2025 Project 365 – Week Twenty-seven

This week, in addition to the potential collapse of democracy, I have a lot of food & selfie photos! Yay! 

Sunday, June 29th 

Dr. M says: We are definitely seeing more bumblebees on our bee balm, along with a few pretty little butterflies, but the star of the show right now is the bumblebee moth! Hemaris diffinis, the bumblebee moth, is also called the snowberry clearwing in reference to the plant on which its caterpiller feeds. Hemaris diffinis is much smaller than hemaris thysbe, the hummingbird moth. You can see in my pics how the bumblebee moth blends in with our bumbles. So much fun to be able to capture this little cutie!

Monday, June 30th

I got a new topper! Just what I needed - I have so few (that was sarcasm). 

Tuesday, July 1st 

When I saw this travesty in my dad’s bowl I said, “have you no decency, sir?” (Chicken salad, potato salad, & BLUEBERRIES 😲)

Wednesday, July 2nd

I misread this company quote (mission statement?) & thought YES WE ARE APPARENTLY DONE WITH INTEGRITY IN THIS COUNTRY.

Meanwhile, Dr. M saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. A bit battered but still lovely.

Thursday, July 3rd  

I was aggressively patriotic at work today because dammit it’s my country too. But I mostly felt like a lie. I wanted to be carrying a sign that said I don’t approve of the evil things this administration is doing but all I did was wear my Black Lives Matter bracelet. Tiny concession to who I am as a person.

Friday, July 4th      

We decided to have veggie burgers for the 4th & they were really good! I like how they’re sort of daisy shaped in the pan. Ha!

Saturday, July 5th

I woke up very early (for me on a Saturday) & took a little ramble around the yard. These photos are the result of me trying to get a photo of a bumblebee, and me giving up & doing a rudbeckia selfie instead. 

My caption to the photo on the left: When someone asks an Enneagram 9 to decide what to have for dinner. And then other people ask the same Enneagram 9 what to have for lunch the next day. Food. I would like food please. The food I decided to eat for dinner was a chicken and potato salad sandwich. Yum!

Finally, here’s my caption for this photo: I don’t know man. A project that uses 29 stitch markers (SO FAR) might be a smidge more complicated than I bargained for😂.

This coming week is the first payroll of the new fiscal year so all of the benefit changes I’ve been entering will go out into the world. Hopefully there aren’t very many issues with them. The payroll after that is a little more scary for me - fingers crossed! THEN my several months of stress will be over & I can concentrate on other aspects of my job (to be clear, this year has been a walk in the park compared to last year). ANYWAY, I know you’ll be glad to stop having to read about it. My next thing to obsess over (personally, because “the politics” is ever in my mind) is my hair. I’m thinking of coloring it because I AM BORED with it. Thoughts? Suggestions? Other things you’d rather talk about? Tell me all!

2023 Project 365 – Week Thirty-four

This week Dr. M and I are slightly obsessed with our hair.
Sunday, August 20^th      
We had an ice cream social at church and it was a blast! One of our members is so creative & everything was very cute. I got new glasses and matched the décor quite well. Ha!
 

Monday, August 21^st                
Yesterday’s hair was a bit much, so I tried to tame it.
 

Tuesday, August 22^nd                     
Dr. M says: Six months ago my labs showed that in the last 18 months my A1c had risen from 5.9 to 6.9, and I had gained a significant amount of weight. It was time to act. I started taking metformin to lower my A1c. It was effective, in that 3 months later my number was 6.7, but it was not a pleasant 3 months for my digestive system. Also, I only managed to lose 7 pounds…less than half my goal. On May 15, my PCP handed me a free month supply of low dose Jardiance. After a month I felt a lot better and had lost 5 pounds or more. So I bit the substantive bullet and bought another month’s worth, and then another after that. As of today I am down 19 pounds from what I weighed on May 15 [Note from the Bug – that’s a total of 26 pounds!]! And my A1c is 6.5! So I’m having some Utz honey barbecue potato chips.
 

Wednesday, August 23^rd                               
No photo.
 
Thursday, August 24^th                        
Dr. M never wears his hair down so it’s easy to forget how much he’s got. I’m pretty jealous of the curls. Also, aren’t his dimples adorable?
 

Friday, August 25^th                         
I was working on the border & started feeling like someone was watching me. Ha!
 

Saturday, August 26^th               
Dr. M found a happy little field in his Saturday travels.
  

Our church was canceled today because the AC wasn’t working – it was 91 degrees in the sanctuary last night. So I’m hanging out at home this morning before I leave to pick up Sunday lunch for the fam. When I get back I’m finishing that blanket! So there! Anything you’re looking forward to finishing?
 

2023 Project 365 – Week Thirty-three

I would like to apologize in advance for all the blanket content. I’m not as far along as I expected to be, but I worked on it almost every day. See? I can follow through on things! Eventually.
Sunday, August 13^th      
I am HERE for waffles made by my dad. I will always say yes.
 

Monday, August 14^th               
I started joining the squares on Sunday, and spent my lunch hour on Monday working on it.
 

Tuesday, August 15^th                    
While fixing dinner, I noticed bread in the toaster. Dr. M looked at it & said, “that’s YESTERDAY’S toast!” He forgot to eat it, & neither of us noticed. I laughed like a loon. Just another day in the life of an absent minded professor.
 

Wednesday, August 16^th                              
Went to see Dad & Sue at lunch, but (I thought) they weren’t there, so I just sat under this tree with the windows rolled down and read my book. Bliss! (As has happened one other time, it turns out that Dad & Sue are, in fact, NOT joined at the hip. She was gone, but he was in the house. Oops.)
 

Thursday, August 17^th                        
Shared with no commentary.

Squares are joined! On to the border!
 

Friday, August 18^th                         
Propped my feet up & did border things during my lunch hour.
 

Saturday, August 11^th               
Had a pool party with a couple of my oldest friends yesterday (we missed you Sherri!) & had a blast. Showed off the 15 extra pounds I’ve put on this year, got sunburned (forgot to put any sunscreen on my legs 😳), crocheted, ate charcuterie & cookies. It was a good day! (Bonus content – a photo of me wearing the same swimsuit in 2004. Suffice it to say that I don’t swim very often.)
 

Meanwhile, Dr. M did some porch sitting with Pop. 
 

Speaking of waffles, I had a FB friend pose the question as to which was superior, waffles or pancakes, and here was my answer: They are two different things. Sometimes you need the cakey cake of the pancake. Sometimes you need the crunchy squish of the waffle. The only thing that’s always true: a quart of butter & syrup on whichever tasty treat you eat. What say you?
 

2022 Project 365 – Week Thirty-three

Greetings from soggy North Carolina! It was a good bit cooler this week, but with rain almost every day it was pretty humid. August in the south – gotta love it. I mostly watch it from inside my air conditioned life. I was thinking the other day about what it was like when I was a kid when we had fans, but no air conditioning. I apparently survived, but how? It’s a mystery.
Sunday, August 14^th           
Another Sunday, another butterfly. This one is a dark form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and the photo of it behind the Sulphur Cosmos is my new favorite thing.
 

Went to my dad’s & worked on this beast (there’s a situation with the border which hopefully we can figure out). As I said on FB, this puzzle’s fate is similar to the Farm Boy’s fate in Princess Bride. Dread Pirate Roberts: “Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.” Then I came home & worked on another beast.
 

Monday, August 15^th   
Terrible photo of excellent chicken fried rice. Dr. M always adds extra stuff (zucchini, mushrooms) and it is yummy.
 

Tuesday, August 16^th        
No photo
 
Wednesday, August 17^th              
Our two kinds of morning glories – common and Japanese/Ivy. I love that Dr. M’s new camera captures their true colors.
 

Thursday, August 18^th         
No photo from today, but I was fiddling around with this one to show someone my outfit. It was taken back in 2003 when digital cameras left a LOT to be desired. This is baby Danabug, dressed as a missionary for Halloween, wearing the custom dress I had made when I worked for the Baptist Mission in Zambia back in 1987. I have ALL KINDS OF FEELINGS about this whole situation. Mission work in general is a complex minefield to me, and wearing an "African outfit" for Halloween is all kinds of nope to me now. Also, are those OCTOPI on that fabric? What in the world! On the other hand, I was so thrilled to fit back into that dress.
 

Friday, August 19^th         
Had the day off from work and ordered new glasses, worked on the puzzle some more at my dad’s house (Sue made me another grilled cheese sandwich – yum!), and was in line at the pharmacy when one of my friends posted that it was World Photography Day & for us to post our photographs. This is what she got from me. Ha!
 

Saturday, August 20^th          
My mom’s oldest friend passed away this week. She was the Ethel to my mom’s Lucy – they were SUCH a hoot together. I went on many an adventure with them – concerts and shopping and eating and laughing and laughing and laughing. I went to her visitation this evening & then stopped to pick up some Mexican food on my way home.
 

I’m starting to feel my “summer is almost over and it will be winter in 5 minutes” ennui. What is life? Why do anything? Where are my penguin pajamas? It’s ridiculous. Fall is lovely around here. And I like my boots. But still… How about you – which season is your favorite?

2019 Project 365 – Week Thirty-seven

This is such a weird time of year in NC. It’s obviously fall-ish. The plants know it. The sun knows it. But summer is just being stubborn about letting go. So hot & dry. Ugh.

Sunday, September 8^th                                             

I was feeling particularly attractive as I got ready for church this morning.

Monday, September 9^th             

Finished! It was a fun project. However, the yarn is 90% merino which was perhaps not the best choice for a day in the 90s.

Dr. M bought me some apples. Pretty!

It was Monday Mexican night & the young’uns were showing Sue all about Instagram filters. Ha!

Tuesday, September 10^th                                                

Dr. M got new flowers for his mother’s grave. And he saw sheep while he was out & about!

After checking three times while I was preparing the meal, I still had to pull the package back out of the trash to see how long to cook dinner. What. The. Heck.

Wednesday, September 11^th                                                         

A somber anniversary made more tolerable through a visit from The Roy, who basically demanded that Dr. M pet him.

Thursday, September 12^th                                                            

With my new hair, this is how you tell that I’m getting serious about work – I tuck it behind my ears.

Friday, September 13^th                                                           

We were apparently too superstitious to take a picture today.

Saturday, September 14^th            

Lunch! (I blame credit Nance.)

I spent some time weed-eating today & now my arms are noodles. I was going to do a little bit of house cleaning, but Dr. M has talked me out of it (it wasn’t hard to do). So if you plan to come see us you might want to give me about a two hour notice. Ha!

2015 Project 365 – Week Thirty-three

Just another week in the life…

Sunday, August 9^th     

Ms. Pinkie Petunia Verbena.

I am OBSESSED with this word game I’ve downloaded onto my phone. I had passed the Penguin level earlier, but today I made it through the Sheep level. Ha!

Monday, August 10^th   

We’re not sure, but we think this squirrel is saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Although, since he’s facing the Nazarene church across the street, it might be the Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian Flag, instead of to the American Flag. Evangelical squirrels – who knew?

His & hers tomato knives. If you look closely you can see some pepper from a prior mater sandwich.

I did the 10 on 10 thing today. Go here to read all about it (actually, I think most of you have already been there & done that ).

Tuesday, August 11^th                

Around the yard.

Square #1 of Pattern #16.

Oh mater tree, o mater tree, how lovely are your green-and-red orbs…

               

 Wednesday, August 12^th         

I took a mini walk at work (I mowed later for my “real” exercise). Gorgeous sky!

Thursday, August 13^th      

Very early Thursday morning Dr. M tried to capture the Persied meteor shower. He saw a few shooting stars, but wasn’t able to get any pictures. I thought these were pretty cool anyway.

On my daily walk I passed the house that mows about twice a year. They always just leave all the grass on the sidewalk. I kind of like to shuffle through it & crunch on the dry bits.

Friday, August 14^th  

Our hanging baskets still look lovely.

The Board of Directors.

Square #2 of Pattern #16.           

Saturday, August 14^th   

Dr. M pulled out Little Miss Sunshine hoping that she will help save our remaining sunflowers. We shall see!

My daily walk. I love that little donkey – reminds me of Eeyore.

               

Hope everyone has a great week!