August Showers Bring....

 ...mushrooms!

While most people, and my dogs (the reason I was outside...I was trying to encourage them to run around and play) don't particularly care for the rain....

...the fungi obviously came out to play!

Party on! 

Every family within 29 miles, with 3 kids under 9, had to have been there!

 Although we didn't have pouring rain all day, it was gray and rain was on again and off again. The Mister decided today was the day we should go to the aquarium we have driven by for a year and half. It's one of those places that invokes the discussion; I wonder what's there? I wonder if it's any good? Is the mermaid show simply hokey? So, this morning the Mister commented that we should take some time and visit Mertailor's Mermaid Encounter to have our questions answered.

A bazillion families evidently made the same decision! The show began at 3 PM, but it was suggested we arrive before 2, and we must be gone by 4 when the next group comes in. We did. The Mister had pre-purchased our tickets so we were able to bypass the long-ish line of families waiting to buy tickets to the show, and tickets to feed the sharks, and those waiting to buy stuffed animals and other tchotchkes. It was rather crowded, but all in all, the kids were well behaved and we had the advantage of being taller than all of them, so we could see the exhibits...which were all a nice surprise. 

As you enter there're a number of McCaws (at least 8) and an Umbrella Cockatoo, all of whom have been rescued or placed at Mertailor's as their caretakers could no longer perform that role. 

Each exhibit had signs telling about the animals in that exhibit. 

However, this was my favorite sign! 

A few of the fish, echinoderms, cephalopods and crustaceans: 

I was taken by this starfish (echinoderm) - its coloring was magnificent.

Then I realized that the blob next to it was an animal! 

This is the Wobbegon Shark (Chondrichthyes)

For $5 you could feed the stingrays. 

I was tickled by the stingray performing a "Flipper" maneuver trying to get the girl's attention.

Feed me! Quite a trick! 

A fellow doing an introduction to cephalopods told us that the octopus on exhibit is named Octavia.

He also commented about how smart octopi are. 

Here he's explaining how squid eat. 

I couldn't help but wonder if anyone has a relationship with Octavia 

as in the book and movie Remarkably Bright Creatures.

(If you haven't read the book, or seen the movie, available on Netflix, I highly recommend them.)

In my mind I kept hearing the rather disdainful voice of Marcellus in the movie,

and wondered if Olivia has snide remarks to make about we humans! 

The culmination of the encounter is the mermaid show. 

A story is narrated about the supposed history of Mermaids while 

this one swam and sang to music being played. 

I found it fascinating that Mertailor's Aquarium evolved from a company that made mermaid tails (thus the name). It was founded by a young man...he formed the LLC at the age of 14. His tails have been seen on TV and in movies, as well as in music videos and by Lady Gaga! The company evolved and became the aquarium and encounter, having rescue, rehome, conservation, and education being an important part of his mission.  A story more fascinating to me than the mermaid show!!

 

Rainy Season?

 I took this screen shot at 4 PM....after a full day of moderately heavy rain. We had almost 3" of rain in total...and as you can see, there is more to come. 

I believe it may be safe to say that we are in the rainy season! Hallelujah! Our plants are so much happier, and I think it may also be safe to say, "It's a jungle out there!"

I had a terrible night:

I was awake almost more time than I was asleep! What I came to realize, sometime before 3AM is that I seem to have acquired a UTI. Ugh. I have all of the symptoms....and of course, it's the weekend! But, besides running to the bathroom, and swallowing a glass of water, which made me run to the bathroom sooner, repeat, it dawned on me that my recent bout of C-diff could change the way any infection that normally requires antibiotics is treated. Apparently, once a person has C-diff they are more susceptible to a reoccurrence. I'm not sure why, but that's what the literature is telling me. From this point forward I must be sure that the antibiotics I am given do not impact bacteria in my gut, and focus instead on specific areas of my body. I have felt a bit better today, but I know the problem persists, despite drinking a ton of water. Everyone is telling me to drink cranberry juice, but I've read it is not effective in treating a UTI and may help in preventing one. I used to 'flavor' my water by adding some cranberry juice, but discovered it was such an irritant to my bladder that it had me running to the bathroom more than I cared for. Anyway, I'll see how it goes tonight...keep drinking water to flush the system, see what tomorrow brings and check in with my doctor on Monday.

Between bathroom trips, and partially due to the lovely rain that kept me inside, I feel I've been very productive today! 

I finished the bag for Tim and the quilt blanket and bag are ready to be sent off.

I completed the last paper pieced blocks for Desert Oasis. My next step is to put all of the triangles I've made...100 of them(!) together to make the border. 

The pieces that I finished today (above) will be sewn together as the corner units of this border.

I've already finished all of the other triangles....100 of them in all! 

We had planned to go to the Crystal River summer outdoor concert series tonight, but decided that given the forecast, we should stay home, and stay dry! I guess we have lost our sense of adventure!!!

Oh, How I Used to Love Fridays!

 When I was a working woman I loved Fridays! A Friday marked the close to my work week. I could feel the coming release, the recession of stress and the anticipation of the coming free time. That free time clearly marked by every tick of the clock as time progressed through the weekend. Now that I'm retired...a Friday is like any other day, except the afternoon traffic may be a bit more frenzied, and I can sense the exhaustion of younger folks when we are all at the grocery store, or WalMart, or wherever. 

Today the Mister and I had an appointment in Ocala at 2 PM. We decided to drive through Dunellon, FL and grab a bite for lunch, and pick up some straps for the bag I am making at a local sewing store.

I love eating at Sweeties Café, but it was time to try other restaurants in the area. Lugo's Grill offers Cuban sandwiches. Who doesn't love them? Our mouths were watering as we pulled up to find the parking lot cordoned off and a sign on the door, "CLOSED - Opens August 11". We were crushed. Onward we drove to 2 Rivers Bar & Grill. It had good ratings, and quite a few cars in the parking lot...always a good sign in my mind! We entered the restaurant to find 5 people seated, one being 5 months of age! I guess patrons of the bar on the other end of the building were responsible for the cars in the parking lot! Janine suggested that we take any available table/booth and promptly brought the menu. I selected a booth....only to feel like a 10-year old kid with the seat being that much lower than the sticky, plywood table. Only sticky because of years of washing.

Janine, who knew the folks at the other tables, and two others who came in by name...regulars, was very personable, and brought our menus. Seriously? The prices were certainly pre-inflation...an Italian sausage smothered in sautéed onions and peppers; $14. A hamburger, with cheese, sautéed mushrooms and onions; $14 - each with a side. 

If you want a good meal, friendly service and great prices, stop by 2 Rivers!

From there we stopped at the sewing store to pick up some nylon strapping for the bag that will hold the quilt and other items for Tim as he gets his bi-weekly dialysis. 

And, by the time we returned from our meeting, it was time to begin the evening routine. I didn't have to stress over what to have for dinner: leftover meatloaf, corn on the cob and Mac salad. Yum! 

We had more rain today, almost another inch, and there is another green blob heading our way! Hooray! I shall not complain...until I do!

Book Club - The Frozen River

 Today was our book club. I was the moderator. The book that had been selected was The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon. 

I am in awe of how the author constructed a complex historical fiction novel with many webs around life in Maine in the 18th century, midwifery, women's roles, a murder! The novel uses the diary of Martha Ballard, a midwife who chronicled her daily doings from 1784-1812 as the basis for much of her story. 

What intrigued me the most was that Martha's diary survived. It was transcribed by Robert & Cynthia McCausland, beginning in 1982. The process took over 10 years, and is comprised of 1400 pages.

Images of each page of the diary, and the transcription may be explored at https://dohistory.org.  

Ariel Lawhon includes relevant excerpts from the diary, but has conventionalized spelling and capitalization to make the entries easier to read.

I found a fascinating interview with Ariel Lawhon:

Another book about Martha Ballard was written by Laurel Thatcher. She wrote A Midwife’s Tale, The Life of Martha Ballard Based on her Diary 1785-1812. This is not a work of fiction, but Laurel shares pertinent parts of the diary and then discusses different aspects of life in Maine including health issues, social networks, economic roles and women's work. I found it rather challenging to read, but it considered to be a masterpiece. 

PBS aired a
film in their American Experience series about A Midwife's Tale. I found it to be excellent, and a good tie in to 

with The Frozen River.  

This is all probably more information than you want to know...but since I found these resources for the book club, I figured I might as well share them again! 

After the book club I worked on making a bag for our Dialysis patient friend. The quilt I made will fit in it, and he can carry a book, his phone, a pen, etc. I will pick up the straps tomorrow. There is a shop nearby that specializes in bag making. They have great nylon straps that are more durable than anything I can make out of fabric. 

We had rain! Four days in a row! This morning it poured-almost 2"! Even in our sandy area we had some standing water on the roads- for a short period of time. We had more rain late this afternoon. Maybe we are finally in the rainy season...aka the monsoon season! 

Is hamburger $8-$9.99 a pound in your area? No wonder hamburgers at some restaurants are $22!!! For dinner we had a meatloaf made with 50/50 beef and pork. It's the way my mom used to make meatloaf...and it was great. 

Silly (stupid?) Tools

 Several years ago, for some reason that I can no longer recall, I bought this silly "vacuum".... most likely from Amazon. It's a desk vacuum, or a crumb vacuum... or something like that. 

Needless to say, I rarely use it. It lives on my desk....somewhere. Today I found it, covered in dust. I pulled it out because I cut some "Minkie". Minkie is a synthetic, incredibly plush polyester knit. I use it as backings for baby quilts, and for quilted "blankets".  Today I finished quilting the blanket for the Mister's friend's husband (Tim). He's undergoing dialysis and the facility is always cold. We decided that I could make him a 'blanket'. I wrote about it on Sunday. 

I finished the quilted blanket and needed to trim it before putting on the binding. One icky thing about Minkie is that when you cut it, you are inundated with little fluffies. I had pieces of brown fluff all over the cutting board...and window sills..... and on the floor...oh, and stuck to my shirt!

I remembered the desk vac, grabbed it, dusted it off, and remarkably it still had a charge. Not only did it suck up all of the little fluffies...but it has broom-like bristles on the bottom that scrubbed the imbedded fluffies enmeshed in my cutting mat. It's a winner!

Oh, and the finished blanket? Here it is:

I've put some coordinating fabric on the long arm and will make a bag. Tim can carry the quilt, books, a phone, whatever, to keep him occupied during dialysis. 

The quilt consumed most of my day....after my 7:30 AM dental cleaning appointment 😳

My cleaning appointment may have been worth its weight in gold. I have not been really comfortable at this particular dentist's office. It's the second I've tried in the area. The first was very 'corporate' and always presented me with a detailed dental plan, prices, and payment options. This second office turns out to also be a corporate office. It seems to thrive on numbers, pushing lots of patients in, and out. Today my usual hygienist had called out. The office had called in a temp. She works, part time, at a dentist in a nearby town...a dentist with a private practice. A dentist who, after a bit of investigation, I learned had a 5.0 rating with over 425 ratings on Google, and very positive ratings on other sites. It sounds like this may be the dentist I am seeking. What a great find. Serendipity! 

Rainbow of Colors

Who doesn't like a new box of crayons? 

Those prefect, shiny points;

That distinct, memorable crayon smell!

A side note: schools, teachers and kids often need crayons. Sometimes as the new school year approaches, there are great prices on crayons. If you have the opportunity, adopt a class or school and bring in some school supplies that can be shared with needful students. 

One thing that may be even better than a new box of crayons....

A new, HUGE, box of colored pencils!

I have a handful of Prismacolor pencils that I acquired many years ago. Many of my pencils have been reduced to nubs. My palette of colors is limited. I decided that I would expand my collection and fill in holes in different hues by purchasing individual colors. I stopped by the art section of Hobby Lobby and found that Prsimacolor pencils were $1.25 each! Seriously? While I was in California I thought I'd swing by the Dick Blick art store...it's a bit of a haul on my bike so I looked online and found out that individual pencils were $1.23 each, not a price I was willing to expend that much energy on! I thought that I'd look at sets. The price per pencil in sets was better....the 150 color set was $135....that's only $ .90 per pencil. I decided it was a good price....but, maybe not now.  Then, because I had put it in my cart at Dick Blick, online, I received a notice that there had been a price drop....now the 150 colored pencil set was only $120....or $.80 per pencil! 

SOLD!

My pencils arrived today. I can't wait to dig in and play with color...

I have lots of choices! 

This morning I began quilting the blanket for Tim. I'm getting better at communicating with the quilting computer...but on the last two passes we had some disagreements. The computer decided that the quilt was shorter than what I tried to convey to it. I tried to change it up for the last pass, and again, we had a disagreement about the location of the bottom of the quilt. Certainly it is all my fault. I'm failing to communicate with the computer. No problem. I finished the last little bit guiding the machine by hand. I have some clean-up to complete, but that part of the quilt is finished. 

After lunch I played Hand and Foot with some of my new friends. We had a lot of fun, but alas, I did not win! 

We had more rain this morning. The thunder rattled things in the house. Several of my friends commented that they were tired as they couldn't sleep with all of that noise going on. In the last two days we have had over 2.25 inches!