Outside My Window ~ 5.2.10

Outside My Window…is a very warm morning.  Already the temps are at 78º with partly cloudy skies…actually more sun than clouds right now.  Combine the humidity it feels like 81º outside at 9:25 am.  Our forecast high for today is 94º with winds 15 to 25mph.   This sounds like a forecast for a summer day, not early May when our average temperature is 70º.  The beaches are definitely welcoming visitors this weekend but with the winds, you will feel like you are being sandblasted.  To get some relief, you may venture into the water….except  while the air temperature is very hot, the water temperature is still spring temperatures…that means you will be wading into water that is about 55º.  That’s cold water….no matter how hot the air temperature is.  Personally, I don’t venture in past my knees until around July 4th. 

I am thinking…that I will really miss seeing and visiting with extended family members today.  My mother’s annual family reunion will be held today in North Carolina and I will not be attending this year.   I think I will plan a visit later this month….

I am thankful for…working air conditioning on days like today!  I have noticed I have become a real wimp when it comes to hot days. Maybe the heat combined with my occasional thermo-nuclear hot flashes just doesn’t go well together.  🙂  Fortunately, those don’t happen as often as they once did. 

From the kitchen…tasty and delicious Fresh Market French vanilla coffee this morning.  When the temperatures warm up, I switch from cinnamon hazelnut to French vanilla…..I really can’t explain why.   I have been busy collecting some recipes to try but I’m not sure what today will bring.  I never really thought of myself as a cook….of course I knew how to cook, but to actually enjoy cooking was not something I ever really thought about.  I have discovered I do enjoy it. 

I am creating…along with all the other projects I have going on, I’m creating a way to print the recipes I post easily.  I swear, sometimes I think I have grown-up ADD because I can’t seem to stay on one project before I’m hopping over to another one.  Could be that ….. or maybe too much on my mind all the time?  Whatever it is, I do know I need to light on something and see it through to the end before beginning anything else!!   I will let you know if I succeed on this quest or not. 

I am going…to hold off planting my seeds until later this afternoon.  I was going to do that yesterday evening but when I saw how hot it would be today, I decided to wait.  Tomorrow will be warm, but not as hot as today; temperatures will then work their way down closer to average and I won’t worry so much about them baking in the soil.  I have the little lovelies soaking in water now.  What is on the menu for this evenings planting ~ Lemon Queen Sunflowers, Moon Flowers and Blue Morning Glories.  I’m also going to see if I can grow some lemon balm and chamomile.  And my lavender plant will produce lavender this year ~ it has already begun!! 

I am reading…if you don’t count the recipes and the blogs I visit on a regular basis, not so much.  But I do have a new book, Needful Things by Stephen King.  Have I ever mentioned how much I like Stephen King?   I have also acquired a bird book (thanks Papa and Nina 🙂  )  Yes, a bird book ~ I know, who’d of thunk it!  I have this desire to know more about those which I care for and feed.  This book tells me all I want to know ~ I’m even starting to know what is around by their song.   The desire to read is coming back once again…I was beginning to wonder! 

I am hoping…the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is brought under control sooner rather than later.  The news doesn’t sound good though.  It saddens and sickens me to my core to think of what will happen once that oil slick reaches the beaches, marshes and wildlife refuges in the south.  I could go off on a rant and rave about off shore drilling and our blind dependence on oil, especially since they have opened up the waters off of Virginia for just such a thing, but I won’t here and now.  I can remember many years ago visiting Galveston….and I don’t recall what may have caused the problem….but I do remember little oil balls on the beach and in the water.  It was nothing compared to what they are predicting with this oil slick, but it was disturbing and gross all the same.   I am truly hoping they can somehow get this slick under control so it does not adversely affect the lives of the people  who rely on the Gulf for their livelihood.   I can’t help but think that after the long recovery they have had to endure after Katrina destroyed so much….and now to get hit with something like this….it’s too sad to even think of.

I am hearing…the ticking of my many clocks…..the Van Helsing movie on the DVD (Hugh Jackman *sigh*)…..Cailin in the kitchen….and no wind chimes!  Now that wouldn’t be so odd except the weather reported winds 15 25mph ~ where is the delightful wind music?   Perhaps the stronger winds are coming ~ along with change.

Around the house…more than I want to contend with today.  The list is long and generally the same ~ laundry, clutter, a few bills to pay, seeds to plant ~ life goes on.

Plans for the week include…there are many things that I will be doing, but it’s odd….nothing I can put my finger on and type right now. 

One of my favorite things…eating fresh berries and produce at the beginning of the season.  I can’t wait for the Farmer’s Markets in our area to open up with their goodies.  My plan is to purchase my produce locally if at all possible this season.  I already have the “egg connection”….but sadly production is down on that.  Some night creatures attacked some of the chickens about a month ago.  They have replenished their brood, but it will be some time before production is up to par.  I do have my patio tomato plants ~ which already have blooms on them.  I’m thinking I should pinch these off and let the plants get a little larger??  Anyone?

A picture I’d like to share with you…a few scenes from my backyard.  Remember I mentioned my neighbors tree would soon explode and rain “oatmeal” down on us?  It has happened….when you walk outside the oatmeal is gently raining down all over.  You can see some of it sitting lightly on one of my tomato plants…..this stuff is everywhere ~ just like a huge cloud of oats exploded overhead….

….my roses are beginning to bloom as well

…look how pretty!