Baking on the East Coast

The pool is looking better and better...

I think this is the hottest summer we have had since moving to South Carolina. And there's another 99 degree day tomorrow---- guess it will be too hot to go photographing tomorrow. Ugh.

Of course, there's not much to photograph either during the winter. (Unless you love b&w photography!)

What Are You Doing On Land, Plankton?

Scheming to find the recipe to the Crabby Patty, no doubt! Even if it means drowning in air.

I Stink at Dieting!

Only 3 lbs lost and I've already hit the Plateau!

I know some have said I don't need to lose weight, but I have gained and my clothes have gotten smaller and tighter.

I. do. not. like. that.

I'm practicing being thrifty and it doesn't help if you have to worry about running out and (unnecessarily) spending on a new wardrobe when you want your hard earned bucks to go elsewhere.

I think stopping the hormone pills has helped...think maybe the 3 lbs came from water retention!

Substituting yogurt for chocolate, bananas for chocolate, whipped cream for ice cream hasn't?

I'm middle aged....and doomed!

Having One of Those Days

I feel like I'm sitting by a mailbox waiting on a letter from a friend letting me know that he or she cares and that I matter in the world.

And that mail never comes.

Where do I go from here?

I don't want to live to be 100 years. The world has become such a bad place. (Like were there ANY good times in the world?)

Everyone has forgotten about me. I have no friends nor confidantes.

I am cut off mid-sentence and told not to worry about anything. Easy for you to say.

People with mental illnesses are one of the most discriminated of all. It hurts. It really does.

Food and sleep are my favorite two things now. I am gaining weight and I cannot control that though I have cut out calories.

Yellow Lab Love

I've had a hard day emotionally. Sometimes I think I'm going to run out of tears I've been such a crybaby all of my life.

Then my cats and a special dog come along to make me feel so much better.

Meet Woody!

(And his "dad" is a terrific man too!)

Muchos Gracias, Pirata Nino Negro

For the memory recall of my grandpa's nickname for me. M A D A M Q U E E N. (If you're offended, get over it. A lovely black actress played the part in "Amos and Andy", and I liked her character as well.)

I'm going to get philosophical here--- just enjoy the photo of the bridge if you don't like what I've got to say below.

Bridges....some people should think more about building them rather than burning whatever bridges they may have already, however tenuous.

Rabid angry hatred, sometimes or not irrational, destroys that angry individual, not whomever he hates.

Something we should ALL think about.

I recently realized that I still have hatred for my ex-husband and a couple of others--- I am not proud of it actually just the opposite. Because what good does it do for ME? Nothing. So I am praying for the grace to not only forgive them but to be able to control my rage and to love the (again) as fellow children of God the Most High.

I do not have to be friends with them or even exchange 2 sentences...but I've got to let these vices I constantly struggle with... GO! And that doesn't mean I have to be a doormat which is one of the reasons I have not given any thought to forgiveness until recently.

After all, we all should want our robes to be as white as snow when we finally get to meet Him, right? And I don't want Him to tell me that I could have done a lot of great things...but for my fear and anger which I let stand in the way.

Our bodies need to be nurtured and so do our souls. Staying angry is like a junk food diet-- in the end, it will slowly starve you of any virtue, goodness, that your soul needs to keep going as well as bear forth ill effects as a bad diet to the mortal body would.

Say a prayer at 9pm Easter, 8 Central, 7 Mountain, and 6 Pacific---- for just ONE minute. Pray to God to heal our country, heal the world, heal our divisions, and bring us true Peace. Just one minute...



(Shoot, I can get pretty deep, can't I? LOL)

Back To the Spartanburg Garden!

Nothing tells me more to slow down than to look at nature with God's own handmade relaxation aids.

I just love my lilies this time of year. Expect I'll be taking more of them throughout the summer. One of the most maintenance free, rewarding plants one could ever invest in. I'm thinking of planting loads of them in our big front and back yards.

(Though I HATE summer, though winter is close behind with its cold, which aggravates my Fibromyalgia, and everything is so brown and gray.)

Firing on only 1 cylinder so far this morning. Out of four cylinders. So tired!