Dragon Mood? -- incredibly relaxed
Here is my current view: sitting at a picnic table, a dozen tall pine trees to my left, pop-up camper to my right, straight ahead the cool, rippling waters of Otsego Lake.
S and I are camping here for several days, taking a break from the rat race. It is incredibly beautiful here, warm breezes, sunny skies and this gorgeous lake to behold. I feel very lucky to be here with S, enjoying so much pleasure and beauty. I am taking a vacation from beating myself up on my employment status. It feels good!
More later.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, June 07, 2008
...which I have not done ....
Dragon Mood? -- ???
Happy Saturday morning, everybody! A couple of years back, Saturday morning was one of my favorite times to post here. Two houses, moving the computer to the pied-a-terre and just-plain WORKING forty hours a week on not one, but TWO computers has definitely cut into my blogging time.
So I am doing something which I have not done in a darn long time! It feels good.
I'm sitting here in the 'weekend' house, the house in the pine trees, looking out the window at a wealth of green-ness. We've gotten several nice rains this past week so all the plants and the trees and the grass are perked up and looking happy.
S and I are watching our second grandbaby this evening, 21 month-old Madison. She is a pleasure to be with and she makes us both laugh. (Babies that make you laugh -- as opposed to cry -- are always a good thing.) Madison does quite a bit of baby talking, most of which I have a hard time catching the meaning. She is an escape artist -- she loves escaping from her clothes. At night, we have to put a onesie on over her diaper and underneath her jammies, in order to make sure the diaper stays on. She's also a water baby and LOVES to splash and play in the liquid stuff.
I'm also hoping to do a bit of painting this weekend. Given that painting is 90% preparation and 10% painting, that may be a bit ambitious. I've done virtually none of the prep. (Sigh!) Baby steps, remember?
Happy Saturday morning, everybody! A couple of years back, Saturday morning was one of my favorite times to post here. Two houses, moving the computer to the pied-a-terre and just-plain WORKING forty hours a week on not one, but TWO computers has definitely cut into my blogging time.
I'm sitting here in the 'weekend' house, the house in the pine trees, looking out the window at a wealth of green-ness. We've gotten several nice rains this past week so all the plants and the trees and the grass are perked up and looking happy.
S and I are watching our second grandbaby this evening, 21 month-old Madison. She is a pleasure to be with and she makes us both laugh. (Babies that make you laugh -- as opposed to cry -- are always a good thing.) Madison does quite a bit of baby talking, most of which I have a hard time catching the meaning. She is an escape artist -- she loves escaping from her clothes. At night, we have to put a onesie on over her diaper and underneath her jammies, in order to make sure the diaper stays on. She's also a water baby and LOVES to splash and play in the liquid stuff.
I'm also hoping to do a bit of painting this weekend. Given that painting is 90% preparation and 10% painting, that may be a bit ambitious. I've done virtually none of the prep. (Sigh!) Baby steps, remember?
Monday, July 23, 2007
In a word, "BYOO-TUH-FULL"
Dragon Mood? -- languorously remembering
BYOO-TUH-FULL is the word for this past weekend. It was a picture-perfect weekend in terms of weather, activities and enjoyment. Settle in and let me tell you ...
S and I had a leisurely leaving of the pied-a-terre on Friday evening. She and I putzed, her outside on our new picnic table, me on the computer. She drank a few beers, I polished off a bottle of Crane Lake Cab. She took a shower and a quick nap. I putzed some more, working on our neighbor, Jan's, resume.
We finally pulled things together about 9 or so and got on the road. S suggested we find a Big Boy and get a Number #1 breakfast. I was hungry myself but wasn't optimistic we would find a Big Boy en route. Amazingly, we did -- off the Novi exit and to the left. We chowed down like truck drivers.
We got back on the road and headed home to the pine trees, now with it quite late. The last half hour of the trip, I was really fighting sleep, a combination of fatigue and all those carbs elevating and then dropping my blood sugar, I'm sure. I had the windows open, the radio cranked up and I was lightly slapping my face just to keep myself awake! Sheesh! Scary drive.
Saturday morning, I slept 'til past ten. I guess I was tired. I showered and headed out to do some errands. I picked up coffee at Horrocks. I also hit their garden center and bought ten little pots of different ornamental grasses -- blue fescue ('Elijah Blue'), some porcupine grass, some grass whose name escapes me now but the variety was 'Karl Forster' and one maiden grass meant to be a specimen in our pied-a-terre backyard. I had fun picking those out! I hit a MacDonalds for one of their new southwest salads (pretty good!) and then headed back to the east side of town.
At Tar-zhay, I bought myself a cute little straw purse on sale ($3.74!), some black trouser socks with bamboo(!) in them and the new Harry Potter book, on sale, for $17-something. I also bought mundane things like toothpaste, a couple of pens and some baby wipes (for us fifty-something babies).
Mid-afternoon, I headed to the hair salon and got my hair cut -- FINALLY! It had been over ten weeks since my last one, and the hair was looking very mop-like. Now, it looks and feels better!
From there, I joined S and we met up with Mark, Lindsey and toddler, Preston, at Reno's outdoor dining area for a late afternoon birthday celebration to mark Mark's 25th birthday. It had been literally months since I had seen them last, so we had a lot of catching up to do. In the five weeks since I started my new job, Mark had lost his. We talked about that, Lindsey's job, as well as all the new and exciting things that Preston is learning or discovered. For a two-and-a-half year old, Preston did amazingly well at the restaurant.
S and I took Preston home with us for the night, while Mark and Lindsey headed off to a party with their friends. Preston and Grandma toddled around the yard, watering the grass, checking out the aluminum fishing boat as well as the kayaks. Preston was very excited and interested in "Grandma's TRUCK!," "Grandma's camper," "Grandma's BOAT!," and "Grandma's kayak." The caps tell you the level of enthusiasm.
Preston finally crashed between 10 and 10:30. After multiple starts and stops, S and I finally got to watch our new copy of "The Big Chill" DVD. Amazingly, that was the first time that S had ever seen the movie in its entirety.
All three of us slept until 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Preston came toddling out of the guest bedroom, looking for the "grandmas" and ready for action. I jumped up and made coffee while S pulled Preston into bed with her for a few minutes of snuggling and then a diaper change. When I checked next, Preston and Grandma were both running around naked, Preston sitting on the potty (and using it!), Grandma pulling on her nylon shorts and a tank top for the day.
We hung out on the deck until Mark and Lindsey showed up. We ate grapes and clementines (I had bought them at Horrocks the day before for Preston -- I didn't know you could get Clementines in summer!), Little Debbie Pecan Pinwheels and some Bob Evans little sausages that Preston insisted on stuffing into his mouth in one bite.
After they left, S and I snoozed on the couch for awhile. It felt like a relaxing, lazy Sunday. Mid-afternoon, we pulled things together and headed over to our friends, J & J, to take our kayaks out on the lake. Like I said earlier, the weather, the temperature, the sky was picture-perfect!
Other than my slipping right into the water on their concrete boat launch (slippery with algae!), and the pleasures of kayaking with a 70-lb wet furball in my kayak, our time out on the water was fun and relaxing. We paddled here, we paddled there, around the lake at J & J's house. We watched people, we watched birds, we listened to the breeze on the water, we heard frogs. Cisco was in dog heaven out there, ears up and on full alert!
We got home shortly after six, I immediately headed for the shower and washed off lake and dog fur. I was on the road to the pied-a-terre before 7. Upon arrival down here, Jan and Tom invited me over for a glass of wine, which I appreciatively accepted. About 9:30, I climbed into bed for a 'date' with Harry P. and friends. Lights out before 10:30. I never heard S come in.
In a word, this weekend was "byoo-tuh-full."
BYOO-TUH-FULL is the word for this past weekend. It was a picture-perfect weekend in terms of weather, activities and enjoyment. Settle in and let me tell you ...
We finally pulled things together about 9 or so and got on the road. S suggested we find a Big Boy and get a Number #1 breakfast. I was hungry myself but wasn't optimistic we would find a Big Boy en route. Amazingly, we did -- off the Novi exit and to the left. We chowed down like truck drivers.
We got back on the road and headed home to the pine trees, now with it quite late. The last half hour of the trip, I was really fighting sleep, a combination of fatigue and all those carbs elevating and then dropping my blood sugar, I'm sure. I had the windows open, the radio cranked up and I was lightly slapping my face just to keep myself awake! Sheesh! Scary drive.
Saturday morning, I slept 'til past ten. I guess I was tired. I showered and headed out to do some errands. I picked up coffee at Horrocks. I also hit their garden center and bought ten little pots of different ornamental grasses -- blue fescue ('Elijah Blue'), some porcupine grass, some grass whose name escapes me now but the variety was 'Karl Forster' and one maiden grass meant to be a specimen in our pied-a-terre backyard. I had fun picking those out! I hit a MacDonalds for one of their new southwest salads (pretty good!) and then headed back to the east side of town.
At Tar-zhay, I bought myself a cute little straw purse on sale ($3.74!), some black trouser socks with bamboo(!) in them and the new Harry Potter book, on sale, for $17-something. I also bought mundane things like toothpaste, a couple of pens and some baby wipes (for us fifty-something babies).
Mid-afternoon, I headed to the hair salon and got my hair cut -- FINALLY! It had been over ten weeks since my last one, and the hair was looking very mop-like. Now, it looks and feels better!
From there, I joined S and we met up with Mark, Lindsey and toddler, Preston, at Reno's outdoor dining area for a late afternoon birthday celebration to mark Mark's 25th birthday. It had been literally months since I had seen them last, so we had a lot of catching up to do. In the five weeks since I started my new job, Mark had lost his. We talked about that, Lindsey's job, as well as all the new and exciting things that Preston is learning or discovered. For a two-and-a-half year old, Preston did amazingly well at the restaurant.
S and I took Preston home with us for the night, while Mark and Lindsey headed off to a party with their friends. Preston and Grandma toddled around the yard, watering the grass, checking out the aluminum fishing boat as well as the kayaks. Preston was very excited and interested in "Grandma's TRUCK!," "Grandma's camper," "Grandma's BOAT!," and "Grandma's kayak." The caps tell you the level of enthusiasm.
Preston finally crashed between 10 and 10:30. After multiple starts and stops, S and I finally got to watch our new copy of "The Big Chill" DVD. Amazingly, that was the first time that S had ever seen the movie in its entirety.
All three of us slept until 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Preston came toddling out of the guest bedroom, looking for the "grandmas" and ready for action. I jumped up and made coffee while S pulled Preston into bed with her for a few minutes of snuggling and then a diaper change. When I checked next, Preston and Grandma were both running around naked, Preston sitting on the potty (and using it!), Grandma pulling on her nylon shorts and a tank top for the day.
We hung out on the deck until Mark and Lindsey showed up. We ate grapes and clementines (I had bought them at Horrocks the day before for Preston -- I didn't know you could get Clementines in summer!), Little Debbie Pecan Pinwheels and some Bob Evans little sausages that Preston insisted on stuffing into his mouth in one bite.
After they left, S and I snoozed on the couch for awhile. It felt like a relaxing, lazy Sunday. Mid-afternoon, we pulled things together and headed over to our friends, J & J, to take our kayaks out on the lake. Like I said earlier, the weather, the temperature, the sky was picture-perfect!
Other than my slipping right into the water on their concrete boat launch (slippery with algae!), and the pleasures of kayaking with a 70-lb wet furball in my kayak, our time out on the water was fun and relaxing. We paddled here, we paddled there, around the lake at J & J's house. We watched people, we watched birds, we listened to the breeze on the water, we heard frogs. Cisco was in dog heaven out there, ears up and on full alert!
We got home shortly after six, I immediately headed for the shower and washed off lake and dog fur. I was on the road to the pied-a-terre before 7. Upon arrival down here, Jan and Tom invited me over for a glass of wine, which I appreciatively accepted. About 9:30, I climbed into bed for a 'date' with Harry P. and friends. Lights out before 10:30. I never heard S come in.
In a word, this weekend was "byoo-tuh-full."
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Hello, Goodbye
Dragon Mood? -- feeling the emotional highs and lows of beginnings and endings
Hello, July; Goodbye, June! I'm getting ready to head to bed and realized this will be my last opportunity to post here in June. This working stuff is seriously cutting into my blogging time!
Here in Motown, the-powers-that-be always have Fourth of July fireworks the week before the Fourth of July. Don't ask me why? Because people want to party with the Windsor folks while it's still June? I dunno!
Anyway, with S on vacation at our other house, I was here alone last night for the fireworks. I got my jammies on, turned off the lights and sat in the darkened TV room, watching the spectacular fireworks display over the Detroit River. Despite my 54 years, I felt thrilled and excited along with sentimental and patriotic and joyous. Imagine that -- all from fireworks!
Here's just one (small) sample of the stunning display we all got to watch!
This photo was taken by photographer, John T. Greilick, of the Detroit News.
Hello, July; Goodbye, June! I'm getting ready to head to bed and realized this will be my last opportunity to post here in June. This working stuff is seriously cutting into my blogging time!
Anyway, with S on vacation at our other house, I was here alone last night for the fireworks. I got my jammies on, turned off the lights and sat in the darkened TV room, watching the spectacular fireworks display over the Detroit River. Despite my 54 years, I felt thrilled and excited along with sentimental and patriotic and joyous. Imagine that -- all from fireworks!
Here's just one (small) sample of the stunning display we all got to watch!
This photo was taken by photographer, John T. Greilick, of the Detroit News.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Summer Solstice!
Dragon Mood? -- welcoming this warm, wonderful season
And I would be totally remiss if I didn't note that today is the Summer Solstice, the first day of summer.
Get outside!
Stare at the stars!
Howl at the moon!
Enjoy the summer!
And I would be totally remiss if I didn't note that today is the Summer Solstice, the first day of summer.
Solstice comes from the Latin (sol, sun; sistit, stands).
For several days before and after each solstice, the sun appears to stand still in the sky—that is, its noontime elevation does not seem to change.
For several days before and after each solstice, the sun appears to stand still in the sky—that is, its noontime elevation does not seem to change.
Stare at the stars!
Howl at the moon!
Enjoy the summer!
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