too hot

After a cool day or so, it was a hot week.... Bob has spent his time on the X-box or playing Suduko. No lawn mowing for him!!

I spent my time sewing bears and friends for the upcoming shows...

Of course after taking pity on the deck plants and watering them yesterday... it poured for a short bit!! Bob said that it was a good thing we didn't wash the car... who knows what would have happened then!

Starting today, it is supposed to be cooler for the next week. We'll see.

Going out for brunch with the girls tomorrow.  We'll  be wearing masks until the food and drinks arrive!

We bought our elder daughter a hall tree from Wayfair for her birthday. The FedEx guy brought it to our front door and we managed to get it in the house until we could take it to her house. Since she works we didn't want it left at her house.

We are going to load the box which weighs 65 lbs into her SUV  after our brunch . Going to be interesting getting it down our front steps !!  LOL  Then  we will follow her home and unloaded it and wrestle it into her house.

Our final resort to all this will be to unpack the box and manage the pieces....

Not as hot as forecast

 It has been hot and muggy... but not as hot as forecast.... mostly low 90's. But bad enough not to want to go outside and "do" anything.

I did water and we did have a quick rain shower....

My daughter gave me a pepper plant on Mother's Day. We have no idea what type but the pepper is LOOONG and yellow. I gave it a try but it doesn't seem ready to be picked. The plant sits on the deck railing and looked a little limp so I watered it.... now waiting.

When I went out to take a picture I noticed "someone" had taken a bite... so I picked it !! Will it be hot or sweet?
 

Still not seeing many people masked up again at the grocery store... But I am. It looks like there will some mask mandates again from our local county and KC governments.  I am hoping that the many school districts will come up with a plan regarding masks etc when in school learning starts again next month.My daughter teaches Elementary gifted students ... too young to be vaccinated. My 15 year old grandson will be back in high school and his age bracket has been able to be vaccinated and we are hoping that parents did vaccinate them!!

BTW my grandson spent all last year learning online.... except for band, His Dad took him to school for that one class and brought him home. Things went ok but even my grandson admits to not being as organized etc as he should have been and had to go to summer school for Geometry ( he aced it then). He definitely wants to be back in physical classes... wants to be with his classmates etc. Fingers crossed that his school district gets things organized.

Denise's garage sale...... and HEAT !!

 yes... I know you all don't know Denise...but... here goes anyway. Denise is a quilter and was part of my group plus another group. She posted that she would be having a garage sale today and tomorrow and since I hadn't actually seen her in months I decided to go!!

Her driveway ( two car lengths long and two wide) was loaded with table upon table of fabric, craft items and other stuff!  Inside the edge of the garage several people from her other quilt group were ready to take the "money" !! People lined up with armloads of fabric and stuff!!

But the best part for me was the chance Denise and I had to catch up and exchange hugs!!  Plus I did find a few pieces of fabric that I just had to have!!  LOL

By the time I headed home I was dripping with sweat...

Weather reports indicate we will have at least a week of super hot hot weather... with a heat index of well over 105 F. 

masks back on

 Bob and I discussed the ever increasing covid numbers here in Missouri... too many are refusing to vaccinate and children younger than 12 are not allowed... yet... So we have decided to start wearing masks again when we go inside to stores... restaurants etc. We have had both shots but too many have not!!

So on my first trip to our local grocery store  ( after making this decision) I wore my mask . And was the only person I saw there to do so!! I will continue to do so and will be watching to see whether or not others do too!

Missouri is having several state wide lotteries for those who have had at least one vaccination.  $10,000... Bob and I signed up ... not that we ever win anything. But if you don't you definitely won't.. guaranteed!!

Nice thought... if I won, what would  I do with that $10,000?

BTW... if you win you HAVE to be willing to have your name and picture published or televised. No being anonymous !!

Lili's kittens

 Lili has found homes for the calico kittens but the two black and white boys and their Mother have not found  new homes.  If she doesn't find homes she will surrender them to one of the shelters. 

but she would rather know who adopts them!!

I'm not sure she realized just how much of a commitment this would be when she took in a pregnant stray cat ! Luckily she has a second bedroom where she could segregate the stray from her own two cats!!

grass mowing... unusual summer

 Usually by this time of the summer the grass has gone into a dormant stage ... dried and crunchy and brown.  But not this year...

We spent out Sunday afternoon helping our elder daughter with her yard work. I weed whacked the front yard and all along the back fence. Bob and our daughter mowed much to the delight of both dogs - Scout and Harper.  They just raced around madly !!

Afterwards we treated ourselves to cold drinks on the deck... The dogs still raced madly but added going up and down the deck stairs to their routine! 

Bob grilled a steak and we had a wonderful steak and chopped salad with diced apples and Panera's apple dressing and French bread on the side for dinner!!

Still feeling stiff etc from all that yesterday!!

Two cousins

 My younger daughter and my niece have taken off on a search on several genealogy sites...It's fun to read their messages back and forth. One is here in Kansas City and the other is in Boston ! They have worked back to the mid 400's !!  To a direct line to Edward IV . To the Mayflower .... and so on. They are having  such fun!!

Wal-Mart shopping

 I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart but I needed some fiberfill... also known as Poly-Fil for my bears and friends and since I am not shopping at  Hobby Lobby that was the place to go!!

It was sprinkling so I took my umbrella... which was a good thing because it was pouring when I left Wal-Mart!!  Anyway picked up some groceries and a huge bag of Poly-Fil  for $10.00. That should last awhile, right? The store wasn't busy and so when it was time to check out I found that the store actually had two cashier manned lines and no waiting. There were probably 20 or more diy ones but when I have things without bar codes such as peppers I'd rather have a person!!

Took the longer way home to see what was new... Whataberger is working on a site across from McDonalds !! The city's "Fieldhouse" - a  gym workout etc facility - parking lot was full for the first time in over a year.  Signs for vacation bible school were up at several churches. 

Later Bob treated me to a take out lunch ... raining too much to eat outside so we took it home.

Even later we all received a message from my niece saying she had found that a coworker is a third cousin! This led her to include a link to the Mormon Church's genealogy website in Salt Lake City, Utah. Carolyn ( my younger daughter) signed up and we explored the family history while on the phone. The site is amazing....She traced her grandparents WAY back to before the 1600's on both sides. You can find lots of info on each ancestor ... where born, where died, where buried, siblings etc.

BTW ... Bob did all the laundry today even folding. Mine was waiting on the bed ready for me to put away!!

Shawnee Mission Indian School

 The Kansas City area has a historical site named Shawnee Mission Indian School. The Kansas City Star newspaper  mentioned it the other day. From what I gather, it was a Methodist run manual training school for Indian boys and girls that was run from 1839 to 1862.  The original site was over 2,000 acres... the current  historical site is much smaller. .. and can be visited. It is one of those sites set up to resemble the day to day working of the original site with volunteers etc.

Native American groups have asked ( for years) to have this site explored for graves of missing Indian children.

My daughter's gifted program has a unit with field trips to sites around the Kansas City area. This site has not been part of the unit... I suggested it should be!!

present from Tigger or Jack

 This morning there was a present waiting for Bob outside the bedroom door.... a very small DEAD mouse. We don't know who gifted us... Jack or Tigger.  No picture since Bob sent it to mousie heaven in the trash !!

We've had mice before and do keep traps set in the basement ... just in case. And Bob will check to see if any need resetting. There are gaps around  some of the vents and Bob works in the garage with the door open occasionally .

Our elder daughter has a thing about mice left over from her days in the Peace Corps in Morocco. Mice would crawl over her long hair at night...So she says she won't visit until we are sure the mice are gone.

I remember mice crawling through the walls in my Mother's Nova Scotia farm house... they would make a great racket until I banged on the wall and told them to be quiet. I set traps every time I visited  and was the "great white hunter" until I went home.

Working inside

Our weather has become occasional rain  and gray skies... so working on bears and friends for the next online show has become the "thing to do"! 

I "treated" myself to some new mohair fabric so my attempt to downsize my stash has gone !!! Phooey!!  But new colors and textures are a treat..

I finished a blue bear yesterday and I think I'll call her "Skye" ... and now I have to decide how to accessorize her. Sometimes that part is the hardest part.

Wednesday my quilting group will meet again. As I have said before, we don't all quilt but we do all talk and eat ! I am looking forward to it and have sent out a text reminder. 

One "member" also makes bears among other things. At our last get together she had been working on memory bears made from a mouton coat ( sheep). The leather was so stiff and thick that she really had difficulty sewing the bears. I came across a package of leather needles from my days of making bears from mink, Russian squirrel etc fur coats and will bring them along for her.

Bob had planned to mow the yard ... again... The grass grows quickly this time of year, but the rainy day has put a stop to that!  Not that he is unhappy about that!! He has found some little jobs inside that are more to his liking! 

LATER..

 .made the blue bear a pinafore dress and added a ribbon head band... 

 I tried a new recipe for peach shortcake type thing. It had great peach flavor but it was way too sweet and the shortcake part was somewhat gummy. Maybe the peaches were too juicy? Not a keeper recipe.

Lili is nineteen

 

Here we go... 19 years have passed!!

This morning she texted me asking whether we still had the family fishing poles. Her Grandfather found one and thinks her brother has the others ( took them to Boy Scout camp). We reminded her that she is now old enough to need a fishing license!!

Blog topics passed around

I was reading   https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/  ( also known as Musings) about what one would take along if one was evacuated... I hadn't really thought about it but maybe we should?

medicines... hard drives and password book... photos...financial records... id...clothes...cell phones... the cats and their food... bottled water.. check books and charge cards... the list of family members - phone numbers, addresses etc

The list gets longer every time I think about it. And think about why we are having to leave... How much time would one have? 

If it's only minutes.. cats , get dressed, cellphones and wallet/pocketbook .... and get OUT!

It's not something we have had to think about.. We do have a tornado plan since we are on the edge of tornado ally. We do have a winter plan for losing electricity... maybe we should think about other emergencies??

stuck in my mind and kittens

 I think the Linda Ronstadt version is the one stuck in my mind !! (Heat wave) But there are many versions of this Irving Berlin song starting around 1933!

Lili's kittens get cuter every day. She has promises for three and two maybes for  a kitten and Mama. Hope she can get promises for the rest... our shelters are full and she'd hate to take the "leftovers" to one!

Tropical heat wave

 I had one of those bits of a song that you can't remember all of it or it or get it out of your head.... mine was "tropical heat wave". I wasn't at home when this hit but as soon as I was I googled it.... boy was it sung by many many artists. From in   "Some like it hot" to " Holiday Inn" to "Sister Act" to Menopause Musical" and on and on! No wonder it was stuck in my head... somewhere!

We will all be together

 

Applebee's is closing early... No night manager available so my grand daughter and her boyfriend can join us!! Hooray! Luckily I bought extra burgers and hot dogs!!

 

Later... we all had a great time except for Harper... The fireworks really are bad for her!!

Morning trip out

 It's gorgeous out ... blue skies, not too hot and no rain expected for a few days!!

As soon as I was dressed I headed out. Our small city (?) has a farmers' market downtown every Saturday morning from the beginning of May till the beginning of October. It is a small affair... veggies, home baked goodies, plants etc. But today I was in for a surprise. The parking lots were full... lots of people wandering about and many more vendors than when I last visited. And people were buying!! bet the vendors were happy!!

Then it was off to the grocery store with my list for tomorrow's Fourth of July grilling session/ dinner. My grand daughter and her boyfriend have to work ( Applebee's - he is a server and she works in the kitchen filling orders) but everyone else will be there.

Laurel's dog Harper ( the older hound one) finds fireworks awful. She shakes. Laurel has medicine from the vet which helps. Scout , the black puppy, couldn't care less. Fireworks have been going off every evening but the big town ones will be tomorrow evening. We will really have to keep an eye on Harper.