Outside My Window ~ 4.28.2013

Outside My Window…is a cloudy evening.  We started out with blue skies and sunshine but as the day progressed we built up to what is now total cloud cover with some fairly dark skies on the horizon.  Our forecast for this evening is cloudy skies with an 80% chance of rain after midnight.  At 6:15 we are currently at 62°F which is very close to the forecast over night low of 60°F.  Our high today was around noon with partly cloudy skies and 70°F. It was a fabulous weekend overall….perfect for working outside.  Yesterday  I was able to finish my clean up of the backyard and trimming the two large bushes on the opposite side of my fence.  I was a little over zealous with the sawing and trimming, I went right through a branch and into my arm with the gardening saw.  Ouch!  Fortunately once I hit skin I had the good sense to stop.  😉   It is pretty gruesome looking today but surprisingly it doesn’t hurt unless I bump it. Today I was able to complete work in half of the side flower bed.  I may have tried for the entire bed but since it runs the length of the house, I decided I didn’t want to push myself with the pollen and my muscles.  I can tell the pollen has affected my breathing and I’m hobbling as it is so I’m actually glad I listened to myself this time.  The day was complete when I did a half-assed repair of a torn shingle.  You can definitely tell it was done by an amateur but it is repaired.  I can hear the roofers that will one day replace my shingles laughing already.

I am thinking…positive thoughts and hoping my daughter’s old car will be sold very soon.  There is a good possibility….if things work out.  Fingers crossed….

Did you know…that the Earth passed between Saturn and the Sun today and the best time to see Saturn in the night sky is now.  It will be out all night in late April and from dusk until dawn in May.  Tonight it is the closest to Earth and the brightest in our night sky.  It will be near the bright star Spica. Look to the Southeast after nightfall for the Big Dipper…follow the tip of the handle, it will guide you down to Spica which is located in the constellation of Virgo.  Saturn will be below Spica.  You will be able to tell the difference between the two because Saturn has golden glow and shines constant….Spica has blue white glow and twinkles.  Unfortunately we have heavy cloud cover so I won’t be able to see it this evening.

I am glad…that even though Turbo ran off yesterday afternoon there was a happy ending.  I was working in the back trimming the bushes and had him tethered while I was out there.  After I finished, I went into the backyard to do some more work so took him off the tether and let him in the yard with me.  As I was carrying some old pots and such out of the gate, he followed me one time and lay in the grass while chewing on a stick.  I went back through the gate, grabbed a pot and went right back out….no more than 5 seconds.  When I looked around, he was gone…nowhere in sight.  Of course mini panic set in as I called him again and again.  Still no where in sight.  My neighbor was in his backyard, heard me calling and told me he would help search.  We walked around the neighborhood and no sign of him.  My neighbor jumped in his car, I in mine and we drove around various neighborhoods that he may have gotten to….no success.  At this point I was getting fairly upset ~ I was pretty sure he would be able to make his way home but my greatest concern was that someone would either take him (of course he didn’t have his tags on) or he would be hit by a car.  I had made my way along the course that we sometimes walk on the weekends when I decided to make my way back home. I was heartbroken I couldn’t find my little buddy.  As I was pulling in to park my neighbor came running from the rear of the house with a huge smile two thumbs up….he walked the canal again and when he heard a duck squawking, he investigated.  There was Turbo, in the nasty canal trying to get a duck.  When he saw my neighbor (who was trying to get to him) he took off running, of course still in the canal, and headed for home.  I had left the gate partially open when I went looking so Turbo made a beeline into the yard and my neighbor closed the gate.  I was elated….I grabbed my neighbor and hugged him then ran into the back to find Turbo.  When I saw him he was cowering because he knew he was in trouble….and he smelled like dirty, nasty pond.  I don’t think he expected me to scoop him up in a towel  and hug him.  I was so relieved to see him I couldn’t be mad….but he immediately got a bath ~ twice.  Needless to say, he will not be walking free when I work back there again.  The time this event covered was probably about an hour and my neighbor never once stopped looking.  He comforted me when I was getting distressed and promised that we would find Turbo.  He has a rescue as well….Piper, a Great Pyrenees…one of the sweetest and friendliest dogs I have ever been around.  I’m so very grateful for him…very grateful.  While this is the first time he has helped me search for my dog….it is not the first time he has helped me.  I’m very fortunate to have such a wonderful neighbor.

From my kitchen…is a new brownie recipe I’m checking out but not quite ready to share.  I have a few others I’m going to test out and will hopefully have some to share with you next week.  I may even have a non-toxic weed killer recipe to share as well but I want to give it a test run before I do.  I was curious if any of you had tried out the homemade vanilla extract recipe I posted some time ago..and if so, how did it turn out?  I made mine when I created the post and bottled it a few week ago.  It is wonderful ~ aromatic and tasty.

I am hoping…that I’m not as sore as I am afraid I’m going to be in the morning.  I’m feeling some muscles I haven’t felt in some time, mostly upper body and especially in my shoulders and arms.  I guess I don’t actually do sawing motions that often during my normal routine….go figure.

I am hearing…the ticking of my many clocks….the dog snoring in his bean bag bed….the hum of the refrigerator….me yawning quite loudly ~ I’m thinking no one will need to rock me to sleep tonight.  🙂

Plans for the week include…working from home on Tuesday….continue work on a new portrait line I will be offering….planting some flower seeds after work on Tuesday….probably finish up the side garden this coming Saturday.  In between I will be editing some more images and working on a composite I hope to unveil soon.

One of life’s little pleasures…iced cold sweet tea on a warm spring day.

From my camera…or perhaps I should say from my iPhone….a few images I took this morning during my walk with Turbo.  We were a little later than usual getting out this morning…closer to 8:00 than we generally are.  As we approached or usual walking route I noticed there was a lot more traffic and parked cars than normal….then I noticed there was a lot more foot traffic as well.  Then it dawned on me….the truck I saw in City Center during our walk on Saturday was there for this day ~ Color Me Rad 5k run.  In case you aren’t familiar with this, runners are “color bombed” as they run the course.  I decided we would walk as well as we could with all this activity….Turbo isn’t fond of people either running towards him or away from him but he actually did quite well.  He did grow tired of waiting for our turn to cross the street while we waited for the first set of runners to pass by ~ he barked a few encouraging words to the folks bringing up the rear.  🙂  They had so many people they staggered the start times for everyone….in the time I was there I heard a countdown for at least four or five different groups of people.  These are a few images I shot with my iPhone ~ with the exception of the truck, I took that yesterday with my point and shoot.  I brought that camera with me to get some composite photo shots and decided since the truck was not the norm I would take a photo of it.  I’m not sure if this was something I would have done even if I was still running.  🙂

These two photos were taken as Turbo and I waited for the first set of runners to pass….check out the guy that looks as if he had been dipped in flour in the second image.  Sadly I didn’t get my phone out in time to get a photo of Gumby running.  🙂

A view of the runners as we were making our way back towards the house….this was probably group four or five…

You can see the runners approaching one of the color bomb areas….the cloud of color dust was larger than this at one point ~ which is why I didn’t venture any closer.