#3036 three things: Harley, a short walk, and Harry Styles

 1. Harley health follow up. I took Harley back to the urgent care vet this morning for a follow up on her appointment last month. Last month she had terrible runny poop, she looked emaciated and uncared for, and her leg was hurting. She had bloodwork, xrays, and got a bunch of medicine out of it (and it was quite expensive.) I'm glad to say that she is feeling much better. She hasn't gained any weight; she's still around 53 lbs and the vet wants her to put on about five more lbs. To do that, I'm going to add puppy food to her regular food because puppy food has more nutrients and fat to help puppies grow. (This is the recommendation from the vet.) Harley had a great time at the vet today. She really loves to go for rides and have new people pet her. She was such a good girl that I got her a pup cup from Starbucks afterward. Now she is sleeping off the doggie downer I have to give her before a vet visit. She is mellow at home but a totally bonkers Lab at the vet.

2. We went for a walk! Since I broke my wrist, I haven't taken the dogs for walks. I did walk Mac a week ago with MT because Mac is a bit easier to walk. She is content to amble along and smell all the smells whereas Harley just likes to walk and pull. Because Harley had some doggie downer on board, I decided to walk them around the block. I held the leashes with my left hand and they were very good girls. I had no problems or worries. My wrist is getting stronger, and I am whittling down the time I have the brace on my arm. I'm still sleeping with it on, but during the day, I have it off for longer periods of time. The wrist doesn't really hurt. It is stiff and doesn't have full mobility, but it's coming along. I can lift and carry stuff that I haven't been able to manage for awhile. I have a follow up with the surgeon on Tuesday, so I'll let you know what he says about my recovery and next steps.

3. All Harry all the time. Maybe you know that Harry Styles released a new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.  I like the music. On Monday night I watched the album release concert on Netflix, and it was enjoyable. He performed all the songs on the new record top to bottom, then he did a few of his older songs. The first single from the new record, Aperture, is an ear worm. I wake up singing it. If you have five minutes, I highly recommend watching this clip of Harry's performance of Aperture at the BRIT Awards. It looks and sounds amazing, IMO. 

Enjoy the rest of the week!

xo

PS I just noticed there is no mention of Stella in this post. She is absolutely fine and is a happy, noisy terrier. She still loves to catch a frisbee and run around the yard. She is the definition of play hard, rest hard.

#3028 a taste of Prague in West Valley City

There is a new shop in my neighborhood called Crispy Cones. The grand opening was Friday. I heard about the shop on Facebook, and drove past it on Friday afternoon when I was going to the bank. The Facebook post caught my eye because the crispy cones look similar to the chimney cake I had in Budapest or the trdlink that was all over Prague. The main difference between the two is that chimney cake is large, like almost as long as your forearm, and the trdlink is smaller, about half the size or maybe even less. My curiosity was piqued, so I had to check it out.

I was glad to see the little store was packed with people. The scent of warm pastry, cinnamon, and sugar was in the air. The crispy cones here are trdlink sized, and you can fill them with ice cream or spreads. I pretty quickly decided I would just have Nutella spread in mine, but I would have been glad to have just the cake. 

Here are a few pics I took of the shop:

I love the skyline of Prague detail

There were several people in front of me in the line, so I had a chance to listen to what other folks were ordering and what the man behind the counter was telling them about the treat. I noticed that he had an accent, and I wondered if he was Czech, so when it was my turn to order, I asked him. He told me he is from Romania, another Central European country, and we chatted for a minute about chimney cakes and trdlink after I told him I'd been to Prague and Budapest in the fall. I placed my order and he told me my treat was on the house. How nice is that? 

I waited for about five minutes before my fresh, hot, Nutella-slathered Crispy Cone was ready. It was about the size of a Dixie cup.

I wanted to tear into right there in my car, but knew it would be messier than I wanted to deal with, so I waited until I got home, although I did take a bite!

At home I got after the treat pretty quick. My cone had the cinnamon sugar coating. The cake was good, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I love Nutella, but mixed with the cinnamon and sugar, I didn't think was a great combo. Like I said, I would prefer it empty because the cake was good. I like the size of this treat because it is enough to satisfy the sweet tooth but not feel icky. Also, except for the Nutella, it wasn't overly sweet.

I hope the shop does well. I know in Prague every trdlink shop we saw - and there were many - always had a bunch of people getting the treat. I'm pretty sure I'll visit this shop again, too.

Have a great week!

#3010 pdin 29 snooze-y Saturday

a brave little marigold

It seems like this little marigold is not quite ready for winter. She's cute.

I had big plans today, but it didn't really work out that way. I was up by around 7:00, played with the dogs, then made a cup of coffee. Sadly, the milk had turned -thankfully I sniffed it in the jug before I sipped it from my coffee mug. I don't care for coffee without a bit of milk, so I decided to treat myself to a coffee from Dutch Bros. Oh! I don't think I told you that a Dutch Bros is being built closer to my house, right across from the McDonalds on the busy streets! YAY!

After I had my coffee and the rest of the delicious cinnamon roll from Pocatello, I read for a bit, filled the bird feeder, and decided I needed a nap. The dogs and I snuggled on my bed and I had an absolutely delicious, glorious nap for a couple of hours. It felt so good!

Since then I've just been puttering around the house, reading, making a shopping list, playing games on my phone, and just kind of passing the day away. I made T a dentist appointment on Wednesday, and I'm glad I did because that darn crown popped off again tonight while he was eating a slice of pizza. Dammit. 

Because I didn't do many of the things that were on my to-do list today, tomorrow will be busier than I would have liked. It's okay, though. It won't be too much longer before I won't have to cram so many to-do items into my weekend days. Thinking about how I'm going to spend my days when I don't work anymore is taking up a lot of space in my brain right now! It's going to be a big change, and it may be a bit weird, too. I'm really looking forward to it. 

In some ways, November seemed kind of slow, but on Thanksgiving, I felt like Halloween was just a week ago. I feel like the next two weeks will go by in a rush and Christmas will be here before you know it. 

Talk to you here tomorrow!
 

#3004 pdin 23 maybe for the last time

Lakers vs Jazz tonight

I had the opportunity to go to the Jazz game tonight with a seat in the company suite. The company has had the suite for lots of years now, and I've been able to go fairly often over the years for Jazz games and concerts and now hockey games. In the past, I've been able to take family and friends to games in the suite, and I have always loved doing that. I haven't ever taken the suite for granted; it has been one of my favorite perks of working for Granite.

Tonight it occurred to me that this might be the last time I get to watch a game from the suite. It was a bittersweet realization. Of course I can go to a game whenever I choose to buy a ticket, but it won't be quite the same as sitting in the comfort of the suite with my co-workers. 

By the way, it was a good game although the Jazz did lose by two little points. They gave it their best in the final four minutes to get that close, and it could have gone either way, but in the end, the Lakers prevailed. 15,000 of the 20,000 people in attendance were thrilled. There were a LOT of Lakers fans in the building.

#2996 pdin 15 a walk in the garden

mid_November vibes

Today seemed like a good day to take a walk at Red Butte Garden. I hadn't been there since toward the end of October, and I needed to drop off my bloom log, so why not stay for a stroll? The weather was perfect: mid-60s, partly cloudy, soft little whisper of a breeze, and I was ready to stretch my legs and fill my soul with the beauty of the garden. 

It's no exaggeration to say that the garden is gorgeous all year 'round. Each season shows a little different side of the personality of the place. You might think the garden in winter isn't anything to see, but you'd be wrong. There is a hush to the place in the cold months. The waterfall often freezes. The air is crisp. Berries look bright and tempting to the birds and squirrels and bunnies. It is a beautiful sanctuary of calm. In spring, it is pure magic to see and smell the sweet blossoms of wisteria, lilac, and viburnum. The air is cool and tinged with the promise of the warmer days to come. Summer is a bounty of colors, textures, and scents. It is also hot, so being able to catch a cool breeze there in the evening is a treat. In autumn, it's fun to see the different colors and the unique shapes of the tree trunks and branches. You can see little creatures better, too. I love the softer light of the season, too. 

Of course now it is late fall, and a lot of the trees have dropped all their leaves. Red Butte Garden is in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, so a bit higher elevation than my home in the valley. This morning here at home, I put a couple more of my outdoor plants to bed for the winter, and I was just wearing joggers and a t-shirt. I put on a light hoodie and a hat, as you can see in the photo, for my walk around Red Butte.

Here are some photos I took:

forest path with a rose

autumn light

obligatory waterfall pic

reflections in the pond

cool wild grasses in November light

a friendly little squirrel

I was also taking a few seasonal pics with my little fairy figurine. Sadly, she fell to bits from a tree limb in mid-pose. RIP little fairy. Here is one of her last photos:

she will read in the garden no more

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

#2993 pdin 12 TBR

 

It was time for bold and decisive action on my Goodreads Want to Read list. There were 79 titles on that list. I add new titles all the time, and I don't add titles that I own. Mostly I use the Goodreads list to look for books at the library, but how am I supposed to narrow it down from 79? I had to do something, so I got rid of any book that I added in 2023 and 2024, then from the remaining books, I got rid of any with a Goodreads rating of lower than 3.5. I'm down to 47 now, and I've made a strategic decision. At the end of each month beginning in January, I will remove books that I added in that month in 2025. For example, at the end of January 2026, any book that I added in January 2025 will be removed UNLESS I feel very strongly that I must read it, then I can carry it over for a month. 

So many books, so little time. Although, I actually will have more time to read in less than 30 days.

I learned a new word today from Pinterest, and it was appropriate:

This can be amended for virtual piles of electronic books on my Kindle and on my Goodreads list.

Happy reading!

#2984 pdin 3 - basic fall b*tch

 Autumn is by far my favorite season. All seasons have good stuff about them, of course, but I love fall most of all. I love the cool mornings and evenings and the warm afternoons. I love the softer light. I love standard time. I love the colors of the leaves. I love wearing cozy sweatshirts. I love football. I love the Major League Baseball post-season. I love the start of basketball and hockey season. I love slowing down at this time of year; the lull between the summer and the holidays. I feel myself thinking about wrapping up in a quilt, having a nice cup of coffee, and reading a book all day. (I don’t actually do that, but I think about it.)

The weather yesterday was incredibly wonderful. The temperature was in the mid ‘60s, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it wasn’t even a little windy. After I walked the dogs in the morning, I declared that it might be a Hog Wallow day. MT was into it, so we had lunch at Hog Wallow Pub in Cottonwood Heights. The pub has the nicest patio! As you can see, the trees behind MT were all yellow and there were leaves actually falling around us. I worried a leaf would fall in my beer, but that did not happen.

Me and the Mr.

It’s fall!

While I have you here, take a look at these photos to see how quickly the leaves changed colors:

Red Butte Garden, October 5, 2025

Red Butte Garden, October 25

Isn’t that cool?!

That’s all for today! See ya tomorrow for more random thoughts!

#2965 July recap

My mom has a blog and mostly she posts once a month, and it is a recap of stuff she did during that month. I'm going to do something similar, and it is based on what I've been doing in my journal. At the end of the month, I choose five or six photos that are highlights or memorable things  of that month.  Let's see how it goes:

I finally had a picnic lunch at a cut-away in Red Butte Garden. I've been wanting to do it for years, but never made it happen until July 2025. I really enjoyed doing this.

Although MT's hike on the Colorado Trail isn't my adventure, it is a huge part of my month. He is having a great time, and is making good progress. Today (3 Aug) is his 22nd day on the trail, and he's gone 250 miles. He is currently taking a zero mile day in Salida, CO. On Thursday he hiked over 20 miles and his feet were tired and sore. He got into Salida yesterday (Saturday), and decided to rest there today.

My favorite concert this month (and it might be the best one of the summer), was Rhiannon Giddens at Red Butte Garden. She is an exceptional talent: a two-time Grammy winner, a Pulitzer prize winner, and a McArthur grant recipient. She's an amazing musician and has a beautiful voice. I was mesmerized by this show. I hope she comes back to RBG every year.

One of the things I get to do at Red Butte Garden is to record blooms in the Children's Garden. This year I kept thinking how fun it would be to get a little fairy figurine and place her in different spots for photos. I finally decided to actually make it happen in July. I found this sweet little fairy with a book in the gift shop, and I had the best time taking her photo one day while I was recording blooms. I think I have about a dozen photos right now, all in the Children's Garden. She'll probably make her way around to other areas eventually. I really love these photos. It was exactly what I envisioned.

July 24 is Pioneer Day, a state holiday here in Utah. It is the day Brigham Young and the pioneers came through Emigration Pass, looked at the valley, and said, "This is the place." For us non-believers, we have morphed Pioneer Day into Pie and Beer Day. I had a slice of pecan pie from bougie Harmons and a local beer from Salt Flats Brewing Co called Save the Lake pilsner. Delightful.

For the last photo, I had to include a pic of Harley at the vet's office. There hadn't been time to give her a doggie downer, and she was sorta bonkers. The girl has no chill. I thought she had a UTI, and she may have, but the urine sample that was tested last week did not show any bacteria, but there are little crystals in her pee which could be something else, although I can't remember what the vet called it. Dr. Cauthen and I agreed that I'd monitor Harley for more random pee leakage, and if it happens again, we'll do a different test to see what we can see.

Have a good week!

 

#2955 three things: kitchen towels, red lipstick, and slow mornings

 

3 kitchen towels

Tonight I thought I would write about three things keeping my vibes right. 

1. Kitchen towels. I know there’s nothing sexy or fun about kitchen towels, but I like them. I had some kitchen towels that were boring, but I’ve started buying some that make me feel happy. The first time I did that was the towel in the front in the photo above. It comes from Palau Guell in Barcelona. When I got it, I wondered if I would actually use it in the kitchen. Isn’t that silly? What the heck else would I do with it? So, yes, I do use it. I got the towel with the lemon on it in Whittier, CA at a funky little shop Lizzie took me to, and the white towel in the background I bought at bougie Harmons here in town. I also have some cute towels from Trader Joe’s and IKEA, but the three in the photo make me the most happy. 

2. Red lipstick. I’ve always wanted to wear lipstick, but I couldn’t really find a shade that I liked, plus it’s kind of a hassle, isn’t it? It wears off, then you have to reapply it, and it smudges, and rubs off on stuff, but I still like it. A few months ago I was in the airport and I passed a MAC cosmetic store. I walked by, then thought what the heck, and decided to go in. I ended up getting a mini Ruby Woo.  It’s funny because I don’t wear any other makeup, but I totally love the red lip! 

3. Slow mornings. This year I changed my work schedule to start work at 8:30 a.m. and I really like it. I get up around 6:00, get ready, then go outside with the dogs around 7:00 or so. We play in the yard, then I take the big dogs for a walk in the neighborhood. On days when I don’t go to the office, I sit outside to drink a cup of coffee, watching the dogs run around and the birdies at the feeders. Sometimes the hummingbirds come to feed if I’m really still. I would not have thought I would get so much pleasure from this simple and quiet time. 

Flowers for my deck (before planting)

#2944 three things: spring edition

3 spring chickens

 As I was walking the dogs this morning, enjoying the cool air and admiring the blooming trees, I thought there was at least three things to like about springtime.

1. No heat, no AC. There are a couple of brief times of year when I don't have to have the heater or the air conditioning on at my house: a few weeks each in the spring and fall. I am so happy to have the windows open to let in the cool air. Last night I had my windows open in my bedroom and I had such a good sleep. It was a little chilly downstairs in the morning, but I have slippers and a sweater. 

2. Flowering trees. In my neighborhood, there are some really pretty pink and white flowering trees. I marvel at them every day as the blooms get bigger and brighter. I've heard there are cherry trees that bloom up at the Capitol building. I might have to drive up there this weekend to see the "show."

3. A "new" wardrobe. Not that I get a bunch of new clothes, but I do put away my sweaters and get out the lighter weight clothes like blouses and skirts. It feels like I have a new wardrobe, but it's just my clothes that I haven't worn for several months. I'll probably make the swap in the next few weeks. 

Happy spring!

#2909 Park City weekend

Last weekend (July 13 and 14), I was in Park City for our inaugural Park City weekend. I actually don't know if it will be a yearly thing, but it could be. Park City is only about 30 minutes from our house, but it feels like a different world. Why? It's in the mountains, so the air is cooler, usually by at least 10 degrees in the summer, the air is clearer, and it's touristic. Main Street is pretty charming. Regular people live in Park City, but it's kinda bougie up there. 

We got up there around 11pm on Friday night. Marty's brother Kevin and his wife Janet joined us. We rented a two bedroom, two bath condo from Moose Management, a local vacation rental company. (Marty has done work for the owners of the company.) The condo was in the Snyderville area which is just off the I-80 freeway and about 10 minutes or so from Park City proper. We were very close to the outlet malls and could easily see the Olympic ski jump venue. 

The condo was nice enough: a ground floor unit with a little patio where we stored our bicycles. There was also a grill on the patio. The condos had tennis courts and a swimming pool, neither of which we used. The bed was quite comfortable, and I liked the place just fine except it felt kind of cave-ish. Apartments, amIright?

On Saturday we all slept in a little, then headed over to the Redstone complex to get breakfast and to pick up some groceries. After that, we went back to the condo and had what I called a chat and chill session, which was nice. In the afternoon, we went to the outlet mall for some retail therapy. I bought a couple of things at Eddie Bauer, some shoes at the Skechers store, and a pair of linen pants at Old Navy that I pretty much want to wear every day.

That night, we went to Deer Valley to see Jason Isbell in concert. He was fantastic, as usual. I'd never been to the Deer Valley Amphitheater, and it is nice. You bring in your chairs and your food. You have to buy alcoholic drinks there, which is a bummer. We sat near the top of the venue, so we couldn't see the band at all, but there were two big screens, so that was nice. The scenery was nice.

a bit overcast on Saturday night

Janet, Kevin, me, and MT

On Sunday, I woke up not feeling great. My allergies were in high gear, and I was sneezing and coughing a lot. My eyes were itchy and watery. The other three people went for a bike ride, but I chose to stay at the condo where I spent time painting, writing, and reading. I do like to ride my bike, but I just had no energy that day. They had fun, though.

In the afternoon we went into Park City and had lunch at The Spur, then walked around a little so Janet could get some souvenirs. You better believe I found a cute sticker!

In the evening, we went back to Deer Valley, this time to see Ziggy Marley. That was a fun show! He isn't much of a talker, but he played and sang for a couple hours. Most folks stood up and danced through the whole show. The day was much more clear and warm. I had a couple of glasses of crappy wine, but the music was great. Mother Nature treated us to a pretty sunset.

we are adorable

Thank you, Mother Nature!

We spent Sunday night at the condo, then MT and I got up early to head down the mountain back to the valley so we could go to work. I was lucky to be working from home that day, and I logged on by 8am. The dogs were happy to see us! (And maybe T, too?) 

I'm glad we got to spend the weekend with Kevin and Janet. I'm always happy to get away with MT when we can. Good times!

#2907 for love of stickers

This morning I was scrolling through Facebook, and I came across a post from the Salt Lake Tribune about something called StickerCon. I was intrigued. Several years ago, I started using stickers in my journal (I'm pretty sure Susannah Conway got me started.) Since then, I've become slightly sticker-crazy. I see them everywhere, and I want to add them to my collection. I now have lots, and I mean lots of stickers. I put them on my insulated water holders, in my journal, in my planner, and in and on my work notebook. I give them to friends, to my sister, and I even put some in a small bowl on my desk in the office for folks to go through. 

After my docent shift at Red Butte Garden this afternoon, I decided to swing by Copperhive Vintage to check out the sticker fest. It turns out that the store is next door to one of my favorite French bakeries in town, Delice. Sadly, Delice is closed on Sunday, so I couldn't partake of their goodness, but Sticker Con made up for it! The whole thing was kind of amazing! On the sidewalk in front of the store was about five or six tables of local artists selling their stickers. Inside the store, there were more stickers, and out in the parking lot, another dozen or so tents chock-full of artists and stickers! 

The variety was impressive. There was queer-based art, drug art, cute art, funky art, nature art, funny art, art based on lettering, and tattoo artists that had made their art into stickers for reference and booking. I really kind of wanted to buy something from each of them, but I didn't. That certainly doesn't mean I walked away empty handed, though.

I'm glad I went to check it out. It was fun to see other people geeking out on stickers and to talk to some of the artists. 

The upcoming week will be full of music. On Wednesday, I'll volunteer at the Lyle Lovett concert at Red Butte Garden. I've seen Lyle once before at RBG, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the show, so I'm looking forward to hearing him again. This weekend, MT and I will have "Park City weekend." We have an Airbnb for three nights, and tickets to two shows at Deer Valley. I haven't been to a show there before. The venue is bigger than RBG, but it's kind of the same premise: bring your own chair, food, and drink. Kevin and Janet will be joining us. During the day, we will likely take walks. There's a pool at the condo unit where the Airbnb is, so there may be some pool time for me if they want to do a big hike. It is supposed to be hot in the valley over the weekend, so hopefully we will enjoy slightly cooler temperatures up in the mountains. I'm looking forward to all of it!

Have a great week! 

#2906 three things: itchy toe, feed the birds, a peaceful moment

 

I am enjoying an evening on my own. MT has gone to join his family in Idaho for the 4th of July. T is at work, and the dogs and I are chilling at home. 

1. Itchy toe. Last night the big toe on my right foot began to feel unbearably itchy. It was nearly driving me mad! I could feel bumps on it. Did something bite it? Did my other toe rub against it weirdly inside the shoe? I don't know and getting rid of the itch was difficult. I ended up putting magic Spanish gel, Fenistil, on it, and that calmed it enough to allow me to get to sleep. It started itching again this afternoon, and again, Fenistil took the itch away. I can still feel it, but it is okay and I know how to fix it now. 

2. Feed the birds. I like to watch the birdies eating in my yard. I hang a seed sock in one of the maple trees and delight in the little finches that come to feast. The seed sock was empty, so I went to the store tonight to buy a couple more, one for now and the other to replace it when it's empty. In the future, I will buy a bag of thistle seed, finches preferred food, and refill the socks myself. The seed sock is just a little mesh bag that is about eight inches long. I've seen three finches on it before. They are cute and little! 

While I was at the store, I decided to buy a  bird feeder and some seed. There are lots of sparrows and other birds in the area, and I think it will be fun to watch them come to eat. I hung it in the mulberry tree, replacing the hummingbird feeder I had there. I haven't seen any hummingbirds this year, so I thought it would be ok.

But guess what? Just minutes after I hung the bird feeder, a hummingbird came by looking for his feeder! SAD!! Tomorrow I will go to Lowes to buy another hook for the hummingbird feeder and hang it up in one of the trees. 

3. A peaceful moment. When I was at the store buying bird seed, I decided to get my doggos meaty bones to chew on. They each got one and settled on the grass to gnaw. While they were occupied, I filled the bird feeder and hung it along with the seed sock, then I settled in a chair on the deck, a cold Corona next to me, and started reading a new book. I glanced up to see the dogs looking totally content, glancing at me lovingly. A little sparrow hopped around on the ground where some seed had spilled; the hummingbird seemed annoyed that it's food source had moved. Traffic was light on the street, so it was fairly quiet, and I savored the peaceful moment. It was my favorite part of the day.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

I hung a hummingbird feeder in the mulberry tree, but I didn't ever see any hummingbirds

#2897 three things: new bathroom vibe, time to deck, comfort

1. New bathroom vibe. It's not much, but it made a difference. I replaced the shower curtain and bathroom rug. The old curtain was dirty, and yeah, I've washed it, but I was just tired of it, and of the rug too. The rug was trodden upon; it would never again have the poof it used to have. The old curtain was a school of fish - cute fish - in blue, grey, and pale green. The rug was also pale green. Now I have oranges on the shower curtain, and an orange rug to go with it. When the sun shines through the bathroom window in the morning, it feels like summer. It's a new vibe, and I am all about it!

Not a morning photo, but how cute!

2. Time to deck. The sun is rising earlier in the morning. When I let the dogs out at 6am, the sun is already hitting the back deck. The mornings are still kind of cool, but I think it will be okay to wear a jacket or a hoodie and sit out on the deck with a cup of coffee in the morning before I start working, at least on WFH days. I'm a little too rushed to do that on office days. I mentioned that a couple of the plants I had on the deck last year are back (hello Russian sage!), and this weekend I'm planning to hit up Lowe's (Lowes's? Lowes'?) plant area to get some flowering plants for the deck. One of the true, simple joys of my summer is to sit on the deck and look at the flowers and enjoy some sort of peaceful outside time. I qualify the time as "sort of peaceful" because I do live on a busy road, and Stella the Dog is kind of a maniac with her frisbee. Still, it's really pleasant. I saw some citronella plants at Lowes when I was there doing my preview visit. I might buy one or two of those plants to ward off the mosquitos. I'll post a pic of the deck when the flowers are planted.

3. Comfort. Do you know my favorite thing to do in the evening? After dinner, when my chores are done and it is me time, I love to put on a clean, soft t-shirt, fleece jammy pants, and my super-soft Wellow compression socks. It all makes me feel so cozy. Yes, I even do it in the summer! I don't sleep in the fleece jammies or socks, but before bed, oh yeah, it feels good to be so comfy and cozy. Right now I am sporting this look. No photo available.

BONUS PIC

A week or two ago I wrote about the bridal veil spirea plant in the north 40 of my yard. There are two bushes, and one is in full bloom. Check it out!

#2890 three things: a good day

Have you ever seen journal prompts or self-reflection questionnaires that ask you to picture your ideal day? When I see that question, my mind always jumps to a vacation day, but what about an ideal day in regular life? Well, I think I had such a day on Monday. Let me break it down.

1. Morning. Since I was working from home on Monday, I didn't have to get up at 5:00 am. I let myself sleep in until 5:30. The dogs and I went downstairs, I let them out, then I fed them. When they eat in the morning, I drink a glass of water. When they were done with all their activities, we went back upstairs. I took a nice shower and washed my hair, then went back downstairs to make coffee. I got new beans from bougee Harmon's. I like the ritual of  making a nice pot of coffee on  Monday morning, and if I have beans to grind, even better. While the coffee brewed, I put away the dishes in the drainer and from the dishwasher, so the kitchen was clean and clear. All of that happened before 7:00 am, at which time I logged on for work. I did a few things before work, but it all felt really calm and good.

2. Afternoon. Work was work, it was fine. After work, around 4:30 or so, I took the dogs outside to play. The big dogs play Find the Kibbles. I scatter about half a cup of kibbles in the grass, then Mac and Harley snuffle around and crunch on all the little kibbles. While they are using their snoots, Stella and I play frisbee. My smol gurl loves to play frisbee, and she's very good at running, jumping, and catching the disc. It's adorable. Stella could care less about the kibbles in the grass. Mac and Harley could care less about Stella's frisbee, so it all works out. I do about a hundred squats picking up that frisbee LOL. I have also started jumping rope. I'm not good at it, not at all, but it does elevate my heart rate. My max jumps so far have been 19, but the average is currently around 10. Don't judge. I'm nearly 58 years old and it's been decades since I've jumped rope. It's something different to do.

Another thing I did that afternoon was to look at the pots I have out on the deck. I realized that two of the plants are still living, coming out of winter sleep: the Russian sage and a mum. I got my little spade and clippers and did a bit of gardening. I have several pots out on the deck, and I spent a pleasant few minutes thinking about what I might plant in each of them. I really am delighted about the Russian sage. It smells so nice, and the bees love it. I'm pro-pollinator!

5. Evening. On Monday around lunchtime,  I put a couple of chicken breasts in the slow cooker along with a jar of Trader Joe's green salsa and let it hang out for about four hours. The chicken gets tender and takes on the flavor of the salsa. When we are ready, I shred the chicken and sizzle it up a bit in a saucepan, then we have tacos. It is simple and good. MT and I enjoyed a quiet dinner, then I cleaned up the kitchen and came back up to my office room to paint, draw, and write. When I was ready to for bed, I read for ten minutes or so, then dropped off into dreamland.

Here's what I painted:

It's a little birthday card for a friend at work!

It was a simple, stay-at-home day, and I was very content with it. 

#2864 because we like that kind of stuff

Yesterday, Saturday 14 October, MT and I got up around 5:30 am. While this is a normal time for me to wake up during the week, it's pretty unheard of on a Saturday or Sunday unless something really cool is coming up. Because we like natural phenomena, we decided to drive to central Utah so we could see the annular eclipse in all it's Circle of Fire glory for as long as we could. MT did a bit of research, and he found that central Utah would have just over 4 minutes of annularity. We could have stayed in Salt Lake to see the eclipse, but it might not have been the complete circle, or for as long.

State officials had been preparing the small towns of central Utah for a major influx of eclipse watchers. There were signs all along the freeways warning of traffic congestion on the 14th. We thought about going to Richfield, which is about 130 miles away. To get there, you take I-15, then turn off on I-70. We also talked about going to Delta, about 100 miles away, but along single lane highways. In the end, we decided on going to Delta, since neither one of us have ever been there. 

Here are a few photos I took along the way:

The going-to-Delta-to-see-the-eclipse traffic

pretty sunrise behind the Wasatch Range with Utah Lake in foreground

I like the way the sunlight hit that hill

Desolate country; basin and range geography

I'll tell you, once you get past Saratoga Springs, there's not much in the way of towns. We passed through Elberta - it's where you hang a right onto Hwy 6 to take you through the town of Eureka on the way to Delta. It is sagebrush desert out there with a few cows and some scrubby pine trees here and there. Eureka looks like a cool old town. 

Once we got to Delta, we took a left to go toward Fillmore. We were about a mile out of town, I'd say, and there was an area that looked like a good place to park. It was off the road and plenty big enough for a bunch of cars. There were only two cars parked when we got there, then three others came when the eclipse began. Plenty of space. We pulled out our chairs, put on our puffy coats, donned our eclipse glasses, and watched the show.

The temperature was around 50 degrees. The air was crisp. I felt more comfortable with my jacket on. 

It's amazing to me that scientists had the whole thing accurately timed out to the minute. When the moon's shadow began to cover the sun, it was dropping down from the top of the sun, so it looked like a Pac Man (MT's take), then kept moving down, down, until the sun was just a sliver of crescent at the bottom. That's when the magic started to really happen. The outer edges of the sun seemed to crawl up around the shadow until, at last, there it was, a perfect Circle of Fire. It was stunning. The sun was a bright golden color around the darkness. (MT told me that he saw the circle as red.) As I said, there weren't many people where we were parked, but I could hear everyone exclaim when the circle was complete.

The light was muted a bit during the annularity, but it did not get dark. Here's a photo I took during the annularity:

I didn't use eclipse glasses as a filter for the camera. You can see how the sun looks a bit misshapen, and maybe you can also notice that the light is muted on the ground. Compare it with the photo of MT above. You can see how bright it is in that photo compared to this one. 

MT tried to use the eclipse glasses to get a photo of the eclipse, but it didn't really work out, so in the end, we decided just to enjoy the moments. I did post on Facebook throughout the eclipse, but not during the annularity. 

Once we saw that the moon's shadow was moving down off the sun, we packed up our stuff and got on the road. I can't really say that I have been to Delta, because we didn't stop at any gas station or restaurant. The parking lot of the Maverik convenience store was packed. There were quite a few people off the road or in parking lots. We didn't have any traffic jams or anything, though. There is one tiny town, Lynndyl, that had their emergency crew acting as a traffic light, waving people through, and stopping the flow when semis were coming along the road from Nephi.

MT and I decided to take a different way home. Before we got to Eureka, there was a turn-off to go to Tooele, so we turned to go that way. The country was a little more hilly. bit still sagebrush dessert. There were very few cars on that road. It was a nice drive.

We got back to town around 1:00, and stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Magna, El Habanero. We hadn't been there in a long time. It's the only place I know in the area that had cochinita pibil, a pulled pork dish I had near Coba in Mexico. It's delicious.  When we got home, we played with the dogs for a few minutes, then I had to take a nap.

Today I have stayed home, paying bills, playing with the dogs, and reading. I also made this art:

 I call this "Mother Nature's Circle of Fire Hat." This was a response to a prompt from the Underground group. 

Earlier this week, the prompt was "gumballs and something random." Here's what I did:

I have always wanted to draw my little dragon. Yeah, I know the wings are wonky. I still like it.

Have a great week! Be kind to yourself and to others.

xo