Larry, no bathtub is large enough when one of the very surprised and in a hurry occupants is fully clawed!   

There is on big bear in the water at the moment on The Cam.  Now Grand Haven looks like not many on the beach. Must not be as hot as here. We are still in the 90s.

I looked at the Weather Underground, for my neighborhood temperature, and saw that it said 100 degrees here at 3:30.  What really got my attention, was that the humidity reading was 12%! That is extremely low, and very dangerous, as far as fire danger is concerned.  It will be interesting to see the local news tonight at 5:00, and see how low the humidity dropped today, throughout the entire Bay Area.  I don't see or smell any smoke, so I don't think there are any fires near me.

Marilyne, we have had FIRE warnings up for a few weeks now.  Very dry here in the desert/

Jeanne, much of the beach and water at Grand Haven are hidden by the tree foliage.  Today was warm enough for many people, however, I was not home much of the afternoon, so I don't know  how busy it was.

We had Tom's 60th-birthday party this afternoon.  One friend drove in from Jackson MI and others from around the area.  Annie did a good job getting the food and utensils etc.  I didn't keep count but I think there were 15-17 who came,  not including the twins, who were the stars of the show.  Tom and I left here about 3:30 and got home about 9:30.  His friend where we had the party lives about 10 miles north and it probably took  us 15-20 minutes to get there, so about 40 minutes of the six hours was travel.  I am sure everyone had a good time.  It it 70 degrees here now, so I should sleep well.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann - Tom's birthday party sounds like it was a huge success!  Glad you all had a good time, and had the chance to spend this important day with friends and family. 

joan - Looks like we're in the same boat, as far as heat is concerned. 
Our humidity went up, from 12% at 3:30 to 22%, right now at 8:30.  Still mighty dry!

Marilyne, don't know our humidity.  The site I use for weather does not show it.

At 9:17 PM we have eighty degrees and 46% humidity. We must be expecting a bit of a T storm.

I haven't looked for our humidity yet but it has been in the 60% area of late.  That's kind of borderline for me; I'd like it lower but I got along OK with it yesterday.  We may have a nice day today; radar shows nothing west of us.

Tom and I crashed when we got home last night and I slept until 7:30 this morning.  I did have to get up a couple of times during the night but I find I have that problem more when I have drank soft drink and I had some 7-Up.  I mean I always have the problem, but more so when I've had some pop.  And I don't drink that often.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. We are in for another cloudy and probably rainy afternoon and evening.  We should only get to the mid-80's today, which is a very pleasant change from the high 90's we have been having.  I have no plans to leave the house today so it should be a quiet day. 

Joan, glad you had a day in the 80's yesterday.  We enjoyed a similar day although we had very high humidity. 

Mary Ann, twenty people at a party is quite a few. It sounds like you all had a great time at the party and that all went well. 

Patricia, our cat used to like for us to leave a small drip from the faucet of the bathtub or sink and he would get his head under it and lap at it. 

Marilyne, 12% humidity is almost like having none at all.  Sure hope no fires are started in your area.  I guess if I had to choose I would take the humidity as it sounds much safer and the A/C keeps the humidity down in the house and car.   

Good morning from a cloudy and damp Interior! We did have several thunder showers last night that brought down the heat and hopefully the humidity. My legs and back kept waking me up last night due to my arthritis and the barometric pressure and this morning I am still stiff. Today is said to be 59/72 degrees F. which will be a cooler change.

Larry, I tried the running water or should I say running drip, but she wasn't too impressed. I'm sure your cat brought you and Pat a lot of enjoyment. Farrah stayed well away from the shower this morning!  When the local repairman came on the eleventh to install the new hard drive for Dell, I had to bodily lift her from "her" table so he could use it for his job. The table sits right next to the balcony doors and she uses it as her perch. The repairman has his own cat and shared several cat stories with me. Farrah has come such a long way from when people thought she would never stop being afraid.

One thing that surprised me was during his visit, two people actually knocked at my door, wanting to come in and discuss their computers with him! Evidently, his brother in law lives here and had visited with him before he came here. People are certainly nosy here but I would never have the gall to barge in and start asking questions. He simply told them he was busy and to make a later appointment at his office.

MaryAnn, I'm glad Tom had a nice party and that you were able to see the twins. They are certainly a blessing!

Larry, even go6t to open my windows for the night.  Enjoy the fresh air at night.    Haven't checked tempos yet for today.

Why it took so long to discover where babies came from.

"On an autumn night in 1677, Leeuwenhoek and his wife made love. He leapt up “immediately after ejaculation before six beats of the pulse had intervened,” and ran to his microscope with a sample of semen. There Leeuwenhoek saw “so great a number of living animalcules that sometimes more than a thousand were moving about in an amount of material the size of a grain of sand.” Thrilled, he dashed off a letter to the Royal Society. He did not say whether Mrs. Leeuwenhoek shared his delight."


http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/discovery-where-babies-come-from

good afternoon, sunny and very warm.

Marilyne, yesterday the radio said the humidity was 97 to day it is 92.

MaryAnn, sounds like everyone had a great time. that was a long drive. Glad you are home safe.

Patricia, after all these years, Taffy only comes out to see who is here, if it is a man.  she still stays away from my women friends.  She runs when she sees Diana, who cleans for me, because she makes noise with the vacuum cleaner.

Larry good to see you taking it easy, the humidity got to me the last couple of days.  thursday, it is supposed to make 90, I am suppose to go to a REd Hat luncheon, at the golf course.  I am not sure i will make it.

Sandy, thank you so much for the info on India and Sparky. They were a very handsome couple. I envy you the beautiful weather you have on your Rocky Coast. So. Ca. is same, same, same. month after month.Having lived in Mn. the first 18 years of my life, I do miss the seasons.

Mary Ann, I wish your "boy" a very Happy Birthday. I am sorry his brothers had to leave so early in life. You took good care of your Tom.

Larry, I think sun glare can be very damaging to our eyes, so I keep my wall of East  windows closed till afternoon.

June, if you only knew about "my boy" - he is very much overweight.  Terry's death has scared him, however, and he has joined Weight Watchers and so far has lost 20 pounds.  He is not at the point yet where it shows, but we know.  Since he does the cooking, it is all up to him.  When he eats out, and that is often (meeting friends), he checks his desired food against the WW points.  He knows what he can have and what he cannot have.  I encourage him as much as I can.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, if I remember correctly, it was of Norm and his three sons. They were all four good sized men but I think Tom was the heaviest. I am so glad he is doing something to help himself live longer.

We can open our windows every evening about this time - 7 PM MDT and keep everything open until about 10 AM.  The basement is a walk-out and much cooler - there is a bed for guests with sofas and chair and we could sleep downstairs but would have to carry everything so we just keep upstairs. 

w Joan - Glad that you have air - it does get hot for a couple of months in your area.  Where do you go with a "Fire Warning"? 

Supper tonight was defrosting leftover French Onion Soup - I could see it was a brown broth but didn't really know what it was until all melted - that is my story.     Fortunately, we both like the soup.  Sometimes, I have frozen so many leftovers that we have a mystery meal until all is heated.  At least I am still cooking and baking and people accept what is on the table. 

We recently bought a 2009 Toyota Prius because having one car was just getting too difficult - such social butterflies we are these days.  Social as in going to dentist and doctor too much.  Anyway, Don took the car in for a Freon test and the mechanic said the old car was in perfect shape.  We bought it from the son of a lady who lived in the east coast and she only put 38,000 miles on it.  It gets 21 mpg and drives just as nice as our other Toyota.  The kids were so upset that we got it over Craig's list and one son came over to the owner's house and we all had a wonderful visit. 

Where is Hillsdale college?  I keep hearing the name. 

Carol, we don't go anywhere.

Carol, Hillsdale Michigan is a town just above the State line and I didn't pay enough attention to see which State - Ohio or Indiana - is below our State line.  I didn't see anything about a college, but there is a college, probably associated with a church denomination.  I think I have never been there as it isn't on the way to anywhere I go to.  Population is less than 10,000.  I tried to copy a small map, but it would not copy.

It is kind of warm here, although not hot.  One thermometer reads 71 degrees and that will be OK sleeping with my fan on.

Joan, I really don't go anywhere, either, unless it is Indianapolis a couple times a year.  Tom's former MIL lives in Sheridan MI about an hour drive from here, but wherever I go, Tom must take me. 

Wednesday I will have lunch with my retiree friends and Tom takes me there.  He may eat at the same place or go to any restaurant nearby then I call him to let him know I'm ready.  We have a good system!

Mary Ann

https://www.hillsdale.edu/

Hillsdale offers "an education designed to equip human beings for self-government," according to their site.

77 degrees here at 7:29 PM and no rain/ partly sunny.

There are four large bears gorging on multiple salmon in the Katami cams. We are four hours behind the east coast and two-three hours ahead of the midwest and west coast and the bears are most active here in the mornings and evenings so plan accordingly if you wish to see them in action.

Patricia -I'm enjoying the bear web cams so much, and have sent the link to my autistic granddaughter, who is thrilled! 

By the way, here in California, it is now approx 9:50, only one hour ahead of you.  My time zone is Pacific Daylight Time. Our friends on the East coast are three hours ahead of me, and four hours ahead of you.

http://www.timetemperature.com/tzus/time_zone.shtml

Marilyne, I just edited, my mistake and I knew better! Thank you!

By the way, the gulls shown as well as the ones in the Interior are not seagulls but a smaller inland type called Mew gulls.

My best friend used to get, may still for all I know, Hillsdale's publication, Imprimis. He used to pass it on to me. Very interesting. I see that it is online too, so I now have it bookmarked. https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/

It's amazing - all I did was mention that James and Alicia were in Hillsdale and look at all the information that has come forth about Hillsdale.

It is going to be another nice day here, but that means I'll have to water my outdoor plants.  Probably my inside ones too, but they are not subject to the hot sun the outdoor plants get.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. It looks like we will be having another partly or mostly cloudy day with it only getting up to the high 80's. There is only a 20% chance of rain today.  Late yesterday afternoon I realized I was feeling much better and got up feeling the same way today. Sure hope this will last for a few days.  Pat is planning on going to Joann's with Jennifer today to get her some craft supplies as she is interested in learning to knit or croquet.  Had used to have a lot of croquet things but gave them all away knowing she would not be doing any more of it.  So it will be girl's morning out and expect they will stop somewhere for lunch.  Unfortunately a pain has returned to Pat's back that she has not had since we moved here and it is making her very uncomfortable.  Nothing else on the schedule for today although I may get into the car and go to the hardware store for a couple of things and perhaps make a quick trip to Aldi's. 

I watched this short video this morning and it has a wonderful message for us:
https://biggeekdad.com/2015/07/interview-with-god/

Patricia, sure hope the weather improves up your way.  I just checked the news concerning the impact of the 7.8 earthquake between Alaska and Russia and see that the Tsunami was cancelled that had been issued.  I am sure Farrah thought that table was her personal domain.  Does your computer repairman have his business there in Fairbanks?  That is quite a story about where babies come from. 

Joan, I bet that fresh air was enjoyable.

deAngel, that humidity is hard on us.  I do hope you were up to attending your Red Hat luncheon but whether you did or not I know you made the right decision for you. 

June, we still have seasons here in South Carolina although it seems the winter season is short since we often have pretty warm weather.  The spring was almost non-existent except on the calendar as it was so far so early. 

Mary Ann, good for Tom.  I joined Weight Watchers a number of years ago and had success.  I think it is due to the fact of accountability although I did it online and not attending meetings.  Is he attending the meetings? That is a nice weight lose that Tom has experienced. 

Carol, Pat uses freezer tape to put on the containers of food we freeze with what it is and the date.  The tape can be pulled off of the containers before they are washed after use.  We often have left over meals as food is too expensive to waste.  My mother used to get so frustrated with her sister-in-law who would always discard any food left over from a meal.  My mother didn't waste anything. It sounds like you got a good car with the Prius.  Sometimes having two cars comes in very handy.  We really don't need two cars anymore but will keep the second one as a spare in case ours or our son's car needs repair.  Hillsdale College is in Hillsdale, Michigan and is unique  as it accepts no Federal money.  It is a very conservative school.  They put out a free monthly pamphlet called Imprimis with essays from special guest speakers they have had come and speak on their campus.  I have received this publication for many years and enjoy the articles as they often provide prospective on history and current events you don't get from the news. I see others have provided additional information.

MarsGal, I prefer the paper copy of the Imprimis as I will always read it whereas online I would probably forget to do so. 

Mary Ann, we are going to go with artificial flowers on our front porch as I am just not up to tending them day by day.  I have been researching how to anchor them so we don't have a repeat of them being blown off the table. 

Good morning from a cool sixty degrees F. Interior! We are expected to reach the late seventies, early eighties again today and the remainder of this week. And next week is forecast back to mid-seventies and light rain for the those following seven days. The gulls and pigeons are noisily riding the wind currents and Farrah is at her perch keeping an eye out. My coffee has finished perking and I am now visiting on my computer. so all is well this morning.

MarsGal, I took a look at Hillsdale's publication Imprimis and was taken off guard by the obvious conservative slant. That surprised me in a college publication that isn't evangelistic.

Larry, I see you also noted the college publication's conservative slant. I am not a conservative.  MaryPage's husband was a deputy director of the National Security Agency and she states that its members are extremely apprehensive of what conservatism and the ensuing isolation has brought this country to at home and abroad. I won't get into that any further as this is neither the place or time.

Larry, Pat and or Jennifer may enjoy this site as it always features crochet and knot patterns as well as some other crafts.   

http://thewhoot.com.au/crochet/crochet-girls-coat?omhide=true

The computer tech is local and many times, an outside company will use a local business if they don't have their personnel on the ground.

The bears are out in the cam but only two out of the five are working or live and one is black and white and the other is very blue centered as if it is holding colors for both cams. I'm disappointed as many of the Alaskan cams are down this summer with only one in the city available as well. Here are some Alaskan cams.

http://www.the-webcam-network.com/webcam/USA/Talkeetna-Alaska/17906.html

An interesting bit of news is that the newspapers, radio and evidently television here are broadcasting alerts that a number of bears have been noted inside city limits. With five separate rivers running through or close to the city, portions of the wildlife sanctuary inside city limits and a couple of golf courses straddling the city this isn't unusual but fairly common on the outskirts. Last month's six bear attacks, two fatal, in Anchorage and Fairbanks have prompted the alerts. Also, it has been noted that many of the new military and other newcomers may not be aware of life issues in the middle of a forest and foothills.

Many of the plants, flowers, and vegetables planted by staff and residents in balcony railings and hangers as well as around the grounds are blooming and the flowers are glorious! One enterprising soul planted petunias over sunflowers and I'm watching to see how that turns out.

Larry, are you sure Jennifer is interested in learning how to knit and croquet?  Might it be "knit and crochet"?  Croquet has nothing in common with knitting. 

We are in for another warm and humid day  I hate to admit I am not dressed yet for the day but I will dress for the heat and wear shorts and t-shirt.  I cannot imagine my grandmother, who died at 92, wearing either shorts or t-shirt and she lived with us for her last seven years. 

Larry, Tom does not attend WW meetings, but he does go down the avenue, I think to the Meijer store - or near, and gets weighed once a week.  They have an office there.  I've discovered the WW cookbook in different places in the house so I know he's been looking there for ideas. 

I discovered Big Bird (great blue heron) had paid us a visit sometime yesterday because he/she left a calling card.  I'm hoping for a big rain soon to wash it away, but I think I will throw some water on it to see if I can get some of it off.  The bird leaves a white mess. 

Patricia, that is a cute little girl's coat pictured in the link you posted, but it is too busy for me and I doubt I would ever have attempted it.  At one time, I thought about knitting a coat for me, but realized I'd never finish it; it took too long.  My knitting and crocheting days are over and I wish I'd start up again what with three little girls to knit or crochet for (the twins and Avery 1 1/2 yrs old) but I know I'd never find (or make) time to do any project.

I well remember the beautiful and huge flowers and vegetables I saw in Alaska when Jim and I were there.  One cabbage was enormous and the flowers grew so well too.  We were there in August and I remember it rained some of every day, not hard, but just enough to keep us from seeing Denali. 

Mary Ann

Many years ago I knitted two skirts similar to that coat pattern, one for my daughter (who is now 56) and one for a niece about the same time.  It was a pattern in one of the McCall Needlecraft Magazines and was a terrific way to use up those little left over bits of yarn from completed projects.

There are so many patterns, pages of them on that site! I used to, years ago, knit and crochet, BC or before computers...

I especially liked the women's shrugs and of course the pre-annual hats with the side flower for children and adults. Also, I thought the mermaid blanket was a nice touch. I could almost start again if I was twenty years younger! 

MaryAnn, last,(2016); year's prize winner cabbage at the fair was 127 pounds!