Outside My Window ~ 8.23.09
Outside My Window…is a decent morning. Temps are 81F with 68% humidity at 11:00 this morning. Yes, it is quite toasty and muggy outside. What was beautiful, blue, sun shiny skies is now filling with clouds. We are forecasted today to have thunderstorms this afternoon. This is pretty typical weather for this time of year actually. Yesterday afternoon we had an enormous amount of rain from the front that passed through….the same one that kept Hurricane Bill away from the coast.
I am thinking…about my things to do list…….and how grateful I am that Alanna remembered the time she got caught in a rip current when we were at Nags Head several years ago. The girls, floating on their boogey boards, and I hanging on to the two of them, were out in the ocean when I noticed Alanna wasn’t able to paddle her boogey board in while I was pulling Cailin. I immediately turned around, told Alanna not to panic and while pulling Cailin went back to Alanna, grabbed the string on her board. While I held on to the two of them on their boards, I swam parallel to the shore until I felt the current subside. I was able to swim back in while pulling them both in. We had a pretty long walk back to our beach blanket, but everyone was safe. With that memory etched in her mind, my baby girl stayed out of the water in Nags Head as Hurricane Bill created dangerous rip currents on the East Coast. She told me she still remembered how she couldn’t paddle back in that day. They can be taught! 🙂
I am thankful for…Hurricane Bill passing on by us with only high waves and rip currents. At this time last week, it was just a system off Africa and now it is well away from us. I’m also thankful for The Great Sunflower Project for supplying the seeds for the Lemon Queen Sunflowers this year. I finally took them out this morning…..so sad to see them go. I finished my final web entry but I will be looking forward to next year when they send out the seeds again. If you want to take part next year, you can visit their web site and sign up.
From the kitchen…something delicious…..I just don’t know what right now. 🙂 Have you ever had the feeling you want something really good to eat, but just can’t put your finger on what it is? I’m experiencing that right at the moment. I am going to try a new recipe I found online for dinner tonight, Red Pepper Risotto. You may want to check out the site I found it on, The Pioneer Woman. The Pioneer Woman is a one time city gal that married a cowboy and now lives on a working ranch. She also offers photography tips and some free actions for PhotoShop. I can’t use all of her actions because I have PS Elements, but I have learned a lot from her tips and tutorials. Plus it is a pretty entertaining blog. Click here if you want to check her site out.
I am creating…more edited photos each day. I have so many photos I have to go through from right before my trip to Catawba and on. I guess if I quit taking the photos, they would quit piling up, but I can’t.
I am going…to take Cailin to a friends house and stop by my mother’s house to see if there are any more figs ready for picking. Yes, picking fresh figs because I’m going to try and make some fig preserves. My step mother gave me a lesson on what to do……….we will see if I can be taught!
I am reading…everything I can get my hands on about photo editing with PSE7. I have learned so much lately……..and the other night while editing a photo, it all came together. I think I get it now. I may be writing my own actions before I know it.
I am hoping…I get all my errands done before the rains come again today. We had a torrential downpour yesterday……I think I heard that Norfolk, VA ~ about 45 minutes from me ~ got 3 inches of rain yesterday afternoon…..two of them in an hour. That is a lot of rain!! I wouldn’t be surprised if we got close to that around my house. It poured rain for a very long time.
I am hearing…Cailin talking on the telephone…..the Weather Channel…..and the ticking of my many clocks. Did I hear the Weather Channel just say that Sable Island ~ off the northeast coast of Canada ~ will get 50 foot waves from Hurricane Bill? Surely they said 15………I hope so anyway.
Around the house…chores…….chores……….chores. Again, there is not a lack of things to do around the house.
Plans for the week include…making fig preserves…….chores…….more photo editing…..I would like to get the large wicker chest I bought at the estate sale this past May painted and new liner put in.
One of my favorite things…is rain showers when you wake up on a weekend morning. There is something so relaxing, so soothing as you listen to the rain softly coming down while lying in bed. Now if you had outdoor plans, not so much…….but on those days when you don’t, very nice.
A picture I’d like to share with you…I’m working on a lot of photos right now and many of them will be added to my Flickr account over the next few weeks…….I will also feature some of them on blog posts too. I like this one with the grasses at the end of the lake, the cattails and the way the water was rippling in the background.
