Another Glob

The sun has moved a little farther away. It is cooler and almost bearable. It seems a lot more humid, though, almost like Illinois. I was going to show you a picture of the sunset last night to prove that the sun has returned to its proper place but I can't seem to get it uploaded. Since Kedge is also having problems, that makes me think the site is having problems and it is not us. I hope that is it anyway. I don't want it to be us because I don't know how to fix it and Kedge will lose all faith in me.

Edit: I can upload now, so I fixed it, Kedge!

In other news....
We have a new addition to our family that globs together. Check out the link to IOI on the right. Welcome and welcome. Such a cute picture to start off with. How will she be able to top it?

Molten Lava

See how big that sun is? That is why it has been so hot. The sun has come closer than ever to the earth and is in the process of melting it to molten lava. This picture is proof.

Even the rain could not cool down the poor earth. It only made it more miserable for us inhabitants. The person taking this picture (me) was trying to stay out of the rain and the thermometer said 105 degrees. I did not want to get scalded! It cooled down to 75 degrees and then was right back up there in a matter of minutes only lots more humid. When I got back inside you couldn't tell I had not been out in the rain.

Eewww, yucky, sticky skin.

(Click on the picture and get the larger version to see what I'm talking about.)

Rapunzel times

Does anyone have any hints on teaching the times tables? I am trying to teach them to Rapunzel this summer. We use flash cards and timed tests, punctuated with bouts of ruining Sim's lives and snacks and games with Chase. I see a lot of progress but is there an easier way? She is enrolled in summer school for help in Math but reportedly they are only doing Art and Reading and PE so her parents asked me if I would help her. I advised them to leave her enrolled to get all the extra reading practice she can. One can never read too well, right Kafryn? Rapunzel will be going into the third grade. We want her to be up to snuff. (Not that I want her to sniff snuff.)

Stargazers

I brought them in 'cause he won't go out to enjoy them. I won't either 'cause it is just too hot, and humid. ICK. When I first brought them in I had to take them right back out again. It seems that everybody enjoys them. After I knocked off a grasshopper and some spiders I allowed them back in. These are Stargazer lilies of the Oriental hybrids. This bunch scents the air all over the house! I have them in a pot because the gophers enjoy them too much. When they drop their petals they will go back out, but for now we are enjoying coming home to a lily scented house. The Oriental lilies are the ones that smell so nice. These are called Stargazers because they look up, unlike other Orientals that are always nodding down.

Bro wants a piece of the action

Hey, hey, hey! Snutch aka Dump City of America aka doughboy aka your bro wants in on the action. In a round about way, through our techno-phobe expert Kedge, he requested a blog be set up for him and so it shall be. Check out the link to the right and if there is nothing but a test entry get on his case, okay?

Now, let's get to work on Ladybug and Chuggy.

A family that blogs together, globs together.

Organizing and stuff

I discovered, after lengthy research, that blogging is no fun if there are no readers, and thus no comments. I am not a writer by nature. I am an organizer. So while a lot of my extended family were on vacation or in the hospital I organized my Sim's lives. They are so entertaining. I started a new neighborhood with four brothers. I got them to the top of their respective careers and now I'm working on getting five successful businesses for one of them. That will take me several more nights. I play the Sims2 at night because it is too hot in the day in my computer room. Also, I like nights better.

In the daytime I went over to Gramma and Kedge's house to look after their plants. With my magic touch I got their gardenia to bloom! Ha. Not really. It would have bloomed with anyone watering it. I almost killed their ivy growing in the dining room until I figured to give it a good soak in the sink. It was dry as a bone so the water just ran around the rootball and out the bottom onto my head. I figured out how to water the plants on the other side of the fence. Then I broke their garage door opener. Then I completely forgot to go back on the last day I was supposed to and clean up. Ooops. They will think seriously about having me do stuff there again, I think.

It is hot here, and will be hot for quite a while yet. So I rearranged some stuff to make room around my sewing machine. Then I cut out a sundress. Then I chickened out of sewing it. What if it doesn't fit? Then I remembered why I don't like sewing for myself anymore. Nothing looks good when one is 30+ pounds overweight.

I also updated the meeting room list. Look for it on the meeting room entrance counter. It is pink this time. That is, if I get the one error corrected. 992 not 922. After I discovered that error I then got update number one for next time. I do go around to everyone and ask if there is any new info to put in, new email addresses, new phone numbers, etc. first. It seems that when people see a new list that is when they think of making a change to their entry. No problem. My rule of thumb is to make a new list when there are five changes. We are 20% on the way!

A question for anyone: How do you grow Vanda orchids? I got one for Present Day last month as a challenge. A challenge it is. I did not really know what kind of orchid to expect but it was pretty in the picture. When it arrived in the mail I took it out of the box and the aerial roots were five feet long and it had no pot, just a small basket. The roots were just dangling. Great. Here you see it with the roots kind of looped around the basket to keep them out of the sink. The literature that I could find on the internet said that it does best outside in the summer. Do they know what summer does to plants here? No way am I putting it outside in this dry heat. It is now hanging from the chandalier in the dining room and it gets taken to the sink everyday for a drink. The roots still seem to be drying out and that is not good.

But it is blooming!

Gramma coming home soon!

Da and I had dinner with Gramma today. They have pretty good food there and we both ate more than we should have. We were both primed for lasagne which is what they said it would be over the phone. We had Ortega beef sandwiches instead. Gramma had grilled cheese. CC dropped in on her way home from work and we all had a nice visit. Then I took down a list of things Gramma needs because Gramma is scheduled to come home on Saturday! She is so happy. Actually, she will not be going home to her house, but rather to Ladybug's house because Kedge won't be home until Monday/Tuesday. I have the only way of entrance into her house as I have been keeping the plants alive so I am to collect the things she might need in the few days she will be at Ladybug's. My house doesn't have anywhere for her to sleep without going up a steep flight of stairs. Cupcake has promised to help get her up the few steps to Ladybug's living room where she will be ensconced in the recliner for the duration. She so loves to cook and has been missing it, I think. She tells me each time we visit about this recipe or that that she wants to try. She is already planning what she wants to cook for AllDayMeeting. I suggested to her that that might be a little much for her to do so soon and there won't be that many people 'cause most will not be home from Lassen yet. She doesn't need to bring anything, right? Ladybug and I will bring extra so she doesn't feel she has to. Her cough is about gone and her color is good. It doesn't hurt to breathe anymore, but she still tires easily. She is going to try for BofB and dinner and then just skip the rest of AllDayMeeting. I think that is a good plan. Easy does it.

Dog Days of Summer

We are getting back to our normal summer weather. That means we can open the windows at night instead of running the AC nonstop. I like it much better. How can anyone stand to live where the humidity is that oppressive all the time? Give me the desert over the tropics anytime.

Even though it was hot today I got the drip lines on the slope checked out. It was good that I forgot (?) to walk the mile on my treadmill this morning (?) because I went up and down the slope at least four times. That is the equivalent of 14 flights of stairs for anyone interested. My poor knees. I had the red face/white nose look, too. The dogs were happy to help for a while but they soon retreated to the back yard where they sprawled in the cool grass under the pistache tree.

The ever present birds gave me incentive to get the drip lines in good repair. As I was checking out the last line, the one that has been giving me so much trouble, I saw a mockingbird swoop down out of the chinaberry tree (I think there is a nest there) and drink from the gently bubbling dripper. It was just the right size fountain for him. Then my resident quail family (parents and eight little ones) descended on it en masse. That is the line that automatically fills the bird bath so now they will have plenty of water. That is, they will have plenty of water if Chase doesn't get it all. Chase thinks the bird bath is just the right height for a water bowl.

Of course checking out the lines always means a trip to Home Depot because no matter how many spare parts I have, I never have the right ones. So off we go, stopping at the shipping store and bank on the way. Since we were right there we had to stop at Quizno's and Cold Stone again. This is becoming a habit! Next, off to visit Gramma. She is doing better but she sure does tire easily and noticeably.

Home again to put the newly purchased parts to work and figure out the electrical problem. No, I'm too hot and it hasn't cooled off yet so I just do the electrical thing. The dogs and I decide to plant the petunias I got earlier in the week. The color bowls on the front porch were starting to look bedraggled again. Soon Brig wants back inside. It is too hot for her. Chase stays with me because he knows I will turn the hose on soon. He so loves water. I use the bird-watching binoculars to check the drip lines as they run to see any problems. I make notes so I remember what to fix. I don't want to do the hill again today. Maybe tomorrow if I get up before it gets too hot. Hmmm, yeah, I admit there is some advantage to getting up before noon. But I function so much better at night.