Fall is Coming?

One day two weeks ago, we had temps that barely reached 75 degrees. It was beautiful and I thought that Fall was really coming.

This week, temps have been in the mid to upper 80's. Ninety is forecast for tomorrow. This has been our first summer here and while I do embrace the warmth, it is far too hot to do anything outside in the way of landscaping or laying patio stones. Or tilling up crabgrass. In order to germinate, seed needs to be down before October 15th. In order to put seed down in time for it to germinate, we need to rid the yard of crabgrass.

Last week, we learned that staining the deck in weather between 75 & 85 degrees was kind of stupid. But at least that is done.

When we moved here last October, it was still in the low 80's but nights had cooled down to upper 50's. That is what I am really looking forward to and being able to open windows and the screen door. Sigh.

Remote Blogging*

*Not really blogging by remote, but blogging from a remote location.

Ok, I miss my neighborhood Panera - a lot! Sunday mornings heathen DH and I would pack up my laptop and our coffee cups and head over to Panera for Sunday morning breakfast, newspaper and all the browsing on their internet that we could handle. It was definitely a part of our morning routine.

Now, down in hot and sunny Tennessee, we drive 60 miles to Mt. Juliet to partake of the benefits of Panera. DH is sitting across the table from me, reading his Tennessean newspaper and I just sit here quietly and blog away!

This Panera is cool in that it is very large and is part of a huge shopping center with lots of different stores that we didn't have in Michigan when we lived there. One is Home Goods and the other is HH Gregg. Haven't been to either yet.

Last night - Older college student daughter informed us that she has officially applied for graduation! That is such a wonderful thing for her. You go girl!

Younger daughter is looking forward to a visit from Mom & Dad next month when we make that 600 mile drive for niece's wedding. Ironically, the wedding/reception are less than a mile from our old house. Wonder if new owners will let us stay the night?

I have to include this site for your enjoyment:

http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf

Have fun!

The End is in Sight!

Nah, not the end of the world, but if you listen to either political party, they do give you that impression.

What I meant was the end of the seemingly endless road construction on Fairground street and the difficulty in getting in or out of our subdivision. Yesterday, road construction crews took that opportunity to dig up yet again the entrance to our street. We live on a court so there is only one access road, which, oh yeah! they are paving and widening.

Yesterday, DH ran some errands while I waited for a delivery. He left and 10 minutes later called to say it was difficult to get in and out and he just got out, had to wait for machinery to move. Last night we went to see how far the asphalt had creeped up and ohmigosh! it's almost to our access street.

I know I shouldn't get so excited about paving, but this has been going on for 11 months and 1 week and 2 days. Soon, I'll be able to drive out of here without waiting for huge machinery to move, without having to dodge cones or road closed signs or big holes basically left uncovered. Parking a shovel in front of it does nothing to keep animals or children out of these holes.

A year ago, the city installed a traffic light at the end of Fairground and Walnut, which has been in blinking mode for the last year. Once that is fully activated, it will be a straight out trip without risk of being sideswiped crossing Walnut street! There will be a sidewalk that will link us to civilization. The anticipation is killing me!

Language Barriers

There has been a certain amount of confusion when we talk to people here in the green state of Tennessee.

First, we learned lunch is dinner or lunch, but supper is the meal you eat in the evening. Then there is the phrase "I don't care to cut your grass on Tuesday." It took us a while to catch on what our landscaper meant was "I don't mind cutting your grass on Tuesday."

Then there is the custom of referring to a woman, any woman, as Miss [Insert first name here]. I quickly became Miss Anne. Our next door neighbor is Miss Ruth. And the people here have a hard time with DH's first name? Maybe they only know the breeds of hunting dogs and not big mountain rescue dogs?

Iced Tea here is Sweet tea. And sweet is right. They like a little tea in their sugar here. Actually preparing Sweet tea is an art form. I'll fill up my cup with unsweet tea and just a little squirt of the supersweetened stuff. One of my sisters would love this tea. Reminds me of her coffee cup from bowling, but that is another blog.

Then there are some things we just have no idea what they are saying to us. This usually happens at Walmart. So we just nod our heads and tell them to have a nice day.

Then there are the Spanish speaking people. Sure it's nice to go to an authentic Mexican restaurant, but it is also nice to be able to understand what they are saying to you and vice versa. So we do lots of head nodding there, also.

I used to think that deer hunting season was a big thing in Michigan. You have no idea. Being a small town, the local newspaper daily prints photos of children with their first deer. I think children are allowed to hunt starting at age 10 here. And I think they have a special week just for them, or so it seems. I just find it hard to wrap my mind around the concept of a 10 year old girl/boy hefting a firearm.

A couple weeks ago, squirrel season opened. Gah! I had thoughts of neighbor children stalking the neighborhood squirrels. Do I need to put No trespassing! No Hunting! signs on my trees?

I realize that in large part this is farm country. After all we have stockyards here in the city across from the County Fair Grounds and opposite Walmart. I am just now really absorbing the cultural differences. And nodding my head!

Is It Fall?

Seriously, it has been in the upper 80's to mid 90's for so long, I've forgotten what cooler weather felt like. Yesterday we got a taste of that!

For the first time in ages, we didn't hit 80. In fact, we didn't even reach 75. The air got turned off, windows were opened, the front door screen was opened and we soaked up the cool air. there was a beautiful breeze out of the north yesterday and the humidity finally dropped a bit. This was good news for our recently stained deck as it had finally dried enough to replace all the furniture and the grill. If I never have to lift another grill up steps, that will be a very good thing.

This morning I looked forward to another cool crisp day. I opened the blinds to find dense fog. Blah. It does seem to cloak the world in a soft quiet though, and that is nice. A few more days like this and DH and I can get some outdoor work done! Now that will be nice.