July 31, 2020

We had a sweet surprise visit today!

July 30, 2020

Jed has started with something new since we moved to a new state last summer.

When he gets hot, he gets incredibly itchy on the trunk of his body.

This isn't a rash on his back, it's just from his scratching.

The south definitely isn't the place to live with something like that!  :)

He'll be scratching 8 months out of the year here.

July 29, 2020

This little guy showed up on our back deck today.

He's a blue-tailed skink.

Jed walked out on the deck to try to capture him

(no luck with that)

and said his tail was incredibly iridescent.

You can see his blue tail a little better here, but no iridescence.

Then we saw he brought a friend with him!

We looked for an internet picture to get a better view of the skink.

I thought this one was amazing...

look how the colors are in rainbow order

orange at the head

yellow along the body

green at the base of the tail

and blue at the tip of the tail

but Jed said even this was not as amazing as what he saw.

July 28, 2020

This has to be the saddest tomato I've ever seen.

Look at all those holes!

All the juicy bits were gone.

Jed loved it...he doesn't like how the juicy bits tend to fall out of his sandwich.  :)

July 27, 2020

This is my view when Jed and I are eating lunch and playing games.

Today's view was especially nice.

I love fluffy clouds with sharp edges.

July 26, 2020

I never used to be much of a soda drinker....sweet tea was always my drink of choice.

But when I first started gaining weight, after weaning Jed,

my husband bought me a diet soda

and after getting over the weird taste,

I was hooked...mostly because of the fizz.

Fourteen years later, I'm still hooked.

I've been buying small bottles to try to cut back,

and it's been working pretty well.

Today I was in a dark room reading the news on my phone,

and I noticed how pretty the bottom of a ginger ale bottle was 

as it passed over the light emanating from my phone.

That's what you see here.  :)

July 25, 2020

A new recipe...pineapple cake.

Just uses an angel food cake mix and a 20 ox can of crushed pineapple.

I'm going to try using a yellow cake mix next time,

because I've always thought angel food cake has a bit of a strange taste.

But if you like angel food cake, you would probably like this.

July 24, 2020

Another day, another doctor's appointment.

This time, an eye exam.

Jed is not a fan of dilation. :)

July 23, 2020

 I try to avoid power lines in a photograph 

but today I couldn't, since we were driving down the road,

and these clouds were too interesting to throw it out.

I do like the linear aspect.

This is the first time I've managed to get a picture of Jed in a mask.

He was not amused.  :)

July 22, 2020

Jed wants to do dual enrollment his last two years of high school.

I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to figure out the local community college website.

I figured it was just because I'm old, but I didn't find the website user-friendly at all.

I was so relieved to hear the person in charge of dual enrollment at the community college

tell me today she doesn't think it is either.  :)

Of course, she's about my age, so maybe that doesn't mean much.  :D

One of the documents I had to create was a graduation plan,

and I was surprised to find how helpful this was.

It helped us align the requirements for high school graduation

with the requirements for dual enrollment,

and helped us make some decisions about courses.

Then we found out in the phone conversation today that we might want to reconsider

 everything we were looking at.

At least we're through the application process!

July 21, 2020

Took a walk this evening...it was actually kind of pleasant out.

A storm was brewing...

the first few drops fell on us as we made our way home.

July 20, 2020

 Today's Southern summer afternoon thunderstorm

caused quite a bit of steam rising from the hot asphalt.

July 19, 2019

I've been keeping a journal for years,

and each year I read over the entire thing to add highlights of the year

to a couple of pages in the back.

I usually try to do this in December so I can be finished

when I start a new journal in January,

but for some reason last year that didn't happen,

and I'm just now reading it.

Sometimes I don't remember what I've written from one week to the next,

and I noticed several times last summer I commented

on being grateful for the humidity

because it made my skin feel so much better

than the dry air of Colorado.

When I opened the curtains this morning,

the sun was shining 

but there was all this moisture on the outside of the windows.

I'm still thankful for it,
although...

...not quite as much as last year.  :)

July 18, 2020

'Nuff said.

July 17, 2020

It's a good thing I like rainy days.  :)

July 16, 2020

We had an errand to run today down at Lake Norman.

This map is just a small snapshot of the area...

it's really quite incredible, and quite beautiful.

Jed didn't care about all that, though...
he was just happy to be driving.  :)

And I was happy to be free to take pictures.

July 15, 2020

I went to Wal-Mart this morning and was so very pleasantly surprised

to round the corner of an aisle

(following the directional arrows taped to the floor, of course)

and see the toilet paper filling an entire side of the aisle 

like it used to.

I had managed to pick up the 12 pack of TP a few weeks ago,

and I was so glad to be able to add a couple of larger packs to our supply.

I'm thankful we never ran out of TP during the lockdown,

but the stuff we've been using feels like sandpaper. :)

I never would have imagined myself getting so excited about having toilet paper.

July 14, 2020

This may look like an innocuous bowl of soup,

but it is surprisingly good as well as interesting.

It's creamed spaghetti squash soup - 

and the spaghetti squash isn't even the interesting part!

It's the combination of celery and thyme,

and the fact that it's yummy cold.

I've never been a fan of cold soups,

but the celery makes it so summery.

July 13, 2020

 One other thing I like about Parks & Recreation...

Ben & Leslie have the same throw in their livingroom that we have!

 The lighting in their studio is much brighter than in my livingroom,

and their couch is light in color...

 

but I'm pretty certain it's the same throw!

I don't know why that makes me so happy,

but it does.  :)

July 12, 2020

I've been watching Parks & Recreation for the first time lately,

and I've been trying to figure why I like it so much.

I think it's because it reminds me of my last job.

I loved my co-workers...we had so much fun together.

It makes me miss working so much.

After watching Leslie eat multitudes of whipped-cream-topped waffles,

I decided to try them for myself.

Oh my.

July 11, 2020

 A quick drive to pick up milk this evening turned into another opportunity

to enjoy some beautiful clouds.

And beautiful corn.

 

 And beautiful sunsets.

And beautiful homesteads.

July 10, 2020

Another good rain this afternoon.

I love summer rains!
I opened the door and got a good breath of it.

July 9, 2020

Every time we move, one of my biggest tasks is updating my will.

I have to rewrite the locations of all the things I want to go to specific people,

because I know if something is not easy to locate,

it will probably go with the rest of my stuff to Goodwill.

This last move was the longest to complete this task - 

over a year -

and I am so happy to be done with it.

Until we move again.

*sigh*

July 8, 2020

The sky was way more amazing today!

July 7, 2020

 I was on the road this afternoon during a rain shower.

It was so refreshing - it's been cloudy but dry for a while now.

The sky was amazing.

July 6, 2020

 The early evening sun was hitting the geese family in such a lovely way.

 I wish my camera could capture the beauty my eye sees.

(or I wish I was a good enough photographer to capture it)

 Foreground in focus...

...background in focus.

July 5, 2020

It was a busy day on the pond!

Early in the afternoon the duck couple were out.

Then later in the afternoon the goose family was out.

July 4, 2020

Happy Independence Day!
I love this country.
It grieves me that we are so torn apart right now.