Saturdays, oh Saturdays!

My typical Saturday is well underway. Though, in summer, I don't do as much cleaning on Saturday, choosing to spread it out over the week. I can do it any other day, unlike when I'm teaching, and there's no time on any day to do it. I drink my coffee, have a light breakfast, and then trot off to the Farm Market and then small errands in town. It doesn't take long, town is only a mile away and the post office, bank are right next to each other. The Dollar Store is a block down. And that's town, lol. It is a quaint town of white picket fences:

I bought blueberries and green beans today or $1 each and plan to use the beans as is, steamed with some pecans, instead of the voluminous amount I usually get and make green bean pâté. The blueberries are destined for cold milk and corn flakes.

I had some necessities to pick up at the Dollar Store, but The Official Trip Report from the Dollar Store brings the sad news that first, in order to avoid lawsuits for un-truth in advertising, they are going to have to re-name it the Two Dollar Store. All the prices went up from two weeks ago and it is getting harder to find items for that increasingly mythical $1 price. Likely all the dollar items having a rainbow picnic with the unicorn in the enchanted forest.

I bought 15 items. Nine had been raised in price, one was lower, and five remained the same. The total was $3.90 more than it would have been the week before.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but that was a cost increase over just 15 items, and since that is not the only raise-in-price all year, it adds up. The total was $31.35 and that's a 12% increase. Not good.

Back home, I shot this of a growing pine cone: I love God's design!

My plans for the rest of the day include reading, eating copious amounts of fresh and local fruits, and later, watching HGTV and the Food Network for some mindless tv. Last night's offering on Turner Classic Movies was "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" a movie I adored as a kid. It is still a charmer! Tonight, though, it's Judy Garland in "A Star is Born" and I am not a fan of Garland so I'll stick with design shows and recipes. Though, if I watch for a few minutes I'm usually hooked. I am usually happily surprised at the quality of the oldie movies. In one this week, "The Awful Truth" with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, Irene's character was trying not to pine for her soon to be divorced hubby Cary and to work up some enthusiasm for Ralph Bellamy, a solid but boring suitor.

Her mother said, You had a lot of laughs with your husband, but now you want solid, dependable, stable? Lucy: Yes! Yes!
Mother: Get an annuity.

LOL!

Corner View: "Daily"

Jane at Spain Daily has a weekly theme upon which we all write from our corner of the world. It is called Corner View and this week's theme is "Daily." Please be sure to check out her entry and the links to all the others!

What do I need daily? What do I do daily? They are almost the same. I need protein in the morning, I'm a vegetarian and I eat little animal protein during the day but an egg is always a sure bet for a protein pick-me up.My current preference is for boiled egg atop hardened toast.

I'll cut off the top of the egg and use a spoon to scrape out the yolk and white onto a piece of uncut toast I've toasted hard. All the better to handle the soaking-in of the egg. An egg a day keeps the doctor away. Or apple. Something like that.

My next "Daily" is a shower. I need one every day or else. I've rarely, if ever, tested the universal laws of hygiene physics by failing to take one, but if I went a day without that soothing flow over my tense shoulders, I don't want to think about what might happen. Suns imploding. Galaxies spinning. Earth crumbling. Plus, I'd feel unclean all day.

I need a daily dose of God. Walking close to Him is important. His word never gets old and there is always a blessing if I read it. Prayer then reading His Word is a daily must.

I need a good night's sleep every day. Daily, quality rest or I am just not myself. I am a lot less sparkling if I get a lousy night's rest, and that is just a tragedy for all involved.

Daily. I am grateful that I do not have to attend an AA meeting daily. Nor take a daily drug. I don't have to do daily interference with a husband, child, or family member. I have enough to eat daily, and clean water to drink and wash with. I do not have a daily struggle to find safe shelter to sleep in. I am rich by world standards, and I'm very cognizant of that fact. And, life is good, every day.

BP Spills Coffee

Corner View: Bliss

Jane at Spain Daily has a weekly theme upon which we all write from our corner of the world. It is called Corner View and this week's theme is "Bliss." Please be sure to check out her entry and the links to all the others!

For a Christian there can be no other answer that the place where all bliss comes from, Jesus. Not your children, because God gives us children. Not nature, because He created it. Nothing else exists in the permanent blissful state except the peace that passes all understanding, and the peace in knowing that heaven is my home. I have been issued a temporary visa to reside on earth, but the fact is, I am blissfully aware that my mansion is being prepared for me in heaven, right at this moment.

This moment was blissful: Upping anchor in a Georgia marsh at sunrise, marsh grasses rustling and the tiny wavelets kissing the bow...

And this moment was blissful: Myrtle Beach SC sunrise over a quiet beach.

But those were just moments. The thing with bliss is, the bliss is fleeting. If we could only capture it, keep it, and remain in that peacefully sublime state forever. O, but we can! For here is bliss:

Summ-ah time and the living is easy...

Lazy summer afternoon...

Weekly visit to the local Farmer's Market

It's so pleasant to be able to go just a mile to a local market and buy local produce. People, both sellers and buyers, are relaxed. Live music plays, usually one guy on a guitar or a mandolin. Dogs romp. Jewelers and crafters smile and proudly display their hard work. It's good.

What I bought this week: eggplants, a pound of green beans, and a head of romaine lettuce. All for $3.50.

Corner View: From where I'm sitting

Jane at Spain Daily has a weekly theme upon which we all write from our corner of the world. It is called Corner View and this week's theme is "From Where I'm Sitting." Please be sure to check out her entry and the links to all the others! (When she re-posts all the links that disappeared from her sidebar, hate when that happens!)

I sit a great deal of the time at home. And most of that time that I'm home, I am at my computer. Therefore, the view is very limited. When I don't have to work during the summer (I work at an elementary school) I am writing. I run a prophecy blog and an e-mail newsletter and those take a great deal of time to research and write. I also take a lot of time to try my hand at better photography for my work on this blog. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm a photographer in progress.

So my view is limited to my left and my right, and the photo below is to my left: the living room. The oddly covered chair is the cat chair. The cats own it. They majestically recline, Roman style, eying their lessers (me) from the vantage point of the Blue Throne Chair.

The small bookcase contains my Italian and Renaissance and Art books, and the window looks out on an expansive yard that's tree-lined and awash with birdsong. Needless to say, the cats also enjoy the vantage point of eying their lessers (the birds) from the vantage point of The Bookcase Heights. See, I have very little say in what goes on around here. They own everything.

The view to my right is of the kitchen. I eschewed to photograph the sink, lest the small pile of dishes therein indicate an attitude toward domestic chores that does not befit a stay-at-home summer teacher with plenty of time on her hands to wash them. Instead, I bring you the hanging rack of colorful Fiestaware cups (original) and the also original painting hanging above my table. My previous landlord gave me this charming oil of the Bay of Naples, painted for him by a local Italian boy while my landlord was stationed in Naples many years ago. It was sweet for him to give that to me.

The fan is the key ingredient in the months of May and June. I choose not to use my air conditioning yet, as it is expensive and the Stay At Home Teacher has lots of time to write but not a lot of money to spend. Ah, time and money, the twain never meet. It is always one or the other. Anyway, I hunch in front of the laptop and the fan, spending my summer days studying and writing. And I could not be happier.

Awww, BP CEO Tony Hayward wants his life back

Don't you feel his pain? Not.

Summer showers

Of course, having summer showers means ... IT'S SUMMER!!

Oh, those independent cats!

My cat likes to nestle against the rise of the pillows on my bed. So I put a special towel for him to lay on. And what does he do? Moves NEXT to it.