In a shocking turn of events, we actually got a little rain overnight. And not stormy torrential rain, but a gentle rain that might have had time to soak the ground.
We need much, much more, but I’ll happily take it – especially when it means I don’t have to hand water everything, which takes at least an hour and a half.
Let’s keep it coming, Mother Nature!
I have to do some dialect research today. During the next two weeks, I also have to figure out all of my deductions from last year, which will be complicated because I was in NYC for 6 weeks working. The State of NY doesn’t always understand that we sometimes take deductions because we have to move to the city for some of our work. Case in point: Escape to Margaritaville and now, Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies. It’s also involves a lot of paperwork and today I’m going to corral all the receipts, clear my desk, and prep for the work ahead.
I’d much rather be working on my puzzle or playing with dolls or taking photos.
Reminder to self: You’re an adult. These things must be done.
We have a very hot week ahead of us. On Thursday, the temperature is supposed to reach 98°. That’s not counting the humidity which will shoot it up into the 100s. August has never been a favorite month of mine. In Michigan, where I grew up, August was always the month where it got very humid. It also signals the beginning of summer’s end. When I was a kid, that meant going back to school. When I was an adult who was a teacher it meant the same thing. Now that I’m an adult who is a gardener, it means the waning of my gardens.
Not a fan.
Okay, my friends. Happy August, nonetheless.
Stay safe.
Happy Monday.
glad you received some rain! we badly need it here, too.
best wishes for speedy paperwork so you can do something more enjoyable!
doing something similar here … cleaning off my desk. i live in a small place (500 square feet) and have a couple of collections, lots of books, etc. so most surfaces are covered with things. i am fine with that as long as the top of my desk is open so i can paint. :)
happy monday and happy august to all! stay safe.
kathy
I am curious as to what you paint, if you care to share. Landscapes, people, using oils, watercolor? Don’t know if you’d mentioned that before. Enjoy your day! ;)
hej, donnamae! :)
how are you? hope all’s well for you and your family, that you all stay safe and comfy!
as for painting, i go back and forth between watercolors and acrylics (doubt i will ever be brave and good like claudia with her oil paints). i paint all sorts of things (when time allows and my desk is clean … not often enough): landscapes, bouquets of flowers, animals of our family, the sky, portraits of made-up people …. i am new to it, still trying to find my style (done loosely and quickly, not abstract or surreal and certainly not classical or super-realistic). like running used to be (sob), painting makes the hard things go away for a while and i’m having fun with it. thanks for asking.
be well and hope you have a nice, easy day!
xo,
kathy
oops … meant to ask you, donnamae …
what are you doing for fun?
kathy
I garden a lot and have lots of indoor plants as well to take care of. I read as much as I can. My current project is reteaching myself how to competently play the piano. It’s amazing how much you can forget when you haven’t played in a few years. ;)
sounds nice, donnamae. :)
and many kudos about playing the piano. i bet it will all come back to you!
hope you are having a nice night.
kathy
Thanks so much, Kathy!
Stay safe.
I do hope you get some more rain. Ours has come quite frequently this summer, and we are almost caught up from our 12” deficit of last year. I won’t have to water today…we got rain last night.
Today will be slow around here…I love slow days. Sorry to hear about all the paperwork, but as you said, gotta be an adult sometimes. Seems like summer has flown by, but I am ready to embrace the next season (out of respect I did not mention its’ name). Simply because of the anticipated cooler temps. The older I get, the less I can endure the heat and humidity.
Hope you get your work done quickly…so you can play! ;)
I’m not quite ready to embrace it yet, but if this heat continues, I will be!
Stay safe, Donnamae.
Hi Claudia,
Those purple flowers are so pretty…nice photography!
Yesterday, we got a tiny bit of rain…just enough to get the cars wet, but not enough to clean the dirt off…or help the lawn and trees.
I’m with you…not a fan of paperwork…but it’s a good feeling when it’s all taken care of!
The flowers are Rose of Sharon, Barrie.
Thanks so much!
Stay safe.
I am glad Meredith is improving. This is such a weird disease. Some people are sicker the second time they get it.
Love the garden photos. I always hated to see August come because it means the end of summer is coming.
I am having a bit of trouble getting to your blog but I will figure it out.
She is. She’s still very tired.
Stay safe, Kay.
How beautiful, raindrops on the petals; your photography is just SOMEthing, Claudia!
I had to chuckle when you say you have to be an adult. I look at my unproductiveness of late (blaming it on awful weather, dragging me down) and have that same conversation with myself.
Big ocean waves in Southern Calif today thru Weds due to this tropical storm FRANK which is making us feel monsoon-y (here where I am, just passing raindrops; no rain per se). We traveled to the L.A. County beaches near Malibu today and saw thunderous, pounding, churning waves at high tide; exciting; I got pelted with sea spray in big batches (up on the road for Pete’s Sake, not even down on the sand or boulders!) and it felt wonderful.
We told the rescue shelter this afternoon that we are ready to formally adopt our dog after five months of fostering him. What forced it … not really the right word … was that, while we’ve been trying to rehab him, he was removed from their website as an adoption candidate; and, then, without telling us (just an oversight; not blaming anyone; they’re volunteers; they’re insanely busy with too many dogs), they suddenly put him back on the website and somebody contacted them that they’d like to see him and possibly adopt him. Well, no way; it stops with us; he’s not going to have another foster/adoption fail with anybody else. He’s been thru his own personal hell for almost a year, with the shelter for five months and then us, husband and me, for another five months. He’ll always be ‘special-needs’; we’re resigned and committed to it; we were 99 percent to the decision anyway. Now, we’ll have control that we didn’t as a foster parent, such as going to our own vet (because he needs a thorough going-over under anesthesia). He needs a calm, quiet household with a routine and two attentive, doting ‘parents’ and we can give it to him, we’re retired, our life isn’t so busy that we can’t be there for him; so, on we go, for real, for good!
Back to the beach, odd experience — there are usually always homeless people, one or more or four, here and there, trekking along the coast highways where we live in Southern Calif (or camped out, til I guess they’re told to move); and today, as we made our way north out of L.A., we were parked on an isolated stretch to give the dog a break and do his business, only to see what appeared to be a homeless man coming toward us; so, we got back in the car because, unfortunately, you have to be a little cautious as sometimes if addiction or mental illness is involved, the people can be unpredictable, but this slim/tall guy wasn’t asking for anything and I was taken aback at how young he was, and … frankly … pretty clean, not overly-road-worn (yet) although he was sweated through his polo shirt and looked like he was about to keel over, knees wanting to buckle, swaying slightly while walking (gait was off) but pressing on, very red-faced, short/curly blonde hair plastered down on his forehead, looked like a kid who’d been playing out too long in the sun.
My husband said to me quickly, ‘Grab one of your unopened water bottles.’ So we gave it to this young guy, who was carrying only a small duffel and what looked like a musical-instrument case (maybe a flute?) and a modest-sized knapsack on his back (not big enough to hold a blanket), and he expressed gratitude and then asked briefly if we had anything in the way of food, like a granola bar. When he said ‘granola bar’ I thought to myself with a sort of deep cry inside me, “Who’s kid is this? Why is he out here? What is the story?” He seemed ever-so-slightly bewildered, serious-grim and weary, but wanted to keep going; keep moving; keep walking. We didn’t have any food with us (I’ll never make that mistake again), but we saw him resting/standing against the trunk of a palm tree in the shade for a few moments, drinking the water, before he started walking again in that heat of the late morning.
We weren’t anywhere near any restaurants or grocery stores or even a gas station but as we DID hit ‘civilization’ my husband said quietly to me, “I feel we should get food and try to find him back on the beach road…” but we realized the problem with it was that the walkway/path along the road eventually changed to a designated bike/walk route where cars can’t go, so we had to ponder that it would be unlikely we’d see him anymore to help (as some amount of time had also elapsed); but it’s hard to shake off how many people out there in the world are suffering in too many ways.
This has been hours and hours ago now, and it’s still plaguing my husband, who just said to me, “We should have helped him more.” When all the kid asked for was a granola bar. The whole thing felt just SO not right; that this young man seemed to have no expectations of anything or anyone … his demeanor was so quiet and, how can I say it, flat … that he should’ve instead been somebody’s freshman-year/college-student son, maybe out surfing before school starts back up, but not on his own, alone on a road, trudging seemingly without food or water, and to where-nowhere. Now in hindsight, I keep thinking maybe we should have called 911.
What we DO have tonight is a bit of the wounded heart.
I’m not as compassionate toward homeless people as is my husband. I’ve had some difficult run-ins with them; my town has a large homeless-people problem. But I think this changed me today. Because I’m feeling too that we didn’t do the right thing. It just caught us off-guard; was unexpected; we weren’t prepared for an encounter like this; but it’s no excuse. I will think hard on the right prayer for this boy tonight; if somehow he could be rescued from what ails him; get to a better place for his life; be helped with something more than a bottle of water.
This is very moving, Vicki. It’s far too easy to pretend homelessness doesn’t exist or is something we can ignore. I understand. I’ve done it myself. Praying with you and your husband.
xoxo
Didn’t realize it was going to shake us to our core.
xo
hej, vicki …
you and your husband did what you could for that man, especially for being caught off guard … you were kind and stepped in, water is helpful and prayer is best. thank you!
i’ve heard reasons not to step in (potential for crime, that they are likely scammers …) and occasional criticism from then-co-workers for doing so, but i try to help when i see people in need or they have a sign asking for money. i’ve always kept a distance (usually i’ve stayed in my car, especially so now due to covid and if i’ve been alone). if they are scammers, that’s on them. if they’re not, that’s on me. anyway, somewhere i read an idea about helping people in need. it suggested taking out the door each day (so nothing melts in a hot car or freezes in a cold one) sandwich-size baggies that hold a nutrition bar, some hard candies, a couple foil-wrapped hand wipes, a little cash, a list of shelter names, addresses and phone numbers, etc., along with some bottles of water. in the winter i’ve tried to keep in my car some hats i’ve knitted, too. and calling the non-emergency police or nearest street outreach shelter if seems warranted. just want to share what i read.
and you are adopting the pup! i am very happy for you all!!!
thanks for being great!
hope you have a nice, safe day.
xo,
kathy
… kathy, I am very glad to know of this suggestion of a small ‘goody’-style bag to hand out … normally, especially in my town, law enforcement and even homeless-rescue centers tell us NOT to give anything at all to the homeless; once, in another town, a weary traveler came in to Target when I was there, asking if they would give him expired dog food if they were pulling old cans off the shelf (so many homeless people WILL have a dog with them); then, when I saw him sitting on a bench in front of the store with his head hanging down (he just looked so tired and ragged), I couldn’t handle it, so went back inside the Target, picked up a gallon-jug of water, a cheap plastic bowl for dog-water/food, a sack of dry dog food … said to him, “Here’s something for the dog; a little cash; there’s a McDonald’s across the street; get yourself a burger….” (again, though, I usually NEVER do anything like that; but, yes, your tip is a good one; I love the baggies idea) … thank you, kathy …
i’m in good company then (for having also bought pet food, etc). :)
and i thought that baggies idea (which was not mine) is a good idea, too.
thanks, vicki.
kathy
Congratulations! You are giving this boy a consistent and loving home. Bless you and your husband. And your boy. What’s his name, Vicki?
Stay safe.
I’m not completely sure about the name yet as my husband and I are in ‘discussions’ about it. Has been a subject on hold although of course it’s come up many times. We couldn’t change it as long as he belonged to the rescue group and not us. He never belonged to us as a foster pet. He was still theirs. The dog has an unsuitable, stupid, awful name which could relate to gun violence, so I’m having no part of it. We MIGHT be able to get by with just a different spelling; would be easier on him. We need something similar-sounding, and that’s the challenge. But we’ll decide soon, because all of his new records with the new vet should only reflect a changed name; fresh start. Same for new dog tags; changing the micro-chip, etc.
I’m tell’in ya, between our lingering concern about the homeless young man, and then getting the phone call while driving that somebody else wanted to see the dog to possibly adopt, my husband and I were basket cases for awhile yesterday. It was hard not to feel a sense of betrayal that the dog-rescue center put his photo and info back on their website without giving us a heads-up so that we could prepare ourselves … and, mostly, nail down our decision about him, as we get, as foster parents, first right to adopt before someone else expresses interest.
My cousin who volunteers out there (for a variety of responsibilities, although she mainly does it to walk dogs three times a week; it’s A LOT of dogs to walk) said, “What did you THINK would happen; fostering is just a holding pattern.” I said indignantly, “Well, YOU told me as did several other people at the facility that you had many long-term fosters, like people having fostered a dog for at least a year or more; but also, because of my husband and I are providing everything for the foster dog including food, and you guys are only providing the discounted meds he’s on (two prescription-strength meds), we thought we could partner with you for awhile yet in his slow rehab, eventually get him off the meds; get him a little training as you all had promised (and never delivered on), of maybe us/you going in halves at a different vet (we’re not impressed with the shelter’s vet; we know of cases there where they WILL sign off on a different veterinarian; we were even willing to pay the entire bill if we could just get permission to do it) to get the dog further checked out under anesthesia and with xray/ultrasound (he’s got some troubling physical issues, like what appears to possibly be a trachea problem; not sure; somebody else said it he could be coughing and choking/gagging due to dry throat with warm summer weather/allergies); we’re in ‘talks’ with you guys all the time on the phone and NOBODY ever said the dog was going back up on the adoption page; rather, EVERYBODY seemed to agree that this dog would need a year of rehab before he was ever adopted out, so the sudden flip took us unaware/by surprise (unpleasant surprise; AKA shock).”
We had to get over our frustration and anger and judgments over the ‘communication’ problem, though; because, again, these shelters are doing the best they can when inundated with animals, not enough volunteers, stressed-out staff; it was somebody’s mistake to get his picture back up there on the website; we’re all in it for what’s best for any of the dogs and their aim as a no-kill shelter is to rescue dogs and get them new homes, of course. When we started out with fostering our dog, nobody knew how damaged this dog was; I think in our perfect world, we thought we’d give him a break from the pen/shelter, get him adoption-ready for the right family; or just see how it went, for us (our own elderly dog had JUST died; it was all too soon for these decisions); yet, in my heart, I figured once we had him, we’d probably not be able to give him up.
But once we learned what a mess he was … like, even last night, still pacing in the evenings, anxious, resistant to being consoled, needing his ThunderShirt; wouldn’t settle down on the sofa by me; and he’d had a BIG day out in the car, walks on the beach, so he should have been TIRED … I knew he couldn’t be bounced around to somebody else because dogs, especially traumatized ones, do NOT thrive with that kind of abrupt change in routine and environment and people; it takes a long time to rebuild trust, like which human is it going to be THIS time, or am I going to somebody else I have to learn everything all over again with; he would have bonded enough to us that his separation anxiety would have gone into mega-overdrive if we’d followed through yesterday with what the rescue center called the “Meet & Greet” with somebody who saw his photo and swooned at how ‘pretty’ he is but, like I said to the people at the shelter, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Two months ago? Maybe we could have gone thru with a Meet & Greet, but I’d have given the prospective adopters an honest lowdown of his problems, which would have killed it I’m sure.
But it’s a non-issue now. When we got that call yesterday, my husband and I looked at each other in the car and exclaimed, “No way. He’s ours!” The 65-lb ‘beast’ is staying right where he is, with us. OMG is he a handful, though; we’ve still got our work cut out for us! But thanks for the congrats and encouragement! Means a lot. Today, Tuesday, is a new day; like you said some weeks back, Claudia, when I had brought up the dog again, we’re ‘a family’. And I know he loves us. The dog has claimed us as ‘his’. We are his peeps. Somebody to count on. He’s just gotta get that in his head, keep it in his head and finally lay down arms. Surrender to the joy of a permanent home and a stable life.
xoxo
Sometimes adulting is really hard. I couldn’t agree more.
I’m glad you got rain. I wish we had a little more of your heat. I’m wanting to swim now that I’m allowed back in the water but it has been too cold and crummy.
I’d give anything for cooler weather! We’re hitting 98 on Thursday. It’s ridiculous!
Stay safe, Jeanie.