Summer potpourri

I've mentioned before about the family of red-tailed hawks that have lived in our neighborhood trees for several years now. We've been hearing them this year, but have caught only a glimpse of one of them occasionally. Yesterday morning, the awkward-flying babies were out and flying around - probably because of a bunch of crows who were tormenting them. The youngsters were clumsily flying in and out of the trees - occasionally resting on branches. I know there were at least three hawks. Family fun! This photo of baby red-tailed hawks is from the Pale Male web site.















I found a friend who was willing to block my shawl. Essie has her own blog and business selling knitting and crocheted items. Now I can't wait to see the shawl all finished.

We finally had to turn the air-conditioning on this afternoon. The high was 90, and that gets the house warm enough. I really can't remember a year when we were this late turning it on. But now it's officially summer.

On a more serious note, I have to make mention of the terrible murder of the doctor who performed abortions in Wichita, KS, What a vicious, cowardly attack! Obviously, the "right-to-life" people believe in life for everyone - except for those who disagree with them. What a sad, scary thing!

Wise words from Dalton Roberts

I've taken the liberty of reprinting Dalton Roberts' Sunday Journal entry for today. He's a great philosopher.


REKINDLE YOUR GIFT

No matter what your gift is nor how much success you may have with it, there are times you get discouraged. No matter how much you enjoy the work, there are times you get weary of it.

Once I spoke to a regional meeting of ministers. At each meal I would be sitting with a different minister. I made it a point to ask the simple question, "Are you enjoying your work?" To my surprise, not a one replied with a smiling, enthusiastic "Yes!"

They would say things like, "Well, there are times when it is fulfilling but…" or "Well, the church politics get to me but…" or "Well, it certainly has its downside and hard times." I repeat, not a one was enthusiastic.

Paul wrote to young Timothy who was just starting his ministry, "Rekindle the gift." No matter how great the gift, it must be rekindled. No matter how high you are today, you are going to face challenges that will take away the luster.

I like the word "rekindle." When I was a boy and we had a fireplace Dad would send me out to cut up some kindling. These were small slivers and slices of wood that helped him get a good fire started. He'd roll up a newspaper and stack a little kindling around it and then lay a big log on top of it all. As the kindling got going, it would get the log to burning, slowly but surely.

No matter how much bliss you find in your work, the fire is going to get low now and then. I know that from my songwriting. Sometimes I will get a good idea for a song and my internal wet blanket will say, "Why write it…it probably won't sell… no one will record it" ad infinitum, ad nauseum. The only way to handle an internal wet blanket is to put some kindling under it and get a fire going.

Unless we become our own best encouragers, we will falter and fail. It is good to have friends to support us and appreciate what we do and they can certainly stoke our fires but we must be our own best friend.

It helps to realize what we do well IS a gift. How many people can write songs? How many people can do what you do? One thing is for sure: no one can do what you do exactly like you do it and if you don't do it, it won't get done.

My mother once told me, "Son, we should not just tithe our money, we should tithe our time and our talent because if we don't do what we are here to do, it will never be done."

Take time to nurture yourself and your gifts. Gratitude for them is a little pile of kindling. No matter how little or how great a success we may feel ourselves to be, just be grateful you are here /to do the work you are gifted to do. Marry your gifts. Dedicate them for better or worse, for richer or poor.

Excuse me now. I've got to go cut some more kindling.

Thanks, Dalton!

Finally!

Tonight is another night when I am really tired. I'll be heading to bed a bit early.

The Gallery had another opening reception for one of our artists. Terry has a great show hung. He's a very talented man, in almost any medium. There was good Gallery news, too. Terry sold a piece tonight, and Vicki sold one this morning to a passer-by drop-in. Now, THAT's the way it's supposed to work!!!

We were at the Gallery for the reception, of course. Allan, Vicki, John and I went across the street for a first visit to Hiroshi's - a Japanese sushi bar and restaurant. John and I shared a sushi platter for two - and it was very good! We'll definitely go there again sometime.

But the best part of the day, and the biggest news, is that I actually finished the shawl. It is gorgeous now, and will be really spectacular after it's blocked. After all the trouble getting it started, with the errors in the pattern, I am SO pleased with it. I'll post a photo after the blocking.

I do love the English language

We got this in an e-mail this morning I'm sure it's been around for a while, but I just wanted to share it.

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages.)

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as being used as
an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list,
but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ?
Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.
We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has a real special meaning.
People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this up is confusing:
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP .
When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
When it rains, it wets UP the earth.
When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now ........
my time is UP , so time to shut UP!

Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U P

Don't screw up.

Now I'll shut up !

We DO love our electricity!

We were without power for almost 12 hours today. Obviously, it's on now, but it was a long day with NO computer. There were bucket trucks from the electric company all over the neighborhood. We could hear chain saws and axes and smell diesel fumes all day while we were sitting out on the porch. We heard that there were lots of trees down or likely to fall in the wooded area behind our house because of all the rain and the super-saturated ground, and that's why the guys were working. No fun, but at least we do have power now.

We did go out to dinner at our little Vietnamese restaurant (which we love), so it wasn't a total loss.

Catching up

It surely did feel good to sleep until after 8 this morning. It'll feel almost as good to get back to the pool tomorrow morning (even if it means getting up at 6 a.m.).

WalMart wasn't too bad. I didn't have to get much, and because I went later in the day, I was able to get one of the rotisserie chickens for supper tonight. They're good, cheap, and we always get several meals out of one - plus broth from the bones).

Randy's mom is doing better tonight, and should be going home in a few days. Thanks for all the good vibes!

Memorial Day weekend

We're home from a really good Memorial Day weekend in Kentucky. It was very low-key, with lots of reading and knitting. But the company was great and that always makes for a good time.

On the way home today, we drove through some really brief (maybe 5 swipes of the windshield wipers), really hard rain showers. But that was all - until we got to Monteagle. Then, of course, there was hard rain all the way down the mountain. And the traffic got heavier as the afternoon got later and we got closer to home. No problems, though. As much as we love to travel, it's always good to get home, too.

This is considered the beginning of the summer holiday season. But we need to remember that it is primarily to honor those men and women who have served and are serving in our armed forces. They are putting their lives on the line for us, and we need to remember that every day.
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Please keep Randy's mom in your thoughts and prayers tonight and in the days ahead.

Rain, rain, go away!

It rained off and on all day today - mostly "on" - a nice, gentle, farmer's rain. But it did keep the folks from any bike riding.

One of the things we'd hope to get in this weekend was for John to try out one of the recumbent bikes. With any luck, they'll get a break in the rain tomorrow morning, so he can give it a try.

In any case, we'll be heading home tomorrow sometime. And we'll hope for no rain and not-too-bad traffic.

Happy Memorial Day to all!

From Kentucky

Greetings from Kentucky!

We headed out this morning, and stopped first at Margaret's. We left off some empty jars and bottles, and got full ones (tomatoes, tomato juice, jams, etc., etc.). Plus we got some delicious asparagus and sugar snap peas. MMMMmmmmm!

The next stop was in Nashville, where we had lunch at the Gerst House with Jean and Kay. That's a usual stop, but always good food.

Then on to Kentucky. The drive was relatively easy - not much traffic - especially for a holiday weekend. And we missed all the predicted rain.

All is well here, except for the remains of the awful damage in the area from the ice storm last January. Folks are still cleaning up from that. Wayne cooked our supper - delicious loin of venison - marinated and cooked on the grill. Incredibly good. Plus we had the fresh vegetables. It just doesn't get any better than that.

The day ended with a session of Apples to Apples - a funny, trivia game. Try this one sometime. We'll be taking it to the beach.

The WOW Factor

There is a new exhibit in Chattanooga. It's called Jellies: Living Art. It's the result of a collaboration between the Tennessee Aquarium and the Hunter Museum of American art.

The exhibits combines the wonderful ethereal sinuous qualities of different varieties of jellyfish and glorious art pieces of glass designed by Dale Chihuly and other glass artists.

We went with Allan to an Aquarium member night tonight. The first part of the Ocean Journey building is fascinating, as usual. And then we rounded a corner, and there was a display of glorious organic jelly-fish-bell-shaped vessels - in many different colors and sizes. There were many new tanks with different jellyfish.

Then, I turned a corner into another room and - WOW!!! - I came to a screeching stop - probably with my mouth hanging open. The whole room was an incredible display of moon jellies. The room is about 15' wide by 30' long, floor and ceiling are black. The 30' walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling lit tanks of moon jellies - no other lights in the room. The 15' walls at the ends of the room are all mirrored, so the illusion is of a wall of jellies stretching to infinity. It is truly awesome! More than anything, I wish Alison could see this exhibit.

We haven't seen the Hunter Museum part of the exhibit, but you can bet it won't be too much longre before we get there!

If you have any chance to get to Chattanooga this summer, this exhibit is a MUST!!!

Obituaries

Relax. This isn't about anybody in particular who has died - or whose death is imminent.

Our family reads obituaries. First, of course, to see if anyone we know has died. And because sometimes the obits are interesting, sometimes they're creative. And sometimes they're hysterically funny.

The other day, Jean sent us an obit from the Nashville paper. We didn't know the deceased, but the lady had obviously been aware she didn't have much more time. She obviously wrote her own obituary.

Have you ever thought about writing your own obit?
What would you say?
How long would you want it to be?
What people would you like to mention?
What things do you think are important that people know about you?
What would you like people to remember about you?
What things would you NOT want said about you?
What plans would you want for your funeral?

Just some random thoughts...........

Gallery work

Going to swimming and the Studio/Gallery was the usual routine this morning. But not so usual at the Gallery. The rest of this week, we're changing exhibits. Vicki likes changing furniture around when we change the paintings. And it does make people keep coming back to see thing differently. When we change artists in the gallery area, everybody's work gets moved around. So the first thing we had to do was take all the work off the walls. Then we start putting pieces back up again. It was just the two of us for a while, and then Terry & Charline came to start setting up Terry's main-gallery exhibit.
We will have our first Third Thursday evening hours tomorrow. I know it'll take a while to catch on, but the idea of being open until 8 one evening a month is exciting - especially as we're getting into the summertime and the long daylight hours. Terry will have his opening reception a week from Friday.
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Run, do not walk, to wherever you buy music and get Diana Krall's new CD, Quiet Nights. She is always wonderful, but this one is a treasure. These are the songs she does in her smoky-voiced jazzy style.
1. Where Or When
2. Too Marvelous For Words
3. I've Grown Accustomed To His Face
4. The Boy From Ipanema
5. Walk On By
6. You're My Thrill
7. Este Seu Olhar
8. So Nice
9. Quiet Nights
10. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
11. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
12. Everytime We Say Goodbye

Takin' a break

I'm just taking a blog-break for a day or two. See ya later.

A glorious day!

We had a glorious day today - temperatures in the high 60s, gusty winds, low humidity, and bright sunshine. What a refreshing change from the nonstop gloom and rain we've been having. Our overnight lows were in the 40s. Definitely my kind of weather!

John was high at bridge last week, and we both had pretty good cards today. At bridge today, it was announced that we'd not be playing next Monday (25 May) since that was the Memorial Day Holiday. What?!?!? Isn't Memorial Day the following weekend? That's when we're going to Kate's. Guess we'd better do some checking.

After a calendar check and a couple of phone calls, I think we've finally gotten it straightened out. We are definitely going to Kate's this coming Saturday, and will come home on Monday or Tuesday. Son-in-law Wayne seemed to be the only one who knew for sure that the holiday would be this coming Monday. We confuse so easily.

Oh, my - I've just heard on the news that a cock fighting ring was broken in Middle Tennessee. It never seems to stop.

A squirrely day

Today was a squirrely day.

John's been going back and forth between being annoyed at the squirrels getting into his bird feeders and being appreciative of their ingenuity and athleticism. One of them even knocked the feeder onto the ground and broke it.

The feeders are a wire strung between two trees, with empty 2-liter bottles threaded onto the wire (about 4-5 at each end). The bottles spin when a squirrel tries to cross them and throw the squirrel onto the ground. Only the most agile ever get across the bottles onto the wire. So the question became "How are they getting out there?".

I noticed the branches of a nearby Althea (Rose of Sharon) bush near the house bouncing up and down - much more than the wind or a bird could cause. That crafty squirrel had figured out that he could jump from that branch to the wire and then to the feeder. John popped him with the BB gun, and he jumped off the feeder. And about 5 minutes later, he was back making the jump again.

So John was off to get the limb-loppers and cut a couple of the offending limbs off the bush. Poor squirrel! He tried several other limbs, but they just didn't work. Then he tried some limbs in a couple of other nearby trees, but they weren't suitable.

Score for today: John 1, Squirrel 0.
Stay tuned!

Even more rain

We've had another 0.9" of rain today - just made for a long, uneventful day. I got in lots of knitting on the shawl and reading.

This painting is a couple of years old - acrylic on canvas.

Thunder and rain

After swimming, I spent an uneventful day at the studio. I got another painting done and a "start". I also got about half-way through the new David Baldacci thriller, "First Family". I have that on the Kindle, so I'll have to share K-time.

About suppertime, the thunder started and then the rain. Since then, we've had 1.5" of rain, and it's still thundering. It's going to be a damp weekend.

I finally got Picasa to cooperate, and here are the photos of the paintings from last week. The top one is about 24 x 15, acrylic on paper. The second one is named Crossing, 12x36, acrylic on canvas.

Sudden storms & Noodling

It wasn't really all that hot today, but it's definitely getting toward the summertime humidity. There was a long line of thunderstorms this morning, but it disappeared somewhere between Nashville and her. Then about 10:30 tonight, the thunder and rain started. I won't check the gauge until morning, but the weather guy said places were getting 1-2" of rain very quickly. It's supposed to storm on Saturday, too. And, of course, I have to pick up some paintings from an exhibit. Oh, well - we'll make it work.

There was another program on 'noodling' - Okie Noodlin' 2 - on our PBS station tonight. Another name for this is handfishing. The people covered in this story are from Missouri and Oklahoma. But what they do is wade along riverbanks, looking for holes in which catfish have made nests and lay their eggs. The handfishers then stick their hands in the holes until the fish (the bigger the better) grab their hands, and they grab the fish's lip and pull (wrestle?) it out of the hole and out of the water. What a HOOT! this is. Just in case you don't believe me, CLICK HERE for the official web site. Be sure to check the photos.

A Wednesday Surprise

Today was much quieter, with even a surprise visit.

At the studio, I took another look at the paintings I did yesterday. I left one alone, but "tweaked" the other one - at Vicki's suggestion. Group critiques are wonderful, and always helpful. I'll get some photos and post them in a day or two
.
Shortly after I got home, we got a call from Matt. He was heading out to go to Knoxville to participate in a wedding. We met him at a local fast-food joint and talked while he ate some lunch. It's nice to be on a major track, and get to grab some unplanned, brief visits.

Allan came by to eat with us. He is going to get the car he looked at yesterday, and he's glad to have that decision made. But even more than that, his "baby" got delivered today - his piano, that is. Now he's really moved here and REALLY happy! Now all he needs is his sweetie!

Today's photo is one of John's - a lovely hibiscus.

Sunflowers needed

It was a long day, but a good one, and we went out to eat before coming home. I spent most of the day at the studio/gallery, helping with the students, and even getting some painting done myself. The Friends of the Library Board meeting went well, and even finished a bit early. John picked me up, and we went to a local cafe with good, plain food. I got a veggie plate and cornbread. Yum!

Good news: We think Allan has found a car. And in the meantime, he has another one to borrow. So John has his car back.

Bad news: Our cardinal nest empty - guess some critter feasted on the babies. They definitely weren't fledged yet. Not a surprise, but still sad.

Today's photo is a Southside sunflower. I just needed a flower.

Definitely Monday

It surely did feel good to get into the pool today. It's always a good start for a busy Monday and the week.
There was no denying, though, that WalMart was waiting. I had a long list - plus the biweekly gasoline stop. We had a big group at bridge - six full tables.

Allan loved sleeping at "home" last night, but he still came over to eat tonight, and do some laundry. He's going to be putting in some billable hours tomorrow, though. This is to be encouraged!

Today's photo is one of John's from Colorado, taken a couple of years ago.

Happy Mother's Day!

I'll always miss Pink and Nita. But today, I'm happy for having the wonderful daughters and grandchildren who make me a mother and a grandma. Love you all!

Today's photo is the best Mother's Day present - a Mom getting her son home from Iraq.

Weave Me Alone

Today was a real "sit-around" day. I didn't even leave the house. John did go down to help with the boat-house cleanup after the high water from all the rain. Unfortunately, it's still raining. I hope they don't have to do it again in a week or so.

Allan, John & Sylvia did more unpacking and rearranging in the apartment, and then came here for supper.

"Weave Me Alone" is the name of Kate's new project for sale of her weavings. (Don't you love it?!?) I took some photos for her, and this is one of the gorgeous pieces she has made.

Baby Picture

We had a huge storm line come through this morning. Fortunately it was brief - and it hit here after our swimming class and after John and I had gotten to Panera's. By noon the sun was out. Of course, it's getting more humid now, and feeling more like summer.

John, John & Sylvia, and Allan got lots more done at the apartment today. I did my other stuff, and then fixed dinner for the workers. It's amazing what I can find in the freezer. I told them I'd have to feed them again tomorrow, and see what I could find then. It surely is helping to get the freezer cleaned out!

Here's the photo I promised last night. The Mom and Dad are doing a pretty good job keeping them fed, and they're already bigger tonight than when this photo was taken.

The Prodigal has returned!

Our friend, Allan, got here today to move back. The moving truck arrived right on time, and the men were moving boxes in all afternoon. John, John & Sylvia, and I spent the afternoon helping unpack stuff. We finally quit about 5, after the movers had finished, and headed for our house. I got some soup out of the freezer for us to eat, and mostly we just relaxed for a while (with a few adult beverages). We'll probably all be back at it tomorrow. But it is terrific to have him back!

Our babies have hatched on the front porch. I did get a photo of those little beaks gaping open, and thought I got them in Picasa. But now, I can't get Picasa to open. I'll get that picture posted tomorrow.

Miscellaneous politics

Today was a swim-class morning, but I woke up about 5:30 and heard thunder. So I turned off the alarm and we went back to sleep. It was sweet! A few hardy folks did go to class and got about 20 minutes of class between having closed times due to lightning strikes. I didn't want to do that. But I did meet some of them for coffee later.

We noticed today that the momma cardinal was sitting up higher in the nest. She was off for a while, and John peeked in. He said he could see some "puff balls" - so her eggs have obviously hatched. I do hope the critters don't get them. Later, we could see three little beaks waving in the air. Jean says I should just stay out on the porch all the time. Right!
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I recommend reading The Dilemma of Dissent, an essay by Richard N. Haass in the May 18, 2009 issue of Newsweek. On the web page, you'll have to scroll down past the photo of "W" to get to the beginning. This is a quote from the article. It's a shame when dissent is considered disloyalty.

Dissent has been hailed as noble and necessary by our leaders. None other than President Dwight Eisenhower said that Americans should "never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion." Former senator J. William Fulbright declared, "In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith."
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From the Chattanooga Times Free Press this morning (via the AP):

Washington - The top Republican in the Senate served notice on President Barack Obama on Tuesday that the GOP won't rubber-stamp his choice to succeed the retiring Justice David Souter.
"The president is free to nominate whomever he likes," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "But picking judges based on his or her perceived sympathy for certain groups of individuals undermines the faith Americans have in our judicial system."

I'm glad I wasn't standing next to him when he said that. I'd have fallen over laughing at the hypocrisy of such a statement.
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Today's photo is Clay Bennett's editorial cartoon from this morning's Times Free Press. In explanation, the Tennessee legislature (in its infinte wisdom) has just passed a law allowing licenses gun owners to carry a concealed weapon into an establishment where alcohol is served.

Doctor visit

When I went in to see our new doc last fall, she said to come back for a recheck in six months. That visit was today. Nothing much was wrong to complain about. But she did get some blood drawn to recheck my thyroid function. I've been on synthroid for years, so I'm glad to have that checked. She also is going to try me on a new BP medicine - one that doesn't make me cough all the time. She says it's not generic yet, but should be in a couple of weeks. She gave me a month's sample to take to be sure it works, and to temporize until the generic status kicks in. (I love a doc who is concerned about expenses.)

John's been putting drops in my ears for several days to soften up the impacted wax. I asked about that today, too, and the nurse spent quite a while flushing out my ears. They said they got almost all of the wax removed, but I should continue using the drops. And they're going to check all that stuff again in a month. I'm really liking this new doctor.

We've actually had some sunshine today, and it's been lovely. John went to the boathouse to row early this morning, but forgot to check the water level. The river was much too high and fast for him to get on the water. They've got all the flood gates open on the dam, helping to reduce the buildup in the upriver tributaries from all this rain. I'm glad he didn't try to row. On the news tonight, it was reported that a runabout boat with 3 people in it had capsized tonight (one person had been rescued as of this writing).

I think the kitty litter that I spread all over the trunk of the car is helping to alleviate the smell. It's still there, but definitely getting better.

Today's photo is from palemale.com - one of the Central Park red-tailed hawks. I wish we could see our neighborhood red-tails this well.

Another Monday

It was nice to take a holiday from WalMart today. After going on Saturday AND Sunday, it wasn't really necessary today. I did introduce John to Aldi this morning. Eggs there are about half what they are at WM, so I wanted to stock up there. But it was just a quick stop.

Good news at bridge this afternoon. I was high last week, with five tables playing. That was a nice surprise!

Beth gave us some steaks from Omaha Steaks for my birthday. We had the first one tonight, and it was really good! Thanks again, love!

Today's photo is an old one from the Astronomy Picture of the Day. It's Io, one of Jupiter's moons. I'm sharing it just because I love the photo.

More rain

I made a quick trip to Walmart this morning to get more of the cheeses for the lasagna. Then I was able to finish assembling the lasagnas. The next challenge was to find room in the freezer for all of them. Once they're frozen, we can rearrange again to make things more accessible. But at least that job is done for a while.

The laundry got done. The sheets got changed on the bed. I guess it was mostly the usual Sunday housekeeping stuff (except for lasagna marathon, of course).

And the rain kept coming. By noon today, we had another 1.2" of rain. That's a 3-day total of nearly 4". The smaller creeks in the area are starting to flood. But I guess, by tonight, even the weather folks would say we were out of the drought.

We got some good suggestions for odor control from the blog comments yesterday. Thanks, folks. I'm working with the kitty litter today. We'll see how that goes, and then maybe go on to another possibility.

In honor of our nesting cardinals on the front porch, here's a great picture (from the palemale.com site) of a cardinal in Central Park.

Assembly line

Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna - all over everywhere. Boy, this is a messy process. At least the way I do it.

I had to go back to the store this morning. After all, I managed to let the meat rot in the trunk of my car, so I did need to get more. I fit the trip in between rain showers - not easily done today. Since Thursday night, we've had 2.5" of rain. But I did get the sauce done, and then started the assembly process. I had gotten some deep loaf pans this time, and they're working great. About the right size, and deep enough that they probably won't boil over in the oven.

I quickly realized that I had lots more sauce than I had other ingredients. !@##$$%%^&* The making of this batch certainly has not gone smoothly. So I used about half the sauce, and I'll have to go back to the store tomorrow to get more of the three cheeses required.

I did remember to put kitty litter on the list this time, so I can use that in the car to help get rid of the smell. I backed the car under the carport today, so I could leave the trunk and all the windows open all day. That did help some.

This is the last photo from the day of the 4 Bridges Festival on the Southside.

One busy day!!

This has definitely been one busy day!

The day started off with thunderstorms, and possibly delay of our swim class because of lightening. We headed out to the Y at the usual time, though. There was a terrible smell around and in my car. I had noticed it yesterday, but thought it was in the air - like a nearby paper mill or some such. When we got to the Y, I checked the trunk and found that awful and disgusting problem.

We had missed taking one of the sacks of groceries out of the trunk on Monday(!!!). And it was a couple of pizza and (gag!) a 5-pound chub of hamburger. It was really, REALLY bad. John got it out of the car and into the outside trash can at the Y. We went on back home, found the odor-killing spray, and literally doused the trunk and the interior of the car. All this time, it's pouring down rain. How vile!!! I can't believe I didn't even miss the stuff.

Later on, I went on the gallery and took some photos of the paintings I finished Tuesday. We took down the just-finishing exhibit to get ready for the next one to go up.

When I got home, I left the windows down in the car so it could continue airing out. Needless to say, we took John's car when we went out tonight. I'll leave the trunk open tomorrow to continue to air out.

We went to the opening of the Salon Show (members only) at the AVA (Association for Visual Artists) Gallery. Five of the Gallery2 artists had pieces in the show - I think out of 80 pieces in all. It was a really good show, and it was fun to get a look at it. I don't have a good photograph of the piece I had in the show. Sorry.

After a while, we went out for dinner with Vicki and Roger - great company and great food.
Looks like we're in for about a full week of rain. We have been needing it, so I guess we shouldn't complain (except for the poor folks who are under a flood watch).

Here are the photos of the paintings. I can't seem to get the names directly under them. The first is called "Second Chance" (18 x 24, acrylic on paper); next "The Shadow of Your Smile" (18 x 24, acrylic on paper); last "Goldenrod #1" and "Goldenrod #2" (each 24 x 8, acrylic on canvas).