bye bye to June

Have had several days of haymaking weather in July!

round hay bale in field   Field with round hay bales

I remember the hard work making hay was when I was growing up. Everyone in the family needed to pitch in and guaranteed there would be a weight loss. Children got to haul jugs of lemonade and iced tea to the workers in the field. Sweaty, dusty work. Now there is one operator of an enclosed tractor pulling three different devices.

Seemed like June was a month of bad hair days and stagnant, humid air. Then a wind came up in the afternoon on July 3 and it has been gorgeous since.

Thistle and vetch flowers in vase on sewing table

Thistles were growing at the side of the house. Apparently the guy who keeps things trimmed decided that they were weeds yesterday, so I retrieved some and added yellow vetch for contrast. The thistles are quite fragrant but I was hoping that they would go to seed and attract finches. “Still Life with Sewing Notions” could be the title.

Nasturtium flowers in planters  Orange nasturtium blooming  140705_020

The nasturtiums I started from seed are blooming now, have three different colors so far. The lettuce started to bolt, but the chives, parsley, and mint are doing well and good additions to meals.

Small black and gray dog with topknot

Atticus noticed when the fireworks in Elderton started last night but unlike Bode, didn’t feel the need to bark them into submission. Neither did he try to hide the way Ling Ling used to when we lived in Milwaukee.

I have been applying a rubber band to his forelock to make a topknot lately. Was going to mail order some but then found that the craft stores have inexpensive Rainbow Loom rubber bands that come in a multitude of colors.

Red 2012 Fiesta Hatchback  140630_001  140630_002a

Still getting used to the 2012 Fiesta SE I bought on June 30. Have had my dad to two doctor’s appointments and shopped for groceries. Also found out that the Fiesta can easily accommodate (in the back seat and cargo area) three weeks worth of laundry, detergent, plus two buckets (3 and 5 gallon) with hand wash: one of my sweaters, two hats, mittens, two of Atticus’ sweaters, and a wool skirt soaking in Eucalan. It is late in the season to be doing this but it is better to wait than to chance that moths will ignore residues of perspiration, food, etc. if you don’t clean your woolens first.

It has been a week of discoveries and adjustments although many things are similar to the 2000 Windstar I traded in:

  • Gear shift is on the floor between the seats instead of the steering column
  • Adjusting the steering wheel and seat position
  • Finding the hood release
  • Remembering how to change radio station presets
  • There is a map pocket!
  • The fuses are behind the glove box
  • A Rubbermaid tote and a styrofoam picnic box can fit into the cargo area together
  • The rear seat headrests may be removed and doing so increases the area visible in the rearview mirror
  • The spare tire and tools are under the carpet in the cargo area
  • Fueling is a breeze with the “no cap” fuel system plus half the tank capacity means less time for hand cramps to develop

There are still surprises, but fewer since I read the owners manual PDF I downloaded from the Ford web site. (Yeah, I still read documentation…)

Turned out being able to haul a lot of cargo in the Windstar was too tempting given my physical limitations. I’ve decided that using a truck and getting people to help load and unload is more sensible. Better fuel economy is a plus since I seem to be driving more lately. It will be interesting to see if lower fuel consumption makes up for the increase in insurance premiums though.

About Kathy

Perl, MySQL, CGI scripting, web design, graphics following careers as an analytical chemist and educator, then in IT as a database administrator (DBA), programmer, and server administrator. Diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy in 1997.
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