My errands for  the day have been completed.  First I had a haircut, then we went to breakfast at the restaurant next door to the salon, then I had blood drawn for a forthcoming appointment.  We left home at 9 am and got home about 10:45 am.  Tom appreciates that his job allows him to cart me to appointments and I do too!

As I understand it, cats are nocturnal animals and Kendrick likes to prowl around here.  Last evening I saw him nosing behind the garage and he wasn't anxious to come in, but he finally did.  I think he found something live under the leaves behind the garage.  I wish I had a leaf blower to blow whatever away.  He's on the deck now, probably wondering when I'm going to let him back in. 

At breakfast this morning I had a Greek God Jr omelet and it was good.  I brought half of it home. 

Marilyn, I would not want to encounter your variety of wild animals at night or otherwise.  We have seen herons, deer, raccoons, more nuisance animals than anything else. 

Larry, you have a couple of jewels in Jennifer and Elizabeth with the help they give you.  I'll bet you're glad Jennifer moved in with her dad.   I helped open up the grade school I attended and there were six grades plus kindergarten.  The school is still standing (since 1929) and has been a magnet school, empty and is back to grades.  The story is that the parents like the area so much that when the kids are older, they stay in their homes so new people with children do not move in.

Mary Ann 

It is a lovely day with a high of 79F.  Suppose to be nice all week then some rain possibly this weekend.  We’ve really been enjoying our birds.  The Chickadees had their babies and have gone, except visiting the suet every now and then.  I hope we get to see the little Bluebirds fly out of the nest.  Papa Bluebird was still guarding yesterday so we know the little ones must still be in the nest.  This is the first time we’ve had birdhouses so it’s been interesting watching them take moss or sticks into the houses to make the nests.  Larry got a photo of Mama Bluebird taking a long stem into the house.  We didn’t think she could get it in there but she turned it this and that and got it inside.

I won’t get my glasses for a couple more weeks so when i read where Larry Hanna got a pair of readers at Walmart I decided to give that a try.  I got a pair for $5.98 that are working good for now, but I am going to have to use glasses for distance as well.  I can see better but definitely not 20/20.

Mary Ann, glad you had a nice birthday celebration.

Marilyne, I don’t think we have many wild animals in our areaâ€"just the usual raccoons and squirrels.

Jean, I wish we'd have some birds around here, other than sparrows and crows. 

I just looked at Grand Haven and there are people on the beach!  Not many, but a few.  I saw the temperature there is 62 degrees.  It is 75 degrees here. 

Mary Ann

Mary Ann - You're five degrees warmer than we are.  Supposed to warm up even more here starting tomorrow, and maybe will hit 80 over the weekend.

I just got home from the grocery store.  The strawberries looked so good, that I bought a box of them for our dessert tonight . . . in honor of May Day!

Marilyn, according to the Weather Channel our temp is 84 degrees.  However, that is "official"  and probably comes from downtown, seven miles south of me.  My 75 degrees was taken from a thermometer I have between the storm slider and the inside slider.  I think it may have come down a degree or two since I looked.  I don't have any trees around to cool me off and I hate to turn on the a/c so soon.

I wish the powers that be would get the weather thingy fixed so I could compare what I have with what they have.  I am sure the temps shown are not my temperatures.

Mary Ann

Hi all.  our temps are now between 70 and 80 during the daylight hours and nites are in the 40's to 50's now.  Nice I can open my windows for fresh air here during the day.

Hi Everyone.  Once again we will be enjoying a nice sunny day with it getting into the mid-80's this afternoon.  Pat has a doctor's appointment  this morning and then we will have our Wednesday night dinner at Church.  Tonight is Taco night with  ice cream and all the trimmings for dessert.  Scott and Elizabeth will be joining us and I thought Jennifer was also but she changed her mind.  About all I did yesterday, besides my normal work in the kitchen, was to go to vote.  The school bond referendum did pass. 

Marilyne, like you I don't want to see animals in my yard, especially something like a cougar.  I don't think there is any danger of that around here.  In our neighborhood we are not allowed to have our garbage cans where they can be seen from the street so they are usually kept in the garage and if any neighbor keeps it in the back yard we all have high wooden fences that should keep most animals out.  The lady, whose funeral I attended, had worked in the Women's Center at the big University Hospital and helped train and supervised many nurses over the many years she worked there.  Plus when the family came in there were a lot of them.  It was really a nice memorial service and celebration of life.  So far we have purchased 2 1/2 gallons of strawberries from the roadside stand that the grower sets up each year at this time of the year.  Of course, some of them we gave to the kids.  Pat likes strawberries the year round so after the fresh are gone we revert back to the frozen ones from Costco. 

Mary Ann, you are fortunate that Tom can have time flexibility in his work schedule.  You got a lot accomplished in a short period of time.  I think Kendrick expects you to work on his time table.    What is a Greek God Jr omelet?  There was a terrible accident yesterday in a surrounding community where a man hit a deer that went through his windshield and out the rear window and the driver was killed.  It was Elizabeth that did all the work.  I am seeing your time and temperature app at the end of your postings. 

Joan, we have only had the windows open for any period of time once since we moved here.  The pollens are too bad to open them in the spring and it is usually too warm or too cold to have them open other times of the year. Glad you can enjoy the fresh air.

Jean, birds are interesting to watch.  I haven't seen any baby birds in the nest in the one corner of my front porch but they may be there.  I do see one of the birds sitting on the back of my wrought iron chair outside my office windows and it is beautiful. I find those Walmart inexpensive glasses work perfectly for me and got a second pair to keep on my desk for ease of use.  I no longer need glasses for distance viewing and hope it stays that way. 

Larry, hope you have an air cleaner then.  I have one and use it when I am unable to open windows.

Yesterday our temperature got up to 84 and that was too warm for me but I did not turn on the a/c.  Today the forecast is for 77 degrees and it already is in the high 60s.  I thought it was humid  yesterday but the Weather Channel said it was 27 degrees and that is not humid.  Even so, I felt I was having trouble breathing.  Today I feel fine and I have the front door and slider doors open. 

We are to have our lawn sprayed with pesticide so I can't let the cat out the front door; he will have be be satisfied with the deck.

Larry, I think the temperatures we see at the bottom of our posts are not authentic, or if they are, the times are wrong.  I wish someone would get the time thingies fixed. 

The Greek God omelet had mushrooms, baby spinach, diced tomatoes and probably other vegetables in it - kind of a modified vegetarian omelet.  I am not a vegetarian, but I don't always have to have meat.  The restaurant does have a vegetarian omelet and Tom had that.  He is not a vegetarian either.  Oddly enough, one of our favorite pizzas is a vegetarian pizza from Papa Murphy that you pick up and bake yourself.  My other favorite pizza is ham and pineapple.

Joan, isn't it wonderful when we can open our doors and windows!  At night I open my window a crack, then turn my hassock fan on low and sleep!  Tom does something similar downstairs.  The cat sleeps wherever he is comfortable!

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, yes it is wonderful and I sleep a lot better when I have fresh air coming in too.

Hi Everyone.  Once again we are to have a beautiful day but we will be getting up to 88 this afternoon.  Other than picking up my friend and going to coffee there is nothing else on the schedule for today. 

We did enjoy the dinner at Church last evening although Scott was the only one joining us and he passed on eating the meal as he didn't think his stomach could tolerate the taco meal.  He came out after dinner while Pat and I went to Great Clips and we both got haircuts.  When we got home Scott was talking with his grandchildren, as he does each Wednesday evening, and we also got to talk with two of them.  This was the longest conversation over the phone he had ever had with them and was delighted.  It lasted almost an hour. The little 7 year old had a new game he was playing and was excitedly telling his grandfather all about it as he played. 

Joan, the only air cleaner we have is the filter on the AC/Heating Heat Pump.  It would probably be a good idea to have one.  We do have a dehumidifier that we use during the summer to keep the humidly down as here in South Carolina it gets very high. 

Mary Ann, we did turn our AC on late yesterday afternoon as it was getting warm in the house and we knew Scott would be out and he seems always to be very hot and sweats a lot.  We will certainly need it today as well since we will be approaching 90 degrees.  You can correct the time shown in your postings by going to your Profile link at the top of the page and then clicking Modify Profile and then click on the Look and Layout and use the time offset to get the settings for your postings to reflect your time.  The temperatures are a part of the little app that shows them and I don't think we can do anything about them in the settings.  Thanks for the info on the Greek God omelet.  I do like the ham and pineapple combination but always want some meat on my pizza. 

Larry, the below is correct for my time, but what shows in the weather square is 9:43. 

Mary Ann

Time Offset:
Number of hours to +/- to make displayed time equal to your local time.
    (auto detect)
    Current forum time: May 03, 2018, 08:30:49 AM

Mary Ann and Larry - I gave up on the weather thingy about a year ago.  The time was never correct, but was usually an hour or more off in either direction.  I wrote to Weather Underground for help, but never heard back from them.  Both Jeanne Lee and oldiesman tried to get it straightened out for me, but neither one could figure out why it jumped around so much?  After hassling with it for a while, I decided it wasn't worth bothering everyone, so I had Jeanne delete the icon.
It's now just 8:00 o'clock here, so time for me to eat breakfast and get ready for the day. 

Marilyn and Larry, since I tried to fix it and was unsuccessful, I am just going to leave it there.  I don't know how close the temperature is but it is about 60 degrees here.  I think it is to get to the 70s again today, but the shower last night cooled things off so we may not get that far.  I don't care - I put on shorts this morning!

Mary Ann

The sun is trying hard to break through the cloud cover, but it hasn't yet succeeded.  Both April and May are hard to predict here.  The weather people said that Wednesday, Thurs and Friday, would be warm and sunny, but so far cool, windy and cloudy.  Not really cold, but the constant wind blows the pollen around, and everyone complains!  We can't open our windows overnight, or both of us wake up sneezing

Larry - I'm glad that Scott had a pleasant conversation with his grandchildren, and hope that things continue to improve for Jennifer as well.

I was busy with paperwork this morning, but later I did manage to put one air conditioner in. Three more to go. Fortunately, the windows are only about two feet off the floor and the air conditioners are relatively light compared to what they used to weigh. What takes so long is that the sills are not all the same. Only one doesn't need extra bracing underneath. That is the one I put in. The house heats up fast in this hot sunny weather (87^o outside right now.
cat
I see I have acquired an insect of the flying variety buzzing about. I'll not be able to catch it until the sun sinks and it cools down a little in here.

I put the ceiling fan on yesterday. You should have seen Shan. He sat on the coffee table and stared intently at it, looking for a way to get to the pull chain. After a while he took a nap under it. Shan and Oscar got treated to the first of the catnip coming up in the yard. Oscar loves the stuff and will sit at the basement door to remind me that I need to pick some for him. Shan picks around at it, but doesn't seem to interested except for the fact that Oscar goes for it. Naturally, Shan wants what Oscar has until he discovers it is the same stuff I gave him that he just sniffed at. Lucy isn't interested in catnip at all.

The next two days we have the possibility for thunderstorms and a third for just rain.

This afternoon I am reading. One book is due in a few days, another two are due in about a week and a half.

MarsGal, I think you have our weather of the last two days.  Today it is cooler, but very pleasant.  It's just under 70 degrees now.  I would not be able to lift anything with heft but fortunately my a/c is a central kind.  I never had the kind that fit in windows and I have casement windows here.  There used to be a/c made for casement windows because we used to sell them but I'm glad I don't have to worry about them.

I'm watching golf now but I don't know where they're playing.

I'm about to make an appointment to sign an amendment to my Trust.  I'm OK with it if no one dies or leaves the family.  No one died this time, but I did decide to remove three people who I have almost no contact with now, but are relatives.  I'd like to think this is the last.

Mary Ann

I'm feeling so pleased with myself, because I walked for about a half hour, in our local park.  This is the second week in a row, and if I can keep it up, I will be following my cardiologists recommendation.  He recently retired, and I haven't thought about getting a new doctor, so I decided I'd start the walking routine that he suggested so long ago.  It was a pleasant walk, because the weather is about 68 degrees and sunny. 

Mary Ann - Thanks for reminding me of our living trust!   We haven't looked at it in many years, and I'm sure there are some amendments to be considered. 

Marilyn, I sent 16 years with no changes to my Trust and this is the fifth since 2014.  First change was to bring things up to date, then Tim died, next Norm and last was Terry.  Last time I tried to include cousins' children and now I've taken them out.  I have no contact with them so why include them.  I decided just because we're related I don't have to treat everyone alike.  I really hope this is the last amendment!

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone.  It is a sunny morning and we are headed up to 87 degrees this afternoon.  This is the day for the housekeeper to be here.  This evening we have our annual Sunday School class spring social.  This will be where it has been held the last two or three years and will be catered by the same BBQ Restaurant as previously.  There is always plenty of food served buffet style and a nice time to visit with some of the folks one may not know as well as others in the class.  This morning I have to make a trip back to the place for the CPAP supplies as when I went yesterday all but one of the employees had been called to a meeting and the man left to keep the office open couldn't help me.  I hope I have better luck this morning.  Then I will stop at Walmart to pick up our grocery order.

Mary Ann, I guess I am at a loss as to know why the time is off in your postings.  Since it auto detects it should be right for the time you post.  I plan to watch a little of the golf this afternoon.  I usually don't tune in until the last two rounds.  The PGA tournament is in Charlotte, NC. 

Marilyne, I also really don't pay much attention to the time/weather app at the bottom of the postings since the time of posting is shown with the identification area of the poster.  The time of your posting that I see is my time zone so your post at 8 am shows 11 am for yesterday.  We don't open our windows for the same reason, i.e., the pollen in the air.  I also don't feel safe with a window open at night.  That wasn't a concern when I was growing up and since there was no AC every one had to keep the windows open in the warmer weather.  Good work on your walking in the park.  I used to do that but now find I can't walk very far without pain and extreme weariness. 

MarsGal, it sounds like it is time you had your air conditioners in place so you can stay comfortable.  This home has a heat pump and has the best air conditioning and heating we have ever had in a house.  We also use ceiling fans as we have 9 foot ceilings and it keep the cool or warm air moving.  Was that the first time you had used your ceiling fan since you got Shan?  Interesting you have a couple of cats not interested in catnip as I thought all cats liked it. 

Good Friday Morning, Everyone!

Hi Larry !

It is cooler today after  a couple of days
up in the 80's...   ( How rare ) ...
Weather is back to normal this morning ..   (50's)

I am off to do some shopping this morning..
Going  to peruse the thrift shop down stairs... 
Hoping to find some Summer clothes  ...   
It is great living above a thrift shop!   

All is well here... 
Have a good day,  Everyone! 
Sandy

It is sunny this morning, but windy as all get out!  It is trash day and a neighbor's trash was already blown over and about.  Tom fixed some of it when he took ours out and I haven't looked since to see if things are still in place.  Recycle things go into a tub but Tom bought a container for the other trash so that should stay put.  I just heard a bang so I think I should check on the source.  I don't have anything loose out that should have caused the bang.

Mary Ann

I'm back.  The noise was the neighbor's tub blowing toward my unit.  The tub might blow onto my garden area but there are no plants there yet.  I tried to open the storm door and the wind was so strong it was hard to open the door so I did not go out.  My neighbor works so is not available to put her tub away.  I'm not dressed yet so I don't want to go out too far.  Later I might put the tub behind her garage.

My phone doesn't ring much, but so often the caller is "Unavailable".  Of course, I do not answer those calls. 

Sandy, we had our warm/hot days Tuesday and Wednesday.  Yesterday was much cooler but I was anticipating another warm day, so I wore shorts.  I was comfortable, but it wasn't really my short weather.  Today I'll wear capris.  I think we'll be in the high  60s, my kind of temperature.

Looking at Grand Haven, there are a lot of whitecaps, yet the legend says there is no wind.  I think they'd better get on the ball.

Mary Ann

It is cloudy right now with the sun trying to peek through. It has been drizzling off and on this morning. Temp is 76^oF and likely to go to the mid 80's. There is a slight chance for a thunderstorm this afternoon.

I got air conditioner number two in this morning. Now there is one downstairs and one upstairs in the bedroom.

Larry, that was Shan's first experience with the ceiling fan. I am waiting to see if he takes to sitting in front of the air conditioners like he did with the humidifier. He seemed to like the air blowing out of it this winter.

Mary Ann, I dislike intense wind.  My least favorite weather.  When it comes from the North, it's bitter cold and miserable. When it comes from the East, it's dry, and brings the firestorms.  When it comes from the South, it's not so bad. Usually spells the end of a heat wave, or brings the Pineapple Express, from Hawaii. None of the above happening here this morning . . . instead we have heavy damp fog, which means the air is totally still and not so much as a leaf is moving on the trees.

I looked at Grand Haven, and the lake looks wild!  From the webcam, it looks like the pier is completely swamped with waves.  I also looked at the Duluth cams, but all seems to be quiet and sunny there.  I'm hoping to finally see one of the big ships . . . so far, just cars and a few pedestrians  crossing over the bridge.

Mornin all.  Tis sunny and will be in the 80's today.  Tis shopping day so Dan should be here soon to get my list for this week.   Candy will go with him as she has been unable to obtain a car as yet.

Mary Ann, got to see a ship leaving on the Duluth site just now.  Interesting seeing one leave, used to being on the ship watching the land get smaller.  LOL

Joan, I'm glad you got to see a ship leave Duluth.  I have a list of cams when I click on the Canal Cam and I've been able to follow a ship to the Harbor.  The other day I saw a ship go in, another go out and then another go in.  I'm usually not that lucky.  This morning I saw a ship waiting to come in but it didn't move while I watched and I don't have that much time!  I'll look at it when I finish here.

Marilyn, our bad winds come from the north because they do bring some cold air.  My slider faces north and I don't sit in the living room in winter with north winds.  My dad always said that east winds blew no good and often when I see that we have an east wind, shortly after that we have rain.  Our wind today is from the southeast and except for being strong is not a bad wind.  Those Grand Haven whitecaps are doing a good job of covering the pier.  I am sure no one will be working on the pier today.

MarsGal, I'm glad you got the second air conditioner in and you now have two places to go to be cool.  I am sure now that you've done that, cool weather will make an appearance.  I don't have any ceiling fans so Kendrick doesn't get bothered by them.  I do have a hassock fan and he ignored it.  That's in my bedroom to pull in cooler air.

Mary Ann

 

Too late to say good morning, as it is about 1 p.m. here in the east.   I had a very lazy morning.  I was up early and ate breakfast and started to read on my Kindle and fell asleep.  Then, when I wake up,  it takes me awhile to get wide awake.  I did talk to my  sister-in-law for a while,  which afterwards,  I was awake better.

I am eating my lunch now, and then not sure what I will get into.  Lots of things I could do, so will just to decide what

Marilyne,  across the top of the page where you can click on the webcams for the Duluth canal and bridge, there is a topic that says "Ship Schedules".   If you click on that, a list will come up that tells you all the ships that will be coming or going that day, and sometimes even the next day.  Depending on what part of the country you live in,  you will have to figure out the time that that particular ship will be in the canal.  The time listed on the schedule would be Central Time, so I have to add an hour to what is listed, as I am on the east coast.  Mountain and Pacific time would each be an hour earlier than what is listed.   Also, there is a map on that same page that show the lake and shows the name of a ship if it is at anchor in the lake. Maybe this will help you see what time a ship will actually be coming in or going out.  Now that the weather is getting nicer,  the crowds of people will be starting to line up to watch.  AS each ship goes under the bridge,  the ship and the bridge will blow their whistles as a greeting or a farewell acknowledgement. 

The sun is shining brightly and the wind here has died down a lot.  Today is supposed to be the end of our 90º temperatures that we have had for a couple days.  Showers are predicted for the week end.   And, some cooler  temperatures.

I have a dentist appointment in the morning and then hope to stop at an Amish market on the way home.

Hope everyone will have a pleasant afternoon.

Joy

Joy - Thanks for telling me about the information as to the ship schedules.  Now I just have to figure out the time difference.  Since I'm in the Pacific Time Zone, I will be two hours behind the scheduled arrival or departure times.  I'll leave a post-it note on my computer screen, to remind me.

I see that you're having a birthday in the next couple of days? Looks like we were both born in 1934!   My b-day is in August.