New High, New Low, Spiffying up the Manor - June 4

Unaccountably late rising this morning -- quarter to six; the felines were not as rowdy as usual, so I had a certain guilty pleasure sleeping later.  However, I did get right into the exercise routine and thanks to friend John, had new music to see me through the elliptical run.  Except I got so involved listening to the lyrics that I went on to 1,000 (calories) on the machine, a first.

Among the music tracks from John were songs by Gordon Lightfoot, a singer I've admired at least since high school, when I started accumulating his records (vinyl, of course, since I'm a dinosaur).  One of my favorite Lightfoot songs (not among John's picks) is "Saturday Clothes"

I feel a little blue 'cause I can't sew
There's still a lot of things that I should know
Anyone can guess
I don't know how to press
My Saturday clothes
Everyone's goin' home

I feel a little sad to watch them leave
But I'll be cool because I don't believe
The happy times are gone
I can still put on
My Saturday clothes
Every warm body knows

I've got to tell you
That was a swell time
So now I'll take the butts away
And put the glasses on the tray
I'll see you all next Saturday

I feel a little off because they're gone
And if my gal were here I'd still be on
But in a week or two
There's lots of things to do
In my Saturday clothes
Everyone's gone home

I've got to tell you
That was a swell time
So now I'll take the butts away
And put the glasses on the tray
I'll see you all next Saturday




I saw that G.L. was on a concert tour this spring--wished I could have seen him.  His voice and guitar have been in my head for a long, long time.

After cursing friend John a couple or three times for absorbing my attention with that music, I trotted off to weigh in -- the added time helped bring a new low -- 167.5!  I felt a little unsteady for a moment, but it passed and I sprinted on to the work ahead of me for the day.

I was looking forward to hosting a lunch the next day, so went into overdrive. Not much glory in getting ready for company, but repotting and trimming plants, tossing the detritus (how many phonebooks can one accumulate, anyway?!), and generally buffing things up all took time -- right up until 11 p.m., so I slept soundly, ready for a new day.

Dining nook in our kitchen

Repotted and trimmed houseplants on our sideboard

One difficulty I've had with the houseplants are "felines on the prowl."  They nibble, so I've been careful not to put out any plants (like dumb cane) that could harm them.  The tall skinny plant on the sideboard is the cactus I had with me at CMU which quadrupled its height while I was there.  It has plenty of spines and it didn't take long for the boy cats to learn their lesson when they went sniffing around it.  Come to think of it, I haven't noticed them bothering the other plants recently -- maybe they're making the association of spines with the rest of the crop of plants we have around. 

I interrupted work in the early evening to market for the next day's luncheon.  It's funny, I filled up the car driving home from CMU on May 13, and the fuel indicator is still at "full."  I drive a Pontiac G6, a sporty vehicle I bought last year after a car-deer collision did in my old Chevy Lumina.

It's just as well I keep the car in the garage -- gas prices jumped to over $4 a gallon in town this week -- and a G6 ain't a hybrid (although it does get pretty good mileage on the highway).  Still, I like getting around town on foot.  It's only when you have bags to carry that walking becomes an inconvenience.  There must be a happy medium there somewhere!