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Not much today

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:22 am

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We didn't do much today. I poured pepper/garlic sauce down some ant hills. They were still wondering around tonight. Maybe I will do it again in the morning before they get started. They seem to be just moving a few feet. It may take all summer to get them moved on down the road.
I went and sat outside today and let Chance out in the other yard. She enjoyed herself and barked at a few cats. DR came out and they played squeaky ball for awhile. I wrote to grandma and just enjoyed the peaceful time. I walked on the treadmill and rode the exercise bike for 10 minutes each. I sort of got out of the habit while DR was working on the room so now I have to start out slow and work up again. I skipped the weight bench because DR hung all the weights on it and I didn't feel like moving them. I can't use all of the weights. I was only starting to add weights when I stopped using it.
We used to walk everywhere here in Mayer. Then we got a new vehicle and started driving. Bad move. We have started walking to the post office now. There and back in half a mile. It's maybe another quarter of a mile if I were to walk on down to the library. DR doesn't like me to walk by myself though. He says even in a small town it isn't always safe. There are a couple spots where you are out of sight of houses, etc.
We cooked on our new little gas grill tonight. It worked just fine. We bought it at a yard sale for five dollars. It's just fine for us. Brian said it would cook about six hamburgers or 4 steaks. He cooked steaks, but they were small and he only did three because Dan was eating with us.
I work at the library tomorrow. I guess I will work on cutting animals again. Dan has tomorrow off because today was a holiday and it was also his day off normally so he has to have another day off.
We have to go fill our water bottles and pick up a prescription. I had them all arranged so I could pick them up at the same time every month. Then, the doctor started messing with them and now it seems like they all have to be picked up at a different time. The insurance company sets limits on how many you can get at a time and when you can get them. Boy, I would stop taking all of them if I could. Darn pills!
I had a rematch with Dan tonight and I won, but only by three points. He won by 37 points last night. It was a terrible game tonight. I just couldn't make any words and the board was a mess. You couldn't get to one corner. Maybe better next time. dooley

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This and that

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 3:50 am

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It's about the end of the day. We didn't do a lot today. It's the middle of a holiday weekend. Dan says it's not the middle because he worked yesterday and has Tuesday off. I may or may not work on Tuesday. I guess it depends of what DR and Dan will do in my absence. If it's something fun, I may want to do it too. If I go to the library, I will just have to cut out little animals for the animals on parade part of the summer reading program. I think we will need a lot of them because we need one for each book that gets checked out. Face it, if the kid checks out a book he's going to say he read it. We trust them to tell us the truth, right!
Yesterday, we went to the flea market. We had a reserved space so we didn't have to rush up there to find it taken. Well, it was taken. DR and the man in our space both went to the ticket booth. The man apologized and said he didn't have our name down for the space. But, he gave us a bigger corner space for the same price and the other man didn't have to move all of his stuff. It turned out to be windy and stuff was blowing everywhere. We didn't lose much but some people ended with things broken or missing. A kid came past with an armful of stuff and wanted to know if any of it was ours. It wasn't. He said it wasn't theirs either. We came home early.
DR shouldn't have been out in all that wind. He couldn't hear anything today. I hope it goes away by tomorrow. I mean I hope he can hear again tomorrow. He stayed mostly inside today. He ventured out this evening and was sitting in the backyard when he caught Chance eating a plant in the narrow flower bed. I wondered where the plants were going. I was outside the fence cutting that darn sticker bush that keeps coming back. I think I will have to dig out all the roots to keep it from growing. I cut the sucker shoots off the walnut tree too. Then, I cut that darn horehound again. I ended up having to take an allergy pill. I poured hot sauce/garlic down two ant hills. I still have to find a couple of hills. Those little ants are really hard to trail. They go around in circles. I don't know how they ever end up at a hole. I wonder if they see me watching and say lets confuse the old lady. DR says he is done with the gravel pile so I can make a path through the herb garden with the rest of it. He's going to trim the part of the neighbor's tree that is in our yard. No one lives there and the woman who owns the place has it locked so no one else can do anything with the place. That's where an airplane would come in handy. I could bomb the place with wildflower seeds. The stray cats in the neighborhood live under the house. They guy on the other side of it feeds them. Joe said there are 15 to 20 of them. Chance doesn't like them because they sit just on the other side of the fence and wash themselves lazily and drive her crazy.
Oh, I was going to say that the guy from the flea market who sells the spaces and reserves them apologized for selling our reserved space. He marked us down for space 134 instead of 234. He said he knew he had reserved our space but couldn't find our name so it wasn't marked. Well, is turned out okay. We can't go next week. It's Mayer Daze. BIG parade ( will last 15 to 20 minutes) and festival in the park. Big dance in the evening. We don't go to the dance here. It,s inside and too noisy. When we lived in Black Canyon City we went because it was outside. They closed the street. Our friends are coming from Goodyear. We haven't seen them since we briefly stopped in February. They come every year for the parade and then we go for lunch somewhere. When we go down to visit them, we get to pay for lunch. When they come to visit us, they get to pay for lunch. It seems that it should be the opposite, but this is the way it works out. We only see each other five or six times a year. It's about an hour and a half each way.
Dan and I played Scrabble after supper tonight. I let him win. (I did!!) The boys all learned to play scrabble from the time they could make words. Even before they went to school. It was a study in patience to let them make three letter words and not make big words to fill the board. Games lasted hours. I had to let them win sometimes or they would have been so discouraged. Now, they let me win sometimes or not. Andrew had a super scrabble game when we was there last summer. It took us hours to play that one. Dr doesn't play games. So, I have to wait until I get one of the boys around to play scrabble. Dan doesn't play often. He complained that he only won by 37 points. Oh, well. Dooley

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A good week?

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 2:53 am

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I've been out playing ball with Chance. It is a nice evening. I was thinking about the week that's ending. It wasn't a bad week in general. There are some things that broke and there was that snake and those darn ants. But, it wasn't really a bad week. I went out and watered the plants in pots because we won't be home tomorrow. It's not going to be quite as hot tomorrow but they dry out faster. I went ahead and watered some tomatoes. They don't look too bad. They are standing up straight. I fed them miracle gro this week. I have small yellow squash. The ants didn't seem to bother them much but they ate a few of the green ones. I saw that they are getting some new leaves so maybe if I can get rid of the ants they will do okay. I hope the squash don't absorb the hot sauce but it would be okay. DR likes squash and he likes hot sauce. I can't say the same about myself and snakes. I'm not fond of them most of the time but rattlesnakes are poisonous and I don't like them at all. Dan and his friend John took it and turned it out in the brush away from town. I don't like to kill them either if there is away around it. John teaches classes on survival in the wilderness so he knows how and where to release them. Dan put it in a container with a big stick. It didn't put up too much of a fight. The biggest problem this week was the ants. I'll spray them again when I come home tomorrow if they are still around. I imagine they will be because there are a lot of them. I know they are only looking for water because it is so dry but they could drink out of the puddles when I run the soaker hose. Between the ants and the earwigs it's a wonder I have any plants left. I wondered why they don't eat the weeds and the grass but they don't really taste that good to me so why would the ants like them any better than I do. My butterfly bush has three blooms and smells really good. I see some of the leaves have spots on them but I didn't see any bugs so I will have to keep an eye on them. We can't find any apricots on the trees so I guess the snow froze the flowers. Oh, well! The neighbor says he will have lots of plums if the birds don't eat them and I can make jam out of them. I still have jelly from the grapes last year and you should see the grape vines. They are just loaded with grapes.I can't just let them rot so I make jelly and give it to people. I wonder if the senior center would like jelly. I will have to call and ask. There may be regulations about how it's made or something so the people won't get sick. But, I eat it and I'm not sick.
Worked at the library and changed the bulletin board and put up a new sign on the wall that says, "Hot Summer Day? Read a Book". I put all the new children's books on a shelf under it. I made this bulletin board last year and put a tree with leaves on it and grass under it. I keep changing it. It had fall leaves and then no leaves and then spring leaves and now I've been putting summer leaves on it again. I changed from grass to snow and now back to grass. Since the summer reading program is about animals we put some small animals in the grass. Today, I added the sun and some small clouds. I'm sure it will change as summer progresses. Maybe some flowers. Dooley

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Another choice?

Category: Choices | Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 4:48 am

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Well, now I have to choose. I'm glad it's not a decision. I would really be stumped for an answer. How does one decide what one's title should be. I've asked DR and Dan and they are no help at all. I guess I'll have to have a talk with Chance.
It was HOT and humid today. 94F. There were clouds toward the end of the day. Tomorrow some sort of cold front is moving through our state with high winds. The news was warning of wildfires if there are thunderstorms and spreading wildfires if there are high winds. There was a fire about five miles from us last week. It burned 32 acres. It was started by a hiker who made a campfire on bare ground. It might have been worse, except he had a cellphone and called for help.
On the way home from the flea market yesterday we passed an accident. I can't figure it out. A flatbed truck was hauling a load of ? It was a Weyerhauser truck so it had something to do with paper I think. It looked like bundles of something. It had caught fire and was burning. There were about 20 emergency vehicles there. A big bulldozer had pushed the load off of the flatbed and was spreading it out over the highway and the firemen were spraying it with their hoses. The fire had burned up the embankment and there were firemen up in the brush too. There were firetrucks from several towns and from the forest service. There were police and ambulances. There is always an ambulance at wildfires to take care of firemen who suffer heat exhaustion or burns.
We did well at the flea market yesterday but I'm wondering how because it seems we came home with more than we took. Two different venders gave us stuff they didn't want anymore. We bought a lot of stuff cheap. The people across from us bought a big house in Phoenix. An older woman had packed up and was going to move to another place. But she died so these people bought the house. They brought the boxes unopened to the flea market and spread everything out on the ground. Or just opened the boxes and let people dig through them. I bought a box of clothing. Almost everything fit. A few items didn't but I know some people that I will share with. It came out to about 10 cents an item and a lot of the items were designer name things. There were 17 long sleeve blouses, 14 short sleeve pullover shirts, 12 long sleeve pullover shirts, 6 pair of shorts, 3 pair of long pants and several hooded shirts. I really needed shirts too. So, it was a great buy. DR bought some things he wanted too. He bought a wooden ship model. It's an old model. I think it's the Constitution but I'm not sure. He bought a Chinese vase that I really like. We used to have a lot of Oriental things but only kept a few things that we really liked when we moved here from Wisconsin. Better go. Dooley

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Yesterday and Today

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 5:54 am

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Yesterday after I finished at the library, we went to Prescott to the buffet place for lunch. It was 86 deg when we went in for lunch. It got a bit windy while we were inside. We could see dark clouds and lightning from the window. When we came out it was 62 degs. I thought it was cold. I just had a short sleeve shirt. DR was wearing a long sleeve shirt. He did say he would give it too me if I wanted it. That was nice of him. I told him I would just get in the truck. We stopped at the grocery store to fill our water bottles and it started to rain. We drove in and out of rain all the way home. (About 25 miles)
We had a lot of rain here. I don't know how much but Dan said it poured for about 15 minutes and you couldn't see across the street. It looked like we got quite a bit. I didn't have to water last night or this morning. Today our water bill came and DR said it was almost double. Oops!
Today, it was the major monthly shopping day. Ouch! We left home at 8:45 AM and got back at 4:30 PM. We had to go renew the liscense plates for the truck. We got through so quick I couldn't believe it. We were prepared to wait an hour or more and we were there less than 15 minutes. In Arizona, the cost is based on value so it was rather expensive. It goes down every year though. I guess that means the value of the truck goes down every year, too.
We stopped at the nursery. I wanted begonias and geraniums. They didn't have begonias and I didn't want to pay their price for the geraniums. They didn't look that good and they didn't have a big choice of colors. I did buy 12 tomato plants. Three different kinds-4 paks. We went to a grocery store and then to Home Depot. Then, to Wal-Mart. We spent some time there. I bought a new glucose meter. I thought I should have a new one. My old one was working but I have had it quite awhile. I was hoping for better readings with a new one. On the way back to Prescott Valley, we stopped and I bought a new pair of shoes. Then, on to another grocery store and then to Ace Hardware. I did buy a begonia there and some sweet allysum. It smelled so good. It started to rain a little but we were ready to come home. It didn't rain here. It was 91 degs today. We bought Chance two new squeaky toys. Her favorite game is squeaky. She and Dr play squeaky everyday. DR counts 1 - 2 - 3 and throws it and Chance catches it before it hits the ground. She's pretty fast. She brings it back and there is a tug of war over it until DR tricks her into letting go. They play it outside and a modified version inside. I've walked into a game and been ran down several times. After supper when DR sits in his chair, Chance runs to get her squeaky toy. They have their rules and I don't ever get them right so she won't play with me. Oh, well, it's time to end this day. Dooley

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I was going to say

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 4:28 am

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I was going to say that I was done with the summer reading program plans. Today, I typed them all, there are 8 of them, and e-mailed them to Dan at the library. He printed them out.
But, we still have to make copies for the board meeting next week and we have to make some copies for the Youth Services meeting next week. Dan is going to make copies for his boss and the county librarian. Then, we will need extra copies for volunteers. It's a good thing the library has a copy machine. It's still not exactly free since we pay for materials but we aren't paying 10 cents a copy to someone.
Anyway, the basic plans are done. They are still subject to revision and additions. We have to come up with team games besides the scavenger hunt because we decided to choose permanent teams at the first meeting and have them stay together for the whole reading program. Prizes will be individual and by teams, too. I haven't exactly figured that one out but Dan said it so it must be so.
Next job is to find folders for each child that registers so they have their forms in one place. When they return their books they will list them on their reading charts and then Dan or a volunteer will award the points and as the points add up they can purchase prizes from the prize board.
I need to have a box for each week so craft supplies, etc can be gathered before the weekly program so things are ready when the kids come. Kids get antsy when they have to wait for you to find something or wait for you to decide what to do next. Keep them busy and enthused about the program and they have fun and enjoy themselves and come back the next week.
Everyone has committed to a program and all have offered the service for free. Some of the large city libraries pay a lot of money for people to come do programs and I bet ours are just as good and the kids don't care one way or the other.
Maybe people don't want to do programs for free for a lot of kids. We will have 35 or 40 kids, maybe. That is a lot of kids because our room isn't all that big. Dan and Mary ordered prized and Dan said he ordered all the craft supplies on my list so we should be about set. We can't order or buy food for fun day but we can amass snacks for each week. Animal crackers, animal shaped cookies, dog bone shaped cookies, we'll see what comes our way. Do you think licorice strings would be okay for snake week?
I hope things go okay. We have our plans ready. Now, we will get all antsy waiting for it to begin. I hope we don't nit-pick and make changes. When it's done, leave it alone. Dooley

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Memory?

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 4:58 am

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Boy, I make list after list and look things up and then forget everything. I hope I don't forget my shopping list tomorrow. It's by my place at the table. I guess I should go put it in my purse now because DR says we are going out for breakfast tomorrow. I can have whole grain pancakes with sugar free syrup. Something I can eat Or maybe a buckwheat waffle. Those are good too. Anyway, what I started to say was I've been busily planting things here and there and then I remembered that some things are tall and some things are short. Which herbs are tall, which herbs are short? I came into the house and got the herb books out and do you know the most of the entries do not give height. Isn't that really important. I finally got out the packets that I save and found that I may have planted some tall things in front of short things. So, do I move them. They might not survive being moved so close to being planted. Do I just leave them and let the tall things give the short things a little shade. In the middle of a hot summer the short things may like a little shade. Why didn't I remember to look before I blithely planted things? I had a list. Never mind that I don't know where I put it.
I sometimes forget my shopping list and I just tell DR, that's okay, I'll remember what's on it. I wrote it, didn't I? Well, when we get home I find I forgot the most important thing. I know all those things are stored in my head somewhere but I don't know for sure where or how to get it out. I work crossword puzzles because I heard it keeps your brain active. I'd better find another book.
well, I got little plants put into bigger pots today.I wish I lived closer to anyone because I have lots to share. I've already gave some to neighbors. I've been thinking maybe I could pack them into boxes and take them to the flea market. Maybe I could sell them. DR says I can't buy anymore plants but we don't have geraniums by the gate yet. I'm going to buy the geraniums and plant Baby's Breath with them. Red and white maybe. Unless DR sees another color he likes too. I don't really care about the color, I just like flowers but sometimes DR sees something that he really likes, like the red and white striped petunias. I thought I put earwig food everywhere but some ate holes in the petunias by the front fence. I put a cup of food by each one tonight. I hope they will grow new leaves. They are looking pretty sad. Dooley

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A Mixed Up Day

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 4:38 am

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I didn't do anything that I started out to do today. It turned out to be fairly mixed up. We got up around 6 AM. I don't know why except we were awake and I couldn't go back to sleep. I made pancakes for breakfast. As I was doing dishes, I cleaned out the refrigerator, washed shelves, drawers, etc. I took the little grate off the bottom and cleaned under it. You never know what rolls under there, but I didn't find any thing interesting. As I finished the dishes I decided the floor needed to be swept. I looked for the broom and remembered I left it out by the front door when I was cleaning up mulberry pollen.
When I came in the door I thought I needed to vacuum so I swept along the walls, etc where the vacuum won't reach. I got out the vacuum and did that in the living room, dining room and bedroom. When I moved the table I noticed one leg was wobbly so I crawled under to see if I could tighten it. i couldn't. It needed a different type screwdriver. DR came and he knew which one and he fixed it. DR was washing clothes. Sheets, towels, blankets. it was a nice warm day and things were drying quite well. So, I ask him if he would wash the curtains from the bedroom and living room. He said ok and I took them down. They were all dusty from winter. I washed the windows, inside but not outside yet. Finally three hours after I went after the broom I got the kitchen floor swept. Then, I cleaned the laundry room and put Chance's bed and bedding out in the yard to air out. Did I get some strange looks from her when I did that? While her bed was out of the way I moved the winter coats, etc from the bedroom closet to the laundry room closet. DR finally told me to slow down there was always tomorrow to get it all done.
So, I stopped and called his niece. She wasn't there. I called two of my sons and got an answering machine. I called my sister and got an answering machine. I gave up. I think everyone must have been out enjoying nice weather. So I went outside.
Well, I did check in with Gardenstew a couple of times.
I had moved all the plants outside this morning before starting dishes. I watered them. I started moving some things to the herb garden area. I moved some things to bigger pots. I planted my butterfly bush by the apple trees and watered the flower beds by the fence. They are growing nicely. You can see that there are flowers there now. Lots of poppies, which will be orange. Inside Chance's yard they will be red.
Then, Brian's niece called me back. She had tried to call earlier in the week and got no answer. I was probably outside and DR doesn't hear the phone if he's not next to it. She said grandma was leaving rehab on Wednesday but she can't go back to her apartment. She can't live alone anymore. Shelley found a nice care home overlooking the Hudson River. It is only 15 minutes from Shelley's so she can go after work to see her. An ambulance will collect her on Wed. AM. It will take three to four hours to get to the care home. The orthopedic doctor said her hip healed, sort of. If she puts weight on it though it will just rebreak. It's broken three times, different places. They don't want to do any more surgery. It would be a major undertaking and she's 90 yrs old and tired. She's okay with the move and Shelly and Tom have it all handled. They will clean her apartment and close things up.
then, I went back out and put things away as it was too late to do any more outside. I had to make dinner. As I was starting the sausages my sister called so DR was watching them until he said they were burning so I had to tell her I'd call her back. They were NOT burning. He just wanted to give me an excuse to tell her I was busy. So, DR took a lot of pictures today. I downloaded them or uploaded them or whatever. Then I resized them. I don't know what I did but they ended up all over the place and even some pictures in other folders ended up with them. I guess I'll have to have Dan figure it out and fix it tomorrow. he's good at things like that. Then, I can put them to Photobucket and maybe post some here. I guess it must be about time for bed. Last I looked Chance and DR were both sleeping. Dooley

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A Day Off?

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 3:20 am

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I feel like I had a day off today. I opened the greenhouse and watered the plants. We went to the post office and to some yard sales. When we got home I moved the plants out of the greenhouse so they could get some afternoon sunshine. I went to the library from one to five. When I came home I put the plants back in the greenhouse for the night and finished dinner. DR starts it every Friday while I'm at the library and I finish it when I come home. I washed the dishes and made some scones to take to the flea market tomorrow and I'm done for the day.
The summer reading program meeting went well. I just have to get things all typed up and copies made and a folder made for each day so everyone knows the schedule. We have a speaker for each day now, the last one committed today. So, we will have day one for an introduction, day two for wildlife, day three for cats and kittens, day four for dogs and assorted pets, day five lizards and snakes, day six for birds and day seven for a fun day. The audabon society is going to do the bird program. We have a short craft period each day. We have a snack/story time each day and a time for checking books in and out and listing books read and points collected. Points are given for each book read and points can be used to buy prized from the prize store. We put Mary in charge of buying prizes for the store because she has school age children and knows more what they would read a book for points so they can buy something than Dan or I do. Dan doesn't have children and mine are all over 30. In fact, my youngest will be 40 next year. Does that make me feel old? No, it makes me older I guess but I don't really feel old most days. Only when I come dragging in from yard work.
It's supposed to be sunny and 81F tomorrow so it should be a good day. I called and reserved our space so maybe I can get up at 6 am instead of 5 am. I've got everything ready for breakfast and lunch and snacks so that's done. DR has the truck packed. It's always a surprise when I get to unpack and see what he's loaded into the truck this time. Dooley

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Too Much Outside

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 12:40 am

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Since we don't go on daylight saying time it gets light early here. Around 5:50 AM right now. So I was up around six and checked in to Gardenstew. Then, after breakfast I went outside to check the greenhouse. I moved some cucumbers from the greenhouse to the garden. 18 total, two varieties. I watered them and them watered the squash and the flowers. I dragged the hose to the front and watered the petunias and pansies. Then, we went to the post office and stopped at a couple of yard sales. Nothing much today. DR bought a bicycle that he's going to fix up and resell. It's a three speed Raleigh. The man said his wife got "too old" to ride it so it's just been sitting in the garage. It probably needs new tires and some oil on the chain, etc. It doesn't look bad.
After a trip to the bank and another stop at the post office we came home. My blood glucose level was lower than usual so I stopped and had a peanut butter sandwich. Then, I went outside to check on the things in the greenhouse. I most some things to bigger pots and made some small pots of things for a couple of the neighbors. I moved everything out of the greenhouse so it could get a little more sunshine and fresh air. I watered all the pots. They dry out so fast in the greenhouse. I put some summer savory in the herb garden. I put some zinnia's in a flower bed up by the front fence. I put out new earwig food. I sat under the tree with Chance for a few minutes. She was feeling left out since I was mostly on the other side of the fence from her. It was pretty breezy most of the day so my ears plugged up and my head is all blocked and I had to take an allergy pill. Some of it is probably from cutting the grass and weeds yesterday. We may go to Prescott in the morning. We have a couple of errands and I have to pick up prescriptions. In the afternoon I have to work at the library. OOPS! I was supposed to have those plans typed up and printed. Well, I guess they will have to use handwritten copies for tomorrow. It's just an informal meeting anyway. We have it all set except for one day and someone is dithering over it. Time to think about eating again. Dooley
I did put everything back in the greenhouse and close it up and deliver some of the little pots of herbs to my neighbor. He was a little disappointed. he thought I was bringing cookies.

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