Friday, August 7, 2009

Friday, August 7, 2009
It rained most of the night and I was surprised to see that it added a half-inch more rain to my rain gauge. It now stands at ¾ of an inch, with my official weather station rain gauge showing .77” over that past 24 hours. More appears to be on the way according to NWS, with flash flood warnings.
It has stayed cloudy with some off and on rain all morning, so I plan on staying inside and working on things in the dryness of my cabin. Thunder is rolling across the mountains and up the valleys as I write this, but it currently isn’t raining. I have managed to have some playtime with Zack but then came in and built a small fire to remove the chill in the cabin. The outside temperature is 50 degrees, while inside it has gone from 64 degrees this morning, to a more than comfortable 72 degrees.
I spent some of this afternoon reading The Art of War, by Sun Tzu which is supposed to be the definitive word on war, but also many other aspects of dealing with situations in everyday life. Much of it, at least the first five chapters, make perfect sense and most are common sense, but it brings it before your eyes to think about and see how it applies.
Other than playtime with Zack, and some with Zoey as the weather has her in a really squirrely mood, I fed them both and then washed, drained, cut up, bagged and froze the fresh grapes, cherries, and melons I purchased yesterday. Because I don’t get enough fresh fruit in my diet, being able to fill a bowl and let it thaw for my morning brunch is not only good for me, but also a delicious treat. I wish I had a large enough freezer to keep some for through out the winter, but alas I do not.
It is now 6:30 as I finish this and I will send it now and then shower and have a grilled skinless chicken breast, sliced tomato, and an ear of fresh corn for my dinner.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Thursday, August 6, 2009
It rained off and on through the night, and my rain gauge indicates I received a ¼ of an inch. The rain clouds are broken and drifting southeast while NWS is still predicting a 70% chance of a thunderstorm today.
I spent the morning cleaning up my work area in the sunroom and doing computer work and research. One or two emails always seem to demand I go to a web site for information and then I end up going to another and another and . . . it is never ending.
I have a chiropractor appointment for 2 O’clock today, so I’ll head into town and fill a couple of gas cans, dump my trash, pick up my mail, and do some shopping at Safeway. If the thunderstorm does come to fruition this afternoon, I won’t be able to get anything done outside, and I usually don’t get much done on days I have to go to town anyway.
While I was in town, coming out of Safeway, the sky opened up and dumped tons of water. The drains in the parking lot, and the rest of town, couldn’t keep up with it and water was ankle deep in the parking lot and even deeper in the city streets. Town got most of the rain from this particular storm, as it was wet in Marysville and at the cabin, but nothing like in Helena. My rain gauge was still at a quarter of an inch, so I know not much fell at home.
As I knew would happen, we didn’t get home until 6:30, after stopping to visit with Mary and Guy. Mary had written me that they acquired another dog, and he resembled their old Golden Retriever, Bear. A cousin had just moved to the area and couldn’t find a place to rent that accepts pets, so had to find a home for him. His name is Charlie and he is a 2-½ year-old Golden Retriever. He is more active, due to his age, but gets along well with their Black Lab, Bella, so has made himself at home.
Once back home, I unloaded and put away the groceries, played with Zack, fed him and Zoey, sat down to read the mail and then showered before dinner.