The Week Behind: Thunder, Lightning, Sunshine, Humidity, Summer

Saturday:  I had planned to get up early this morning but not as early as I ended getting up.  I was sleeping rather well at 5am when the first rumbles of thunder sounded.  Shortly after six, flashes of lightning lit up our room.  I got up and pulled the curtains closed, because the flashes were so frequent and bright.   I could see through the slits of the blinds that it was a continuous sort of lightning.   Thunderstorms do not bother me in the least except as a noise factor, but lightning here can be a rather queer thing.  It flashes horizontally though all the weather/cloud sites will tell you it does not do so this close to the ground.  I've seen it though, so I know full well it does!  It unnerves me.  It's bad enough to see the great forks that run from cloud to ground but this business of electrified air all around just isn't something I care for at all.

Goals for July

One more week of June...I've just been to look at my June goals and I didn't touch on half of them I don't think.  I did work and I worked hard for the first couple of weeks and then I slowed down considerably due to a painful knee...Oh and have I mentioned that John is using sick days to extend his time off so he's been home more days and you know that means I get less done.  It's one thing to ignore my basic needs and push hard to get things done, but he balks when he sees me in pain and when I ignore his needs.   Let's see...I think he had three five day stretches off this month...So yeah, that took a bite out of project time.   As well, we had far more rain this month than we did in May.  It's made a huge difference in the ability to do things.  We had six inches of rain from Wednesday through Sunday this past week (writing this on Monday, June 24) alone.

In My Home This Week: There's a Summer Place

"Happy Birthday to you.." Lordy, we've sung that enough this month!  This week is Katie's birthday, Monday to be exact.  We celebrated this weekend with Taylor here to sing along.  I made Katie the cake she requested though I balked at first...All that butter!  Well I checked my other pound cake recipes and realized my balking was silly.  I'd normally use about that much fat in making a pound cake...I just don't generally do all butter.  The cakes (I baked in loaf pans) turned out gorgeous and tender and lovely.  Worth every single penny of the butter it took to make them.

The Week Behind: Summer Arrives

Friday:  I promised I'd share this day on this week's post since I posted early last week.  John woke early for some reason and went to start laundry but he came back to bed and went back to sleep.  Strange but truth...

I went out to have coffee on the front porch.  It was too cool for me there.  I came through the house and went to the back porch and sat in the sun and had coffee.  That was a nicer temperature for me.

Coffee Chat: Bird Song and Sunshine at The Wailing Wall

Hello lovelies!  Come in and have coffee with me.  I made a fresh pot a bit ago because John decided to set up morning coffee last night and I know it was a kindness, so no complaints over it, but my husband and I have a different idea of what constitutes a proper morning cup.  He uses the same amount of ground coffee whether he's making 4 cups or12 and it's never enough to give me that big oomph I need in the morning, though I don't like the sort of strength that jangles nerves and makes me feel I'm in my own personal little earthquake either.  I've had a tendency of late to leave my coffee sitting by my side while I do something else, either reading or writing or work and when I do drink it, it's gone lukewarm which is the absolute least appealing temperature for coffee.   So I made a new pot and am drinking my cup while it's properly hot.  Mmmmm!

The Week Ahead: Birthday, Father's Day, Birthday, Birthday....

I've mentioned before we are in the midst of birthday season.  Four more to go this month. From the last week of May until the last day of June we have 8 birthdays and Father's Day tossed in for good measure.  I have done better this year about getting cards out in time but gifting is off.  I have two gifts I haven't even purchased and the birthdays are both past.  Fortunately everyone ahead this month that I normally would gift has been gifted already.  Now to play catch up with the ones I missed.

The Week Behind: Worked, Worked, and Played

Saturday:  I had in mind to make the Hibachi Chicken today but it rained and poured and poured and rained and much as I'd like to practice grilling, the rain put me off the idea entirely.  In fact, the rain made me want comfort food.  So I looked over last week's menu to see which meals I hadn't made and discovered the mac and cheese menu.  I had cooked pasta, prepped vegetables and it was cool enough to warrant running the oven today.  So we had the Italian roasted vegetables and homemade Macaroni and Cheese.  I had only to make a cheese sauce and grate cheese, the same two tasks I'd kept trying to get to last week and never did.  Dinner came together quickly enough just the same and it tasted really good.  And no one minded the additional heat in the house at all.

The Week Ahead: Work, Work, Play and Work

Friday was a mixed lot sort of day.  Good news, the little boys come to play, an unexpected visit from Katie, pancake supper, Shabat and then tired boys, tired John, storms,  a stupid mistake that resulted in a problem I can work out come Monday that triggered anxiety, and finding Maddie had dug another hole at the foundation in a different area. More blocks required and no expansion of the new flower bed as planned unless I can find another solution.  Sigh.  Isn't that just the way life goes?

The Week Behind: We got rain!

Saturday:  As we went from place to place yesterday I kept thinking about that star on my back porch and how much I want to get rid of it...And then I thought of something I have in my shed that I think is going to work to cover that hole just fine.

And while I was rifling through my wallet for something else, I found two gift cards that will offset my cost for plants.  Yay!

Iced Tea Chat: Summer Joy

Hello dears.  Iced tea?  I have plenty of ice in the house this week.  I've been giving the ice maker a run for it's money.  It's been HOT.  I'm told that this is not going to be our summer, it will be more mild. In fact, the rest of this weekend will be fairly pleasant and all next week will feel even nicer.  Hot enough to not want to work but not so hot you can't enjoy the porch for a bit if it's shady and you've got an icy glass in one hand...and a fan in the other to keep the gnats away.

The Week Ahead: Bride's Month

It's June, the traditional month of brides.  I don't wonder why.  It's such a pleasant month, not quite hot enough for summer, no longer chilly as it can be for spring.  Usually there are beautiful flowers all freshly bloomed.  Twice married but never in June!  Anybody have a June wedding date?