E.B. White on Corgis, and my Saturday

Who amongst us has not been touched by E.B. White? I would still find it enjoyable to curl up and read Charlotte's Web, or Stuart Little once again, having read these childhood favorites how many times? White's Elements of Style was my bible in high school; I poured over it looking for answers as to why my English teacher kept awarding me Ds for my papers. (When I met with him out of frustration to inquire as to how I could improve my writing, that &$%^* arrogantly declared that my writing would improve when I became more mature. 😠 But, I digress!)

For those of you perhaps more erudite than me, you probably read White's writings in the New Yorker or Harper's Magazine. 

I recently stumbled on this piece about Corgis, attributed to E.B. White. This made me laugh, as there is so much truth to be found in his reflections on the nature of Corgis. If you own, or have owned, or know someone who owns, or has owned Corgis, you will smile as well! 

In the event the writing is too small, here is the text:

Being the owner of Corgis, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot. Some day, if I ever get a chance, I shall write a book, or warning., on the character and temperament of the Corgi and why he can't be trained and shouldn't be. I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Corgi to heed my slightest command. When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes. He even disobeys me when I instruct him in something he wants to do.

     E.B. WHITE

I began my day as before, getting outside before 7:15 AM. I did nothing huge, just some small yard/building tasks to tidy things up.  We had a delta of sand crossing one area of the driveway from a heavy rainfall last week. I moved the sand back to its area of origin.  A few weeds that had found a toehold in crevices of the driveway were sprayed with Spruce weed killer, a possibly safer alternative to other available sprays. I moved some items from the garage to the RV garage and storage area, and took clean linens and towels back to the RV,  ready for our next trip. 

The Mister brought two bucket loads of mulch over to the front garden.....

Which I spread as best I could.  I have a soaker hose under the mulch.  The plants may be able to hold onto the moisture a bit better now.

After lunch, leftover Shepards pie, and a brief nap (so tired, again...not sure if it is the heat and activity, or something going on) both the Mister and I ran to the local fabric shop to pick up something to make a quick quilted blanket for a friend undergoing dialysis. His wife was saying how cold he gets, as they keep the temperatures low to stem the growth of bacteria. Hopefully I can get this knocked out in a few days and get it on its way. 

We stoped at ALDI and Publix. The ALDI 'surprise product of the day' was a set of 4 large ice cubes. Seriously?? Have you ever?

Maybe this is the thing of the future. 

Remember the reactions when bottled water was first marketed?

But seriously, I will not spend $2.49 for 4 ice cubes, 

no matter how clear and slow melting they are!

A Little Bit of This....a Little Bit of That

Today was a "This. That, and a little bit of Everything" sort of day. I managed to get out before 7:15 again, trying to beat the heat a bit. My first chore was to reseat one of the stepping stones. 

You may recall that back in June the Mister used his tiny excavator to remove our perished Pygmy palm. In the process, the machine broke one of the round stepping stones you see in front of the excavator in this picture, and unseated the other. One end was considerably higher than the other and I kept tripping on in. I knew it was a disaster waiting to happen. 

This morning I dug out some of the sand, and removed some of the weed cloth, which after many years was not really keeping the weeds at bay as so much sand and dirt had been deposited on top of it, the weeds are fine with growing on top of the disintegrating weed cloth. I replaced the stone and filled in sand around it. I finished my task by raking all of the surrounding area and seating everything with some water. I haven't decided if I really need to add another stepping stone closer to the gate, and I need to get some more pea gravel to bring the entire path back up level with the stones. 

If I get really energetic I could clean the timbers on either side of the path and stain them. 

And, if I get really, really energetic I could dig up the gravel and sand over the entire length of the garden path, cut a few roots that are intruding, level the sand base and reinstall weed cloth, stepping stones and gravel. I'm not certain I'll ever have that much energy - 😂

After I finished this task I did some weeding. I have a new crop of palm seedlings emerging. 

I planted an elephant ear plant of some sort that I bought a while back. I first planted it in an area of the garden that was too sunny. I put it back in the pot and moved it into a shadier area. It has been growing beautifully. It now has a permanent home (on the left in the picture), next door to the Caladiums. I just learned a few things about Caladiums; the plants from successive years will be smaller, and not as full, and using fertilizer with too much nitrogen will effect the color of the leaves...which makes sense since the nitrogen component of fertilizer is what makes plants have healthy, green tops. 

I trimmed a few things,

I blew leaves and grass off the driveway on my way to retrieve the garbage bin,

and finally retreated to the air conditioning for a shower. 

A friend was coming over and I realized that I had spider webs on the glass panes of my front door. Perhaps not the nicest welcome. I cleaned the panes of glass, inside and out, and then went on to clean a large window in our kitchen. The view is ever so much better now! 

The morning continued in this fashion, seeing something out of place, moving it where it belongs,

seeing something there that needed cleaning, taking care of that....

Before I knew it, it was lunch time....

left over salads.

Then I was off to play Mahjong. 

I won a few.

I lost a few.

I came out a bit ahead of the game, bringing back about $ .85 above and beyond my starting pot of $3.00!

We are heavy bettors!

I mentioned to the Mister that I didn't know what to cook for dinner.

He suggested we go out...and so we did!

We ate at Seagrass Waterfront in Homosassa.

We do not eat out a lot, and we are still exploring restaurants in our town and surrounding towns.  

Seagrass Waterfront has a covered porch next to a dock, as well as inside seating. While we were there a boat came in and the folks on the boat joined friends for dinner. 

There seemed to be a number of locals as several of the diners were on first named basis with the waitress and the manager, who did come over to see if our meal met our expectations. 

I decided the day, with temps near (exceeding?) 100°,

deserved a "Pain Killer".

It worked!

I loved the tipsy glass! 

I chose to have Shepherd's Pie, one of my favorites. 

It didn't disappoint!

We arrived home, and I watered some areas of our newly sodded yard that were showing the effects of a hard day, and I called it a day!

 

More Old Friends

While I was at the California condo I had the chance to visit with some other old friends! 

 When I am in California I sew on a 1948 Singer Featherweight. 

She's a little rough, showing a bit of rust here and there,

but she sews like a dream, with perfect stitches. 

I made this cover for her, and quilted it, using the Featherweight.

Another old friend that was in my sewing box is this 'bobbin' from an even older Singer machine.

This bobbin would have fit inside a shuttle. Singer originally used shuttles for the

lower thread. The shuttle was mounted in a piece that wagged back and forth allowing the bobbin thread to move behind the thread in the needle to create a stitch. 

Our new machines with their computerized stitching and time-saving features like automatic threaders and cutters are great, but they can't hold a candle to the older machines when it comes to reliability and longevity! 

I returned from California on a red-eye flight. I prefer them. I don't care to waste a day traveling, knowing I'll be exhausted anyway. Why not travel at night, knowing I'll be exhausted, but have some daylight hours  on both ends of the travel, to enjoy doing something! 

I was still tired on Thursday, but did get to see some 'old' friends! I feel wonderful realizing that I have made a number of good friends with varied interests since we moved here 18 months ago. I began the day by picking up a copy of "People we Meet on Vacation" by Emily Henry. Our local library has a program of 'Book Club in Bag' that offers a bag with 10 copies of a book, and some discussion guidelines. One of the book clubs I joined decided to try it. The down side is that the book club only has the bag for a month... so busy folks, or those belonging to more than one club, or those who are slow readers may have difficulty completing the book in that time frame. I'm going to have to give myself permission to sit and read - since generally I read when I get into bed, and rarely last more than 5 pages! 

From there I went to the community center to sew with 8 other women. We meet twice a month to sew. I worked on my Quiltworx quilt...I am working on the triangle border...so I'm getting close. BUT...I bought an extension to turn this quilt into a king size quilt. So....I still have a ways to go!

I had to leave the sewing group at lunch time to go play Mahjong with some more of my new friends. We had a wonderful time, and everyone had a few chances to win...so we all went home feeling good. 

At 4:20 my self-guilt stepped up. I have been promising myself that in the afternoon I would head to the "Y" to do some sort of exercise. Today I called myself to task and spent about 30 minutes over there, moving my body. I need to keep this up!!

So, now it's time to address evening things. Pasta is boiling for a pasta salad, a chicken breast is marinating (mayo + spices) and I'll pull out some coleslaw. At 93° at 6 PM I don't feel like doing much more!

Old Friends

Old friends, old friends

Sat on their park bench like bookends

A newspaper blown through the grass

Falls on the round toes

Of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men

Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset

The sounds of the city sifting through trees

Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today

Sharing a park bench quietly?

How terribly strange to be 70

Old friends, memory brushes the same years

Silently sharing the same fears

                                          - Paul Simon

I have some 'old friends' too! Just before my senior year in college I was taking a few summer classes before student teaching in the fall. My parents had moved from the area and I was staying with my former next door neighbor. My birthday was approaching. My sweet mom and arranged for the neighbor to pick up a sewing machine and a sewing box for my Birthday present.  I was definitely surprised. The gift was way beyond my expectations. 

I regret that I passed the machine on to a needy friend many years ago, but before that the machine worked with me on many projects. I loved it! 

I still own the sewing box. 

It's lost it's handle,

And inside, there are many sewing tools and notions from the past, 

as well as some of my newer tools. 

 

My mom had a knack for buying the perfect gifts for her children. 

Thanks, mom! 

 

Water Woes

It seems our country either has too much water....or not enough. It seems rare to have it 'just right'! 

In California arguments arise over what percentage of water should be made available for agriculture, which is a huge industry in the state, and what percentage should be made for residential use. Complicating the argument is the use of huge open canals that transport water from the Sierra Nevadas to farm lands throughout the state. The water in open canals is subject to evaporation. The LA Times reports: 

California's 4,000 miles of canals and open aqueducts lose an estimated 63 billion gallons (roughly 193,000 acre-feet) of water to evaporation each year. This evaporated volume represents enough water to meet the household needs of approximately 2 million people or irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland annually. [1, 2]

There are growing concerns about drinking water contamination as well. 

Having lived in Colorado, where our annual rainfall total was only 15-18, and now in Florida where until recent rains we were well below our annual rainfall amounts and our aquifers are lower than usual, I am sensitive about water use. 

So, now after all of that blabbety-blabbing, I'll get to the reason I am writing this post!

Over the years at my California Condo I have made a little succulent garden. In February I was awed by how large and healthy my garden had grown in my absence! Look at the size of some of those 'flowers'!

The secret? My hose irrigation system that waters the plants on a schedule. 

But, my hose bib leaks.

 It drips.

And, those drips add up.

At one point I 'solved' my problem (assuaged my guilt), by putting a plant under the faucet, in line with the drip. But, that proved to be far too much water for the plant and it died. 

I decided to leave the irrigation off, letting the plants fend for themselves.

They are succulents, after all, and they don't require that much moisture.

When I arrived at the California Condo last week my garden was a sorry sight. 

By the time I thought to take a picture, I had already trimmed several plants,

but you can see it was a far cry from what it had been six months previously.

I kept thinking about that darn leaky faucet (it drips from the back blow preventer...next time I'm out here I"ll replace it) and my life-giving irrigation system! 

I thought of hooking up some sort of funnel, attached to a hose, to redirect the drips.

I grabbed a water bottle, and discovered that my hose would screw on the end of it. I could cut the bottom of the bottle, and suspend it under the drip somehow.

Then, I hit upon the solution. I had in my possession a brightly colored ceramic planter I found the last time I was here. I brought it in to wash it, thinking I might use it to hold kitchen spoons, spatulas and other tools. While washing it I noticed that it did have a small drain hole at the bottom edge. The irrigation tubing fit perfectly in that hole. 

Can you see my bright 'drip' pot amongst the succulents, under the hose bib?

Here it is...with a black tube coming out of the bottom on the right, going behind the blue pot.

(amongst the spaghetti of tubes going here and there!)

I ran the tubing under the door, tacking it about 6" above the patio,

slightly lower than where the tube exits the pot.

The tube runs behind the pile of stuff in the corner, 

continues down along the fence of the patio,

and drips on the ground by the pot I placed to hold the tube between the two plants. 

If you look closely you might see the end of the tube. 

And why did I bother to reroute the water to this side of the patio?

There is a large massive Sequoya tree at the corner of my property.

The local arborist has explained that the tree needs more water.

The residents do put out a soaker hose, but it gets moved, it gets turned off,

it isn't necessarily doing the job.

I've created my own version of a soaker hose! 

One drip at a time! 

Stone Mountain & Daughter

 On Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, CA, not far from my home away from home, one can find Stone Mountain and Daughter. This is a delightful fabric store that I am drawn to every time I visit.

It helps that the shop is a short 1.7 mile bike ride...or an easy bus ride, from the condo. It helps when it is a beautiful summer day, perfect for a ride through quiet Berkeley neighborhoods, and it helps that they always have 50% off fabrics up stairs - bolts and bolts of them! 

Stonemountain & Daughter was founded in the early 20th century in LA. by Steinberg, an ancestor of the current owner. Steinburg means Stone Mountain. When the shop was opened in Berkeley it acquired its new name. 

M

Upon entering the store one sees aisles of fun fabrics that draw you in to browse, and touch, and to think and imagine.

The shop has samples of shirts, skirts, dresses and pants that one could make.

I think something like this shirt would make a cool Florida top! 

In addition to quilting cotton the shop has Japanese and Indian imports, voile, flannel, lawn, linen and linen blends, chambray, wool, knits, coatings....and more!

They have shelves of notebooks with hundreds of patterns for inspiration. 

A rainbow of motivation meets your eye, that just beg to be made into something!

Stonemountain & Daughter is not huge, by any description.

But they have an incredible variety of soft goods. 

The rolls in the bottom corner of the photo above are similar to what used to be referred to as

'oil cloth'. These have a clear plastic of some sort, waterproof layer that protects charming prints,

perfect for table cloths, slickers or waterproof bags.

Upstairs all of the fabrics are half off, and half of the fabrics, or more, are behind me in the picture above!

.I always wander up the creaky stairs, and invariably I find at least one thing that I must have. 

As I approached the cutting table with my arms full, 

another helpful shopper pointed out that the store does have a few shopping carts.

I smiled, and explained that I found it a chore to carry the cart upstairs,

and bump it back down after collecting the bolts needing cutting! 

She agreed! 

Sew, I bought a bit of this,

and a bit of that,

and wandered around a bit more and bought some fabric to make a blousy shirt,

like the one in the picture!

I haven't made garments in eons....

but the fabrics are so inviting.

Mayhaps I'll have to try my hand at making more of my clothes. 

Maybe selecting a yummy fabric and making a garment can become a tradition for my California visits! 

Just a thought! 

Hunting Vermin in the Yard

Be vewy quiet....

I'm hunting wabbits squirrels....

Kaitlyn patiently watched squirrels gamboling on the fence.

She was waiting for one to stray too far from the fence or the nearby tree. 

Don't you just love her choice of camouflage?!