Travel With Me Tuesday: AKA Project Life Week 48

Happy New Year to all! Glad to be as caught up as I am with the projects from 2018. It never all gets done by the first of the year but that's ok. As long as I'm only a week or two 'behind' I feel that I can go into 2019 with my feet on the ground and my mind clear enough. It helped that I didn't do a December Daily last year which makes me want to do it all the more this year. But back to 2018.

December arrived without snow but instead Boston greeted me with an absolute downpour. Later there was brisk weather as the city was lit up for Christmas and I had time with my son and my daughter in law. LOTS of walking which is always a good thing and gives me a bit of wiggle room for the food he makes me and what's ahead for Christmas.

AAM Monday: PL the REAL Week 30

With all my computer woes, I had to go back and do the real week 30 since what I thought was week 30 was actually 31. Such is life.

And because this layout was also for a challenge where I had to use a template, there is only one page so far. Late, people, later. All in good time.

Five on Friday: April 28, 2017

Well it's been quite a while since I did a fiver. But right now I've had a good couple of weeks and am totally grateful for that. I can look beyond the utter clutter that fills my upstairs as I keep trying to sort out the fallout from adding another double bed. In time, in time...

1. The rain has finally ended! I think the rain doesn't bother me but as we've had the a/c on already this spring, to have chilly rainy days is upsetting. I had to turn the heat on once in a while during the day and my computer gloves have been used. I'm going to keep them on the desk...just in case.

2. All that overcast rain did lead to great great sleeping weather. Sadly I realize I can't sleep beyond 06:30 much anymore. Plus if I sleep in the studio bed I have the computer set to come on at that time. Actually, it's a good time to get up!

3. In Googling my old 1976 Leeds United-W.B. Albion 'programme' on eBay, I found a program from the 1974 Liverpool-Leeds game. The game that Steve Heighway scored the winning goal and the game where I won the pool. It is also where I got my Liverpool scarf that god willing my grandson still has. My programme wasn't listed and the other comparable ones were selling for $1. That Liverpool-Leeds one was going for £16. I guess I'll keep mine and let my descendants sort it out.

4. One serious downside to that week of rain was that the beautiful cherry blossoms got so soaked. It's often what happens. Gorgeous days of blossoms and then Bam! the rains come and it's a soggy mess. I did sweep away loads of them yesterday which is not easy once they're wet and clumpy. Another year, another mess. 

5. Today I'm finally taking myself up to Costco. It's a 20mile drive and I didn't need a lot so I've procrastinated on it. I can also get gas i.e. diesel fuel on my way at a station that has a diesel pump at EVERY island! I love love love that whereas so many stations only have 1 diesel pump and it's a nightmare navigating to snag that pump AND have the correct side of the car next to the pump. Now I just have to make sure to have a list so my round trip isn't wasted.

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday! Ciao!

Five on Friday: May 13, 2016

So I'm back after neglecting these Friday posts for a while.I didn't think the weather bothered me but in hindsight I see it has. Maybe I need a sun lamp.

1. Yes, it is Friday the 13th. Not much one can do about that but there isn't a full moon at least with it!

2. How many days has it been raining? well all of May and a good bit of April. One thing that is 'benefiting' from the rain is the bamboo. Ugh. I have been stepping on new shoots every day and then by afternoon there are more. As my husband says, you can just about watch them grow.

3. While he's been away, I have done virtually no cooking but I did get myself some meals from Trader Joe's.  Two Indian paneer dishes and one bowl of mixed stir fry veggies. I had half of those veggies last night with quinoa and peanut sauce. The sauce was an old one that was from Target and it needs a lot of oomph. It was one of those things that I thought might be good but meh.

4. My long ongoing album of our 2012 River Cruise is truly truly in the final stretch. I only have Budapest to do and I think that will be four pages. I did get all, well almost all, the earlier pages printed and in an album. I don't know how I manage to miss uploading some but it happens more than I'd like. I think later this year I'll upload the lot to a couple places and print an 8" book somewhere. In any case having the majority done and ready to look at will be a nice surprise for him.

5. As depressing as the constant grey and drizzle has been, he said that this Monday they had 9 tornadoes in OK incl an F3 and an F4 just 50 miles away. All in all I saw no reason to go with him on this trip and I think I made the right decision!

Have a great weekend people and I'll see you back on Monday.

Travel With Me Tuesday: We Drive to Lisbon

While we hated to leave Sevilla, we had reservations at the Marriott in Lisbon.  We also expected that it would be a relatively easy drive. We did not count on the weather we experienced.

This n That

There are a bunch of things I need to do today and some of them are dependent on either other people or the weather. Things I cannot control of course.

I am getting truly antsy about the volume of things I want to donate that are sitting around in bags. But if the weather is rainy they can't go to the location that is out of doors and uncovered. This woman is great about getting so many things to people who can use them but the location is weather dependent. Come on sunny days! I realize that my plants need the rain to overcome the dry weather we have been having, dry with some pretty gusty and consistent winds.  I want rain all night and sun all day. Is that too much to ask?

Then there is a newsletter I want to finish writing and be able to send out - in a final form. However, I am waiting on info from X, who is probably waiting for it from Y. This is not weather dependent but human dependent.

I do have a bunch of things I can do IN the house, W/O input from anyone else.  Can do, but right now without the incentive to do. I believe it is a case of rainy-day blahs. Can you still have a nap before noon? Maybe I should just have another cup of tea. Tea gets me going even if it doesn't even have caffeine. What about you? what gets you going when you just don't wanna?

rainy blah day in Lisbon

Super Quiet Sunday

We considered going out to dinner tonight. We passed. We considered getting a pizza. We passed.  Basically, other than reading the newspaper, and looking at Pinterest and watching more of Spiral on Netflix it was that kind of Sunday. With lots of rain that could have been a LOT of snow. I'm kind of glad it wasn't snow.

Oh I forgot, he went out and replaced his printer ink!  It's been a very good Sunday. Hope your last Sunday before Christmas was half as calm!

Was That More Rain?

Yes, yes, it was. Someone asked me Thursday night when the rain would stop. (Just call me Ms. Delphi if you like.) I said what I thought I'd read in the newspaper. In about 5 days. Well so far, that seems to be on schedule. It isn't just that it's raining, it's that it's a downpour and then it stops. You get kind of fooled thinking it may be a bit less wet and then it starts up again. Drizzle, drizzle and then another heavy rain.

I really am not complaining because I have a lot of things to get caught up inside the house, but it does make me a bit more reluctant to get out of pajamas and into outside clothes. I did decide that it was time to switch the summer tshirts etc to the depth of the closet and pull the winter ones front and center. Maybe if I have my heavier clothes in front of my nose I'll get dressed!

I have about three feet of my closet that is back in a hard-to-reach-corner. I suspect this closet was built in about the 1940s when there apparently was a fire in the bedroom. Prior to that the bedrooms most likely just had standing wardrobes typical of a 1910 house. That fire was before my ownership of the house but told to me by a woman who lived in the house then. Sounds like smoking in bed! In any case a closet was built on one of the walls and the bi-fold doors only cover the opening that was apparently built to fit those doors. I've often wondered whether it was worth rebuilding the closet wall to open that corner but mostly I just gave up that thought... too much mess and I never mentally resolved how to replace those doors with something better.

Once I finish the rehanging of my summer stuff ( they go from green hangers to white which makes the seasonal items that linger easily spot-able ) I will be ready to face the changing of the bedding. That needs a sunny day to hang linens on the line. Put away with the outdoors scent makes even the linen drawer smell wonderful. It's also time to strip the stalks of lavender that are ready to scent the drawers also. Yes, I am truly a Nana!

Waiting For Some Rain

Most of my gardening is done. I still have many petunias to plant but I had hoped to spray paint the planters first. I emptied the dirt into another container so that job is on hold now. With the cooler weather we've been having, the plants are doing fine even in their little market packs. In the usual May weather, they would have burned up. Not this year.

One of the planters I emptied had chives in it. I love chives - to eat - and for the wonderful flowers. I have many many chives now since they do multiply - a lot! - except for the place I planted the thinnings one year as a border. Not one made it. ???

But today I wait for a bit more rain. Right now it's like an Irish mist. Not rain but moisture you can walk through. I told my dh yesterday that some of these days are like the PNW or the old English summers I remember. A day great for the skin and the garden and really,  not a bad day to wait.

Hold Onto Your Hats!

If Hurricane Sandy reaches us, those little bits of orange in the projection centers mean 7-12 inches of rain.  Get the ark out now! I said the heck with bread but got ice cream. I know what works for us! Decadent affogatos. That kind of thing is the benefit of having a gas cooktop.

Please - stay safe and secure if you are on the eastern seaboard in the path of Sandy. Prepare but don't panic. If you have a gas range or cooktop, think about an affogato!

Sunday Serenade: Our Recent Welcome Weather

Sunday Serenade 11 08 28 Hurricane Music

Another time, another Hurricane. The kind of music that made Dylan the hero he is.

Deja vu All Over Again

This was last week.

Please don't let this week be as bad.

Love the image, loved the book

I strongly suggest you read it too, or just enjoy the image if you're too busy right now.

This is ...the view from my front door

This weeks theme from Angela at Three Buttons "This is..." meme comes from Brooke at Boobooksausagedogs . It's a nice idea as we shift into either fall (for her) or spring ( for me.) We have such interesting environments.


The view is rather short but I do love my front walk (and driveway). That was one of the things that sold me about the house 21 years ago. I eliminated the front grass then and now have a combo of ivy, pachysandra and unfortunately some other things that spring up right thru and need to be plucked out. Not too diligent about that... But good things also emerge from planting ages ago, like one little purple crocus fighting its way up thru the leaves.

Happy Sunday!