Puppies strongly suggest...

...that we stay in bed all day!

Nice try. :)

Music for clearing the air:

I dearly love music of the Baroque, and in particular I love Telemann. His music for flute is the zenith of the form, in my humble estimation. In that vein, his work with recorders is marvelous. I listen to my Pandora station when I'm cleaning. Sometimes I listen to contemporary music I love, but there's something so refreshing and heart-lifting about Baroque music, that it's quite fitting of the house-cleaning frame of mind. I hope you'll like it!




Here, Frans Brüggen plays Telemann's Fantasie Nr. 3 to superb effect. Note how sometimes the instrument sounds like a flute, and even at moments calls to mind the harmonica or accordion. Nifty, innit?  Interestingly, this recorder is a very famous instrument and was made by Peter Bressan (1663 - 1731). Born in France, Bressan later came to England where he was one of the most important makers of flutes, recorders and oboes. It's breathtaking that a masterfully-wrought instrument can still make beautiful music, even after centuries, yes?

There is yet hope for old goats!

Also, here's a very nice lute duo I found. It starts with about a minute of talk, but the music thereafter is superb.

Laundry lessons

I've posted about enjoying hanging laundry on the line, but recent weather oddities have disabused me of a certain bit of naivete with regard to how easy and wonderful it is to hang wet things out on the line.  It makes sense that it wouldn't have occurred to me that hanging laundry out to dry in other places doesn't work quite the same way it does here.  On a typical spring or summer day when I'm really on the ball, I can wash and hang out four or five loads of clothes, and they will all dry completely. My good linen garb will typically be halfway to dry by the time I get all the way down the line hanging a full basket. 

One night last week, I popped a load of towels in the dryer, and I put them on the line first thing in the morning. It was unseasonably cool and humid, and the skies were overcast all day. My thick towels were still damp by about 5pm.   Boy, have I learned that hanging stuff out on the line is not the universal answer! It would be a pain in the butt to be limited to just one load per day, because I think most people have to do big laundry tasks on one or two days a week-- who could do this every day with a job and gadding about the universe? I know that the heat and the harsh rays of the sun also damage the fibers of your clothing, so it's not the best thing, ever, but I still think it's pretty neat. I can see how it wouldn't be the marvel of efficiency I've perceived it to be in all locales.

Also, note to self: before attempting to hang laundry, walk the path of the clothesline with a pooper-scooper. Doggie dumplings are more gross than you can imagine when squishing up through the articulated toesies of one's Vibrams.  Yuck.

An odd but pretty ditty from Universal Hall Pass

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: pretty pretty Praline

She's such a demure little dog. Unless you are a squirrel. 

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: Chuy suffers mightily

Chuy is at the bottom of a puppy pile, and near to losing consciousness. He likes to be warm. 

Oysters by Tori Amos

This album is a good thing about the summer. Love the new album.



Love this PS22 version, too:

And just like that...

...my summer is half-way gone, as is half the year. Why do the school semesters not seem to melt away so quickly? Indeed, the semester feels like a long stint trapped in a vise.

The summer has been good, though. Back at the old job while the knee continues to mend - feels close to normal these days - so it's good I didn't get the job at the hospital for which I hoped, because I wouldn't have had time to properly recover.  Spinning class is great, and it's stronger all the time, and hurts less every day. Come to that, I don't think it hurt me at all today, and that's a first since late Feb or early March when I tore it to begin with. And speaking of the job, even the occasional clock-cleaning I get from customers doesn't touch the hem of the garment of nursing school stress.  I'm not making light of problems, and I certainly do all I can to resolve them, but I am certainly not bringing home any stress, at least!

Looking forward to a trip to Dallas to see my folks and to go to a concert in a few weeks, and that should be fun. I need to set up appointments to see my orthodontist and dentist while I'm there. So much to get done before the summer's over.  School starts August 25. Kicking and screaming. I don't want it to get here so soon! 

Ghastly!

I am wondering what on earth Praline has eaten, because she has the most profoundly sulfuric flatulence I've ever smelled. It seems piped in from the bowels of Hades. Awful. How can anything so small and sweet-natured produce such a stink???

For now, I'm just trying to keep it contained under the covers, but vile bits keep escaping. I almost feel guilty for making her "Dutch oven" the other pups, but they are sleeping like little lambs and have protested nary a whit!

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: lap-nappers

The brown babies love to nap on my lap, and I love it, too!

Fireworks and hotdogs!

This spunky little wiener dog makes me laugh every time. I love the way he seems surprised everytime the stick goes splodey again.

I hope your Independence Day is a good one. I'll be home watching a loud movie and hoping the fireworks will simmer down early enough that Mochi won't be baying all night. They take umbrage at loud, unexpected noises like thunder and such, so I'll be grateful if it's a quiet evening!

One horizontal surface has been cleaned! Huzzah!

I've been working several hours on cleaning the house after my own ADD fashion. This means I work on one thing for a bit and then I carry something back to where it belongs in the house and start cleaning over there. It makes for a general survey sort of cleaning, but hard to get it all done, like, ever. My buffet, though, has been cleaned. I'll dust that surface along with others when I get back from the gym and the grocers.

One of my problems is that I usually have two or three projects going and they tend to devour any horizontal surface.  The taller ones are important for projects because of small, pokey things that Mochi might swallow - they need to be well out of her reach, since she is a Devourer Of Worlds.

I've been hankering something rather cuisinee, so I think I'll make these with dinner tonight.

Yum. Stinky cheese!

Still drippy-rainy out. This is wonderful. It's also not 100 degrees today, which is also welcome. However, if it gets up to 85 or 90, it will feel like a sauna. But all our skin will look dewy and fresh, yeah?

It must be storming again.

All three pups just came to my shoulder and demanded to be let under the covers. We've been in stage V drought and need the rain so desperately. This is the third day in a row. Good day for housework and staying indoors. 

Except for Spin class-- I have to go to spin at noon. Love that class!

Praline: goober girl!

Praline loves nothing more than to cram between my back and the back of my chair.

"I'm the thmalletht."

Little cutie!

Tuesday, Puppy Sunday: overdue puppy pic!

Sorry I've been so ridiculously busy as to fall behind on puppy posts. The summer is very hectic, but far less stressful than school, so yay!  The puppies are a sweet and lovely joy every day!

Chuy doesn't usually get on the table. To my knowledge! Yet he looks comfortable, like this isn't the first time!