Morning Glory Studio

think write thursday | I'm cool ...

 

(on my morning walk, water bottle in hand)
 

Today's TWTH topic invites us to share three ways we keep cool when it's unbearably h-o-t! My formula is simple:

1. I stay inside in the air conditioning...we keep the thermostat room temp set at 74 degrees and the A/C comes on accordingly. It's not too cold or too hot and the temp is consistent pretty much throughout the day! We also have ceiling fans that whirr 24 hours, especially on the top floor. And I wear loose fitting 100 % cotton clothing. This is getting to be a real challenge as I need to replace some items and finding 100 % cotton clothing is akin to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack...
2. I drink lots of water ... my water glass, filled with ice, is seldom farther away than I can reach; excuse me while I take a sip ...
3. I walk in the morning ... usually around 8:30 am before it gets too hot and humid...I wear 100 % cotton clothing and carry with me water. There is often a cool-enough-breeze that helps keep me cool.

As I draft this post, the temperature's a cool 97 degrees and feels like 101 degrees at 1:45 pm (technically 12:45 pm if we remember that we're on DST). My day has met all the above conditions and I'm one cool cookie...and keeping my fingers crossed that we don't lose power - that would for sure be catastrophic...not in the forecast but Mother Nature is  known to kick things up a bit...

So, what's your formula for keeping cool? Do hop over to Carole's blog to see how others stay cool.

Cheers~

tuesday is h-o-t!

 

It is absolutely too hot to do anything but stay in the house and give thanks every half hour or so for A/C. I'm glad I went out for my walk earlier this morning.... Even Norman has stayed inside, going out to retrieve the recycling and garbage cans - today is trash collection - and to feed the cat. As I look out the window over the kitchen sink, I am greeted with the raspberry colored flowers of a neighbor's crepe myrtle.The tree is majestic, tall and the flowers are a striking contrast to the grey-blue somewhat overcast sky. 

I stepped out on the deck to snap a few photos and  had to beat it inside...half-dollar sized raindrops had begun to fall. We're having a good downpour as I wrap up this post though I don't expect it's going to be much cooler once the rains end.  The crepe myrtle didn't photograph too well so I'm  sharing a photo of a dual colored crepe myrtle I saw on  yesterday's walk...

This rain is perfect weather for reading...and that's what I think I'll do...only a few more pages left in A Fatal Grace and I'll know who dunnit!

Cheers~

 

a day of Haiku ...

 

8:42 am

AC off! Deck door  opened wide | Invites cool breeze inside | Birdsong fills the air...

11:19 am

I spy Smoke* on the deck| Looking for food or shade or both | Still quiet and lovely out...

11:30 am

Norman slept in  late| Fixing usual breakfast | Hand slightly swollen, still...

1:00 pm

Cool  breeze still around |  Gather stuff  and  walk to pool | Not enough chairs...

3:30 pm

Lost in thought | Watching children play, Reading | Time to return home...

4:30 pm

Home, shower, eat snack | Read several chapters of | A Fatal Grace - nine left!

6:01 pm

Pat calls; we decide | To gather here next week  for | Friendstitchin' Sunday! 

 

Just a little practice...

Cheers~

*Smoke is the neighborhood cat who has adopted us...

 

 

 

 

thinkwritethursday | hello July ...

 

 

Summertime, Summertime ... and you, July, came into our lives with vengeance: Hot! Hot! and more Hot!

Thankfully, on this the 6th day of the month, we're havin' a little reprieve: Rain! Rain! Rain! And that is good 'cause we need the rain.  Now that the 4th is over, with the exception of our Recent Reads bi-monthly gatherin', the calendar's pretty empty - lots of time to stay cool and settle down into some serious:

• readin' and
• knittin' and
• weavin' and  
• stitichin' and
• learnin' to make mandalas with a new toy/tool*...
• doin' nuttin'...'cause after all it is summer and
• livin' is easy ...
• includin' the elimination of the "g" at the end of words...Did you catch that?

Perhaps, if I really feel like it, I'll even get 'roun to clearin' out the basement storage room - it's small and filled to the gills. But that's an if...no need to rush into anythin'....after all it is summer and the livin' is easy....

Hop on over to Carole's blog to see what she, Kat and others have on their July agendas. What's on yours?

Cheers~

* My errant package did arrive - yes, Mary, on Wednesday! I'll share it tomorrow after I play some more...

inspiration...

                    As I was winding down my morning walk, I happened upon this lovely garden scene. Aha! Inspiration for my fabric weaving piece! I still have more "research" and practicing to do. Tho' I am eager to drop everything else and  start prepping and playing, I'm reminding myself to be patient. I expect that by the time the holiday  weekend + 1 day is over, I will have begun...

I spent the afternoon with another set of stitching friends; I'd  planned to play some more with the fabric weaving. Conveniently, I left my weaving needles and bias tape maker at home ...so, I knitted about four rows on the monkey Top This hat. Lucky for me that I had the project wth me.

The concert was lovely...more about it before the weekend is over. Home late, 8:30 pm and I've yet to have a bite to eat since lunch. Guess I'll calm my growly tummy.

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 28 june 2017

 

Hydrangea seen on my morning walk

11 am:   T'is a gorgeous day - I've been out once already for a walk and plan another excursion later this afternoon, especially since we are enjoying the last vestiges of perfect summer weather. Were I a hammock sitter - or even had a blanket and a patch of grass upon which to park, today is perfect day for a picnic basket and a book...

Right now as I pen this post, I'm sitting in my fave spot, staring out the deck doors, enjoying the summer breeze (sans humidity), listening to light jazz vocals, hearing birds chirp. two blue jays perched on the railing and just as soon as I grabbed my camera, of course, they flew away! Do you suppose they sensed I was planning to shoot them? ...

My plan for the day didn't include another trip to the pool but ya know, since it is Unraveled Wednesday, plans too can be unraveled. Agreed? So, I think I will gather A Fatal Grace, my journal and make another afternoon trip to the pool...and listen to Gretchen Rubin's new Happier Podcast on the way there and/or back..

I finished Storied Life of AJ Fikery...and currently am trying to decide what I want to listen to next...debating between Women in the Castle  and  Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk - though I'm not sure where Lillian will fit on my card...but I'll worry about that later, if ever. The point is to READ more Fiction and this certainly qualifies. 

Tonight I have a concert - it will be a perfect ending to another perfect June day. ..

2:30 PM...I'm off! 

Cheers~

more rare june days...

 

                    Monday's weather was near perfect...so I grabbed my journal, iPhone and headed to the pool at our neighborhood regional park. T'was a pleasant walk and even more pleasant once  I arrived - about 2 pm, spending a lovely 45 minutes or so watching the kids play and jotting an occasional thought or word in my journal...

Today, Tuesday, dawned even cooler - 69 degrees; I grabbed a few index cards, a pen and walked to Zeke's - local indie coffee shop - for a brief sit out on the Avenue, taking in the sights and the weather. Moms with babes in arms and toddlers in tow, make quick stops for a cuppa java...this little girl very much amused me, in her jammies ...Christmas, yet! If you look closely, you can see an angel right about her elbow.Wonder what she has in that big bag...

I''m not sure where the day has gone since I returned home - or what I've done.  But, that's OK...it's summer and the living is easy. 

Cheers~

FriYAY ...day lilies

 

 

The day lilies are out in full bloom - doesn't matter where one looks: tended gardens; wild ones; fringe of wooded areas...there are even a  couple of slow-bloomers in my garden (I use that term lightly). Today, as I walked the neighborhood, I could see from several blocks away, a patch of bright yellow and a variety of pink/red ones...just a nice clump. They brightened my day and I hope these photos brighten yours. Enjoy!

Cheers~

think write thursday | 2017 summer bucket list ...

 

 

This week’s Think Write Thursday is to share my Summer Bucket List.

My summer bucket - though "currently empty" in the photo - is on its way to being  filled with lots of everyday type activities:

• walking: long and short trips, in and  around the neighborhoods ...
• reading: pushing on with Summer Book Bingo. A lot of my selections  are works of fiction - not my go-to reading and I'm looking forward to the change ...
• slow-stitching: knitting; practicing mark-making and creating intuitive styled mini/small quilts...resuming my Baltimore Album  quilt project...
• journaling, including Journal Club Bingo ...
• celebrating our two Christian's birthdays; the bébé will be three on Saturday!...
• taking bébé Chris to the pool and the library...
• gathering with Recent Reads and Friendstitching friends ...
• learning and creating and practicing ...
• preparing for my late September trip to Sisters, OR ...
• telling my story via this blog ... 

Everyday, I will fill that bucket with colorful slips of paper, on which I've written a sentence (or two, or three or more) that documents the day as well as expresses my appreciation for my daily life on this planet earth. I hope you will join in as I share via this blog...and share your summer bucket days, too.

Visit Carole's blog for others' bucket lists.

Cheers~

 

school's nearly out...

  

Only days to go before the school year for District of Columbia and neighboring school districts is over.  In DC: Wednesday, June 14 at 12:15 pm.

On my afternoon walk, I found myself at the elementary school several blocks from my house - just as school was letting out. I loved walking behind the little boy whose backpack is almost as big as he is tall...

and seeing  these three little girls, playing some sort of hand-rhyme game... 

Do you remember "school's out, school's out, teachers let the fools out!" and off we'd run, happy that school was out and looking forward to a summer of bliss. No more reading, writing, 'rithmetic.  Just endless days of play;  going to the beach to swim - we lived on Lake Michigan and trips to the beach were always on the agenda.

Travel to Chicago to spend part of  summer vacation with my godmother and her two daughters - in between  my sister and I in age . There, trips to the zoo, museum, planetarium and library. And they would come home to Muskegon with us for a couple weeks too. Some of my fondest childhood memories are wrapped up in summertime.

As I think back, one thing that amuses me the most is that after a few weeks of freedom from school, we were bored with endless summer days...we missed the rhythm of school and some of our friends and would often pass the time playing, yep, you got it, school!

Fun trip down memory lane; for you?

Cheers~