Random 5 for May 30, 2021 – Weather, people, purchases, neighborhood, clothing

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This could be me this weekend!

Crank it up – In a stroke of bizarre weather, the heat is back on as is the seat heater in the car. We used the fireplace last night which made Morgan, our fireplace-loving cat, very happy. After the holiday, the weather should return to seasonable. Unfortunately, after a year of lockdown many people had big plans for this weekend. Hopefully they will salvage it somehow.

What a disappointment – Several weeks ago I wrote about a guy who goes to Starbucks about the same time I do. He’s friendly to all and very upbeat. He always wore a gorilla mask which started many conversations. Yesterday I saw the mask on the ground in the parking lot. Trash. Litter. I hope that it fell as he got in his car because I don’t want to be disappointed in people again.

What an old fart! – I feed the birds. And the squirrels. And the raccoons. And any doggone critter that crawls on my feeders. At the old house I had quite the following and went through a lot of birdseed. I bought it at a farm feed store that was an hour drive but it was worth the discount. I bought 200 pounds at a time. Now I feed a lot less and don’t have the storage area to buy in big lots. I was checking around this week and found that most places charged 20% to 50% higher than the feed store. Since the seed comes in 40 lb. bags, I never thought about buying it on-line. (Yes that does show my age. That’s the first place the young’uns check.) In price comparing I found I could have it delivered free and it cost the same as the feed store. I did a happy dance and so did my birds.

That’s weird – Three of us from the old neighborhood have moved to this area. My former next door neighbor lives a block up and the neighbor from across the street is a short walk away. This area must be a natural downsizing location. The homes are still a good size inside (but smaller) but the outside is a lot less work and the taxes are lower. Old neighbors (especially the good ones) make it feel homey.

An itch – I’m starting to get the retail therapy itch. I usually buy a few new tee shirts every year as the old ones get shabby and wear out. As soon as I get a lag in my painting schedule, I will take the time to visit a few stores. Over the course of the last year I’ve lost weight so I could use some new pants that don’t slide. I found out this week that our family gene is a smaller waist than hip size. Thank God for athletic stretchy clothes. They fit better than coarse jeans with the zipper placket sticking out.

So how was your week?

50 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 30, 2021 – Weather, people, purchases, neighborhood, clothing”

  1. Hmm – maybe painting burns off more calories than walking? I loved last weekend’s cooler weather and if it had been like it was this weekend, I’m not sure much pruning would have happened, that’s for sure. I went on a long walk yesterday and the heat got to me … I was in bed shortly after 9:00 p.m. as I couldn’t keep my eyes open. (There’s an old fart.)

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      • Yes it is – today and the rest of the week, we have humidity in addition to the heat. Oh yes, the new trees needs lots of water – unfortunate timing. The Green Team of volunteers planted two dozen new trees at Council Point Park on Saturday. I hope they make it. Someone said they send around a truck with a water tank, though I’ve never seen them do that before.

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    • That’s a good way of thinking about it! It was just disheartening to see but I’m sure that happens often especially when you see something on the ground where the car door would be.

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  5. Oh nice about the neighbors! That is very serendipitous!
    The mask probably fell on the ground. I doubt someone would just throw it there. Even a shoe by the side of the road, there must a story, you know?

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    • I’m hoping that’s the explanation because everyone knows that it’s his mask. I was biking on the residential streets in my area many years ago. First I came upon a bouquet of flowers. Then a quarter block farther there was a sundress. Then sandals. There was one helluva story there and I never found out what it was.

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  6. I had to turn the heat on too the past few days. By next weekend we’ll be back to hot humid weather. I’m looking forward to clothes shopping, but it will seem strange after shopping online for a year. Our stores are shut down for another two weeks and I’ll wait until my second vaccine.

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  7. I’m with Morgan!! I love a warm woozy fireplace. I’m trying to talk my human into lighting one now! I’m against littering too. Humph, maybe if did fall from his car. Rabbits love bird seed. I just discovered that. Keep feeding! Have a good weekend, I have to go cuddle by the fire.

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  8. Glad you found a better place to find your bird seed – sometimes online really is best. I always say I’m glad to support the local shops, but they’ve got to support me back a little bit. How cool that you’ve got some of your old neighbors back!

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  10. I have a hummingbird feeder on my balcony. There used to be lots of hummers visiting but last year only a few and so far this year only two. Don’t know why. Maybe the climate change? If it is the climate change thing, it hasn’t affected the pigeons. There are scads of them and blackbirds.
    I need to do some shopping. Sadly, not because things are too big. I used to be a skinny Minnie, but no more. Now there is more of me to love.

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    • There is nothing wrong with that as long as you are healthy! I’ve never been able to attract hummingbirds. I used a feeder for two years and the changing water cycle when I was getting no visitors got old.

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  11. I’m also getting the shopping itch. I’ve gained three or four pounds, and it seems to be distributed differently, so it would be fun to get something I feel good in. I’ve been kinda busy, though.

    Our weather is always kinda up and down in April, May, and June. Yesterday we had a family picnic for my daughter’s birthday. We were afraid all the usual places would be too crowded, so my grandson who works at Microsoft suggested we picnic there. They have a huge, I mean really huge and green campus. (Actually more than one campus.) It was nearly empty of people and cars, so we ate in one of their tree houses. Perfect. The weather wasn’t hot–about 68 degrees–and no rain.

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    • Yes. There are two rooms to do after we get a partition up and lots of wood trim. I didn’t paint the bathrooms because I don’t know what color I want to use. As far as closet go, what’s there is good enough. I had wool socks on again. Ridiculous!

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  13. I was just joking with my husband that it’s time for the pandemic to be over since I lost the mask I wear most frequently. There’s a good chance it’s at the beach I went to the other day. Someone, somewhere might be thinking I littered, while in reality I’m mourning a bit. I kinda liked that mask.

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      • Totally. I think mine was lost cuz I was with family and distracted, and we were in their car so I didn’t have my normal spot to place it. We basically had the beach to ourselves so I didn’t worry about masking up. When we went home, I didn’t go out anywhere I needed a mask for a couple of days. Good thing I have three backups 🙂

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    • The next door neighbor moved here about 7 years ago and we were still in touch. She was instrumental in alerting us about a house for sale. The other bought after us. This area is a very nice place to downsize. The area was originally built 20 to 30 years ago so the landscaping is mature and lovely. Many of the over 55 places (this is not age restricted) are barren with no trees or even nice grass. Homes are smaller so although they have good layouts we’d be looking at 5000 to 10000 less square footage inside. The flip side is that most kitchens and baths need a redo.

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  16. Sad about Gorilla Guy. Kate, I had retail therapy itch bad and headed downtown last Monday to the two stores I buy my clothes. I had to find something to wear to see my best gal pal that I hadn’t seen in 45 years. I scored and I came out of those two stores with a happy high I haven’t had since the plague hit. I highly recommend it!

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  17. I loved that you did a happy dance over birdseed.

    That’s amazing that you are welcoming old neighbors to your new area. As you said, homey. I wish we could attract our neighbors from England and New York, although I wouldn’t want to replace any of the neighbors we have here. They’d have to move to another lane.

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  18. How nice that you have a few familiar faces in your new hood! We live in a “bird sanctuary” and are not allowed to put out feeders for them or the raccoons, coyotes, possums, etc. But they find plenty of food from plantings and ponds stocked with fish.

    Your weather is weird!

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    • Our area has a lot of “preserved” land and I find I don’t get many takers as there is a lot of food around. That’s ok though. I wanted to downsize that too. I know there are fish in our stream because it’s fly fishing catch and release only, but I’ve never seem them. They are probably hiding in the back eddies.

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  19. These days it seems that discarded masks are the new cigarette butts on the ground. Sometimes it seems there are more discarded ones than worn ones. 😬 Glad there are some old familiar faces in your new neighborhood; it can make adjusting to the move easier. I’ve tempted to put up a small collection cup out for the neighborhood critters to soften the blow of feeding everyone and their brother. You don’t mind giving the relief and prefer them not raiding the compost bin and strewing things all over. Hope you have a lovely Memorial Day (even if you need to sit by the fireplace).

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    • I’m always surprised that people who are so conscientious about their own safety (gloves, masks, etc.) don’t care about others. For a while you would see discarded gloves in the parking lots. Someone has to pick it up and put it in the trash. It should be the owner! Many bird feeding people in my neighborhood take the feeders in overnight to stop the raccoons and others. I haven’t done that. Seems like more work than it’s worth but we’ll see as the summer goes on.

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  20. Awww…..too bad about gorilla mask man….maybe it fell out of his car accidentally????? We are also using the fireplace AGAIN which is totally weird for almost June. Oh well – I love a fire in the fireplace anyway. We also feed everything that comes through for food – two neighborhood cats, birds, raccoons, possum (a Mom and her six clinging to her body babies), chipmunks, squirrels and deer. I’m sure there are other “things” that eat the seeds too but I might not want to know what THEY are! We’ll all be fondly remembering this unusual cool spell in a couple of weeks when we’re sweatin’ in June!!

    Hugs, Pam

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  21. It’s overcast and cool in SoCal, too, with our thick, seasonal marine layer. It’s even got nicknames: “May Gray,” and “June Gloom.”

    It doesn’t seem very festive for holiday parties, but I prefer it to the future summer weather that’s inevitable: “July Fry.”

    Also, I am very disappointed in Gorilla Mask Man.

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    • In this area, Memorial Day is notorious for being a lousy weather day. It’s unfortunate as there is a festival going on for the weekend. The first in over a year and yesterday the weather topped out at 49 and rainy. Damp and cold.

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  22. I gave up and turned the furnace back on yesterday. So wrong for late May!! But it is chilly here. Hopefully it goes back off tomorrow. And how did you lose weight during the pandemic??? Most of us went the other way.

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    • It actually started before the pandemic and is related to bouts of IBS. My best way of controlling IBS is eat small meals. Also, when stressed (as in the past year) I tend to NOT eat rather than overeat. It’s a blessing and a curse.

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