went diving. There are so many species I never knew existed.

Although my husband and I did dive with ragged-tooth sharks and probably saw a nurse shark on another dive, I think being with the big ones would be pretty exciting. I would, however, like to be in a shark cage, “just in case.”

Emulating them, I shall endeavor to “take a bite” out of the day. Weekend anticipation…

My conclusion is that I should fund the neighbors each year. They have the best fireworks and it only requires my porch and comfy chair.

Of course, last night I had to move indoors for the fun as a lovely squall came up, pushing leaves into my entry and kitchen. But they really do have beautiful displays! And they so kindly take turns with their ignitions as they battle across the street.

My only request would be that they cut the fun off at midnight and not take it into July 5th. Perhaps they would decline my generosity then? They do seem to go into the early morning hours each year.

It may be a “nap required” day.

The bin containing my 4th of July decor was pretty sparse. I hung the bunting and then found this lovely roll of metallic ribbon.

As you can see, I artfully arranged this smidgeon of red, white and blue in my colorful summer tray and plopped it gracefully on the counter. The complexity of the design required careful attention to detail. A leftover candle from Christmas completed this tableaux of delight. We are now prepared to celebrate fitfully.

Enjoy your holiday and/or birthday, if you are celebrating that, Mrs. Williams.