Mosaic Mom

My Powell's book order arrived. I have been reading since 10:30 this morning. I only stopped to break up a battle between two lizards on the porch. Then I realized I had to pee. And I realized I had not had lunch. And I realized I had not Blogged!

The book I picked first is "A Catch of Letters". It is the letters between Robert Lax and Thomas Merton. In the section I am in, they are talking about their mutual buddy, Ad Reinhart. He is an artist.

So I googled Ad Reinhart's art. That was a mistake. I just don't get it at all. Sigh. I have sent an email to the kid and hope she can decipher it for me.

This just came across my desk and I wanted to share it right away since so many people are interested in learning how to grow vegetable gardens...

July 24th is the last day to register for the New Master Gardener Training Classes at the Discovery Gardens Lake County Agricultural Center.

For more information and to register call Anna Perez at 352-343-4131

You can also visit the gardens at the corner of Woodlea Road and Hwy 19 in Tavares...and while you're there pick up their excellent newsletter...with their excellent craft article on page 3...Hmmm who do you think might have written that???

Anyway...Look, the crop cycle in Florida is different. Here's your chance to learn what to plant and when to plant it...Sign up!

The air conditioner repairman showed up just before 5PM yesterday, but he was not able to make the repairs. It was a major electrical problem and an electrician was called in.

We spent a tossy-turny night, a little warm, but at least we had fans. It was good practice for hurricane season.

Anyway, bright and early this morning, the electrician showed up and we are back in business now.

Happy Bastille Day one and all.
Viva la France!
Viva la Charles DeGaulle!

Our Air Conditioner quit. We are waiting on the repairman. The cloudy weather this morning helped, but now the sun is out and I am wilting!

Good thing I phoned my doctor to ask about the test results. They are lost somewhere and a search party has been sent out...I can last 10 more days...then I'm in trouble.

UPS has still not arrived with the books from Powell's. Sigh.
This week can only improve.

The one happy thing on the day so far...
Happy Birthday Aunt Terrie!
We love you!

I tried to work in the studio today, but if you are seeking the definition of "hot and humid" just come spend an afternoon here!

Time to relax indoors and watch some tv.

For the last 2 summers, Ice Road Truckers was fun, but how many times can you watch a show about burly men shifting gears in a big rig while the announcer screams "Danger"?

A little surfing turned up this new offering from Sci-Fi Channel...Warehouse 13 has the potential to be cute...a little X-File-ish, a little Men in Black-ish, a little Twilight Zone-ish.

It's worth a look-see on Tuesday.

Tomorrow, oh I can't wait for tomorrow to come...and with it...my book order from Powell's Books!

There's a new Sonya Henny...Bryan just got married! Congrats!
Do you remember the name Sonia Henie from the 1930's?
She was a famous ice skater.
This is Sonia Henie, the ice skater famous in the 1930's...

What day is it?

Yesterday I got presents…

A yummy cake showed up via UPS,

A card with a great gift certificate showed up in the mail,

E-mail brought news that the NSF Grant has been submitted!,

My Sweetie brought me gorgeous flowers.

Yesterday must have been my birthday!

Wonder what’ll happen today!?!

Lightning ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at!
Two people have been killed in this area this week and lots and lots of ‘em have been toted to the hospitals causa the lightning hit ‘em.

I first encountered lightning’s force when I was at sailboat camp in North Carolina…and no, I wasn’t out on the water in a boat. I was in the cabin, standing with my face pressed up against the screen watching the storm.

In those days screens were made of metal mesh. When the bolt hit close by, I was zapped across my face and hands.

Next was in college. This was really stupid…do not try this…it was a wildly stormy night and some idiot boyfriend convinced me it would be safe to swim in the apartment complex pool…because it was surrounded by a chain link fence that would conduct the electricity away from us if a bolt struck.

(Let me state for the record that this same idiot tried to kill himself about a year later by shooting himself. He did not die of the gunshot wound. He was sitting on a dock when he fired and he fell into the lake and drowned.)

Okay, moving on…

Professor Nick Natarella at the University of Georgia (at the time) had a neighbor who had a tree that got hit. I was amazed at how long and how white hot that tree burned!

This was my first inkling that this lightning stuff could really be dangerous.

Here at the house we’ve had a lot of hits in 30 years …trees with their bark blown off, call the firemen because the walls are hot, that kind of stuff…

but the one I remember most was when that stupid woman customer wouldn’t get out of the field.

“Lady,” sez I, “I have done sent the crew indoors. It ain’t safe here.”

“I must get my 20 mandevillas before I leave,” says she. “I must carefully select them slowly, one by one and examine each leaf, lest they have spots.”

“Throw ‘em in the truck and move it honey. This is dangerous. That sky is green-colored.”

Then she says to me, “Why is your hair standing straight out?”

And I look up at her and her waist length brown hair is standing straight out. “Squat” I holler, but too late bause the bolt broke and the shock knocked us back.

“Get out!” I screamed, and (greedy as I am) I said, “No plants for you. Get out, now!” I ran to the office and got out of the field.

And you know what that stupid woman did?

She continued to load plants.

She got her 20 flowers and paid me and left. But every time she came in my nursery after that I never sold her anything again. “No availability, I’d say”

To this day I pay very careful attention to the hairs on my arms and legs during a storm. Never forgot that one.

Lightning knocked out the electric for almost 3 hours today. We also lost the internet for several hours.

Just another day in the Sunshine State.

I am due at the endocrinologist this afternoon.
It’s an annual check-up and blood draw.

Yesterday, Oprah did a show on thyroid. I suppose the phone will be ringing off the hook at the endocrinologist’s office today. As always, I am ahead of the trend!

I’ve had the best year I can remember in a long, long time. My energy levels, my body functions, my mental health, my sleep…everything improved. Getting that thyroid level stabilized made all the difference.


Several doctors this year tried to snatch the Synthroid prescription away from the endocrinologist.

When I went to that woman primary care complaining of a lady parts infection, she did not even look at my lady parts. Sight unseen, she declared that what I had was a thyroid problem and she ordered a TSH test. I never went back.

I went to the gynecologist. He did a great job of fixing the lady parts problem. It was an easy to kill infection. He asked about the Synthroid, too.

I went to a primary care dude for a sinus infection. He asked who controlled the Synthroid. Hello, look at my nose, please!

BTW, for those of you who might not have got this news, LabCorp is no longer a Blue Cross/Blue Shield provider. If you go get your lab work at Lab Corp, you will be paying out of pocket. Be sure your doctor writes your lab orders in such a way that you can use Quest.

Anyway, after that I will trot by Publix ‘causa we need eggs and cat food.
Life goes on. Rah!

He was a little old man, and I judged that he was a Southerner because he was wearing a red plaid men’s casual shirt tucked into belted khaki slacks. Yankee men think of themselves as on perpetual vacation once they arrive in Florida and dress to that slovenly standard, but this gent sported a Southern traditional style. He was in his late 70’s and had the sort of little boy look that said, “my wife still dresses me”.

Lowe’s was bustling yesterday and I was lucky to get a parking slip so close. I squeezed in next to his blue van and started towards the entrance. His buggy was generously stuffed with marigolds, potting soil and fertilizer. I watched him gently securing the packs of marigolds one at a time into the hatchback.

I decided to greet him in our native dialect.
“Them’s purdy, “ I remarked.

Visibly stunned, it took him a moment to say, “Thank you.”

I realized I had not factored in education. His 2 word reply revealed it. I was embarrassed.

I ought to have said, “Those are charming marigolds.” Or said nothing at all.

Mute is the best policy.

Just inside Lowe’s, 3 workers were purging the tropical foliage. They were removing diseased and insect infested plants, but instead of discarding these sickly specimens into the trash where they belonged, the workers were marking the price down and putting them on a sales rack.

Four or five customers were buzzing around the rack eager to snatch this sale. A feeding frenzy had begun.
I could see the mealy bugs and pythium symptoms from 6 feet away, but one lady say to another, “A little love will cure these.”

I thought to stop and explain the life cycle of oomycete disease to these ladies, to save their pocketbooks. No amount of love or money was going to revive that ivy.

But having had embarrassing results over marigolds in the parking lot, I decided to shut up and keep on walking.

Mute is the best policy.