Outside My Window ~ 8.16.09

Outside My Window…is a nice morning……sun is shining….a slight breeze…..81F with 68% humidity.  Yea, I’m wishing the humidity wasn’t that high.  Wow, I just saw on the weather channel we have had almost 4 inches of rain so far this month…and I have noticed the tropics are picking up ~ three now.  We are heading into the real hurricane season now.  It officially starts on June 1^st, but things usually won’t get interesting until mid August and they can get even more interesting as we approach mid September.  It is perfect weather for storms to blossom in the ocean. For people who live near the east or gulf coast, the Weather Channel can be your favorite television show when the tropics heat up.   Their ‘teasers’ about these storms are making me laugh…….I couldn’t help but think if someone took a shot of liquor every time they said “tropical”, you would get very drunk, very quickly.  🙂

I am thinking…about my list of things to do today.  One will be to hang my new hummingbird feeder. I had decided I wanted one while visiting my parents in South Carolina.  But did I have hummingbirds ….. that was the million dollar question.  When I got home from work Tuesday evening, I went to the backyard to check on an elephant ear plant I had recently transplanted.  I was unlocking the sliding glass door when I looked up to see a hummingbird, fluttering around in the backyard….question answered, I have hummingbirds.   I have the water cooling now. 

I am thankful for…a lot of things right now…..most which have to do with family……..for my job and home…for many things……I can’t grasp one as being better than the other right now. 

From the kitchen…right now it is The Fresh Market’s decaf Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee, with cream. Who knows what will come…….but it will be without My Precious.   I must confess, I went online looking for salt substitutes and found one called AlsoSalt ~ and bonus points, sold right here at my local grocery store.  It is made with potassium rather than sodium and some other magikal ingredients that makes it taste so marvelous……but I had to chuckle when I read their label which said ….. “taste on food, not directly out of container”.  I took their word for it and used it on a tomato slice on my ham and cheese on rye with garden greens.  It must do something…….the sandwich tasted pretty good, but different. I think this “patch” will help me cut way back.

I am creating…lots of photos lately.  I have so many to photos and so little time to work on them.  I have been working on my vacation photos as well as some others I have.  Hopefully I will have some new ones on Flickr soon.

I am going…to do some housework today, as well as take down what is left of the sunflowers.  I have discovered that they do not hang around very long.  Or perhaps it was this variety.  It could have had something to do with too much rain….who knows, they aren’t so beautiful right now.  No photos…..let us leave you with the lovely images. I am actually leaving them up as long as I can stand it because the birds are enjoying the seeds.  And there are loads of them…..and seed hulls the birds have left behind.  But they will have to come out soon, Cailin reminds me each and every time we pull up to the house how ugly they are now.  I don’t know how much more reminding I can stand.

I am reading…the Mother Earth News magazine that I got earlier this month.  I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and look through it so far this month.  Some of their stories are by people who have been living off the grid for some time…….what some would call an almost primitive life.  There was one story of a young woman who had grown up in a log home in the eastern mountains of Washington, about 70 miles south of Canada.  The home was built by her parents and a friend……it was very unique.  It really was an interesting article and if you are interested in reading Nurtured by Nature, click here.  Unfortunately, the online copy doesn’t seem to have all of the photos the magazine article had.  This house is pretty cool looking…..I’m not such a large fan of the toilet though.

I am hoping…to get some things accomplished today.  I’m also hoping these storms chill out before hitting the coast anywhere.

I am hearing…ticking of my many clocks, The Weather Channel….yes, you even watch when the storms are not coming towards you because they may be sooner or later as a whole lot of rain!

Around the house…clutter, dishes that need doing, laundry, and plants to water.  Let’s just say there is no problem with finding something to do today.

Plans for the week include…I haven’t really thought about next week.  I will be keeping up on the weather though…..Alanna has gone to Nags Head with her boyfriend’s family.  While the current storms are far away, at this time of year they can pop up anywhere and move quickly.   

One of my favorite things…is watching old movies.  I’m not talking 1980’s old, I’m talking black and white old.  I especially like to watch the old “scary” black and whites from my childhood.  They are a hoot, but they have magikal abilities to transport you back in time to ‘remember when’ memories.   🙂

A picture I’d like to share with you…I have so many photos I have taken lately; it will be hard to pick one.  Let’s go with this one…Rural Decay is photos of old buildings, houses, farm buildings, silos or any other decaying building or sign.  These are often objects that have become part of the landscape but Once Upon A Time, they were something more…….