SPELLING BEE

BY BEA WESTERBERG

Weather, where will you go?

What’s with this weather timeline? We are supposed to be thinking we should have dragged out the winter clothes by now and at least have located the tire chains. Our brains should be having the guilt zoomies about getting all the fall chores done by this time. How can you want a hot chocolate in the morning and then crave an ice cold drink by mid afternoon? Sitka Thor Bear in the Mist is just beginning to shed a few furs. Did the Dog Journal have an article about the dog days of summer being extended into October this year? It appears we might have to be mowing grass at Halloween so the kids can find your front door. There must be tons of pumpkin spice that is needing to be used up and this warm weather does not get the pumpkin spice hormones worked up. Are we going to have to go with the half empty glass people and say we are going to pay big time for all this nice weather and soon we will be up to our eyeballs with snow, frost, ice and wind? The Mama Bear me is looking at the half full glass picture and thinking how many more days can I run around outdoors without shoes.

This has been a kind of “nothing happening” but then again “a lot happening” week. I emptied out my refrigerator ice cube maker for a gathering and then the ice maker decided it wanted at least a 2 day no work time! No, No, NO. I need my ice to live. It was almost a mate for the times that the electricity goes out and you are wanting to turn on every light and flush every toilet. I did a list of things including trying to figure out if the thing was turned on to work. The design people get an “F” on that one. My friend the Internet was called on even though Husband Larry said “call the repair people”. I did a major search and then did some tapping, moving and cleaning off the “electric eye” with the hope that a new part was not needed. Later that evening I heard the sound of ice cubes being dumped in the ice container. To say that I went to sleep like a baby that night was putting it mildly.

My life has also been fluffed up somewhat after cataract and retina surgery. I am supposed to wait for 6 months to be sure the eye heals the way it is supposed. The cataract doctor said it was okay to get glasses refitted now but the retina doctor said to wait until January to be sure. I was trying my best to get used seeing in the distance but seeing nothing up close. This was a complete change from the past history of my eyes and I was going to not a good place with the reading glasses trip. I picked out my next to favorite pair of glasses and had that reworked for now. It took a few days of getting used to things but I can almost get around like I did in the past with glasses. No more whipping up reading glasses to see up close and then moving them to see in the distance. Will get my favorite glasses reworked in January and then decide how many of my others I can afford to get done or maybe just go to Voogueme and tank up on all the favorites I have there. Treasure that good eyesight!

I was hoping that I could say that I finally got my She Shed Studio B ALL done. Part of the problem is that I keep coming up with more things I want done. Daughter Nissa calls that “scope creep”, a project management term. Of course I need that huge outdoor patio heater, the wine glass holder for 12 assorted fancy glasses, mini refrigerator and the church steeple really needs to have the copper trim replaced, and the list goes on. Husband Larry says he see no end to it and he may be right.

Zoom brought me a new passion this weekend in the form of making paper flowers with Italian and German crepe papers and alcohol ink. The end result is extremely real looking pansies. I must also confess that I did do a trip up to the Textile Center’s Worlds Largest Garage Sale last weekend but only got a Mustang trunk load of new goodies. Very restrained as we earlier took up a full 8 foot truck box worth of goodies for the sale.