CLAY AND WATTLES

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho...

I had a wonderful three-day weekend.

Wednesday night I stayed up as late as I wanted to, which wasn't much past my usual bedtime, and watched a movie (The Other Boleyn Girl - those royals were really not very discreet!). Thursday I slept late (6:40!) and refused to even think of the time or put on a watch all day. I ran some errands and of course that involved Wal-Mart. I took back picture boxes I'd had for several weeks because I discovered the pictures I was going to organize were already organized enough. No need overdoing it. I got a battery for the DVD remote and a hands-free headset for my phone. The salesperson asked if I had thought about a Bluetooth. It was $60 so I didn't think about it very long. The earbuds were $20. (I can hear 100% better with it, even background music when Sher was in the bookstore! And the phone is not right next to my ears and head on long-winded calls.)

Jean called and we decided to meet at the hospital and eat lunch in the cafeteria with Carol, who has only 30 minutes for lunch, but we visited afterward, too. I saw so many people I don't usually get to visit with, and some I have not seen for years - Dub and Mary Ann Gordon, for two.

At 1:30 I got my hair trimmed and eyebrows done. I did have to notice the time in order to get to this appointment.

I'm not even sure what I did the rest of the afternoon. I think I read some. Of course, Oscar and I walked in the morning, and made trips in and out the back door to the patio several times. It was nice enough to be outside. Paul got home from Hot Springs around 4:00 I think. Or 5:00. Or 3:00. He brought me a "prize" as requested - a yellow T-shirt from the walk/run they always do at AML.

I had started another movie and finished watching it later that night - Atonement. It was much better than Boleyn Girl. The production reminded me of The English Patient. There were flashbacks and of course, a love story - a very sad love story. I get on these movie kicks and hardly ever, ever rent a movie, then rent and watch three or four. I took the first two movies back and rented two more: Evening, and The Nanny Diaries. Evening was okay; it was too sad, too. I haven't watched the other yet. I don't need the sad movies. Just browsing the aisles of the video store, there aren't that many I'd even care to watch. I really prefer the old ones - the Cary Grant, Fred/Ginger ones, but the better ones are harder to catch on TCM or AMC any more. And I detest a good movie to be interrupted with about 15 minutes of commercials every 15 minutes. Maybe it's time to check out Netflix!

The rest of Saturday and Sunday were pretty routine days with grocery shopping, laundry and putzing around the house. Paul worked in the yard all morning then cooked hamburgers and chicken on the grill late afternoon; we had hbs for supper and I saved the chicken for Sunday. Sher said earlier in the week she was mailing me something - a hint: FLW - I guessed a nonsensical "Funny Little Wad." It was a neat T-shirt with Frank Lloyd Wright's colored pencils across the front of it. The tag on the shirt explained that he loved colored pencils and these particular ones were on his desk when he died. I kept the tag, scanned the pencils and made a small "collage" of them. I love colored pencils, too, and they're on my list of favorites.

I called Mike Saturday night and they were out. He called me back and we talked over an hour. They enjoyed their Alaska cruise so much! He and Marsha are going to Tunica (Mike's going to Tunica???) to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant with Marsha's mother and stepdad on the 4th. There was an article in Sunday's paper about the restaurant (and all the butter in the recipes and the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake) and I clipped it out and sent it to him.

Sher researched and being the "slocal" that she is, found a sweet little old dairy farm lady who keeps cows, does her own milking, and sells the raw sweet milk. They arranged to meet half-way between their homes and Sher will leave $3 a gallon for the milk in the cooler in the lady's truck, which will be parked at her church, every Sunday... A slocal is someone who shops locally, local produce, etc., I think that's the word Sher used. (We used to have cows at Cloverdale, drank the raw, sweet milk, churned it for butter. It was awful if the cows got in the bitterweed and undrinkable, which I don't recall happening that much. I remember those big gallon glass jars in the refrigerator, wonderful cold milk with cream on top. Mama would strain the milk through cheesecloth. Was that as good as or better than pasteurizing??)

Jordan has moved to Pensacola, stopping at Sher's for several hours and to get a good nap, to drive on to Melanie's. He is going to apply to a company he had worked for previously and hopes to rent an apartment there. Nice that his sister is in the real estate business so she can check some places out for him.

Amy texted me this morning and said she'd made something on her sewing machine - a doll - that looks more like an alien. It's a "first edition" and I get to have it! I can't wait to see it! People market all sorts of things on Etsy, so I can't imagine she'd have any trouble selling aliens.

This morning it was back on the clock for me and the rush began. Norma told me to take a Tylenol, which I did, and I have pretty much tried to stay to myself till I get over being spoiled by three days off. Looking forward to July 4 weekend now.

The ash reflected in the birdbath....

Geranium buds...