Sizzling September

[SnoopyC]

Good morning all...

Had a nice holiday weekend, only a little hiking as it was and is so HOT! It was nice to have time off, and now I am ready to go back to work, extra early today for a meeting.

Dill, sounds like you had a lovely weekend. So wonderful your grandson is learning from his Grandpa. Very special.

Pauly, hope you feel better soon.

Cyn, busy as usual, sounded fun.

Lav, your life has really been following a positive pattern, you deserve it.

Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends, happy Tuesday to all

Glad you enjoyed your weekend Star!
Yep, the heat continues with plenty of 90+ days predicted this week. I've had enough, how about you?

Cyn, I have gotten so far behind with outside stuff it's not even funny. I think at this point I'm just going to wait until it is actually cool out & then do a massive cutting of everything. I can't deal with the heat

Dill, it's so great when the grandkids show an interest in learning a useful skill from us!!! I hope your table project makes great memories for your grandson

Pauly, how are you & how was your birthday yesterday????

OK, I need to get a trip to Curves in then get back here for some actual work.
Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[dill]

Hello All,
Lav, I love PF Changs but only eat there at lunch time because they are so expensive at dinner time, don't you think? But their food is really good. I'm a fan of their Mongolian Beef.

Star, it was definitely too hot to enjoy hiking yesterday and the day before. I called a friend yesterday and we went to a matinee in the afternoon to escape the heat. It was a good plan. Mr. D stayed home because he was not interested in the movie she chose: Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep. I didn't particularly enjoy the movie except I will admit the music was great and Meryl Streep did an awesome job acting. No surprise there!

Cyn, yes indeed it is a shock how dark it is at 8:30 these days. I am glad tho. I am not a fan of the long days. Fall is my favorite time of year. Just perfect length of day/night and good temperatures. And the light is exquisite.

Pauly, How are things going?

When I went to visit family over the weekend I didn't expect to be confronted by any moments of decision as regards alcohol. It was a back yard grill out party for a one year old. I anticipated there would be beer in the coolers along with soft drinks and there was, but I don't have any problem walking away from beer. I will also say that as far as I could see no one was over indulging and everyone was having a nice time. But, earlier, before the party when we stopped in to visit my brother at 1:00 I was offered white wine (my favorite). They had cheese and crackers and other nibbles and wine glasses set out for me and Mr. D. They asked me if I would like some and the old me would have said yes without a moments thought. But the new me said, "No thank you, wine at this time of day makes me sleepy." Easy Peasy! Mr. D declined too bc he never drinks wine. SIL went in the house and brought us out glasses and filled them with tea! The interesting thing about it for me was how terrible the smell of the wine was to me at that time of day. The scent wafted over my way on the breeze and I found it repugnant. I was surprised by that.

Well anyway, boring little story, but I hope you don't mind that I shared it. Have a great AF Tuesday everyone.

[dill]

Cross post, Lav!

Happy belated Birthday, Pauly!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, Dill,that story wasn't boring at all,tbh I'd have a harder time avoiding the cheese and crackers though(my fave) trying to clean up my diet is not fun at all,enjoy Curves Lav,has the owner mentioned any potential buyers?birthday was low key like I like it now,still gonna wrangle a dinner outta hubs somewhere though,everybody is sort of dealing with this cold or whatever it is and nobody really felt like doing much so I'm taking a rain check, hello to Star and Cyn,I hope we all have a nice Tuesday

[treegirl]

Late evening hello all -

Where did the time go??! I was listening to 'Marketplace' (NPR) as I cooked dog vegies, and there were a couple of 'articles' that really caught my interest: Jon Baptiste, and his band - who are tonight opening the Late Show with Steven Colbert - and his idea of Social Music, and an interview about a new book out called 'SuperBetter' by Jane McGonigal, with wellness theories based on Gaming. Yep, you read that right - Game Theory, how games can help us overcome life trauma, be ourselves, etc. I'm not a gamer or a fan of games, but I watched her TED talk from 2012, and it really is inspiring. https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgon...fe?language=en. I was dancing in the kitchen to the music of Jon Baptiste, and the dogs were happy and wagging their tales. And I was happy too! Bonus. And then to hear this really inspiring information about how to become more 'resilient' - this was a banner night. I am incredibly grateful to have a more reasonable schedule now, so that I don't feel like I'm falling terribly behind by taking a few evening hours off.

Happy Birthday yesterday Pauly! I hope that this is a wonderful year to come for you-

Take care all - I'll check in earlier tomorrow!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Lav, I woke up and it is still hot and muggy, despite the fact that the weather people said differently. I am used to it farther north where a big wind will come up. lots of clouds, and the temp will drop 25-30 degrees in half an hours. Not here. That's OK, it's coming.

Pauly, Happy Birthday, belated, but best wishes. hope you all feel better.

Dill, isn't Meryl Streep such a versatile actress? Glad you enjoyed your afternoon with a friend. Loved your story about being AF, having prepared verbiage, and aversion to wine. Great job and I hope this story helps others to understand that this took you time, practice, and determination.

Cyn, I like moderation too. Some work, some play, some relaxation. That's what works for me.

Have a great HumpDay.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends!

Foggy outside & the windows are all steamed up on this Hump day morning! Looking forward to some weather changes soon.

Hi there Star, Dill, Cyn & Pauly!

Dill, the prices are kind of high at PF Chang's but the food is good. They make a really good Asian inspired salad with grilled chicken on top & a light dressing, yum
I love that we can comfortably decline AL when in a social setting. I love remembering that it's no one's business why we no longer drink, ha ha.

Cyn, it's funny how the dogs react to our moods. They are often more tuned in to our moods than the other humans are!! I'll try to listen to the TED talk this afternoon, sounds interesting, thanks!

Wishing everyone a great AF Hump day!

Lav

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, yes Lav our furry friends are aware of our moods, sometimes too aware,when I'm down Winslow tries to make me feel better by licking my face repeatedly he's been especially bad these weeks with the cold/allergy junk,constantly bugging me, grrr,Cyn,sounds like you had a fun nightI'll hafta Google Jon babtiste,maybe I already know his music,just not the name,Dill,so that movie was dumb? I do love Meryl Street plus I seen Rick Springfield is her boyfriend in the movie, used to love him too until I read his memoir,hes a perv haha,Star,hope you have a nice 50/50 day hope we all have a GREAT Wednesday, I could use it

[dill]

Hi Friends,
Hey Pauly, that movie got lots of good reviews, just not from me! LOL. I read about Rick Springfield after your post bc I had no idea what you were talking about but I did find a review of his memoir which filled me in. Yeah, not such a great guy.

Lav, declining wine in social situations is easy now, but I remember when it wasn't. It was hard because of my own ambivalence about my quit way back then. Well, that was part of it. The other part was a bit of embarrassment at it being an indication that I had a "problem". Now I really don't care a wit what anyone thinks and I don't know why it was such a big deal to me then!

Cyn, I loved the image of you dancing in the kitchen and the dogs wagging along!

Star, Meryl Streep is very talented for sure. She managed to do a convincing job of being a musician playing lead guitar and singing. It looked so real! Also, it was interesting to learn that the actress playing her adult daughter in the movie was actually her daughter in real life!

It was a nice cloudy day here and cooler. What a relief. Hope everyone has a peaceful af Hump Day evening.

[treegirl]

Evening all-

Well Star, it's blowing here now! Supposed to have rain on and off tonight and tomorrow. Hope you are seeing some relief soon.

Dang, I didn't get all the invasives' seeds cut off. With my back and neck issues, I've limited myself to 1.5 hours a day, and that was not enough this morning to get it all done. I just ran out and covered the huge paper leaf bags that are filled to the brim with garlic mustard, whatever this while blooming thing is that has seed pods all over it, stinging nettle ( I realized after my skin started stinging half way through pulling that out) and some other seed pod thing. And the wild raspberries? Forget about it, I didn't even try. I was just trying to get anything in a bag that had a seed pod. Honestly, sometimes I want to give up and just move. But I have to remember that I didn't work out there basically for the last 2 years. I did a lot of reading tonight on the correct way to eradicate these things (garlic mustard has to come out with the roots, etc.). Whatever I did the last time around only seemed to encourage it all. I'm shocked at how often Roundup is mentioned as a solution. I use a paint-on thing only for when I've taken out a small tree, so I don't get a forest the next spring, but some of these websites are talking about wide-spread spraying. Sheesh! with a Neuro-toxin! Anyway, I have to admit it, if there was a way besides elbow grease and years of vigilance, I might take it, if Lav hadn't educated us so well.

Looking forward to some cooler temps. The dogs and I are dragging here from this house where I can't seem to get the hot air out. Hopefully the rain will eventually usher in some dry and cool temps.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday tomorrow!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Woke up late so a quick check in. Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends,

Just had the new mattress set delivered. My aching lower back better be grateful, ha ha!!
I slept in the guest room last night which has a newer mattress & actually slept thru a thunder storm - go figure. It's pouring rain right now & 72 degrees. I hope this ushers in some real Fall weather for us

Cyn, the Roundup debacle goes on & on. I just finished reading another article on the increasing evidence of toxic effects on humans & especially children. Who the hell wants to play roulette with a known carcinogen, neurotoxin & all around bad chemical made by the same company that made Agent Orange?
I am especially concerned about the farming practice of drenching wheat fields with Roundup just prior to harvesting. Maybe our so called gluten intolerance is actually a Roundup intolerance?? Ugh.

Greetings to Dill, Star & Pauly. I hope everyone has a fantastic AF Thursday.
I think I just may go to Curves before I get into anything else

Lav

[paulywogg]

Hello friends, Lav,I think that its definitely contributed to our intolerance of wheat,probably a lot of other things too,back in the olden days,peeps could eat whatevs and not feel yucky,a quick hello to all,I'm out zee door

[treegirl]

Evening all -

As I started to write, I jumped up and ran to the oven to grab what I was baking - Paleo Breakfast Bars (coconut flour, coconut, eggs, not much more). Thank goodness I could smell them - the timer I set for an extra 5 minutes never started ticking! Looks like I didn't overcook them - now to see if they are edible! I bought coconut flour awhile back, and really messed up some recipes before I read about it, and how dense a baking product it is. Lav - this was reference on Dr Ax's site. I'll let you know how they turned out...

Excuse me - the wheat is doused with Roundup just prior to harvesting? Excuse me? That is just amazing and frightening. Now I'm really glad that I'm GF, sheesh!

Hope everyone is doing OK today. Lots of rain last night, and on and off today...not really cooler, still clammy, but a change from the suffocating hot/damp, thank goodness. I'm afraid I've missed my chance to do much more seed pod collecting. I have appointments tomorrow, and family descending once again on Sat/Sun, so it will be back to the bush-whacking on Monday.

This shift into fall is interesting - always a little wistful, I guess. Maybe I just keep remembering the freedom of summers when I was a kid, and expecting that to be how it is when one is grown. I remember looking forward to going back to school, to the routine. Now I just wonder where summer and its' freedom went - and the days are shortening so fast! It's raining, but I have the windows open - I'm going to keep them open as long as possible this autumn.

Take care all - Lav, I hope you like your new mattress!