What’s that smell? – Humidity brings out the stink. It intensifies odors. I have a great nose. I can smell things no one else can. Perhaps it’s to compensate for my lousy vision. Sometimes it’s a blessing (I can smell gas leaks no one else can) but sometimes not. Like right now. It’s hot and humid. Everything stinks. I’m trying to keep my distance from people and aging fruits and vegetables!
Speaking of fruit – This is a great year for local fruit. With the exception of strawberries everything has been sweet. Peaches are great as were most of the berries, cherries, plums and more. I love local fruit!
One down and one to go – We usually plan house projects for the summertime. This past week we painted our bathroom (which we have been planning for two years – old people move slow). I love to paint. You can’t beat instant gratification (especially when you are old! Tick, tock.). I painted over the wrong shade of light tan with the right shade. Tans are funny colors. Some have pink tones and some yellow. It’s easy to pick the wrong one.
For Facebook followers – More change. They will no longer allow WordPress (my blogging platform) to post automatically to my FB page. If you follow me on Facebook you may not see my posts. This change is effective August 1 and (due to my level of tech savvy) I’m not sure how it will play out. I will see if I can post it manually. I post three times a week – Sunday, Wednesday (or Thursday if I’m lazy) and Sassy Cats on Fridays. You can follow me on my blog and get an email alert when I post.
The cats love library books – They have unusual smells to them. I brought four books home two weeks ago. I read three and nothing happened. I started the fourth and there were cats all over me. They tried rolling in the book and grabbing it out of my hands. (There is a bite mark on page 53 but don’t report me to the library police!) I checked it for traces of weed (catnip of course!). Whoever had it before must have had a pet. (I came full circle – start with smells and end with smells!)
So how was your week?
I, too, have a super sensitive nose. Hubbs says I could work at the airport 🙂
the humidity this summer (great lakes) has been incredibly high – my hair is large and in charge … the littlest movement causes me to sweat and, you’re right, the humidity ups the DANKNESS of everything .. blah,! Don’t leave towels in the dryer …. I do love the smell of a library book … fun random 5 🙂 MJ
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Everything is damp and mushroom-y and it isn’t getting any better. We had at least 6″ in the past week since this post.
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You love to paint… wish you loved to make a bit of a trip down to Floridaaadeeee and just help me pick out a paint for the Master Bath. I am terrible with paint… once painted our guest bath in a house pepto bismol color and we sold it like that. Think I will just do lighter shades of the color we already have. Lady before us had a yellow-ish tan thing going on.
Went to the pharmacy yesterday which took all of 20 minutes and came home to the red tide stink. It finally found our little piece of heaven and it is bad! Algae bloom and dead fish and the stink seeps into the house.
Wonder what was up with the library book? I think books from the library usually have some pretty funky smells!
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Beaches can get funky smells. When we go to New Jersey, we will cross over marshy land and that is stinky! Locally we have an upscale paint store (if there is such a thing). The guys are very knowledgeable. They were the first in the area to promote sponging and faux finishes. They are a wealth of information. I always try to get their take on the intensity of the color.
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What animals would your cats want to cuddle with? A strange cat? Hmm. May a mouse lived near that book.
I hadn’t heard about Facebook blocking our automatic posts. Why would they do that? I’ll watch for it next week
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Cuddle or maybe a prey animal. They are fascinated with rodents including chipmunks and squirrels. As for FB it’s probably a new security feature. I received an email from WP yesterday explaining it again. If you have a business FB page you are ok.
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Hey Kate, Thanks for the heads-up about FB. I’ll be trying the direct posting approach then as I do have some folks who only follow me through there. I’ve tried to get them to do it differently … I follow every one directly as I then get emails… which don’t get lost in FB algorithms. 🙂
The peaches & cherries this year have been surprisingly good …both are “imported” but the local groceries have been generous in their sales. I’m loving it!
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WP sent an email notice this morning. I’ll post manually too and see how it goes.
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(We hear rumors of rain coming. Even my toughest outdoor summer plants are suffering – a whole bunch patio pots are now huddle in a clump against the house where shade comes first…the alyssum is cranky: “I dying of thirst – I’m going to turn yellow over too much watering – I hate everything you do” Sigh.)
I love painting and usually do it here – was a lot easier when husband traveled and he couldn’t say no. With the humidity, excessive heat, and inability to open window I usually wait until fall. Colors are tricky – especially tans – or beiges as dad called them…he hated beiges. Mom once talked him into painting the bathroom “a nice soft peach” – which turned out to be screaming neon-is orange sherbet…..had to do a second coat that didn’t clash so much with the 50’s sea green tile. But hey that first color really kept anyone from lingering too long in that bathroom – we only had one then.
Glad yours took the right tone!
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We all had that wrong color. I did a wrong yellow once. Surprising how soft it looked on he little chip and how screaming it was on the walls.
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So true about paint colors. Our light tan (also in the bathroom) has a pink tint which I blame partly on the outdated country rose carpet. We’ve been talking about painting over it for ages but think this summer is when we will actually do it so we can actually replace that carpeting. I’m such a messy painter wouldn’t dare replace the carpeting first.
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Carpeting in the bathroom! You are indeed a brave woman. I had a beautiful oriental runner in front of the sinks. Eventually I couldn’t get all the shaving cream, shampoo and other lotions out of it. Out it went! Now I have a washable runner. Not as pretty but at least I know it’s clean!
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But I’m curious Kate – didn’t your paint smell in the humidity? Or was it a quick-drying paint? I hate those oil-based paints which odors linger forever. Interesting what is causing the cats’ interest in that library book.
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It dried pretty fast considering the humidity and it had that new paint smell but it was latex. Some things you can’t avoid.
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That’s true – latex is the best paint ever … that oil-based paint is messy, and smells to high Heaven!
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You love to paint? I do not like to paint! I have a living room needing paint. Let me know when
when I can expect you.
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I’ll put you on my to do list!
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🙂
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I love your random 5. I never quite know what to expect … and today it’s smell. It’s been horribly humid this summer – and that says a lot about a city that’s normally really humid in the summer! However I’ve never noticed that it’s smelly. Nor does Theo ever seem to be particularly enthralled by smells – unless I take out shrimp. That will pull him out of a coma in a remote part of the house. Then he practically howls with excitement. I don’t get it. To me, shrimp has no smell.
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There is a seafood smell to shrimp. Does he do that for all fish and seafood? Theo has good taste!
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Just shrimp. When there is other fish and seafood, he is VERY appreciative of the sharing, but the histrionics are saved exclusively for shrimp 🙂
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Must be his favorite.
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Summer fruit in PA can definitely be amazing! Glad it is compensating for the smells and the heat 🙂
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You have to look for a silver lining!
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I havne’t had enough experience with high humidity to even begin to understand what you’re experiencing with smell, Kate. I’m kind of fascinated with it, to be honest. I don’t have a really sensitive nose, and I think that probably works in my favor most of the time, although I do occasionally think about kitchen smells and wonder if something is sour that I haven’t noted. Congrats on your painting! To do that in summertime is bold! 🙂
I don’t know what I’m going to do about posting my site to FB following the new structure. I do have a few family members who only read through FB and I hate to complicate the issue, but I don’t know that I’ll be able to figure out how to do it manually either! Seems like an unnecessary new rule to me!
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We get to learn this week. It can’t be too hard but then again, I don’t think anything concerning the computer is intuitive.
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Interesting change to FB/WP interface. I don’t link t my posts in FB because that’s a very different audience for me. For some reason, I like to keep my IRL friends and blog friends separate (although several blog friends have become IRL friends, but that’s different). If you ever want to fly out my way to paint my bathroom, be my guest (literally… you can stay in my guest room 🙂 ). I’ve been thinking about it for several years – I even picked out the color – but I can’t seem to find my motivation.
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It took two years from color selection and decision and it was a small bathroom! When I was young I would have done it in a week! Sadly, those days are gone!
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I’m thankful my week wasn’t smelly.
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You are so lucky!
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Do the cats like to explore newly painted rooms? Or do they flee the smell?
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There was no reaction this time. Usually they come and smell around.
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I love summer fruit too. I discovered a super easy recipe for homemade blueberry jam that I’m sure would work with any berry. What a treat to have jam without the added high fructose corn syrup.
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Sounds wonderful! I have blueberries, plum, nectarines and part of a mango on hand right now. My husband doesn’t eat fruit (except for bananas and I refuse to call that a fruit!).
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Oh, I think bananas get a bad wrap. They contain tryptophan, which eases depression and promotes a healthy sleep, or so I’ve read.
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But at this time of year, with all the stone fruits local and wonderful, why does he only eat banana?
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It’s a guy thing. My husband only eats fruit when I hand it to him. For some reason, when he is looking for a snack, his line of vision goes right past the healthy stuff.
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My husband’s go to for snacks are peanuts. In shells, shelled, doesn’t matter. He loves them all. He’ll even sneak in some pecans.
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I didn’t know that you could have your blog post show up on FB automatically. Of course, I’m not there, but it seems to me that if your FB followers care about you they’ll find a way to follow you on WP. Must be positive, you know.
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I’ll figure it out when it happens. I do FB to find out what my family is up to and to post my blog.
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If I was there I’d do the same thing as you. Most of these social media platform changes turn out to be tempests in the teapot. 🙄
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Good note. I’ll get a Starbucks before I attempt to understand!
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Thanks for the tip about Facebook. I have not seen any announcement from WP but I do have my blog sync to my FB business page through use of IFTTT. Maybe that will make a difference? I’ll have to keep an eye on it. Funny about the book and the cats. Wonder what the person who read it before you let their animals do to it?
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You should be ok. They treat business pages differently. I wonder what the next borrower’s pet will think when they bring the book home.
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With your super powers to detect odors/aromas, I’m surprised that the “hidden” smells in that last library book didn’t overpower you!
Glad you got the bathroom painted the RIGHT shade!
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Couldn’t smell anything in the book. I tried (just in case someone peed on it). My cats have an even better sense of smell than I do!
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Facebook is getting crummy, I seldom use it, and have thought about letting it go. I know several people that have dropped it. Too much trash, you spend more time, adjusting, blocking, and trying to ignore junk, than you do enjoying hearing from others you do know. They either smelled an interesting cat, or some catnip on the pages.
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They may have smelled dog too. They are always interested in dog smells. I do FB primarily to post blogs for people who read it but don’t follow on WP.
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That FB deal sucks! My WP currently automatically posts to a few platforms including FB! 😦
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So does mine. I will have to get in the habit of manually posting it as I have FB followers.
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Well, (deep subject as I am sure Howard would say) I wonder if I will be able to see your posts at all. I have tried everything, even changing my name and the only place I could see them was on facebook. Funny tho, I always check the boxes and ask for email, but it never happens.
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I don’t know why. I hope to be able to post it to FB manually. We’ll see how it works.
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I also have a super sensitive sniffer, and poor eyesight. My hearing is getting bad now too because of age and tinnitus.
Sorry about FB (I am not a member). I have my posts auto-set to go to Twitter.
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I post to Twitter and FB. Gave up on LinkedIn as it’s not a business blog. I don’t do much on FB except for blog posts but I do have followers there who read my posts.
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What’s the story with Facebook and WordPress? I haven’t heard about this…please enlighten me! I don’t post much except my blog.
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WP posted (in my reader so you probably got it too). You can read it here https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/sharing-options-from-wordpress-com-to-facebook-are-changing/ Not exactly sure what will happen but this is my last opportunity to alert my FB followers. I think I will be able to post manually but I have to remember.
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We had rain this weekend too. You forget how much you miss the smell of it and summer smells like new moon grass. I am waiting for our lawn to turn green again.
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It finally stopped raining here. We had a week of downpours so I’m looking forward to a sunny day. Rain does have a refreshing smell but it’s better without insane humidity!
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Why is FB cutting you off from sharing your posts? I haven’t received any message from them. Blog posts are really the only thing I post on my personal page.
Our fruit has been extra yummy, too! What will we do come winter?
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I didn’t get a notice from FB but from WordPress. The put up a post this past week about it. My best guess is that FB is stopping sites that download to FB without human intervention although if you have a business FB page, it may still do it automatically. #notagoodgriponit 🙂
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Just saw this. If we copy the address of our blog post, we can still post it on Facebook? I do it manually anyway since some posts go to personal page and others to Derry Township cats, etc.
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You are ok then. In response to your other comment, I put the link in for the post.
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That’s funny about your cats and the library book.
We’ve had a bear, a beaver, and a skunk in the neighborhood which I find interesting; that’s how my week is going.
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You have quite the critter population going there!
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Sounds like the Kingston Trio, with paws. 🙂
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Hi Kate,
our week has been very positive, despite Hubby trying to do his own knee surgery with the breadknife and us ending up in A&E Tuesday evening as an infection had set in.
All is good and now that we’ve had some serious rain, we’re feeling more human compared to the incinerated husks we were becoming. Maggie is equally fine. Take care.
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Surgery isn’t a DIY project! Glad all is well.
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The box fought back, the breadknife slipped, result hole in (new) trousers and gash in knee. The guy in A&E thought he had medical experience as he;d done all the right things with steristrips and dressings, but was right to go in when the skin went a funny colour even though there wasn’t any inflammation or seepage. All OK now, and he did a good repair on his trousers too.
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The worst is the new trousers! I feel a few years back an ripped a big hole in the pants of an outfit I dearly loved. All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t make them right again!
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I put a hole in the backsided of my new trousers sliding down the banks of Corfe Castle as a kid. Mum was not pleased (I was about 6)
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