What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread) Showing 7,401-7,450 of 8,509

[Nina]

Today said, "Have a nice July day," That is what if felt like; not September but hoping tomorrow brings rain and Tuesday more like fall weather and thankfully I am feeling much better and so will be able to enjoy our cooler weather whenever it gets here.

[Linda]

Hay is food. Got it. Thanks, Jim.

On NPR a few years ago there was a lengthy conversation about hay and straw; however, didn't stick in my head.

[Linda]

Such lovely weather lately. Today temps are expected to rise to 90. We've taken out the window a/c a week ago silly us. We do have ceiling fans and will keep the doors closed today to keep the heat out. Our log house retains the temps so we should be OK.

Going to some Adirondack type shops today in Old Forge NY. Stop and have lunch. We'll be in a/c at least!!

[Jim]

It was close to 90 over the weekend & is supposed to continue through tomorrow. Wednesday a cold front moves in & temps are supposed to drop dramatically, about to where they were a couple of weeks ago.

[Linda]

Grocery shopping today and then indoors. Have all the ceiling fans on, doors and windows shut to keep the house cool. Working well.

88 degrees here - but my house is usually a few degrees lower being surrounded by very tall trees.

[Nina]

Jim, Your weather is similar to ours. Finally, after a week of hot weather we had some rain last night and temps dropped fifteen degrees. Pleasantly cool enough for outside chores so your relief sounds like it will be soon.

[Linda]

Humid yesterday. Today humidity expected to be low. Need temps to be cool enough this afternoon in order to vacuum and mop the floors.

Having a lunch guest tomorrow, a former neighbor. She no longer drives and lives 25 minutes south of us. I'll go pick her up and bring her here while my husband puts the quiche in the oven. She hasn't been to "pass by" her former home since she moved 12 years ago.

Figure we both will take her home and hit the mall afterwards.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Have a good visit.

[Jim]

Enjoy!

[Nina]

Nice to connect with friends.

[Linda]

We had a fun lunch. Friend is about 15 years older than me.

Had the tv on for the music channel Soundscapes. At the end she asked me about the channel and wants to have the same setting for all her entertaining. Glad we got together as she is going to Florida for several weeks.

[Linda]

The day has arrived. Going back to work today. Feel like a school kid getting ready for the first day!

My husband will feel my absence since we've been side-by-side the last few months. After a few days we'll both be in the groove.

I'm looking forward to seeing my coworkers and being needed. Office is small - a total of 7 (including me). We have over 80 CAREGivers out at clients' homes providing services and over 200 clients. I'll be busy.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Good luck, Linda.

[Jim]

Enjoy, Linda!

[Nina]

Work; but so worthwhile. Good luck starting again, Linda

[Jim]

Hopefully I'm not jinxing us, but I have some amazing news! Twice Pip has come into the house & we've smelled skunk strongly, but he hasn't been sprayed. Could this mean that a JRT/Beagle mix can actually learn?!!!
;)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "Hopefully I'm not jinxing us, but I have some amazing news! Twice Pip has come into the house & we've smelled skunk strongly, but he hasn't been sprayed. Could this mean that a JRT/Beagle mix can a..."

Good luck with Pip, Jim.

[Nina]

Let us know the result.

[Linda]

Jim wrote: "Hopefully I'm not jinxing us, but I have some amazing news! Twice Pip has come into the house & we've smelled skunk strongly, but he hasn't been sprayed. Could this mean that a JRT/Beagle mix can a..."

Now wouldn't that be wonderful.

[Linda]

Day 1 and 2 at part-time job have been wonderful. Work tomorrow afternoon. Then I'm off for 4.5 days (Saturday to Wednesday at 1); commence work at 1pm on Wednesday. Sounds good to me!!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Sounds excellent, Linda.

[Jim]

Great, Linda. I'm glad it's not back to the daily grind.

[Nina]

You seem to have found the perfect niche, Linda. Glad it is working out for you.

[Linda]

Jim wrote: "Great, Linda. I'm glad it's not back to the daily grind."

Me too!

[Jim]

Yesterday the neighbor & kids were target practicing with a variety of guns. Lily, my bird dog, had decided that guns scare her, so she was trying to crawl inside me. When we walked around out front, she was so close I had to be careful walking. I decided she wasn't going to get over it, so I told her to go into the house. Usually she'll just jump over the gate into the backyard, but she didn't want to move away from me, so I had to open the gate. She looked back over her shoulder with an accusing look as she trotted through & into the back yard.

I went into the shop & started fiddling. In just a couple of minutes I got a phone call from my daughter telling me Lily was at her house. Apparently she jumped out into the field & jumped into the kids' backyard, then gone in through their dog door where she settled right in, even playing with Erin's new rabbit for a while. She returned home when the kids came up for dinner. I'm glad she figured out how to get comfortable.
;)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Lily must be very smart.

[Nina]

Poor Lily. It isn't easy to be frightened and have the person closest to you not quite really understand. But, luckily she figured out a solution.

[Jim]

I understood, Nina. I just couldn't do anything about it, think she's being ridiculous, & had other things to do. She did figure out a solution that was perfectly acceptable. Smart dog.

[Linda]

Very smart dog. Good story.

[Linda]

Such lovely weather today. Opened up the windows to get the warm fresh air indoors! Leaves are just starting to turn color. Kind of late this year I think.

[Nina]

Why are we sometimes surprised at how smart the dog is? So many examples and this is one of them.

[Nina]

I'm sure your place must be lovely in the fall. Our leaves don't turn for a couple more weeks and then into the first of November. Some years they are outstanding and other years not too much. Hoping for outstanding this time.

[Linda]

We've gone to a few of our favorite areas for foliage views but seems many areas are the same - a mix of a few trees just changing color, past peek or no leaves! No "groups" of trees with color. Still pretty! Great warm fall weather which can't be beat!

[Linda]

So, let me tell you how working W, Th, Fr afternoons is working out. Its' FABULOUS!!

Friday at 5pm - I am off for 4.5 days - go back to work on Wednesday at 1pm. How cool is that!!!!

Best of all I am not stressed. My full time job was being on the road meeting with potential clients and existing clients. I'd then go into work and record my days events and set up new clients, while answering phone calls and taking care of immediate situations. Always a challenge to keep up.

Now, I'm in the office with my tasks and assist with answering phones. I look up at the clock and it's 455pm - time to shut down the computer and go back home to my honey.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Glad things are working out so well for you.

[Linda]

Thank you, Joy. I am quite happy. :)

[Jim]

That's great, Linda. On nice fall days like this, I wish I only worked part time. Can't afford that yet, though.

[Nina]

Sounds better than you could have imagined, Linda. Glad it worked well for you.

[Nina]

Here's a quote for you Joy, "Ever'thing comes t' him who waits but a loaned book." Frank Hubbard.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

True.

[Nina]

Did I ever mention that we once grew mushrooms in our basement? We often had a bumper crop and sometimes had parties and gave our guests after they finished eating pasta with sauce loaded with mushrooms, bags of fresh mushrooms to take home with them. Also, we once had a mushroom slumber party/no one actually slumbered from eating the mushrooms we picked in the woods as I cooked them and all went well. Of course no one died.

[Jim]

What kind of mushrooms, Nina. I thought about it one year when I took down some small (8" diameter) maple trees to clear a spot in the woods. The local Extension Office was giving a class on growing them - Portabellos, maybe. I wound up just donating the logs to them, though. Too many other projects on the plate at that time, not that I don't seem to always have too many.

I did get to ride Chip today, although we didn't get to hunt for wild mushrooms like I'd planned. Topaz was lonely, even with the goats for company, & decided to tag along, sort of. He'd fall behind & then charge up behind & pass us. Made Chip nervous & the ride far more exciting than I wanted. We finally got away when I jumped Chip into the north field. Topaz had thought we were heading for the barn & didn't follow us. Chip barely trotted a few steps into the jump & then decided to take off at a gallop & buck afterwards. I managed to stay on, but it was close. Jerk.

We have some asparagus coming back up, I guess due to the warm days, cold nights, & recent rain. I found out when I cleared off all the ferns. I got 2 tractor bucket loads of manure dumped & spread over them & the vegetable garden.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks for posting.

[Jim]

You may notice a change in my profile shortly. I've become an author, at least in name. I've been working on Inkle looms for a few years & took some advice from Eric Sloane. I wanted to learn a subject, so I wrote a book about it. They're fascinating both in their workings & how little anyone seems to have written about their construction & design. After bungling the first loom I built for my daughter, I started researching them more & found no decent documentation, so I wrote my own.

This whole self-publishing thing is confusing, so I did a couple of test projects: oven tool & carpenter bee traps. I'd written a lesson plan for the first some years ago for my daughter when she was student teaching & happened to be making the latter, so they were good, short test cases.

Anyway, I put them online & they showed up here on GR within minutes of appearing on Amazon. Right now they're attributed to a ghost with the same name as me, but that should be taken care of shortly. Unfortunately, it means I'll have to become an author here. I don't really see the writer of some hobby plans as being in the same group as Roger Zelazny, but there you have it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "You may notice a change in my profile shortly. I've become an author, at least in name. I've been working on Inkle looms for a few years & took some advice from Eric Sloane. I wante..."

Good luck with that.

[Jim]

Thanks.

[Nina]

Now that you are published you are not longer a writer/you are an Author! Congratulations.

[Jim]

Thanks, Nina. I doubt there are a dozen people who know what inkle looms are & will bother to read it, but I have to be an author here on GR to hook the book to my name. A lot of baggage comes with that. For instance, I found my full birthday was published publicly which I didn't agree to when I put it into GR a decade ago.

I'm sore this morning from riding. I haven't had a chance lately. The horses seemed to scoot to the far reaches of the fields every time I had a chance. Thursday I walked out, tossed the hackamore on Chip, & went for a ride anyway. The plan was to look around the woods for mushrooms, but Topaz decided he couldn't be separated from us so he kept running up behind & passing us. That made Chip nervous, so the ride was a tough one instead of a walk through the park. My legs had to squeeze Chip's fat barrel tight almost the entire time. For instance, he pranced, spun, & even kicked at Topaz at one point.

The ground was soft, the weather nice, & Chip had a lot of energy to burn off - more than I'd expect. We lost Topaz when we jumped into the north field, but Chip decided he didn't like that. I barely got him to jump the fence & as soon as he landed he tried to take off. He bucked then tried to gallop & buck. I stayed on & got him pulled up, but my legs! Oy! They were using all those muscles that hadn't been used in weeks.

Last night, I caught the horses still in the barn, so I locked Topaz in a stall before the ride. Chip was his normal pluggy self & we did spy out a few mushrooms. No Chicken of the Woods, but we did find a clump of Dryads & a couple of puff balls. I won't bother with the latter, but will see how old the Dryads are. I found a few limbs down over some trails, so the dogs & I are going to clean them up this morning. I'll get the mushrooms then & see if I can't find some others.

[Nina]

Did I ever tell you one morning that happened to be my birthday I went out and looked under our deck(it was two stories high) and there were morels growing; an entire bunch. I picked them and we ate them later. Nice present from nature.

[Jim]

That's neat, Nina. I think statistics are favoring such odd happenings in your case. Hope you have many more birthdays.