Vince and Ian and I walked to the Big Barn

to feed and pet Jubilee (cat).

Then we walked home again . . .

I went to lunch yesterday with

Theresa, Ian, Anya,

jan, Abigail, Sarah, Phoebe,

Sam, Thomas, and Ben.

When I got my dessert . . .

I met a new friend . . .

  

----------------------------------------------------

   

My Aunt Peg was unexpectedly in town earlier this week.

Tuesday evening I met her and Julia, jan, and Sarah

for dinner . . .

[Thanks, jan, for the photo.]

This is me testing

whether I can properly schedule

a future post.

This should post on Friday, July 30

at 10 am.


Wow . . . exactly 10 am
and here it is.
Cool.

Some more photos from Anne

(in New Hampshire) via cell phone.

"This is how clear the lake is" . . .

"Big waves after the storm" . . .

Across from the camp is Red Hill.

She and friends went hiking there on a day off.

"Top of Red Hill" . . .

This is me testing whether I can

back-date a post.

This could be bad;

I could cheat.

Mmmm.


Oh, no.
I CAN back-date.
Trouble.

This is how Ian left his 4-wheeler and trailer . . .

Guess he's learned to chock trailers by watching

what the big guys do.

Another evening visitor . . .

I'm thinking it's a Columbia Silk Moth.

For Anne,

from inside a Dove dark chocolate wrapper . . .

"Love many, trust few,

and always paddle your own canoe."

by Terri, Coudersport PA

My Vince, the hardest worker

regardless of the weather . . .

And, thanks to John for clearing the

over-hanging Autumn Olive bushes along the drive,

and his limb-hauling helpers:

Lee, Cory, Alex, and Robbie.

Hot afternoons require impromptu naps . . .

Copied into my notebook-of-quotes on April 23, 2000 from
“How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Seven Steps to Genius Every Day"
        by Michael J. Gelb:

1.  Curiosita – an insatiably curious approach to life

               and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.

2.  Dimostrazione – a commitment to test knowledge through experience,

               persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.

3.  Sensazione – the continual refinement of the senses,

               especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.

4.  Stumato (literally “going up in smoke”) – a willingness to

               embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.

5.  Arte / Scienza – the development of the balance between

               science and art, logic and imagination.

6.  Corporalita – the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.

7.  Connessione – a recognition of and appreciation

               for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena.

I added this one:

8.  Amore incondizionato - to love unconditionally.

I was looking at a library book recently about collage.  Very intriguing.
So I got out my scissors and glue (gel medium = glue for grown-ups)
and ended up illustrating the steps.  No pretensions here; just me playing.

Yesterday evening, I got to give Anya

her nighttime bottle and put her to bed.

Don't these pajamas remind you of the 1950s

and "I Love Lucy"? . . .

Probably the final update on jan's hydrangea,

the colors fade out as the flower heads age . . .

My other hydrangea is from Nancy and Larry Van.

It was a gift when my mother died.

{{ Hi, Mom.  Love you. }}

It's a later bloomer; the flowers start off

a bluish-purple and then fade to lavender . . .

Shoes.

I love 'em.  Fun shoes.

Last Sunday, these shoes failed me . . .

I was barefoot for church.

I felt very vulnerable

which is probably a good feeling

while communing with God and His followers.

On Monday, I was told it would be $20

to have them properly repaired.

I figured I could find a pair of fun shoes for less than that.

So,

I went across the mall to Rack Room Shoes

and found these flip-flops on sale . . .

They are very comfortable.

And,

the store was having a BOGO sale.

I had lime green Converse a decade ago.

They wore out.

I had red Converse after that.

They wore out.

Since I was currently without any kind of tennis shoe,

I also bought these (not Converse but really comfortable)

for half of their sale price . . .

To top it all, Vince says he will repair my beaded sandals.

Just how dorky can I be?

New!  (to me)

The bank drive-through has cameras . . .

No, I don't have a new car.

Our power was out and I was too lazy

to lift the garage door by hand.

I drove Anne's white Cherokee for errands.

The kids' bulletin boards at church have a new look . . .

A reminder . . .

Today is Back-Up-Your-Computer-Data Day.

Just kidding.

Not.

DO IT NOW.

Yesterday evening about 8:45 p.m.

A couple of recent visitors.
The moth seemed to be hanging precariously
from the porch ceiling

and the other critters barely stopped moving.

A luna moth . . .

The tree frogs were on the front door frame . . .

This photo shows their size . . .

Food for thought from "Time and the Art of Living" by Robert Grudin:


I.13 - If the estimated age of the cosmos were shortened to seventy-two years, a human life would take about ten seconds.
        But look at time the other way.  Each day is a minor eternity of over 86,000 seconds.  During each second, the number of distinct molecular functions going on within the human body is comparable to the number of seconds in the estimated age of the cosmos.  A few seconds are long enough for a revolutionary idea, a startling communication, a baby's conception, a wounding insult, a sudden death.  Depending on how we think of them, our lives can be infinitely long or infinitely short.


II.3 - An old tree falls, a landmark is torn down, a career takes a sudden leap or drop, a friend dies of a heart attack; and we view these events as great acts of time, rather than (more accurately) the surface results of processes which continue in all things.


II.12 - The cosmos is not so much a thing in motion as a thing of motion, a complex interplay of energies and paces.


II.20 - Try to make the present memorable; or, failing this, review daily what is important about the present period in your life.  In so doing you will enrich time.


II.24 - What we understand best, we understand by renewal - by looking at the same thing again and again in different ways, looking at it internally and externally, walking around it, turning it in our hands, participating in it until some strange abstract spirit of its being rises from the complexity of effort and detail.

Anya now turns on her side to sleep
and pulls a cloth over her face . . .

The Farmer's Market at Mallow Run . . . mmmmm.

And another bathroom face . . . Oh! . . .

Vince's cousin Margie is here from Texas.

We saw her and other family

yesterday evening at Annette and Bill's.

The view from the pool area with evening shadows.

Either Cappy or Sonatina . . .

A neighbor's barn . . .

Deja . . .

And I certainly didn't mean this photo to be so close-up,

but she came running to the fence and 
posed for me after I pet her.

My sister, jan, brought me some

Blooming Flower tea balls from China.

Today, we used the first one . . .

(forgive the Pyrex measuring cup, but we wanted a good view)

Here is a YouTube video with a bit of history. . . 
Blooming Teas Flowering Teas

Happy birthday, Chelsea!

---------------------------------------------

Thanks, jan.

I love it all . . .

Maybe I can join you next Thursday?

---------------------------------------------

Another "Gramma, take my picture.

And, Bill and Bob, too."

Anne says I get much too close

when photographing food

and I think she's right, but here it is anyway . . .

Based on a recipe in "Real Simple".

Spinach and ricotta-stuffed shells

20   jumbo         pasta shells

1    24-ounce jar  marinara sauce

1    24-ounce      ricotta cheese

2    cups          baby spinach, washed and chopped

1/2  cup           shredded Parmesan

1    cup           shredded mozzarella

1/2  teaspoon      salt

1/4  teaspoon      pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook shells (adding a few extra for breakage).

Combine the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

Spread the marinara in the bottom of an oven-and-broiler-proof
   baking dish. (I used a cast iron skillet)

When the shells are done cooking, cool under running water.

Spoon the cheese and spinach mixture into the shells

   and place on top of the sauce in the baking dish.

Sprinkle with mozzarella.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Switch to broil for a couple of minutes until mozzarella melts.

After dipping out the shells,
   spoon some marinara over the shells.
Serve with a salad.

Vince and Jewel took a swimming break from the heat.

Jewel is so fast, Vince can hardly get away from her.

My sweet Lee on his birthday . . .

Two huge hibiscus bushes are near

the magnolia tree at the big barn . . .

One is pink, the other orchid.