Hold Your Fire. Please.

Some of us, we'll call us "sane" for classification purposes, have no interest whatsoever in going out tomorrow.  Working up a sweat just getting into a car is not a presager for a fun day.  When "Where is that handheld fan of mine?" overrides every other concern of the day, stay home.  We can cook ourselves hot dogs (without burning them, thankyouverymuch) and/or burgers in air conditioned kitchens.

Oh, and some of us will use sliced bread in place of actual buns, because we were told it's not going to taste any different than buns we would be wasting money on.  (They tasted VERY different.)

Last night, about 10:20, Tap woke me up barking at what I thought for just that split-second were gunshots.  (I've been told that you will know when you hear gunfire.  There's no mistaking it for fireworks.)  At any rate, someone ultra-near this house set off a fusillade of fireworks.  Dude.  Glad they work and all, but NOW?  And then came round after round after round of what I'll call mortar fire.  Dear lord, it was loud, and it just kept going.  How the people inside the houses next to him stood it, I do not know.

Crashes

 In the middle of last night, a big crash woke me (and Tap) up.  My first thought was that someone in Equine Alley had come unmoored.  It was, however, this, from a  bedroom wall.

Still equine, I realize, but in a much, much heavier frame than anything in the hall.  It somehow managed not to damage the antique phonograph from Dale's parents that it hangs over.  It also didn't nick the frame or break the glass.  I doubled up the nails when I re-hung it.

Every Heat Advisory Day this week has been forecast to have a Severe Thunderstorm Night following it, but nothing yet.  It, if it comes, may be a rain that just makes the days more humid, instead of cooler.  Are any of you getting relief?

Heat

 It's hot here, I'm sure it's hot where you are, and July has only begun.  I try not to have the air conditioning churning constantly, so Tap gives me the cues.  When he goes over and lies down in front of an air vent, the A/C needs to be turned on, or its setting taken down.  

It's our own little system, and it works okay for us.

How 'Bout You?

These type lists usually fascinate me.  (Some of them turn out to be the equivalent of roadside tourist traps.)  Here are two things from today's feed:

Do you think he sang along with the "bahm-bahm-bahms"?

This is astonishing.  The next time someone asks what a light year is, this should be the new answer.

Pictures

It's been a while since we visited Equine Alley.  The newest addition is this little fellow:

How cute, huh?

A rainy afternoon, which sent me to my desk on the back porch to color.

None of those adult coloring books for me.  (Though I do have one on standby for practicing finer motor skills.)  Familiar "rough" paper and big spaces to fill in, thank you.

Families

 My son took my daughter to see Rhys Darby last weekend as a birthday gift.  And wouldn't you know, they ran into friends.

I didn't even know Darby did stand-up.  Apparently, they enjoyed the show.

Very much a nothing day here.  Thursday's the day I water the plants, so there's that.  I'm having trouble hooking into the book I'm reading.

It may be the writing style (or lack thereof?)  I am at the chapter about the Bell Witch, so as a Tennessean I should be happy or proud or demanding a  Netflix special or something.  I'm just reading, though.

Take a Look

Still on the couch thing.  This is my heartwarmingest yet.

I love the whole thing.  The print, the framing, the lamplight...  Galileo thermometer, framed Calvin and Hobbes strips, my father's cane/walking stick collection.  It's just over my right shoulder, and it will be glanced out often, I'm sure.

Not a whole lot else going on.  Yesterday, I baked a loaf of crusty honey bread that is SO good.  What is it about crunchy crust bread?  So delicious.

This came across my Instagram feed, and seems like the kind of project you could figure out without a pattern.

Do you agree?

Pictures and Frames

Certainly I've discussed being a fan of Ava Gardner here.  Today, thinning out photos on my phone, I came across what may very well be my photo of her.

Not a speck of makeup.  Maybe her brows?  She could be breathtaking all dolled up, of course, but I like her here.

I did some reframing today.  Got through the last of my parents' frames, moved prints from one frame to another. . .  There are still a couple of prints that are homeless.  Wall space is at a premium, so some things are trading places.  So many holes in these walls!

The second sock has been cast on, though not a lot of progress has been made.  It's not Second Sock Syndrome, I don't think.  That's not been an issue for me in the past.  Watching the NASCAR race tomorrow might throw it into gear.

See what I did there?

A New Look

I got new glasses!

And they're purple!

I still have another pair on the way.  These have already given me a new-and-stronger glasses headache.

My succulents are doing well, and my air plants are, too.  It's a humbling experience to have an air plant die.  It is a rewarding experience to have an air plant "pup."  "Pupping," I have learned, is when air plants reproduce by budding.

This one is having twins!

The ones that I keep on the back porch do better than the ones in the house.  I don't know if it's heat vs. air conditioning or what, but I try to rotate them.

Two Things

I got this little handleless tea cup with adorable koi in the bottom:

Also, sock #1 is finished!

Still not butterfly-ish, but nice sock stripes.

 

In Porch News

The backdrop behind my desk is done.

 Not the best quality photo, and accept my apology.  I had just spent entirely too much time trying to get them sort of even with one another, and wasn't the most patient of photographer.  Perhaps I can get one in the daylight.