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lazy old thing
June 21, 2010
I had so many things I wanted to do last week--and about a 25% success rate. Just had the lazies, I guess. I got a few things done around the house, finally installed the pool ladder, got my hair cut, and, of course, did the strawberry thing.
I lucked out there--I managed to get eight quarts of pre-picked berries at the pick-your-own price, owing to a surplus at the berry farm.
So that saved me the picking labor, at least. But the older I get, the more I realize that jamming is really a job for two people. It can get pretty intense there in the thick of things when you only have two hands.
But when those jars are lined up on the counter, glistening like jewels, it still seems worthwhile.
I got 9 8-oz jars of the strawberry; they all pulled a seal, and it appears to be setting nicely. I got "fruit float", though. Grr. It doesn't hurt the jam at all, but when you come from this many generations of farm women, all of whom were shooting for "county fair blue ribbon" with every jar, it can still piss you off.
Speaking of jam, we shipped a couple of jars of the blackberry off to my aunt and uncle in Phoenix, and they seemed pleased to get it. But my uncle didn't believe I really made it! His exact words were "Nobody works that hard anymore". Humphh! I've a notion to not send him any strawberry, gosh darn it.
I decided what to get my dad for Father's Day. I went with a NOAA weather radio for their RV. They had a several nice ones ar Radio Shack--we went with a model that seemed suited to him--not overly complex. Now, I just have to figure out when I'll get to see him next.
Got the haircut on Friday morning, then ran to the bank, and hit a 3-family yard sale down the street. I scored a brand new (tags still on!) Laura Scott purse in chocolate brown leather--it's just my size and style, and I only paid five dollars for it. Squeee!
And even though I keep saying I'm fed up with W&T, I found two adorable husky plushies and bought them for W.
What can I say? I'm that way. I dropped them off with T and even threw in a couple of jars of jam. God, I'm a pushover.
What else? Well, we had a horrible storm late Friday afternoon. I had just gotten my chance, at last, to get in the pool, when the sky darkened up. So I got back out & closed it up--ten minutes after I got in the house, all hell broke loose, the wind howled through like a freight train, and the rain pounded. This was followed by a perfect day on Saturday, which meant I finally got to really get to my pool. But after doing the necessary vaccuuming and skimming, then taking some time to swim, I managed to fry myself like a rasher of bacon. Ouch. I still hurt.
We also visited the cemetery and put a wreath by Papa's niche, ran a bunch of errands, had breakfast with Niece, gifted jars of jam all over the place, and picked up Spouse's leather riding vest. As part of his anniversary present, I found a tailor and paid to have his patches sewn on. (Haven't finished the gifting yet, but he needs to let me know what else he wants!)
I didn't even pick up the beading, though. Just didn't have the spark. Maybe this week--Spouse is dog-sitting for his brother this week, and I'll have more time to myself. He'll be popping in from time to time, but living up there for the most part. That should be relaxing. Maybe--sap that I am--I'll have the W&T over to swim. I will definitely be doing some DVD catch-up. I have quite a slushpile, and I want to finish Mad Men Season 3, get through Jeeves & Wooster Season 3, and finally get around to watching Bill Nighy in "I Capture the Castle".
"The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island" is giving me a touch of Stratemeyer Syndicate deja-vu. In this 1916 volume we have mysterious gypsies, and a missing necklace. My Ruth Fielding sense is tingling! I will say, though, that the writing has improved with the entrance of EMDW to the series. For one thing, Grace�s chocolate addiction, while still present, has been ratcheted back down to manageable levels. And whether due to the advancing times, or the change of author, there is way more slang in this one�and little to no old-maidish disapproval of its use. So it is more light-hearted and fun.
One of the things I like about this series is the way the girls get testy with each other. Even Betty, the �Little Captain�, loses patience with the others at one point in this book, because she�s tired of always having to be the peacemaker between hot-headed Mollie and proud Grace. Makes for more realism, because I don�t care what era you�re talking about, a tight-knit bunch of teenage girls is going to squabble.
Reading: Hobby--"The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island Or, A Cave and What It Contained" by "Laura Lee Hope" (we switch to Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward as the ghostwriter, starting with this volume).
General--"The Monster in the Box", by Ruth Rendell, "The Real Wizard of Oz; The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum" by Rebecca Loncraine, "My Man Jeeves", by P.G. Wodehouse.
Surfing: I come from the era of "the girl's talk", where the school nurse herded all the girls in class to the AV room, showed us a movie, gave us a lecture, and handed out booklets from some sanitary napkin company. This is the booklet they gave me in 5th grade.
Listening: Peter, Paul & Mary, Jennifer Warnes & Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot.
At Random:
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