another week went flying by

Here is the view this morning.  As I said last week, Skyler has developed a great fascination for the up high position.  That and the laundry basket which had been sitting on the love seat.  I'm not sure but I think he slept in there last night as he was in there on  an early night bathroom trip.  I had to put him out of the bedroom so I could put on the clean sheets but so far he is not acting like he wants to nap in there.

Oscar, on the other hand, is staking claim on what is supposed to be Skyler's spot.  Mostly you find him getting as close to me as he can.  I put the tablet on the coffee table and sit forward some times and he is sure to crawl in behind me.  Or I get the doggie hind end and back paws glued to my leg.  It is far too warm to have critters so close!  He is my protector though and really gave the UPS guy a barking when he came a bit ago.

Skyler, the eye in the sky.  He'll come down when I open the refrigerator door or he thinks it is time for his treat bite.  He loves the open front door and stakes out a spot there too.

Actually I had both of them kind of confused yesterday as I was cleaning out the refrigerator, whipping up the shelves and tossing the outdated stuff.  They were sure they were up for some sort of taste.  Okay, Oscar got a bite of string cheese and Skyler, some aerosol whipped cream.

So what's been going on?  Not a lot, LOL.  More phone calls than usual with family updates.  We did get some good news yesterday in that my niece was officially discharged from the hospital as a patient but staying close for the baby.  Wyatt is holding his own.  We had good news in that a heart valve  that normally closes at birth (in a full term baby) is now closed with the help of some medication.  It can take up to 9 doses but he needed just one, his Papa Rich posted.  Two prayers answered.  This will be a long process for his family as they were told to expect his remaining in till his late October due date.  (He is in a Level 3 NICU facility.)   Keep fighting, Little Man.  My sister, brother-in-law and niece Randi and Greg's mom and step-dad are still there for support but they will need to return home at some point making trips back and forth to MT .

Quilting group met on Tuesday though few of us were there.  Bev was joining some of her brightly colored yo-yo's for a bed runner while I was stitching on my "Snow Happens" embroidery.  Lois had a couple of tops to pin; Jane and I helped with that.  One of the tops was a four patch pinwheel I had told Lois about.  Since she is our scrap queen I am not surprised that she whipped one up but that she did so that quickly!  She and Les have been quite busy dealing with the garden produce lately.   Seems as though we all had somewhere else to be--I needed to meet the Bookmobile in my little burg--we broke up early.  I've barely touched it since then.

I did try a couple of new to me recipes this week.  One was a Greek Tortellini Salad from the Slow Roasted Italian blog.  However, I did not make the Greek Salad Dressing as I had bought a bottle of Greek style viniagrette some time back and I subbed out the Kalamata olives for some black sliced olives I had up in the freezer.  Not sure I like Kalamatas anyway.   The other was a Thai Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wrap recipe on the back of a Washburn Mills Quinoa and Grain Blend (Thai Peanut) blend though I put a tad more rice vinegar and soy sauce in the peanut sauce.  It is not overly spicy though I did not add any additional red pepper, chile paste or hot sauce.  Not  bad!  It was a multipack box I had gotten at Sam's so I best be finding some use for the remainder!  Other than a little salad purchased at Publix I had not had quinoa.

My committment to walking continues.  I've been at it for two months now and am starting to see some of the same faces out there either in the park or out on the trail.  We wave.  My start time is variable depending on what time I get up but out I go, first thing.   I am watching the new Community Center building project come along as I do my laps as it is going up at the southeast corner of the park.  Over the weekend they were watering the base with two sprinklers for some reason that is not clear to me.  For three days we had water running down hill over the walking path and puddles to try to straddle.  By Monday morning the lumber truck was pulling in and more hands on deck.  Today they were almost done with all the outside walls, lacking about 10 foot or so.  Lots of windows it looks like.  I think they will tear down the old house being used as the Senior Citizen center on the park property once the new building is completed.

It has been  plain old hot and sticky and a typical July, I guess. It occurs to me that I passed our anniversary of our moving date yesterday, starting into year 19 in Alabama.  DJ and I moved here on July 15, 1997.  We had severe thunderstorm warnings two nights ago but I think parts north and over near Birmingham got the worst of that deal.  Some folks were still without electricity this morning.  Here it just spooked the critters and barely dampened the walking trail.  We are in a cycle where tstorms or popup storms are possible any day of the week, in the afternoon.  I've dialed back Oscar's walking or we don't go as far and stick to the more shady areas when we do go.  Yesterday he was running around like a maniac dog at the prospect of going for a walk--I was trying to hold off till after 6 but he was not having it--that he was almost panting before we went out.  Silly dog.

My neighbor Robert mowed this morning and thankfully, did not get stung this time.  Last time out some wasps or hornets got him when he got near that huge cedar tree in back.  He could not get off and away with the mower fast enough to avoid getting stung up near his eye.   Well, I guess we know now that it was hornets as he spotted their hive this time right at mower level and pointed it out to me.  He had me back up with my car and spray the living snot out of it with Wasp and Hornet spray out the drivers' side window.  Got to remember to put that on the grocery list and watch to see if there are more lurking around it.  Wasps, we get trying to build their little nests all along the carport and front patio but this is the first time I've seen a hornet's nest around here.

I've been reading a good bit doing the MZ Kelly Hollywood series of "Alphabet Thriller series" now---I'm on D.   Not sewing but not in the mood too either.  I'll get the desire back at some point but it doesn't look like this week.  I do have the guild raffle quilt here to work on the binding though.  Aline started it and I'm going to finish it up.   Mostly I have been hanging at home mostly and trying to keep cool.    Activity produces sweat and doesn't take much to make my hair "rain".

Guess that's it for this installment.  Stay cool-----