Merry Christmas!

Just stopping by to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope your day is filled with joy, peace, love, and delicious food!

All has been well with me, Hubby, and the three cats. I hope to get back to blogging in the new year.

Running of the bulls Virginia style.......

Around 4,000 people gathered yesterday at a motorsport park in a neighboring county to participate in Virginia's version of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Participants paid $60.00 each to experience the thrill of being chased by twelve 800 pound bulls. About 8,000 people came to watch the event. Two people were hurt with concussion-like symptoms and one was taken to a nearby hospital. The event ended with a food fight between the runners and spectators that used 45,000 tomatoes. I bet that was one big mess!

Years ago when my Dad raised cattle, I was chased by bulls several times. It wasn't fun or exciting - it was very frightening. I had no desire to repeat the experience or to even watch other people, so I did not attend.

Would you run with the bulls? If you would like to try it, the promoters plan to have events in 10 more cities.

A cool and wet Sunday ......

It's been cool with a misty rain falling all day. Hubby has been relaxing on the sofa with Molly Ann, watching the Nascar race. After doing a bit of housework, I settled down with a good book. This weather feels more like October than August to me. We went to a JJ Grey and Mofro concert at Pocahontas State Park Thursday night. It was an outside concert and I got chilled even though I was wearing a light jacket.

My hummingbirds are still swarming around the feeders. I tried taking pictures, but I am a terrible photographer and they move so quick. I also have lots of butterflies. They are a little more cooperative with having their pictures taken.

Schools in our county start tomorrow. I remember being so excited when it was time to go back to school. I would be anxious to see friends that I hadn't seen all summer and catch up on all the gossip. I loved fresh new books, notebooks, and other school supplies. Were you happy or sad to see school start when you were a kid?

Shredding ........

My house has an attic that is accessed through a hole in the ceiling in the hall. You have to climb up a step ladder and pull yourself up into the attic. Since I've gotten older and suffer from arthritis, it's difficult for me to go up there. Like most attics, it is full of all sorts of junk. My house is small and I have limited storage, so over the years I've put lots of boxes up there.

I've talked Hubby into climbing the ladder and taking down a few boxes at a time. I then go through them and either throw away or donate what I don't want to keep. My goal is to completely clean everything out of the attic. Last week he brought down boxes and boxes of cancelled checks. I had about 35 years of checks. So, this week I have been shredding and shredding and shredding .... I finally finished yesterday afternoon. Boy, am I glad that is done!

When I haven't been shredding, I've been filling the hummingbird feeders. There must be thirty or more that swarm to my feeders. I'm filling them at least three times a day now.

We're still eating tomatoes and green peppers from my garden. The squash and cucumbers are gone - eaten by squash bugs. I got one watermelon before something pecked holes in the rest of them. I'm thinking about planting fall crops now.

Hope you have a nice weekend!

Lazy .....

Hope everyone is having a good week. It's still hot and humid here in Central Virginia - too hot to do anything that requires lots of physical activity. I've been relaxing, reading and eating. I've gained a couple of pounds - probably from those Drumstick ice cream cones I've been eating every afternoon. (Sigh) I guess I'll have to cut back on them.

I finished reading J. K. Rowling's book "The Cuckoo's Calling". It was well written and had good character development. I did find it to be a bit slow moving at times. The main characters are very likable and I would like to see them in more books. If you like detective stories you will probably enjoy this book. I'm currently reading the second book of the Joe Grey series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy - "Cat Under Fire". These are mysteries with talking cats as the main characters. They are entertaining will appeal to mystery and cat lovers. I'm also reading "At Home: A Short History of Private Life" by Bill Bryson. I've enjoyed several of his books.

Summer is going by too fast! Seems all the stores are full of back to school items. I wouldn't be surprised to see Christmas items before long. They do tend to rush the seasons.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the cats ...

Maggie May (Miss Prissy)

Mazie Grace (The Huntress)

Mollie Ann (My Baby Girl)

Feels like a sauna ........

It's HOT and it's HUMID! With the sun shining and temperatures up to the triple digits, this feels like typical mid July weather.

Hubby has been trying to get the grass cut. He couldn't get started until almost 3PM because the grass was wet from the high humidity. If we had a hay baler, we could probably get a couple of bales off the back yard.

I'm getting loads of cherry tomatoes and more than enough regular tomatoes from the garden. I also have lots of green peppers that need to be picked. I've been eating tomato sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with fresh salads.

The squash and cucumber plants have grown out of my garden squares and are winding across the yard. They continue to bloom profusely, but for some reason are not forming squash or cucumber plants.

I just downloaded "The Cuckoo's Calling" to my Kindle. It was written by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. I'll be spending my evening reading.

Finally, a new chair .........

I've been looking for new chairs for my living room for several months. I looked everywhere and could not find what I was looking for - a small, comfortable chair. We went looking again yesterday and I ended up getting the La-Z-Boy chair shown above. It is bigger in scale than I wanted, but it is very comfortable. I just got tired of looking and settled for what I could find. I'm sure it will grow on me, and I'm sure I will have some nice naps while lounging in it. It's hard to find furniture that works in small houses. That's Mollie Ann grooming her feet.

We're still having hot and very humid weather. It's like living in a sauna. We're suppose to get more rain Thursday. This has been the wettest summer I can remember.