visitor, cartoon, feeding

* Preparing for a visitor, I wash the dogs although the humidity will slow their drying. When my room mate comes upstairs (in his flannel robe which always makes me giggle): "I washed the dogs." "Yeah. I could smell them as soon as I came upstairs." Much dashing to find fans and direct air onto soggy dogs.

* A cartoon: Tips to become a better conversationalist. Lesson #1. Ask people questions that give them an opportunity to talk about themselves. "What the hell is wrong with you?" (artist's name illegible)

* I fill the bird feeders and water troughs then go about my work. Later, at my desk, I hear much chirping and splashing.

outside, fore!, root beer

* To work outside in the early cool of the day.

*  The dogs recline full length on the cold floor, sometimes right under my desk chair. "Watch out! I'm moving" is a constant refrain.

*  Remembering the root beer ice cube tray popsicles of long ago.

painted lines, fan, colors

 * The county has repainted road markings which enable me to escape hitting bicyclists.

* The coolness created by the fan I put (finally!) in the window is remarkable.

* The paint colors I used in my office compliment the view through my window--I wallow in the visual  joy.

birds, paint, act, easel, stalks, girls, restraint

* I arrange a bird replenishing place--food and water. Each morning still in my nightgown I carry a hot, steaming pitcher of water to the watering hole. I dump out the ice onto an already established mound  and empty the pitcher. Back inside with quilt curtains open I watch the birds congregate and dart around the feeders. The water continues to steam, gradually cooling, until in four hours time it is frozen. I read an article recently about how to keep sparrows from bird feeders. Why would I want to do that? 'His Eye Is On the Sparrow'

* I finally settled on a color for the  frames put 3 years ago around the new (then) windows of my office. Now 'desert glow' is beside my mandarin orange walls. 

* Finding an actor I had never heard of and viewing his movies in chronological order to understand his development.

* How to clear a room of sleeping dogs...arrange an easel too near an open door so that when closed it bumps the leg and sends the easel and bulletin board flying.

* Tall stalks of eucalyptus dispersing aroma throughout the room. 

* The genius of a show runner who limits the number of episodes filmed which helps concentrate on the quality. We all want more of good things. Years ago a friend advised me that one drink is enough--a person thinks they want more but with more the enjoyment and satisfaction diminishes. Restraint.

sprinkler, roads

* It being a warm spring day with dogs rampling amidst the weak grass, I hooked up the hose and discovered the old sprinkler has survived the winter. Halfway through the snow and cold I spotted something oddly shaped in the yard. It was not until the snow had retreated a bit that I realized=the sprinkler! Thus, I sat an afternoon in the sun watching shiny droplets form on young buds and generally remembering the loveliness of a swishing sprinkler.

* Oh! Mr WS! Have we not all at some time in life trod upon Mr Frost's roads?  Frost's roads were two in a yellow wood but you had several choices Sunday night. You took the road of a coward. And that has made all the difference.

minor

 * 2 minor things that, although minor, slightly detract from viewing enjoyment: Joan Allen is an actress. Joan Allen is left handed. Joan Allen portrayed G. O'Keeffe as left handed. G. O'Keeffe was right handed. Joan Allen is an actress (wasn't she able to act right handed?). Actresses who portray hugely pregnant women but flop, flop, onto sofas. I tell you, as soon as I found out I was pregnant I did not flop for a year.

Dorsey, reads, Res, green, fence, flowers

 * Listening to Dorsey Armstrong 'Powerful Women of the Medieval World' and '1215'.

* Reading The Anchoress and Patch Work.

* The Res has such water filling it that there is no beach to the beach.

* Waiting for spring and the green and then feeling shocked when I step out of the door and it is so green.

* A new privacy fence. 

* Last December brought a new resolve to me. I will always have fresh flowers in the house. Initially I subscribed at a local florist which was interesting because their offerings disclosed techniques that I was not aware of and use of little known flowers. Now I find fresh flowers at the market and arrange them myself. Such an injection of joy--to see them first thing in the morning, to have their scents waft over me as I sit at my desk. I pause throughout the day to soak in the shade and hue changes.