Thoughts About Patience

Shy Sunflower

 This summer is very much into the season with heat, humidity, rain and thunderstorms taking the stage every week. There are times when the National Weather Service radar indicates rain in this area when none has fallen.

Spotty is the word to describe rain this year. It falls from rain clouds that aren't always over the location where I live. The waterfalls tell a different story. They will be running faster from rain farther south.

Not always matching is a part of life that feels more a bother than a process to enjoy.

On the home front, I'm not anxious to make the leap to a new laptop as yet. My patience with tech things is low. The old laptop has quirks. And now the old camera is joining in. I use the photo editing program, Irfanview. For a reason I don't know, photos will be so large they don't fit the computer screen. I have to decrease the size, and then Lock Zoom in the View section.. Add that to the text is always light gray instead of black, and all I want to do is turn the computer off and read a book. The camera's zoom feature has decided close enough is the new rule. It is one Ugh! after another. It is no wonder my patience is thin nowadays.

What about patience? Other emotional conditions don't change, but that one seems to be eroding with me. How do I smooth that developing rough edge? I step away from whatever bothers me. There are many projects for me to select instead of sacrificing a good mood to not having things match up to my expectations. 

The walks I planned for this summer are on hold. My feet feel like bricks some days. The arthritis in my toe has taken to sharp unexpected pains. Having meals al fresco, however, is not on hold. I regularly have a meal outdoors sitting on the deck. Yesterday in the heat, I pushed myself to finish the gardening I wanted to do by taking numerous breaks in the air conditioned indoors.


How is your summer going?

The Deck Garden


The faux buoys need to be sealed where the string 

goes into the bottle cap in order to keep out the rain.

Painting a rock to blend in with the garden decor

can add a bit of brightness. 

 

Please note,

I'm still having issues with leaving comments on other blogs.

The Lake, Aches, Sofa & the Firefly

Lake Champlain in July

 Last Sunday was a perfect day for being out and about to enjoy the sunshine. Despite the wind, it was a lovely afternoon. 

My fribromyalgia is acting up. There are days when I'm thinking time to use my cane. The problem is, I'll probably leave it somewhere. Moving around more, (week 2 of back to the exercise bike), will help decrease the aches and pain.

Gardening, laundry, and puttering still make up most of my days. I finally tried Murphy's Oil Soap on the floors. It is an improvement over a pine cleaner.

The sofa recovering is progressing. I went to Joann's Fabric store recently. I was overwhelmed at the size of the place. They took over the store space that closed next door. I didn't look around much as I'm keen on shopping for what I need, check out and leave. I was so intent on leaving, I bought the wrong kind of batting. I want the fluffy polyester. Instead, I have the thin cotton blend. Oh well.

On the interesting events front:

lights out, I see streaks of green light about 3 or 4 inches long going across the dark towards the top of a storage cabinet. Once it stops, I see the blinking green light of a firefly.

Sad story somewhat. The lone firefly circles the smoke detector...with the little green light. Then the lone firefly goes over to land on the cabinet. I figure, it got its way in, then it can find its way out. Besides, I like the company.

I haven't seen it since.

Lovely Yarrow

 

Wild White Yarrow in June

Not far from the milkweed at the Dead Creek Visitor's Center on Route 17 in Addison, Vermont are small patches of wild yarrow,

In my planter I have Pink Grapefruit yarrow. A flower bed out front has red yarrow. Yarrow is a wonderful perennial. The older I become, the more I love easy to care for perennials.

The Last Weekend of June 2024


Otter Creek Falls, Vergennes, Vermont

 Another landscape added to my paintings' queue.

 Have a Fun Summer Weekend!

Bake something spicy
Browse camp shirts online
Read a funny book
Think about 2025
Create a sculpture from a soda bottle
Write a letter to your front door
Research image versus truth 
Sing to your computer
Recite and record a poem

A comment from moi:
Society is saturated with embracing image. What we see, in reality or photographs, how we process the truth, 
need not be swayed with our romance with beauty.
An old man can have more truth and beauty in him, 
than any liar ever will.
 

Day 180 of Week 26 June 2024

Mushroom, Strawberry & Zucchini Tart

 What are y'all up to this weekend?

Last week I made the tart using phyllo dough: Saute the chopped veggies, parsley and strawberry; filled in 2 layers with slice tomato on top; and bake in a 400ºF oven until phyllo dough is brown. I like my phyllo dough crispy. Careful, it can be quite hot.

The next tart will be with Gruyere cheese and black olives. The strawberries are a nice burst of sweet flavor. (That I can actually taste.) I am keen on bringing back some of my sense of taste and smell by having spicy foods.

Applying gesso to blank canvases has been fun. Otherwise, I've done much of nothing, but putter and water plants.

I have tried to have this background more on the being side than pink. On this laptop's monitor, it leans heavily to pink no matter what code I try.

Deck Garden Update

 

The deck make-over this year is progressing slowly. The tiny ground garden space still needs to be done. I'm undecided what to put there.


 The white pole on the far left of the photo is a 2 x 4 inch stud set inside the large white planter. The stud is spray painted white, with a bracket attached for the hanging basket.


Mr Bixby, the goose had a mishap, back completely broken out. He is a planter now, painted blue for his new role.


 

P.S.

I'm not sure if it is my old laptop or glitches with Blogger. Things have been moved while some things aren't showing up anymore. I hope it is glitches that get sorted out soon.

Thought in the Last Week of June

 

Caught in a storm system Sunday that dumped a lot of rain on Upstate New York and Vermont on its way to the New Hampshire and Maine, I sat there and just watched. I did take pictures and videos.

Update on laptop search:

I was told by a sales person that the reason there are inexpensive laptops is due to the lack of features that are on the higher priced laptops. As in the S mode that will not allow you to upload unless it is from a Microsoft store.

None of the under $500.00 US dollar laptops will suit my need to upload and store photographs. If you are confused by that, then you are not alone. I am also confused because nothing I read in my research, the reviews and websites' recommendations mention S mode, that I recall. 

Thus, I will be watching for sales in July for a laptop over $500.00 US dollars. Having the old HP AIO repaired is an option that I'm not considering as yet. I like to imagine some day I will turn it on, and it will be working. Dream on is the theme of that daydream.

Meanwhile, this old laptop is fickle. Sometimes I can leave comments, and sometimes I can't. I have a lot of blog reading catch up to do.

Have a wonderful week!

 

Thunderstorms


It rained so hard (sideways even) earlier this afternoon, that it sounded and looked from my patio window, I was in a car wash.

I've heard some seriously grumbling thunder close from the storm cells that are passing over Vergennes as well as south of use towards Middlebury.

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch.

If you can see the sky in some areas, watching becomes real.

Stay safe folks!