March 1, 2026 Swimming

 Swimming

Not really, though is was warm enough today, Sunday, March 1, to have done so.  Yes, upper 80s F already in March.  It will most likely be another scorcher this summer. I dread even the thought of it being so hot we stay in the apartment constantly.  This apartment complex does not have a swimming pool for cooling off in the hot months.  

It seems so frivolous to even think of swimming.  The Golden Corncob has started another war.  He seems bent on destroying as much as possible so his real estate development business can have lots of work when he leaves office.  Well, that is if he ever will without an insurrection.  He tried it once even though Fox News et al said it was just a peaceful protest.  I can hardly believe so many folks go along with the out right lies.  And now the man that condemned previous presidents for wars; the Corncob that would end Russia's war on Ukraine; that ran as the peace president has started yet another war.  

Could all the problems in the US be why I awoke hardly able to stand?  As I rose from the bed I almost fell into the window.  I fell back on the mattress and waited till I felt more stable.  Stable is a far reach from where my body was.  Plus, both hips and my lower back were screaming in pain.  Most of my day was spent on muscle relaxers and ice packs.  Walking is almost back to normal.  But the pain in the lower back is still very much there.  Pain medicine and off to bed for me.

But still, nothing in comparison to the nations being bombed out of existance.

God forgive us sinners,

Janice

February 27, 2026, Toast

 Toast

Today is a very special day.  It is my #5 Nephew's birthday.  He is my youngest sister's oldest son.  He was the first of my nephews and nieces when I was actually old enough to be an aunt.  I was 9 when #1 Nephew was born.  My youngest sister was only 18 months old at the time.  You could say my sisters and I were 'spread out' in ages.  That we were.

It has been fun to be an aunt.  Letting the 2 older nieces spend time at my home.  They played in my makeup and nail polish all one day.  We let them keep it all on as we took them to a small cafe for dinner that night.  Those two women still remember those special days.

The four older nephews never spent time like that with us cause there were cool uncles for them to visit.  Then came #5 Nephew.  By that birth, we had moved to Missouri.  Time to just visit over night with just one of the kids was not possible.  Between visits to our home and their home Sister's children grew to know is very well.

#5 N was possibly 1 to 2 when we travelled to Texas for maybe Easter.  Just talking and having an opinion about his wants.  We were staying at my sister's new home.  She was serving breakfast.   #5 was at the table in his high chair.  He was getting cereal.  We just wanted toast.  He asked his mom for toast like us.  "No, you are getting cereal."  With that she left the room to get dressed for the day.

Hubby and I looked at each other.  We took the cereal and gave #5 our  toast.  He immediately had the most quizzical look on his face.  Then a smile and a glint came into his eyes.  And ever since, he knew who he could trust for bits of fun.

Happy Birthday #5 Nephew!  We'll always share the toast.

Thanks for dropping by,

Janice

February 25, 2026 Too Hot!

 Too Hot

Living in what is considered a semi-arid region of Texas, winter weather is usually pretty mild.  There will be maybe two or three 'blue northers', cold fronts, come through bring chilly weather.  The temperatures typically stay above freezing.  The 13 winters since we have moved from southwest Missouri to Central Texas have been unusual.  Snow and/or ice have occurred at least 4 or 5 of the years.  Just three weeks ago there was a cover of sleet and snow mixture that stayed on the ground for 3 days.  In shady areas the cover lasted another day or two.

In January 2021 a week long frigid front came through into Texas.  It even reached the The Valley, Lower Rio Grande, and froze the vegetable crops.  The strain on the power grid actually took the system down in several areas.  Our apartment unit was without power for a week.  We had only electric heat therefore our temperature in the apartment was 40 degrees F.  Our son and grandson insisted we come to their home where they had power.  We agreed on the 3rd day.  They would not let us drive because they considered us too old to be out in the weather.  lol.

Son's home backed up to a retention pond.  It was cold enough that the pond froze deep enough to be walked on.  One family even brought out their hockey equipment.  The dad was schooling his children on the fine art of hockey.  Not at all a typical scene in Central Texas.

The pond without humans risking their lives.

As mentioned earlier in the post, it was quite cold, like in the low teens, just a few weeks back.  Sunday night was in the low 30s.  Today the temperature was in the mid 80's and will approach 90 tomorrow.  It is giving our thermostat settings a real workout.  

Here are charts for the last two months:

As you can see we are having wide swings. But the grid has not had a major failure so far.  However our breaker just tripped for our living room.  No idea why as we have only a couple of laptops, a lamp, google home, and a ceiling fan.  And of course our two electric recliners.  Wanna come help me up so I can reset the breaker?  

Life is fun some days!

Janice

 

February 20, 2026 It Has Been Seven Days

It Has Been Seven Days 

This is beginning to irritate me.  How can I forget to write my blog at least every other day?  Distractions, that is how.  Just today I had an agenda in my mind for the day.  Part of the agenda involved activities both inside and away from our apartment.  

Sort clothing and begin washer was first on the agenda.  Next was steam mop the hard surface floors.  Our little Robbie 2 had done most of the vacuuming at 7 this morning.  He does not get into the corners as good as I want, so I follow up with a broom and dustpan.  The plan was to follow with a quick shower, dress, and head out for about three errands.  Oh, before anything do about half of the PT exercises for the replaced hip.

Grocery pickup was scheduled for between 11:30 and noon.  The first load of clothing was in the washer.  Corners were cleaned and I was just starting the steam mop.  I managed the main bath and moved to the living area.  Hubby told me he had himself in a mess.  He could not get into his ham radio computer.  His password was not working.  Let me finish the mopping and I'll see what I can do was the gist of my response.

Within a minute he was asking again for my help.  I turned the steamer off, and grumpily said, "Fine your project not mine."  I know, that is not the compassionate way to answer.  We exchanged words that 85 and 79 years old senior citizens married for almost 59 years would say.  His words were nicer than mine.  After about 30 minutes, I told him I could not fix it and needed to finish the mopping.

Mopping finished.  Clothes put in dryer and second load in the washer.  No shower, just a quick PTA cleansing and jumped in clothing.  (Folks in this area would not appreciate a nude grandma running around.)  I was out the door with recycling and trolly to carry in the groceries in tow.  Miraculously, I arrived at the grocery store at 12:15.  

The remaining 2 stops were accomplished without any further issues.  Well, except I did fail to get some of that $2.39 a gallon gasoline that was not on the agenda.  The two tubs of groceries loaded on the trolly and the walk back to the elevator to our 4th floor apartment.  Once in the apartment, I was immediately put on a video call with Hubby's brother.  

Once the conversation about the doggie paw washer we had sent Bro ended, I returned to previously mentioned agenda.  Hubby put the groceries away while I dealt with laundry.  Thank goodness for that wrinkle prevent cycle!  It was then time to once again deal with the wrong password issue.

"Hubby, are you ready to work on retrieving your account?  I thin........"  He broke in and said, "Never mind, I have it fixed."  Good for him figuring it out for himself.  Maybe I need to just ignore him and let him figure stuff out for himself.  After all, I have a lamp that has always leaned a bit to one side.  It needs a spot of solder to hold a part of it in place.  I asked him to fix it about 53 years ago, it is still leaning.  I'll take a note from his playbook.  That means I'll figure out a way to fix it myself.

Have a great weekend.

Janice

February 13, 2026 Owls

 Owls

As happens every 6 to 8 weeks, I did not even go to bed last night.  I was doing a NY Times Tiles match game.  The patterns within the game change every 24 hours.  There are 8 or 10 different designs that rotate.  Some of the designs are easy for me to rack up the points as I match between the blocks.  Others I prefer to give maybe 30 minutes before switching to an online jigsaw puzzle site, Jigsaw Planet. Blogger friend, YAM, submits her lovely photos under the name yammacca.  She  makes into puzzles for all to enjoy.

In texting with a friend today I noted that I had not gone to bed for sleep.  What a long night, was the response. Not really when my mind is concentrating on the match game.  Besides, I think of myself as a night owl.  The response from the friend was, "Well to be accurate all owls are nocturnal".  Wise guy.   

It was literally 4:30 AM before I noticed the time.  My mind was not feeling sleepy.  But I did need to move.  I had 3 packages needing to be prepped for shipping.  I sat to work retrieving the information.  Labels printed, packages taped securely, and still not sleepy.  Folded a load of laundry that was resting in the dryer.  Still not even 6 AM.  An English muffin and cup of warmed over coffee to start the day.  By 7:30 I was asleep in my recliner.  Hubby had been up about 20 minutes when I crashed.

By 10 I was awake.  But not necessarily wanting to take on the world.  Now it is 3:30 PM and I have accomplished basically nothing.  Well, paid bills, talked to Hubby, talked to son, ate a bite of lunch.  Then the silly match game called to me again.  One thing is for certain, if night owl is not correct, wise old owl surely does not fit either!

Thanks for the stop by,

Janice

Current score.  4:30 AM score was 683 when I mismatched.

February 11, 2026, Book Club

 Book Club

An organization to which I belong has 3 gatherings each month.  A formal business meeting, a book club, and a coffee/lunch are scheduled for each month of the year.  All are scheduled for the first, second, and fourth Wednesdays.  Today was the second Wednesday, so book club it was!

The book club meets at Panera's, a chain restaurant.  Panera started as St. Louis Bread Company.  They have yummy bagles, lunches, and fresh coffees.  It is a pleasant setting for us ladies to gather and discuss each month's book.  This month's book, Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Lett, was well received by the entire group.

AI gave this brief summary of the book:   ". .a historical fiction novel that tells the story of Maud Gage Baum, the wife of The Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, focusing on her life and her efforts to ensure the 1939 MGM film adaptation honors her late husband's work. The narrative uses a dual timeline, exploring Maud's rebellious youth as a suffragette's daughter and her early life with Frank, alongside her experiences on the film set as she connects with a young Judy Garland and tries to protect the spirit of the book. "

A well written book that pulled me into the story line within the first few pages.  The author had pursued her research so thoroughly that each person was almost three dimensional.  After reading this book I am now wanting to rewatch the original film starring Judy Garland.  One event toward the end of the book told of the struggle to have the signature song included in the final take.

If you are looking a an easy read for the coming months,  I hightly recommend this tome.

Thanks for stopping by for a chat.

Janice

February 8, 2026 Borrowed Beauty

 Borrowed Beauty

Yes, I know, still skipping days.  It will take more discipline than I currently choose to have to be posting daily.  It is my choice at this point.  Actually it is a matter of looking for the inspiration.  Today's inspiration came from a blogger in Sweden.  The blog is Björn Rudbergs writings.  His post on February 2, 2026 is Candlemass.

Hubby's maternal family line traces back to Sweden.  The family Bible is written in Swedish.  Reading Björn's writings feel like showing respect for that heritage in a small way.  The Candlemass poem introduced a new liturgical season to me.  One in my Protestant background which was not celebrated.  For the non knowing, like myself, here is one link to better explain candlemass.

As for the inspiration from Björn, it was the haiku that closed his haibun:

zigzag in the snow
tracks traversing the meadow —
the snow hare’s evening
Björn Rudberg

Can I in some way keep the feeling of this haiku in one of my own.  Well, there is neither snow nor snow hares where I live.  Maybe my imagination can take me to a snowy landscape.  Or to a treasured memory with tracks.

Cape Cod, October 2005

watery fingers

reach for the plovers tracks

erased by the moon

petra domine

Nowhere close to the elegance of Björn's writings.  Still inspired to create a haiku.  That feels so good.  

Thanks for stopping by for a chat.

Janice.