formal shopping in the thrift store, finding treasure, eating rubber

 54 degrees this morning. Yesterday after eye treatment I bounced into the thrift store- Senior discount day. I followed this dressed- for -success  lady for a while just to see what interested her. Nothing was in her basket and so it remained , empty. I  hit the toy section, heard a tiny "help me" from a plastic bag on a hook. 

An orphan!

I brought her home to the welcoming committee. ( why is "committee" spelled  in that attention seeking  way?) 

 The orphans gave her clothes and  presented the rules of the house...There are only two, because  you know, Rules are for Fools. 

Success- I have only found two orphans in the thrift store, a little over two dollars each, the others came from the internet for much more cash. 

 I can understand why children abandoned them. They are temperamental ,   challenging to pose. Arms and legs  stiff , curved in the right way, but limited. They have minds of their own, impish ,  love falling over all the time, and have nothing to do with the world of humans.  They have more depth, as you know. In fact, at the moment, they are considering employment @ A I. -  A I looking for philosophers to complete the collection of knowledge,  becoming better than human...heard it on NPR in the car on the way home. new orphan heard the report , carried it home to the others . They are ALL philosophers, you see.  Excited by the prospect!

In the evening we  met Austin  (grandson) at the harbor for dinner and a catch up.  Back from his trip of  visiting all of the national parks in the south west , camping, hiking ,  climbing - he is in between moments  at the moment. Lease on apartment expired, he may come and stay with us until school starts in September. It is a LONG commute from here to his work on Whidbey Island,  is what it is,  not many options in his purgatory state. 

  ^^^little rubber shrimp in a mediocre cocktail. The same old waiter with the mickey mouse voice did his best.Dennis said "what?' about twenty times when offered dessert...ASL would come in handy . His hearing is shot even with aids,  becoming more challenging as the days go by. Mishearing or not hearing at all is frustrating, isolating, conversations are lost on the breeze. WHOOSH. It may come down to a scribble pad and pencil, as no one likes to shout.

 Nothing wrong with his excellent eye sight. From across the room in the dark he spotted a canker on Mrs. Cherry's branch. 

It must be excised or lopped off entirely to save the tree from further infection. It does look sore, doesn't it?  

Dennis will probably remove the entire branch just to prevent any possibility of spread.  Poor old Cherry tree.

 

Today I may just stash things away in boxes and stack them in a corner to make room for Austin. Juggling is a  good skill to have.  The raccoon with the broken tail is showing you how to juggle one corn.

Leaving you with stinky daisies and cool weather! XO,LS
 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Man takes a walk, explosions and bombers, a budgie named Pepper.

Dennis walked down to the bay thinking that a walk  might be helpful. It wasn't but he sat on the beach bench of rock and drift wood , took in the  salt and sea and  thought about making better  choices... He still is suffering extreme pain. 

This is the first butterfly seen in years. On the deck, painted lady.  Dennis's photo.

My ONE poppy struggled to bloom, and then it was gone.

This morning - a pod. Probably frightened into old age by the fireworks over night. 

The loudest and most frequent I ever remember- a steady rolling thunder around the edges, explosions near by. The city fireworks over the bay were predictable. Always the same , but, generally when they end, all fireworks call it a night and everyone goes to bed. Not last night...explosions until 3:00 am. 

 

I had wished that I had a  megaphone to shout at the close by bombers to STFU and go to bed like normal human beings. You know that feeling of finally entering a dream state, all comfy , warm  and drifty and then BOOM , a blast so loud it hurts your ears. Yeah, it was that, several times until three...I truly hate 7/4 holiday.

 Today in the garden, as though nothing happened last night...

"peace, love and understanding"  

A t-towel from the thrift shop- made in the UK . T-towels from England are the best for graphics and quality of cotton.

Who doesn't love a budgie? I've had a few and they never disappoint, although one of mine  flew into the TV screen and never peeped again. When I was little I had one named Pepper. Clever little thing talked and sang for years. He actually put sentences together , like  when My Dad came home from a train trip, Pepper said " Hi Pete, choocachoocachoo. (train sound)  One morning I got up to uncover his cage and say  the usual, "Pretty bird , pretty  Pepper". There was a note attached to his blanket- "Honey,  Pepper was not well last night when I covered him, I am sorry he may have died in his sleep. Do not be too sad, he had a fine life, love , Mom". Yes, he was dead,  belly up, dear little thing. I have had many birds since but none as lovely as he or as smart. He had freedom in the house, flew around and entertained us while we were eating dinner. He marched around sampling everyone's food, like  Helen Keller - in the Miracle Worker. He sat on my shoulder when I was on the  phone and would repeat a partial conversation, which sometimes was not good. Tattle tale! He chuckled and laughed and gave kisses, he flirted- he was loved. 

- and here is our other love- Flora Jane's final T-ball game for the season.

 She carries BalerinaMouse with her everywhere she goes.  Even when Flora  is up at bat, BalerinaMouse helps  her to grip the bat. 

Tomorrow I go in for another eye thing, and then  will meet grandson for dinner. The weather is superb! We will eat outside  and discuss his brilliant future and possibly have a G&T. Summer days demand it! 

 

 

 

Madness in america, a happy tale of good fortune and flowers on the deck

 

This is as red-white&blue as it gets in this house. Fourth of July is not a thing without a rodeo , a barefoot summer night and a tequila sunrise - still cool temperatures here and nary a rodeo for  a couple hundred miles! 

Just another day.

While out and about I dropped in to the thrift store. I bought little Pyrex bowls and a T-towel from the Cotswolds . I nearly bought a red  tin chest to keep the orphan supplies in one location but it was ten dollars and the orphans are really just fine living in their basket. 

 I bumped into my friend Michelle whom I have not seen for too long! She used to work in the thrift store but quit due to changing of the guard. The new owners are assholes. Anyway, she said that one of the worker women there went to the  casino for lunch one day. Not a gambler really,  played with the slots for about ten minutes. Just messing around, eating a chicken sandwich while pulling the one armed bandit to burn calories... She bloody well WON half a mill. Promptly drove back to work to say, "Adios Y'all, eff this effing  job". 

Then I popped into the old lady shop and bought this pretty little piece of cloth, so finely woven, plus this hospital puppet. Remember them? 

Back in the polio days women's organizations made them for  children in hospital. 

When fireworks start their stupidity I will be so glad to not have a dog or cat in the house. NOT a favorite holiday. Even more loathsome in this year of trump, who has taken everything we love, trashed it, and walked away with billions of dollars in his fat pocket. Geez, where did this seriously piece of  crap come from???  

America, you do disappoint!

My one poppy is opening- the deck is flowery...and two more babies showed up!  That makes four babies for  one -eyed -mother girl. That's more like it!

Have a day- find a tequila sunrise maybe, take the edge off. 

 

 

 

Babies have arrived, winter summer days, a pain in the ass pill

First of July , coming home from the eye guy. 54 degrees. Welcome summer.

After only two red light treatments for the eye that must be saved, there is a  noticeable difference. It is not a placebo effect or wishful thinking - I do not employ "wishful". Cautiously optimistic, maybe?

The two mothers brought their babies to the deck for the fist time in their little raccoon lives. Look at your foot- that is the size of the newborns. ( providing you wear a  girl size eight) They toddle, unsure of their grounding . Sort of flippy floppy.

   Two Moms and three babies. Fewer than any other year.  

 

Mother thinking "these the pebbles taste like...dog food." I gave her an egg and strawberries. Much better.

Flora Jane graduated from preschool along with her mates. She is the  smiling one, front row , of course. 

Finished her dance recital, going back to the car with roses in hand. Big kid all of a sudden, though tiny in stature. 

Off she goes to summer camp-

Dennis has Piriformis Syndrome- painful,like sciatica.  Fritz left  quarter tablet oxy's in bubble packets after his hip surgery. He only took about four quarter tabs. That seemed to be enough to lessen pain. I offered a quarter to Dennis but he said NO, like i was offering fentanyl or a life of crime! He would  much rather gimp around in pain , I guess. Maybe he believes that oxy, with its bad press, will lead him to being homeless , forlorn, chasing an addiction  in a downtown alley...whatever, dude. As a consequence I asked that I not constantly  hear about his horrendous pain  every bloody step.  I am concerned , mind you...but  also frustrated. 

Geez, take  1/4  of a pill, Man. He is  thinking that walking to the bay will benefit the nerve /muscle pain. His body, his choice, as they say. He likes to be the boss of his own body  ( who doesn't) and tends to ride things out. A conqueror!

I am opposite.   Pain is not my friend, nor my favorite teacher. When I spent days scraping the asbestos goo from the ceiling, up and down ladder, hauling heavy goo crap  to waste reciprocal. I did feel like I had been run over repeatedly. I took 1/4 of a pill and Voila! Born again! On with the job! Pain meds do come in handy when needed! 

Our favorite flower- Opium....struggling to become a blossom. I stuck a few seeds in with the other flowers but only one seed is taking the chance! 

Succulents are flowering as well. Welcome spring winter, summer winter, spring...winter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

fertile door for seeds, possilbe science miracle and a mystery coin.

 

I could have thrown seeds at the glass door and they would have sprouted. Rain soaked forest and yard bring muddy feet to the door. Yesterday I washed it with ammonia, windex and vinegar. The door can breathe but the raccoons don't like it . They especially do not like Windex.  

Weather still holding, Cool temperatures. Perfect. 

Pink sunsets, lavender on top. I am thinking that in spite of everything, climate change and Orange Turd, we live quite a nice little life up here in the corner, between live volcanoes and earth threat, but the politics are sane for the most part.  Day at a time, they say. 

I went in for my eye jab and all of the testing they do before hand. As an after thought the 12 year old Doctor mentioned that they offer a new treatment for dry MD, wet MD is a lost cause and will never improve, will just hold for as long as possible with the jab.  My left eye could be saved if the "new" option works. I qualify because  vision in that eye is still , visible... Insurance will not cover a single dime nor will medicare so- out of pocket and not cheap. The schedule is inconvenient- three times a week , drive across town, four minute treatment, for three weeks , then a four month break, start  again, rinse- repeat for a year or two. Each time I go in for the four minute treatment it is nearly $200.00  a pop. I can pay for that but , as I told the doctor, I would rather buy a new pair of boots- he laughed , but I was dead serious. Anyway, there is a possibility , a risk, a gamble, that my left eye could be restored. So, Yes, I will be doing that beginning on Monday.

As I was leaving the exam room, the assistant looked around to make sure I had not forgotten anything. "Wait a minute, you dropped something" ,he handed me a coin from the floor under where my feet were. 

It was too shiny to be mine and had a bright gold rim. "Nice coin, I said, Not mine, though". He looked at it more closely and said "There's an angel on it, are you sure it's not yours?" "Nope", I said, "Not mine-  angels don't tend to follow me around", pretty sure.

Did I just blow off a good luck coin ? Hope not. I will grow tired of keeping my fingers crossed for two years of  iffy treatment .

Flora is doing her dance recital today. I failed to get a ticket. Dammit.

Lady zucchini blossoms have arrived- no boys in the yard at the moment.  

(PS Dennis said NO these are BOYS!) I say must be pansexual....
 

Another beautiful day...
 

cold summer, art exhibit and a dead house

 55 Degrees, power outage, what's that about? Can't be because of AC s running full blast. 

Power obviously has returned- this house is useless without electricity-like a dark cold tomb with occasional beeps throughout  from "power supplies", that have not bailed us out .  

Anyway, it is good to have that happen sometimes just to remind us that when we are cut off , we are indeed cut off!  Wearing two layers. It is supposed to warm up this afternoon. 

The art exhibit that Sally and I visited in La Conner was a collection of  "quilts" made from found objects , mostly metal stitched together with wire. The artist , Ross Palmer Beecher, from Seattle now , originally  from  New England, having gone to the Rhode Island School of Design in  the seventies. She is a clever one! My photos are lame, I apologize to the artist and  to blog pals.  Anyway, here are a few...

Bullet casings, army camo, military medals that sort of thing-

eye in spoon in the center of this piece.

A metal palette in the center.

Probably the most delicate looking piece . Ross's exhibition  took up the entire museum space of four large rooms. There was too much to take in in a short amount of time- I could have stayed and looked for days! The artist cut tops  from  hundreds of spray cans, made metal cookie cutters and some found cookie cutters, incorporated muffin tins, jello molds , kitchen gadgets, pennies, bottles, porcelain babies, fabric, tin, dimes, teeth, glass, bottle caps etc. Just about everything you might find in a tip. I must go. again and spend more time with her art.

Purse of pennies , the center is a revere ware kettle bottom cut from the kettle ,stitched with wire  to the pennies. 

 

dolls in bottles, I turned them around to see better, they were all horizontal and blended in with background of textured metal.

45s incorporated into metal that represented the title of the songs. 

This one is "wild thing"  ( you make everything groovy)

Knights in white satin....

Cut off spray paint tin in the center- a wall of them in one "quilt".

Quilt remembering the invasion of  Murder wasps during the summer of Covid.

 The photos are just tiny sections of much larger works, too big for my  phone camera. A half-assed idea of Ross's  truly exceptional exhibit.