Oklahoma Simmers This Summer…

This is the home I grew up in from the age of about four and a half.  There were six of us kids spread out over a 17 year period and I’m the next to the youngest.  Before this home the only home I remember was a much smaller shotgun home.  For those of you that don’t know what a shotgun home is it’s one that you can open the front door and the back door and shoot a shotgun and it will go straight through.  I don’t remember for certain but I think in was a three bedroom, one bathroom for all eight of us… six kids and mom and dad.  Any way, my dad worked hard in growing his and his partner’s company and dad and mom both were very frugal and so they were able to buy this home about four blocks away from the capitol in Okla. City.

This is the ‘big house’ as I call it from the back.  The reason I decided to post and write about the home I grew up in is because back in the day we had no air conditioning.  The house was built facing the north and there were lots of windows as you can see from these photos.  In the summertime the windows were open and if there was any southern breeze at all even on the hottest of days at night time it cooled enough to be able to sleep good.

Today the a/c quit at Cuz’s house.  It’s 2:45 a.and it’s almost cooling down enough that I may be able to go to sleep.  It was only 104 F. today and is supposed to be 105 degrees tomorrow with 100 + degree heat all week. It’s down to 82 degrees right now, I have the windows in my room opened and the fan blowing on high and it is almost comfortable.   Hopefully the a/c  people will be out tomorrow and be able to repair it.

Ya know, 50-55 years ago the heat didn’t seem to bother us… now it’s almost  impossible for me to deal with in my 60’s.  All I want to do is sit very still in front of the fan turned on to high and for once I can definitely say it’s not a hot flash… It’s just H.O.T.

Does Anyone Know…

Where I can get a 55 gallon drum of face spakle?  I was originally going to just show you this photo for the  way past the “glow” stage of sweating that Southern women are never to admit passing and I thought, for reasons of a wedding coming up next month, I’d ask for make-up suggestions……

I don’t know if you can “embiggen” the picture enough to see, but my crow’s feet, sun grin, squint lines are deep and white compared to the rest of my face… and we won’t even go into the bulldogs jowls or the turkey crepe-y neck…

Are big hats appropriate at weddings?

Anyone got suggestions?

Other than staying home?

I’m As Corny As Kansas In August…

My corn may not be as high as an elephant’s eye, but the good day corn is up to my waist and I’m not a short gal.

You notice that the corn bed remains relatively free of grass.

This is the good day corn.

Bad day corn.  Of the 10 seeds I planted in each row,  I have 3 in the bad day row.

I have 6 that came up on the good corn day.  Although I could manage to get by without saying it if you look at the other good corn day you will see a little short runt corn stalk trying to hang in there, so I’m not pulling it up. I’ll just consider it a part of the test, too.

The black eyed peas are loaded.

Now, I’ll show you what I’ve been doing the last couple of days besides spelling Carol on the mower…

Yes, ma’am.  I’ve been weeding or maybe I should call it grassin’.

I had a lot of tough thinking to do and when that happens I dig.  And I weed. This area is next.  This is where I’ve got daylilies and iris planted.  It’s been neglected because of trying to tend the garden.

There’s my stool and my gloves… waiting on me.  I figure it will take me two days because the temperature is heading back towards the triple digits, 99 F.  tomorrow and 101 F. is predicted for Tuesday.

So what do you all have going on to start your week off?

It's Hotter Than H.E. Double Hockey Sticks...

It seems like only yesterday we, as in me, myself and I, were fretting because we had another wet, cool spring that stayed that way longer than usual. This week the predictions are for 100 degree + weather all week long. I have said many times that I am not an early riser. I don't enjoy getting up at God-thirty in the morning and sipping my Diet Pepsi in quiet solitude and watching the sun rise. The only times that I have willingly watched the sun rise was back in the olden days when I stayed up all night. Doing whatever I did all night... The good thing about losing your memory is X-ing out the wild child days.

As I told you in my post on Father's Day the two times I heard my father swear was at me and because of me and those incidents were both related to not getting up and being ready to go to school. My sweet little mom would ask me if she needed to get the washcloth when she would wake me for the second, third or umpteenth time. She was a very smart woman. She wouldn't pour a glass of water on me but she would, and did, wet down a washcloth, pull back the covers and slap that puppy on my tummy... once. That was all it took. After the first time she would ask me if she needed to get it and I would be on my feet... "No, ma'am! I'm up."

The first semester that I went away to college I was assigned a roommate. I didn't think anything about it because I can get along pretty well with most anybody. That changed the first time she woke me up at 6 freakin' 30 in the morning to ask me if I wanted to pray with her. Bless her Southern Baptist heart... I kind of... sort of maybe implied if she woke me up again at that time in the morning she just might be looking at talking to Jesus in person. Don't get me wrong I don't have anything against prayer, in fact I pray often. Just not at 6:30 in the morning except maybe to ask the good Lord to help me, to keep me from killing somebody.

But I digress... what I wanted to tell you was that it has been so hot that when either my bladder, thank you menopause, or the dogs wake me up to go out I just pull on my shorts and go out to work in the garden or the flower beds. Yep... even if it's 6 freakin'30. I work for an hour or two or until my eyelids start to sweat. After that first burst I'll go out for 20 or 30 minutes at a time, doing a little bit of planting or weeding or moving sprinklers and/or soaker hoses around. After 3 weeks of rain every day I'm now having to water pretty much every day in some portion of the flower beds or the veggie garden.

Because is it hotter than h-e-double hockey sticks. Just thought I'd pass that little tidbit on to all of you that are having 90 degree and under weather. You lucky stiffs...