Saturday, June 30, 2012

The lazy, hazy summer days arrived....

 Summer has arrived...picked hydrangeas at my friend's home and
my cat has the right idea...just hanging out with her friends....

52 comments:

jan said...

Coreen, hydrangeas are beautiful. I love your kitty under the table with the his friends

jan said...

oops, her friends.

jan said...

Colorado is burning.

jan said...

Went to a couple of garage sales this morning. Such fun. I found some padded hangers and skirt hangers and a woman was selling some Mary Kay stuff for a $1. each. A new lipstick and a great eyeliner and a couple of lip glosses for granddaughters. Also found 2 neat scarfs to wrap around my shoulders when I want to wear a sleeveless top. The scarfs are light weight and have beads along the border. I love a bargain too. Also found some cotton fabric for kids with zoo animals on it -6 yards of it for future quilts. I will make a little padded floor quilt for the new baby (due in Aug).

jan said...

So very sad about the fires. 350 homes burned. My son, Terry and family lived in Colo Springs for a year. Don't know how or when this will end.

jan said...

The fire close to my grandson and his family in Northern Colo is not so bad now.

Carol said...

Lovely pics Coreen. They must like your weather. You Yanks seems to have bigger flowers. Flowers don't like the heat either.

Carol said...

Yes Jan..hell is visiting. Has any of this made anyone ponder about that 2012 stuff?? Just a little?

Fire has to be the worst way to lose a home. With other disasters..there might be something left to retrieve. Fire doesn't usually leave anything.

Carol said...

Your cat looks very relaxed and happy Coreen. Fiddler is doing well. She's got all her hair back..is gaining weight and her bo bo is healed. The secret to her healing was feeding her tons of food. She eats like there's no tomorrow. I still think she is hyperthyroid. When I researched what could be causing her hair loss..that was one of the possibilities.

Carol said...

Jan..your yard sale adventure sounded fun. And it's nice that it's in the neighborhood. They were..weren't they? I've tried to do that around here but it's too much of a hassle to go driving around town to find them..find a place to park and usually by the time I get there..there's nothing left. I'm not that motivated.

Carol said...

I just read where someone at NBC said they gave Ann Curry a year to prove herself and she didn't so they booted her. And they keep Matt and give him a huge raise??

It seems..by what NBC said..that Ann was too serious about the news. She just couldn't dumb herself down enough for their program.

I always found Matt to be kinda milk toast..nothing special. I guess it's the women who bring in the audience and they just keep running thru them.

Carol said...

Yesterday we caught a little rain here. TW got more than I did. We were side swiped by that area of instability off the south Texas coast. It's now moved more west. Hope it will move up to Colorado. The rain and overcast skies made it more tolerable here.

Carol said...

I'm sitting on my deck at the camp watching the birds and river. Finished my morning chores here. Have to go home to vacuum the pool. Has to be done before the sun gets over the pool. Haven't been on the pool since its more of a bath than a refreshing pool now. 94 degrees doesn't invite me in. Usually not that hot until August. It's too full to add water to cool it off. Don't want to run salt water out onto the yard.

It's really cooler outside here than at the house with the breeze off the water. I wanted to come spend the night here but am burn out by the time I get all my chores done.

Coreen said...

Yard sales were a big thing around here awhile ago...I know years ago you could snap up old records & other 'collectibles'...do any of you remember/know what depression glass was?...that was a big item to collect too...I even have a pink
sunflower pattern cake dish today....

We used to go to New Hope, PA, a little hamlet 'touristy & quaint', just across the Delaware River from another very old town Lambertville, NJ, you crossed an old time bridge, which in season was always wall to wall cars...they had tons of by the road sales then...

Now there is a huge modern bridge
a bit north of the old one, which is still used....

Coreen said...

It's been a hot few days here, but the humidity has not been oppressive...nothing like the temps & weather the middle part of the country has been having...we have been in the low to mid 90s...
the week ahead is supposed to be in the mid-80s so we are managing much better than elsewhere...

Coreen said...

How you manage to get any chores done in this weather Carol I'll never know...the heat just drains all energy...

and I can imagine that by the time you do morning chores...you need the rest of the day to get strength back...

Carol said...

Yes Coreen..I've seen that depression glass. I remember seeing the blue stuff. I looked it up on Wiki to read more about it and a pic of your pink sunflower cake plate is there.

Carol said...

Coreen..I can get things done by doing them very early and then it's just quick trips out and back in again during the day.

I'm really surprised that my little potted garden is surviving this heat but it's due to my intensive care of it. Today I need to bring a bunch of cucumbers and some bell peppers to work to give away. None of the tomatoes are what I wanted to buy not that I eat many of them anyway. I wanted the grape tomatoes and got a Roma grape..which is not really a grape and one regular sized tomato.

I read about that Roma grape. It's not the most desirable grape tomato but that plant is a tough plant. It's huge, it's full of tomatoes, it's hardy. There are tons of little toms on it. I hate wasting anything so I decided I would try to make a pasta sauce with it. There's just starting to be enough to do that.

I tested last night to see how difficult it would be to peel the little tomatoes. They are a little bigger than the regular grape tomatoes but smaller than a Roma. I popped them in some boiling water for a few minutes and then into some cold water. When I cut off the stem end, I could just squeeze the other end and pop them out of their skins. It went fast. I froze the ones I did since there wasn't enough for my pasta sauce yet. Yes, it's a little more work than opening a jar but...I know what's in it. Except for the onions..I can make it all from what I grow organically.

Carol said...

I got weak yesterday and made more ice cream. I was trying to only make it every other week because when I have it..I eat it every day. It's takes a week for me to eat a batch. It makes a quart and a half.

jan said...

I have a pink depression glass candy bowl with cover that my grandmother gave me years ago. I have some other depression glass I have found at yard sales and flea markets over the years. I don't buy any more of this kind of stuff any longer.

jan said...

Carol, I have several nurse-figurines people have given me over the years. I have them all in a glass cabinet my dad gave me that belonged to my mother. I will have to take a pic of them sometime and post. When I start downsizing, I will have to figure out what to do with all that stuff. Young people today do not do collections like this.

jan said...

John and I had shrimp cocktail and corn on the cob for dinner last night and finished it off with some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. John bought it and I did not plan on having any - but it is hard to resist when someone else is eating it so I had some of his. No self-control!

jan said...

Time to get ready for work.

It is cloudy and a little cooler here this morning.

Carol said...

Jan..young people now are more likely to collect electronic stuff that is obsolete in about a year or so.

Carol said...

You might want to consider selling your collectibles on ebay. There you could find someone who would love them and make some money. Any of your family do any ebay business?

Carol said...

I was late getting up this morning and I'm going to bed earlier.

I had to go to my lawyer's office yesterday to sign some papers and do some business. I was an hour late getting home and some of my plants had irreversible damage by the time I got here. They just can't handle this heat. I come home at lunch everyday mainly to water mid-day.

jan said...

One of these days I think I will sell some stuff on e-bay. I have not done that but my late bro in law did. It does not sound hard.

Coreen said...

Just wondering why....

the NY media tv,radio, print continue to give top story to the
split by Tom Cruise' wife...each day since the divorce was announced the media adds a bit more, today pics on the tabloids & tv of Katy out in public w/o ring, with bodyguards, with the story that she is afraid
that the daughter would be sent to some scientology indoctrination camp & may be kidnapped (hello, is this something new) aren't the scient known for some bizarre, creepy stuff...I believe that is a concern she may have, but again what's changed, why now...she married Cruise knowing his scient. connections...hasn't she been subjected to the scient schtick for what is it 5 years marriage plus whatever time before she was with cruise...

jan said...

Sorry to hear about your plants that did not tolerate the heat. We had a little blessed rain last night. Everything smells fresh this morning.

Coreen said...

Jan about the collecting stuff...I
look around & say why...since when you are gone, nobody wants your stuff...sad but true...so I wonder
why do we keep buying/collecting more stuff...

And no, I have not sold any stuff anywhere...

But yesterday I went through Home Goods on my way to pick up more
contact lens & guess what I walked around & did not buy a thing...I just shrugged & said I don't need
anything & left the store...pretty good I think...

jan said...

I read the book, 50 shades of grey in the past few nights. I had it for several weeks. My sister called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to read it and call her back. She was very disturbed by some of it. I know why now. I don't want to read 2nd or 3rd one. It is really just a description of one sex scene after another and began to be boring.

jan said...

Hi Carol, I do the same thing. I go to a department store with a list and when I get what I need I leave. I have a hard time passing up a bargain on fabric at yard sales. That is my weakness. I also like 100% cotton sheets and pillow cases - and I can get those for a song at yard sales. I have a sanitize setting on my washer and put in a little bleach too. I cannot stand any polyester in my sheets and pillow cases or my clothing next to my skin either.

jan said...

Hi Carol, I do the same thing. I go to a department store with a list and when I get what I need I leave. I have a hard time passing up a bargain on fabric at yard sales. That is my weakness. I also like 100% cotton sheets and pillow cases - and I can get those for a song at yard sales. I have a sanitize setting on my washer and put in a little bleach too. I cannot stand any polyester in my sheets and pillow cases or my clothing next to my skin either.

jan said...

We are getting a break in our hot weather in the next few days. Yippee! Had some Blessed rain last night and Thurs-Sun - the high predicted to be in the 80's. Hope so!

Coreen said...

Another wondering....

Does Dr. Drew get the same level
of contempt that was shown Paula Deen for her deal with the diabetes drug co for his (at this point) alleged pushing of antidepressant drug for GSXK?....
Dr. Drew paid to talk up antidepressent meds

Carol said...

Yes..by me he will Coreen. You know how I feel about most antidepressants. Most don't show much efficacy. Most of the time the placebo offers as much efficacy as the antidepressant. If someone really believes in their effectiveness and desires to take them..I'm all for prescribing them since I do believe in the placebo effect of medication.

Most of my patients only want one that will put them to sleep at night. Most of those are the old antidepressants like Trazadone and Elavil. They are cheaper so that's a plus. But..I'm a little resistant to prescribing those when I think sleep is what they want. I don't intend to help them sleep thru their unfortunate incarceration.

I'll refer them to my mental health counselor for evaluation. She can advise as to whether it is really depression or a con job. I tell most of them that if they aren't a little depressed about being in jail..something is really wrong with them.

It's twice as much work to take my time to really evaluate the situation but I refuse to just help them with their con games.

And another thing. I am not impressed with Dr Drew. I've listened to his BS and he's full of it most of the time. And I think it is very inappropriate for him to endorse a specific pharmaceutical.

Carol said...

I'm making my homegrown..homemade marinara sauce tonight. Most everything in it is from the garden. When I eat it...I hope I can taste all the work and sacrifice I put into those plants. I'm pretty sure I will.

Carol said...

Did you see AGT last night Jan? L I caught a little of it. My new found love for Howard Stern disappeared totally. There was this guy with a foreign accent who made musical instruments out of household and yard things. Last night's instruments were a bat, shovel and vacuum cleaner. It was quite ingenious. Howard raked him over the coals for no reason. If he didn't think it was a million dollar act..so be it but he didn't deserve all the awful crap Howard dealt him. Howard can't recognize real talent and skills when he sees it. He showed his ignorance last night.

I was very impressed with the guy. And they keep this guy who lets people slam in in the balls over and over??? That's nuts.. pun intended. I think it's awful that they would let someone mutilate himself like that on national TV. He may not even have any testicles in his scrotum. If he did..he would probably have already died of testicular torsion or hemorrhage. There is definitely something screwy going on with that guy.

Carol said...

I noticed that Nick Cannon's face.. the AGT MC.. looked a lot different last night then I remembered he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. I bet he's having to take steroids..the cortical steroids. His face is a lot fuller than usual.

jan said...

I agree Carol about both the guy with the handmade musical instruments and the guy who who gets his nuts cracked every show. I think Howard was completely out of line with the first and I have to leave the room with the 2nd.

jan said...

Yeah! John even asked last night, "who is that?" Didn't recognize him (Nick). I recognized his voice.

Carol said...

My marinara sauce was wonderful. Worth the hundred of hours of work.

jan said...

I have never cared for Dr. Drew.

jan said...

Glad you enjoyed the fruits of your labor. I heated some frozen talipia and some sweet potato fries. Simple but satisfying. You work much harder on your meals and they are much better than mine. I know that for a fact.

Carol said...

Another heat related problem I'm having is that I'm getting calls from work almost every night with some weird symptoms and most are due to the heat there. It had gotten to the place where I rarely got calls at night any more...until it got hot.

Carol said...

Jan..your comments weren't there a few minutes ago and then they just popped in between my comments. That's weird.

Carol said...

Jan..it's kinda fun to make my sauce from my veggies and my ice cream. Yes..it's a lot more work but really quite fun and satisfying and I can't compare the taste. And I know exactly what's in it.

Carol said...

The only thing that could make the experience even better is....if I could share it with someone.

Carol said...

My sauce did have a store bought onion and a half a can of tomato paste but I used my little roma grape toms, my bell pepper and my fresh oregano and basil.

Coreen said...

New post for fourth of July...

jan said...

Carol, Katie Holmes was very young when she married Tom Cruise, and she had had this big crush on him for years. I think she was starry eyed and too young to know what she was doing. Now that she has a child and is responsible for that child and she is older and knows more about the world, etc. I do not know much about Scientology either.

jan said...

oops, I will bring this last comment over to new post.