Saturday, July 10, 2010

A beautiful summer day

It's a beautiful summer day in south MS. (Don't look at the beach. That will just depress you.) It's hot, the laundry is on the line and almost dry, the little garden plot is producing lovely vegetables, the grass is growing and there are clouds building in the west. Now realistically, it's not as hot as it could be or as hot as it will be before the summer is over or really as hot as it already has been. I didn't really feel like I was melting as soon as I went out the door so it's almost a cold snap, but it's about 90 on my back porch. There is a breeze blowing and that helps. We've been over 100 already this year and I expect we will be again.
When I went to hang the laundry out this morning I found a partially constructed bird's nest in the clothespin bag. The sparrows and I already had a talk about this, but just like when my kids were teenagers I guess they didn't listen. I disposed of the nesting materials. Now this wasn't the only nest on my back porch. They had raised baby sparrows in a nest on the back porch already. No pictures as the birds are faster than my camera. I have since learned that there were four babies when they flew the nest while I was gone to Dallas.
I picked a cantaloupe from the garden yesterday and cut it a while ago. The amazing part is that I didn't eat the whole thing. I see tomatoes and peppers that need to be picked and there are more blossoms on the cucumber and cantaloupe vines. The potato vines (sweet and white) are growing so I expect to have potatoes in a couple of months. I can't wait for my home grown sweet potatoes to go with the turkey at Thanksgiving. Yum!
I have finished the weaving portion of the table runner and am now beading the fringe. It's a slow process because I am slow and need frequent breaks. During those breaks I have finished the Dishcloth Baby Blanket that was on my Mission Possible list;

I have about an inch of ribbing left to do to complete another pair of socks for the hubby; I cast on for the Landscape Shawl and have three hats ready for seaming for our church's homeless mission as well as a scrap afghan.
It's hot now, but it won't be and I need to think ahead to keep people warm when winter comes. I can't keep everyone warm and fed, but if I do my little bit and someone else does theirs then there will be less hunger and less people cold in my community. I have to believe that every little bit helps. I've also started another scrap afghan. This one will be crocheted and reminds me of my son's favorite afghan from when he was growing up. He still says it was cozy and made him feel loved. Isn't that what our needlework is for?
I really want a Kindle. I have the Kindle app on my iPod and love it, but the pages are small and I spend a lot of time turning "pages" on it. A bigger screen would help. I like having a collection of books with me and having them when I get stuck in a waiting situation. I don't do well when I feel like I'm wasting time. Now that doesn't mean that I can't just sit on my back porch and watch the world go by; it just means that I like to choose my idle time and I like to be comfortable when I am idle.
While I was in Dallas we went to the Stockyards in Fort Worth. I went to the Spice and Tea Exchange. I got three kinds of tea: a vanilla, a chocolate, and almond cookie. I also got some ground chipolte pepper and some dried minced garlic. It all smells so good and since they don't use any fillers you don't have to use as much to get the flavor you want.