It's Hot Enough to Fry Eggs on the Sidewalk--So I'm Mostly Staying Inside

and stitching, reading, writing letters...

Embroidery

I worked on this white embroidery piece in January and February, then put it away.  

A few days ago, I had an idea about what to do with it 

and have been filling in the edges.

Mail Art

Incoming

Outgoing

Garden

It is too hot to spend much time in the garden.  With temps 98-100 and heat indexes of 105-108--a few early chores is all I want to do.  The garden is on its own for the most part.  

:)  My worms seem to be satisfied with their new home.  No more escapes.  I check on them daily, just to see how they're doing.  

Weather

August is a sweltering miasma of misery for those who must work in the Louisiana heat. Breathing feels like being in a sauna, sweat doesn't evaporate, heat advisories daily.  I can come in and enjoy the luxury of air conditioning.  Many cannot.  Hurry up fall!

Books/Reading

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker is an innovative and fascinating fantasy.  I have a review scheduled on my book blog for September 2.  It is the first in a new series, so there will be a long wait for the next book.  

Alex Walters:  Candles and Roses, Death Parts Us, and Their Final Act  (Inspector McKay series) and Late Check Out, Dark Corners, and Snow Fallen (DCI Kenny Murrain series). Obviously, I liked Alex Walters and just kept reading.  Haven't reviewed any of these yet.

Attica Locke:  Heaven, My Home brings black Texas Ranger Darren Matthews back for another investigation--this time set in Jefferson, TX and on Caddo Lake.  I have a review scheduled on my book blog for Aug. 26.

My Scintillating Conversation Gambits

How are you handling the August heat?  Ready for fall yet?

The Living Is Easy...But Hot and Humid

Some summer reading:

 Twisty doesn't begin to cover Sarah Alderson's psychological thriller.  A home invasion goes wrong, leaving Ava's daughter fighting for her life.   Loads of secrets that lead to complication after complication.   Along with Ava, I suspected almost every character.  

The timeline shifts occasionally to the earlier events, filling in a little background, but we are still misled in many cases because some of the information remains missing.

Book 10 in Joy Ellis' Nikki Galena series, which I read like gum drops with each new entry.

Dark Greenborough is a traditional festival celebrated much like Halloween with ghost walks, haunted houses, and people dressed as zombies, monsters, and other creepy characters.  But this year, a note arrives telling the police that the festival this will be dangerous.  The reality is even worse.

from the description:  Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years.

Although this is a fictional account, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines in World War Two by Joseph Bruchad is well-documented with bibliographic research, not only of the war in the Pacific, but with the cultural background of the Navajo code talkers. 
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Needle and Thread

Several years ago, I made a bunch of these white on white squares and rectangles (thanks to Karen Ruane's inspiration and online class) with the intention of putting them all together.  Ha!  Didn't happen.  So last week, I took out one of the squares and made a pillow.  My stitching is better than my stuffing and the color is too yellow, but anyway....  

Now, I'm looking at my other square and rectangle pieces and thinking pillows.  This one is  a thank you and a retirement from teaching gift.  I included one of the Lost Words postcards I ordered when I ordered the book.  The painting is by Jackie Morris,

and one of Robert Macfarlane's poems is on the back.

Garden

At about 6:30 this morning, the temperature was 80 degrees, 87% humidity, and a heat index of 88.  Ugh.  I did some weeding, deadheading, and added blended kitchen scraps to the compost pile.  That's it for the day.  

The obedient plant is coming into bloom.  The name comes from the ability to bend the stems and have them stay that way.  That's as far as obedience goes--I've kept them under control until this year, and they've tried to take over the bed.  I'm going to have to do some serious culling after they finish blooming, but they are pretty from late summer into fall.  Late summer is a little earlier this year.  Mid-summer is the new late summer, I guess.

Newest interest?  Worm farming.  I've been reading about it for years, but have never made one.  When I turn my compost heap, though, I see so many worms that I'm considering the possibility again.  I would need to order red wrigglers because they are best for composting and still be happy for my regular garden variety earth worms which are good for soil aeration.  

My interests are varied, my follow-through haphazard. :)

January and the Holiday Aftermath

Like so many others, each January evokes a need to declutter and get rid of things that tend to accumulate during the year.   Simple things--that could be done during the year, but for many reasons just don't--become a challenge, a mountain to conquer.  I never get it done completely, but it is strangely satisfying to go on the annual declutter and organize campaign.  

On The Art of Doing Stuff, Karen talks about throwing away 50 things.  I can do that in short order, I thought, and started on kitchen drawers.  Spices past expiration date, packaging, items that I have multiples of (wooden spoons, spatulas, etc.), that belong somewhere else, or that I don't even use--I put in the Goodwill box or threw them away.  It felt good and the drawers I did look much better.  

Actually, on the spices, I just threw away the contents (my trash smelled like a cafeteria with all of the spices mixed, and not in a good way) and washed the glass containers to use upstairs for beads, etc.

I have many drawers, cabinets, pantry, and my closet to go, and although I'm feeling quite pleased with myself so far, I know the desire to keep up with this will begin to fade and the habit of "stashing" rather than trashing will reassert itself.  For this week at least, 50 things a day might be do-able.  The long term goal is not to stash, but at least I am making an effort.  

Continuing to write letters to all of those that I owe mail.

These will go out tomorrow.

More efforts on the white embroidery.  Filling in more space, a little at a time.

When I get tired of the cleaning and decluttering

I saw something the other day reminding me of Sei Shonagon and her Pillow Book.  So as I go about my day I've begun categorizing things.  I've been familiar with the book for decades and have my favorites from her various categories: 

Hateful/annoying things: 

A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him discusses all sorts of subjects at random as though he knew everything.

One is telling a story about old times when someone breaks in with a little detail that he happens to know, implying that one's own version is inaccurate -- disgusting behavior!

Adorable things:  
A baby of two or so is crawling, rapidly along the ground. With his sharp eyes he catches sight of a tiny object and, picking it up with his pretty little fingers, takes it to show to a grown-up person.

She had dozens of categories.  I am not sure where my book is so I took a couple of quotes from the internet.  
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Anyway, I'm going about my day with my own categories:

Satisfying things:
 My new socks.  So comfortable, and I like the design.
A clean drawer, so pleasing.
Finishing a letter and getting it ready for the mail.

Hateful things:
Slugs on my lettuce.  Slimy, disgusting, greedy creatures.

Annoying things:
Entering a room and forgetting why I went there.
Forgetting that I put on a load of laundry yesterday without putting stuff in the dryer.

Things that make me happy:  
Messages from Erin with pics of her sewing space.
A new book to read.

I used to add these to letters, and I think it is time to do it again.

What are some categories you might have?  (Frustrating, Anxiety Causing, Adorable, Uplifting?)