along the well beaden path

Top of the mornin' to ya! Tea? I drink lots of it, being married to the Irishman. I used to drink coffee only, and sometimes still steal a cup here and there, including Lattes from Starbucks. But mostly I've fallen in love with tea. One tea in particular, Barry's Irish Tea. Nope, you can't buy it over here unless you find it in an Irish imports shop. We get it shipped to us from the family in Sligo. But my nieces, who are now hooked on it too thanks to their meddlesome auntie Lora, just buy it on line. How very clever. A hearty black tea. VERY wholesome and comforting tea and with just a little milk its sort of like something from heaven in the morning. Ohhh, sorry to change the subject, but ... the cat (you know of whom I speak) is staring at her food again... persnickety thing!

So, can you believe it? Here we are in the great northwest and we've got 90 degrees in May! That was yesterday and being a true northwesterner and, yes, something of a wimp when it comes to heat (I admit it!) ...let me tell you, it was just AWFUL. I'm not sure we broke any records, but the news said the last time we were this high was in 1956. Ahhh ... nooooo ... I beg to differ .... I think it was about 1966, mr. newsman! But ... that's another story that others will have to tell. In truth, I was only 7. If you are good with numbers, which as you are already aware, I am absolutely not, you now know how old I am! Frightening, isn't it?

I lived in the kooky town of Reno for several years (yes, people actually LIVE there ... there are grocery stores and libraries and parks, schools and homes, too, really) and ... talk about high temps? Now, I did not like those summers at all. So I do know the difference between a mild summer and a scorcher. I will take the mild ones, thank you very much. Whoever would like the scorchers may keep them, as well, I don't mind at all. So, to me, which is what I was getting at here after the usual double helping of babble, yesterday seemed like a scorcher.

Its sort of sticky here when it gets too hot. Your jeans sort of glom on to your legs. Bras do weird things in the heat, don't they? And hair is absolutely unmanageable. (le chat, Elcifer is looking over at me now, squinting, shoot!) Mine went flat at 9am and by around 4pm, no one recognized me. (Excuse me.... No that's all the food you get! Don't you know there are starving cats in Greece!) Sorry ... Not that I care about being recognized, because most people don't remember me from one day to the next, actually. Sometimes my own family... that's why I love dogs so very much. I've never not been recognized by my dogs. Now, the cat's looked at me askew a time or two...

oh newsflash... the teenager is moaning on the couch right now because he stretched a tendon skateboarding and isn't sure he can stand up and "go to school" ... of course, he was just fine last night. Must have been some battle with his sheet that dislocated his foot. Poor dear. He says I'm unsympathetic. Really?

He DID sleep on the couch in a sort of "bent up" position, I'll give him that, because living in an old house as we do, not too well insulated either, the upstairs is likened to a sweltering furnace after a hot day and he was afraid to go into his own room for fear of being roasted alive. Smart thinking. I slept up on top of my quilt myself, with a huge fan on a chair next to the bed and pointed right at me. Also smart thinking.

When I woke up, the fan was blowing on one cat and one dog (and only because the other dog can't jump up on the bed anymore due to her elderly condition (she just likes to shed clumps of hair), the parrots sleep in their cage and the rooster has an outdoor coop, thank heavens) ... I, on the other hand, was sweating profusely from the two little beloved one's body heat while they soaked in the pleasure of cool winds off the fan! Smart thinking on their part. Holy moly.

My sister visited my blog yesterday to see what dastardly things I was up to and was displeased with my brooding picture. I suppose it looks a little brooding. I thought it looked sort of thoughtful, actually, like I was thinking... hmmm ... yes, let's talk about that exciting event... or how about this one ... anyway, she thinks I should change my picture so now I'm burdened with the daunting task of finding a photograph that does me justice and makes me look like the happy go lucky girl I really am. I hate photographs. I used to like being photographed when I was ... ahemmm... younger... and cute. Yes, cuteness was actually in my past, somewhere ... waaaaay back. But then I got older and unpleasant looking. Well, sometimes I can look pleasantly thoughtful.

All in all, I'm hoping today will be a cooler day, that's it really, not much to ask. I did find a fan in the basement, by the way, so didn't have to buy one, thank heavens, there with the vases and extra pairs of shoes that might come back in style some day. Did I mention ALL the rails are up on the stairs? ... tonight the railing goes up on the platform. I can hardly wait! We'll chat later....

~lora