Hot. All. Week.

Debbie at From My Shasta Home posted today that there is "just one more day until the start of the "bers" (meaning the months that end with those letters), and how it would soon be cooling off in her area.

Source

I wish I could be excited about the beginning of September as she is, but in my part of the country the forecast for the rest of the week shows some of the hottest temperatures of the summer! As one of the local meteorologists stated, thanks to a heat dome of upper-level high pressure it will be "hard core" summer, with high temperatures somewhere between 95° and 100° Fahrenheit. The only positive is that the humidity isn't crazy high so there won't be much of a heat index factor.

The heat would be annoying if it came in July, traditionally the hottest month of the year, but in my mind it's even worse now because it's coming so late in the season. Traditionally things start cooling off by Labor Day (the first Monday in September).

Until further notice outside walking and exercising are being put on hold. Hubby Tony and I will be finding inside activities to do. 

Five years ago today: Vet Visit Etiquette

Cafe, Coffee, And Fun

Hubby Tony and I drove southwest across the state today. Our destination was Springfield, Missouri, where a fellowship meeting will be taking place tomorrow

Sometimes when we make this trip there are other people in the car, and our schedule is determined by what the group wants to do. Other times, like today, we are on our own and can do whatever we want. This morning we heard on the radio that there was an establishment in Bourbon, Missouri that had a section devoted to Dolly Parton, and a menu inspired by her favorite recipes, we decided it would be a fun place to stop for lunch.

I had never been to Bourbon before, but it's one of the many cities that were on Route 66 before the Interstate was built. The tiny downtown area wasn't too far from the highway, and the restaurant was easy to find.

The interior of the building had a bar against one side, and a small bandstand by the door where a duo was playing. The food ordering area was along the back. Tony and I looked at the menu and decided to split a sandwich, large side dish, and dessert.

After ordering food we found a spot to sit. Several minutes later one of the owners came over to introduce himself. He asked what brought us in, and said that soon a reporter from one of the St. Louis television stations would be coming in to film a piece on the restaurant. We learned that although both he and his wife enjoyed Dolly Parton, she was a superfan. A couple of minutes after he left the people at the table next to ours struck up a conversation. It seemed like a very friendly place!

The restaurant was busy, but listening to the band made the time pass quickly. When our food came to the table I was ready to dig in. The grilled Southern style pimento cheese sandwich (which was billed as Dolly’s favorite) started with grilled sourdough and was stuffed with a generous layer of pimento cheese spread. It came with a choice of bacon or ham (I chose bacon).  The Slaw of Many Colors was described as Dolly's favorite to take to a potluck. It had red cabbage, green cabbage, white onion, and green pepper, all tossed with a wonderful creamy, slightly sweet dressing.

Dessert was a hunk of Dolly Parton’s Chocolate Cobbler (similar to a lava cake), served warm with a dollop of whipped cream.

After our food was gone I walked over to look at the Dolly memorabilia, located in a nook in the back corner of the building. I particularly liked this standee cutout. Take a look at the title of the book!

As we were leaving the news reporter was getting set up for her interview. I'm pretty sure it will show up on tonight's news but we won't be home to see it. I may have to search it out online.

Five years ago: Wash Your Hands And Freshen Your Breath

Good Craftsmanship Takes Time

Several decades ago Hubby Tony inherited a lovely oak secretary desk with a mirrored hutch top from his great aunt. The carvings and skeleton-key locks were a clue to the vintage, which was probably 1930s.

Because of its age the desk had some issues. The drop down had a couple of large cracks running across it, and the keyhole plate of the lock was detached from the inner workings. One of the two pieces of wood covering the back of the desk was coming loose. Most of the drawers had lost their back stops, so they slid in too far.

We lived with the issues for years, but eventually refurbishing the piece made it to the top of the project list. I contacted a company that had done fantastic work for us in the past. They had an interesting, multiple step procedure:

1. Send an email with photos and an explanation of the work requested.
2. Receive an email estimate.
3. Accept the estimate and get on their future work list
4. Be contacted to schedule appointment to pick up desk.
5. Desk picked up from house.
6. Desk delivered to house.

Good craftsmanship takes time. Once we accepted the estimate, there was a a four to five month wait until the work would be done. After the desk was picked up it was gone for six weeks. During that time its contents lived in two large plastic tubs on the living room floor. Finally we received notification that the company was ready to deliver the finished desk.

Everything I asked for had been done. The cracks in the drop down had been filled. The key once again fit into the ornamental plate.The back no longer had a loosely hanging piece of wood. All of the drawers pushed in flush with the body of the desk. Per instructions, they did not refinish the desk, but instead gave it a good restoration and cleaning.

Now every day I get to enjoy our newly-renovated heirloom.

Five years ago: How Hot Is It?

They'll Get What They Get

From 2020 to 2022 I was the secretary for a state-wide fellowship. My duties were to take minutes at four meetings per year, compile a document containing those minutes and reports from others in the organization, and send the document to the person responsible for publishing it to the website.

By the end of my term I had a nice system set up, starting with a template showing the information I needed to capture at the meeting (such as the people who read some basic information at the beginning, if there were any absentees, who made a motion, and who seconded it). I just filled in the blanks as the meeting went along. Shortly before each meeting I sent out an email requesting reports, then copied and pasted them into my draft document. Because I knew what I had and hadn't received, during the meeting if someone gave a report they hadn't sent to me I immediately sent them a message asking for the information.

All of my pre-work made it so I could turn the final document around in a couple of weeks. When my tenure as secretary was over I purged my files (both physical and computer) and moved on to another position within the fellowship.

Several days ago I got a phone call from the fellowship's Chair. After a bit of chit chat she told me that the current secretary had stepped down for personal reasons and they needed someone to fill in at an meeting this upcoming weekend. Might I be able to do that, or did I know someone who could?

I was already going to be at the meeting, so after a little consideration I let her know I was willing to help. I could hear the relief in her voice.

Open Clip Art

I looked in every crevice of every computer file and email address, but I never found the template document I used to use. It took several sessions at the computer to recreate it, but eventually I came up with something that closely resembled the already-published minutes on the website.

The person who did the job the term after mine and the newly departed Secretary seem to have dabbled with using AI to summarize things. I will not be doing that. The fellowship will get what they will get.

Five years ago: Distressing

Missing The Announcement

I learned from a friend this morning that an acquaintance's father had passed away a couple of weeks ago. As it turns out the death was posted on her Facebook page, and later, a link to the obituary. I did not see the information in my feed. Why?

I am blaming the company's mysterious algorithms, which try to guess how interested I would be in seeing any given post. Fortunately, the funeral isn't taking place until mid-September so I will be able to attend.

I get that running an obituary in the newspaper is expensive, an extra thing to do at a stressful time, and that very few people read newspapers now. However, I guess I am an exception because I doscan through the obituaries in the newspaper (the e-edition on weekdays and a paper copy on Sunday) and have learned about the deaths of several people that way.

Hubby Tony has been told that if he has to plan a funeral for me there must be at least a minimalist notice in the newspaper (listing my name, dates of birth and death, and basic funeral service details). Of course, I won't be around to see if that happens.

Five years ago: Distractible

Tasting Tasty Tea

A while back I was gifted two boxes of tea from someone on the Buy Nothing group. The first was peppermint, one of Tony's favorites. The other one was Yaupon, which I had never heard of.

The internet told me that yaupon tea is an herbal beverage brewed from the leaves of the yaupon holly, a shrub native to the Southeastern United States. It's North America's only native naturally caffeinated plant. Yaupon has about the same caffeine as green tea and is rich in antioxidants, but it's low in tannins and doesn't have the bitterness often found in traditional black or green teas.

Because I usually drink my tea after dinner and choose non-caffeinated varieties, the box of yaupon got buried in my tea stash. Earlier in the week I rediscovered it, and tonight Hubby Tony and I had a yaupon taste test with dinner.

There were three types of tea in the box. According to the label:

• Pedernales is "Clean and refreshing, our staple green yaupon celebrates the tranquility of the Pedernales river that flows over and around huge slabs of limestone".

• Lost Maples is "Smooth and warm, our medium roast yaupon is inspired by Lose Maples, a forest unlike any other in Texas, and invites you to get lost in notes of warm caramel".

• Marfa is "Elegant and sophisticated, our traditional dark roast yaupon pays homage to the iconic West-Texas town of Marfa, where art and creativity converge. Enjoy the sweet nuttiness of this specialty roast".

I didn't realize until I opened the box that it contained loose tea instead of bags. I only have one tea ball, so following the directions I spooned one tablespoon of tea to each of three cups, then added hot water and let it steep. 

The package directions said the tea would be good both hot or cold, and I decided on the latter. I strained the tea into drinking glasses and put them into the refrigerator so it could chill.

At dinner time it was time to test.

• I filled two tumblers with ice and poured half of the Pedernales tea into each. I am not the biggest green tea fan, but this one was smooth and fresh tasting. Tony said it was his favorite.

• Next we tried the Lost Maples, using the same procedure. It took me a while, but when I got to the bottom of the sample I could definitely taste the caramel. This one was my favorite 

• The dark roast of the Marfa was obvious. I thought it would be a nice substitute for black tea, but Tony said that it was his least favorite.

Five years ago: The Hunt For Pastries

Holding In High Regard

August 17th is Black Cat Appreciation Day, which aims to dispel negative black cat superstitions, like their association with bad luck or the fact that they're witches in disguise.

My current favorite black cat, Foster Smokey Joe, had a bit of notoriety today when he was featured in a social media promotion by the shelter publicizing a ticket raffle to the Savannah Bananas baseball game next weekend. The photos of Smokey Joe show him playing with a catnip banana his cat sitter gave him a while back. The tie-in also included a link to the list of adoptable cats on the shelter's website.

Tonight after dinner Smokey Joe asked for a lap to sit on, which I was happy to do. It's sometimes hard to tell with a cat but I think he appreciated me as much as I appreciated him.

Almost Like Christmas

In 2011 Hubby Tony and I received some dark blue Fiestaware for a Christmas present. I exchanged some of the place settings so we had four colors. My goal was to have a wide variety in the cabinet, but the pieces were so sturdy that didn't happen much.

Today I was browsing through Facebook and saw a post on my Buy Nothing group that someone was gifting a large stack of Fiestaware. The photo that went with the post showed a stack of assorted size plates in the riot of colors I've always hoped for, so I responded that if she chose me I would pick out colors I didn’t have in my current dishes and add my discards to the stack and repost.

About forty five minutes later I got a message that I had been gifted the plates, and forty five minutes after that I was carrying the bags up to the condo. It was so much fun to go through them and increase the cabinet dishware palette. Now each stack of plates has eight unique colors. I told Tony they make the stacks of cereal bowls with some duplicates look blah and I might have to be on the lookout for some bowl replacements.

Fiestaware (and glass bowls on the top right)

Five years ago today: Good Old Andy

Unexpected Undertakings

Even though I don't really believe in them, I scan through my horoscope in my newspaper every morning. today's was worth a little closer reading:

CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan 19) Do something different today.You feel the need for adventure! Shake things up a little! Travel plans will appeal. Tonight: Explore and learn something new.

Unfortunately, today was not the best day for me to be spontaneous. I had several computer tasks that had to be done. Hubby Tony had some commitments and couldn't join me in adventure. On top of those issues, the area's extreme heat warning meant that any big outside activities were off the table. I had to settle for shaking things up in tiny ways, but I did my best.

• Thanks to the weather it was yet another walk at the mall day. Tony and I both took our cars so we could head different directions afterwards. We did our normal laps before the stores opened, then he left for his meeting and I completed an additional lap, stepping into a couple of stores to see what was new.

• My first stop after the mall was at a gas station to take advantage of a drink promotion they offer when the baseball Cardinals score six runs the day before. I always get the same type of coffee, but today I sampled a flavored one before deciding I didn't like the taste and filling my cup with the usual.

• The next stop was getting a hair cut at a chain salon. When I went to the website to check in for a visit at my usual location I noticed there was a 15 minute wait, but if I drove five minutes to the east I could get a cut with no wait. Guess which one I chose?

• My last stop was the grocery store, where I walked the aisles in reverse order and looked at items I had never seen before.

• The afternoon was filled with non-adventurous tasks, but I did help Tony with some travel plans- figuring out the rental car details for our next visit to California months from now.

• Tony had a dinner meeting so I was on my own. I put together a surprisingly good meal from things around the house. I stared with lightly steamed cabbage, which I tossed with smashed avocado and topped with canned chili beans and salsa.

• After dinner I turned on the PBS News Hour, which always gives me information on current and new topics.

Five years ago: Just Doing His Job

Dry Drops

Today I had my annual eye exam. At the end of the visit I learned that the lens prescription change was so minor I decided not to bother with new glasses.

However, during the exam I mentioned to the doctor that the letters on the chart were sometimes blurry, but but would clear up when I blinked. He moistened an orange dye strip and touched the strip against the inside of my lower lid, then examined my eyes with a blue light and announced I had dry eye syndrome.

I left the office thoroughly educated about what that means. The main causes of dry eyes are increased tear evaporation (called evaporative dry eye) and decreased tear production (called aqueous deficiency). For both, the most common cause is aging. In addition to my blurry vision, other common symptoms are burning, bloodshot eyes, heavy eyelids, and eye strain during reading or screen use.

The doctor said there were quite a few treatments, but suggested the first step would be preservative-free, over-the-counter eye drops and gave me some suggestions of brands to look for. I was most surprised to learn that using a ceiling fan can be an issue, even during the nighttime when my eyes were closed. For that, he suggested gel eye drops that are thicker and last longer.

Vecteezy

Five years ago: Bicentennial Fun