Long Heat Wave Breaking Records

I am so blessed to live in a rural area. I drive up Route 98 to school every day, it's 99.9% of the drive. LOL, "Route 98" looks like this.

For it to be named a 'Route' makes it sounds more traffic-y than it is. The gas station intersection is the most populated part. It's a cross street that brings commuters from Elbert County and the eastern part of my county, to the route that takes them to Athens.

As I approach the intersection it is actually the top of a long, slow hill. There is a canola field on the left. The sunrises over the field are spectacular. Because of the hill,  I think, dramatic clouds always gather in that spot and it's too tempting or pull over and snap a few photos.

It's August and that means haying. We are smashing records all over here in north Georgia. We have topped 90 degrees every day for the last 51 days, and the other record we are smashing is that the low temp has not gone below 70 for the last 51 days. In other words, it's been HOT! My poor air conditioner is getting a work out. Though one expects hot weather in GA in the summer, this one has been long and hot, with no cool night breaks or even lower temps briefly from passing thunderstorms. Phew.

But I can't complain, I'm not out in the fields doing the haying. It has been really hot for those guys. The second photo above is of a nice line-up of many rolls of hay you see as you go down the road. The few you see in the photo are just a few of the stubbly soldiers guarding the field. I pulled off Rt 98 to take this, then paused for a moment on my drive home to enjoy the green field, the pond, the gorgeous old growth trees...ahhh, Such scenes really do lift the spirits.

Well, the weekend is here. I hope you all enjoy, if you get the weekend off. I'm going to read by my air conditioner and thank the good Lord for electricity!

Vacation and pictures of hay

I'm home for Thanksgiving break. It is such a relief! In our school District we have the week off. We do not go to school on Monday and Tuesday, so that's that.

I particularly like Sundays when we have a holiday weekend or vacation. On a regular weekend, Friday night feels great because work is furthest away. Saturday feels great because I have the whole day to myself. Sunday morning is for prayer and then Sunday School and then Worship service. When I get home I make a midday meal, and then usually conk out. So it is mid-afternoon when I come to and that is when I have to start getting ready for the week ahead. I cook meals for the week, do a load of laundry, pack a lunch. Then around 5pm I sit on the couch and watch a rerun of the police show The Closer, and before I know it, it is dark out and evening has arrived and in a few short hours I go to bed and then get up and go back to work.

Weekends go by fast.

But not the week-long vacations! Those are great!

Here are a few pictures I snapped of the hayfield next door. For some reason I really like taking pictures of hay.

Saturday mundanity is wonderful to me

I stayed home from school Friday. It was my first absence this year. I hated to do it, but I needed it though. The sinus infection I've been struggling with is now bronchitis, and that is one disease that just wears a person out.

Anyway, today is the usual Saturday domestic bustling that must be accomplished on this day and this day alone. (I'm serious about Sunday being a day dedicated to the Lord). I straightened up, but failed so far to vacuum, something that I have to do without fail every week. I have two cats, enough said. But I did clean the kitchen, do the dishes, and complete the errands.

I really enjoy our local grocery store. I can easily stick to my weekly budget of $30 and still get protein, fresh fruit, and a treat once in a while. The Dollar store is next door so that takes care of that. It is a blessing not to have to drive to the two places, and I would not give up the Dollar Store for anything. It is just too expensive to try and buy hard goods anywhere else.

I'm looking forward to the fruit salad I'm going to make: cantaloupe, grapes, mango. I plan a menu based on what was for sale, and make several items on Sundays for lunches during the week. This week I'll have tofu jerky, salmon-potato patties on bed of romaine, and sides of baked squash and green bean casserole. I'll also make some kind of soup, maybe some of the squash will go into a thick squash bisque...

It is less expensive to make items and store them ready to eat so no temptation to go out and pick something up. I work two jobs for 11 hours a day, so advance planning is crucial.

On my driving here and there I saw a wonderful 2 nailed on a rusty trailer, a black crow standing in front of red clay hill that reminded me of the cliffs of Dover, and coming round the curve, this unfortunate hay roll that escaped off an overloaded truck. Actually in passing the hay bale I saw that two had fallen off. I was glad no one was hurt and the driver as getting out of his car and making a cell phone call as I passed. Must have just happened.

I'm having a mug of green tea and preparing to put together the weekly prophecy newsletter. It will be a relaxing and restful Saturday, just what I need.

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A day in the country

Well, summer's here for us teachers and other educators in the school system. Nowadays, I sleep late (7 am!) drink two full cups of coffee before they get cold, and finish reading an entire page in my book without falling asleep. Those are just a few of the changes in lifestyle after the kids are gone and school's out.

The natural beauty around me also deepens and changes. On my way to school this morning, I passed farmers haying, their colorful daisies chopping away behind the tractors. Empty roads greeted me, all buses now stilled. A red, red barn with gated white 'X' sits atop a hill covered with thistles,

And here's the thistle

And went to visit a friend and a fancy showbird showed up, bands and all. She is contacting the local Pigeon Showbird chapter, but meanwhile, we had fun admiring its colors

I guess you never know what the day will bring. Today it was hay, thistles, and a racing pigeon!

Summer shots backyard

Hay! Hay Hay! Hey!

Hay!
















Hay! Hay!



















Hey! That's one long trailer!



















Hey! That's a lot of money!