Category: Life

I decided today to catch up on some over due laundry chores. I needed to wash the sofa cover, and I needed to wash and dry and hang up all my winter turtlenecks. I live in turtleneck tops in the winter. Those and wool sweaters. Yesterday I handled all the wool, today all the turtlenecks.

I happily was ironing in my laundry room, listening to music while the washer droned on cleaning my clothes.

I thought to myself, how boring is this?

Then my phone rang and it was my girlfriend, Suzan whom I haven’t seen in a very long time. She was just down the street and wanted to stop in. I was thrilled!!!

She was up with her Mom, and they came and we talked for a while. Not long enough though, and we really need to get together again soon! I’m not sure she realized how it brightened my day to see her, but I am still smiling.

Suzan and I raised our kids together way back when. Our children are all grown now and Suzan even has a few grand-kids, but we, of course, are still the same girls we always were and chatting together felt so comfortable. She is one of those people that I always feel completely relaxed and at home with.

All too soon it was time for them to go, and we packed them off with apples from the orchard and kisses from the pups.

Now it’s back to laundry.

I still have not figured out if we are the cleanest people around or the dirtiest. You see we have a ton of laundry and a ton of ironing, and it’s just the two of us.

I go for the cleanest!

My hair stylist informed me today that my hair is getting grayer. Of course,  this is why I go in to visit her every 4 weeks for a “dip in her fountain of youth”! But apparently, the little bit of gray that I once had is spreading.

Like a bad case of the flu.

I’m not complaining, mind you, at least I have hair to actually turn gray. Still it saddens me to think that even though I feel young, and look (fairly) young, the old hair is turning against me.

When I got home I looked in the mirror. Hair aside, I’m actually not looking to bad for an old girl of 50. I mean, I’ve seen people my age who look….. well…. much older. There are also the botox beauties not and the plastic dolls that seem to be all over the place these days, at least on the TV and in Hollywood.

I’ve chosen to age gracefully. Well, except for my hair. I do not want all that gray showing. The lines, the wrinkles, and the sags, I will accept with the same good humor that I show the orthotic inserts for my shoes.

It’s just the way it goes.

How do you feel about the aging process? Will you go naturally, or kicking and screaming?

I was just sort of lazing around today, if you can call canning 20 pints of brandied peaches lazing, and enjoying the warm sunshine that seems to have settled into our area. It’s a little late for my poor garden, but I may still get a few tomatoes and eggplants out of my pots on the patio.

The dogs played, yes even Anneliese was up and running about today playing with her brother. It seems the Dackel Princess household is getting back on it’s feet after the most recent bout with raging dackel hormones!

Anneliese has taken over the little doggy bed, but trust me, that’s okay after her desire to hide from every one and every thing! It’s nice to have her back out with us again!

At this point I think I can safely say that we have canned enough peaches and peach jam for the next 12 months. We will be having Stanley Plums come in soon and I always enjoy making jam from them as well.

I will tell all my close family and friends now. For Christmas this year, expect food!

Monday morning Fritzi goes in for his yearly shots. I will take him even though he is truly a terror in the car. I think I will just roll down the window and let him get some air. He loves that!

Aside from that, this week is a work around the house week for me. I have a lot to do here at home, but no pressing engagements! Yay! I need a few days to regroup, do laundry and pay a few bills!

Happy Monday to you all, and have a great week ahead!

Tuesday was jam making day. I had two batches of Heavenly Peach Jam all set and ready to cook and in the late morning I made the first one. It was a new recipe and I wasn’t happy with the way it was tasting. It was a bit on the tart side. It also wasn’t jelling the way I wanted it to. I eventually got it bottled and then I put the jars back in a hot water bath and cooked it for another 10 minutes. That seemed to do the trick.

After lunch I was making the second batch up and I decided that I needed more sugar. I also cooked the mashed peach mixture longer before adding the pectin. I was not only happier with the taste, but I was happy with the jelling.

Once all 17 jars were sealed and set to cool, I sat down with my tea and checked in with Miss Anneliese. She has been quiet most of the day and has stayed in her little bed under the table between Hubby’s chair and my own, with Mr. Bunny. Oh I will be so glad when this is over.

I went to Weight Watchers on Wednesday and although I felt lighter, the scale didn’t show even an ounce worth of loss! I stayed exactly the same. Ugh! I was moderately upset. I sat down and started to talk to “my girls” and then the meeting started.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I get so much out of the meetings. They just fill me up with positive feelings and get me ready to start another week and handle the trials and tribulations of life.

By the time the meeting ended I was ready for anything….well almost!

As we walked out to our cars we were greeted with a torrential downpour! I had my rain jacket on, but my legs got slightly wet. I just hate that!

I had, however, heard about an end of the season sale on swim suits. Since I love to shop, and need a new suit, I wasn’t going to let a little waterfall of rain stop me.

Now I know that almost all women can relate to this. When was the last time you actually went out and bought a swim suit without pain?

I tried on 6 different suits and have to tell you, if I hadn’t already lost all this weight, I would be convinced I was terribly obese! These ill fitting suits showed me why they were still on the racks, and marked down to almost nothing.

Needless to say, I left empty handed.

I drove back home, stopping to get our mail and that’s when the heaviest shower hit and I got literally soaked! Once I got in, I changed into long jeans and a chamois shirt just to warm up.

The afternoon was spent making blueberry jam and inventorying our canning supplies. Soon the peaches and plums will be ripe and ready for canning and jam making.

Now if the rain would just go away, I would be a very happy girl.

Just when I despaired that there were no good movies out there to watch, our Parks and Recreation Department ran their first in a series of movies tonight. Hubby is on the committee so he encouraged me and our neighbor to come down for the film. The movie was a British movie called “Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont“. It starred Joan Plowwright as a woman in her last years of life. She was a master bringing Mrs Palfrey to life. You come to love her almost as soon as she is on the screen.

I sat there watching the movie and I felt the love and longing that this woman felt for her husband. I could see in my life how I love my own husband, and like Mrs Palfrey, how no one could ever take the place of my beloved.

The movie is a gentle reminder to live life to the fullest, to love those we have, deeply and to never take for granted those people in our life that make us feel loved, and whom we love.

If you have not seen it, take a trip to the video store, or rent it from Netflix. It is worth the time you will spend watching this beautiful story unfold. You will truly be enriched!