well yeh

it's been raining at least 8/10's of the day....light rain, then thunder and a downpour....over and over....been keeping it cool anyway....

breakfast thunder storm

so I'm waiting to see if the rain lets up enough to walk for the newspaper....might end up driving to get one.....it's been raining every Monday for weeks....rain is predicted all week long.....yesterday there was a daily record set at the airport.....the Prince said "Why are you all wearing those heavy Scottish outfits, it's sweltering!" Don't know if they ever got any balloons up for their festival....I wouldn't want to go up with storms tracking through the region.....80% chance of rain all day .....might effect some Memorial Day grilling.......

getting hungry

thinking breaded pork schnitzel, cornbread stuffing, crook-neck squash with sweet onion, country gravy......

yikes

flash flood warning for central Laurens County....I guess I'm in southern Laurens County....when I was talking to the lady at Allstate I think she said that they don't even offer flood insurance in the main part of Clinton, just over where the bigger creek is a little out of town? The flood warning is always for "low lying areas or areas with poor drainage".....makes sense.....

I like this weather

overcast and staying cool so you can leave some windows open day and night.....chance of rain, rained last night again, like the night before.....no more basketball games until Thursday, when the Finals start......

fire-flys

lightning-bugs....whatever you call them....seen the first of the season tonight.....

not much

of a farmers market....just two vendors when I walked over there around nine......one guy did have some beets.....but they were pretty big, I liked to pull up the beets when they were smaller than that, and boil them greens and all.....so there was nothing to take a picture of there, but I did put some pix up on flckr of the flags for Memorial Day around the center of town....going to stay cool today looks like, windows are open and a breeze going through the house. Last night I made chili fried shrimp and pimento cheese grits, with corn on the cob.....this evening I'm thinking of a pork chop with bbq sauce, beans, and hash browns. Go Lakers!

thinking of walking

over a couple of blocks where they are trying to start a Saturday Farmers' Market, maybe get some photos? But, checking "storm tracks" on the radar, one is tracking right now from due South....hard to tell how fast it's going though.....must have rained while I was sleeping, things are pretty wet this morning....there was thunder right as I was falling asleep about midnight, after watching the Celtics win.....the storms yesterday washed out the balloon festival in Simpsonville, but maybe they can get it going today....it's also the Scottish games at Furman, where they wear kilts and toss telephone poles, etc....Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, is in town for that.....bloody British, they should take him to Cowpens.....

phone message

from Allstate....time to renew the homeowners policy....so I stopped by and talked to them on my way to the grocery store to get the three things I forgot to buy on Wednesday....my policy is going up by $22 a year.....if there is no inflation, why do things always go up? Of course the insurance industry has been going through a rough time the last few years, I guess.....so I came back and did the front yard, but left the back to another day this time, started getting warm .....82 at 11am....watched the Lakers squeak by last night, and slept real well after that, since the game kept me up until the middle of the night again.....tonight it will be the Magic Celtics.....

early walks

around downtown at 7:30, and around the mill park at 8:30, because there is no overcast today so it's going to get hot by the afternoon.....the pimento cheese and chili powder catfish fillet was tasty for Wednesday dinner, with the corn on the cob....local white corn, tender, sweet....corn is three times useful .....as a vegetable side, as the starch, and as good roughage.....I guess I should work on leftovers today....I have some "boiled dinner" in the fridge....crock-potted chunks of bratwurst with potato and cabbage, that will microwave for a quick and easy supper, without heating up the kitchen.

late night basketball continues

so I've been staying up until the middle of the night.....will these conference finals go seven games after all? More interesting than old movies, pretty much.....went and got the groceries after doing my walking....maybe catfish and sweet corn tonight.....they are calling for 85 by late afternoon.....nice out right now, 73 I think is what it said a bit ago.....I think this might be the last week of school around here....graduation is Friday, anyway, for the high school....

four-thirty in the afternoon

raining and blowing....no thunder yet....

backwards weather continues

like Monday, the Tuesday wind is coming all the way from the Atlantic Ocean....nice really, 70 degrees inside and out.....I was just sitting out on the porch watching birds and squirrels....do that a lot.....don't know if it will rain like yesterday, but it looks like it might.....going to fix a deli-sliced turkey breast and swiss cheese sandwich for lunch....had one yesterday, and it was good....with some potato salad I'm trying to use up.....the ads in the mail today are all geared towards Memorial Day bbq-ing....but I don't know if I'm going to do anything special for that....might get some more of that white corn, it was pretty tender......

call it stormy monday

there's a low off the coast of North Carolina, and that's sending clouds from the Atlantic inland into the upstate.....so it's cool air with a NE wind, instead of the warm air with a SW wind like we usually associate with moisture....short heavy storm in the middle of the night, looks like more on the way.....went to the store and spent five bucks for a half-gallon of OJ and a loaf of "health nut" bread.....does that mean that the purchaser must be a health nut, or does it mean that there are nuts in the bread? Saw Brian on Dan's twitter pix eating oatmeal with raisins....that's what I had for breakfast too.....

just beautiful

on the front porch in the afternoon....not really that hot, breeze blowing, clouds going by....smells nice, like flowers.....

how about them Celtics....

as they trashed Orlando again last night, the crowd started chanting "Beat L A".....hi-def baskeball is pretty cool....I can remember watching the Lakers on a black and white TV....you had to twist the outside antenna around to the north to pick up channel 5 (later channel 9?).....if the horizontal hold tube wasn't strong, the basketball looked like it was traveling through different dimensions as it flew towards the hoop.....and if the shot missed, Chick Hearn would proclaim "And the mustard falls off the hotdog!"......humid, foggy here this morning, predicted high of 88 by late afternoon.....quiet Carolina Sunday morning, just birdsong and trains so far.....french toast for breakfast.....

light rain, coolish

I got back from getting the newspaper before it started raining.....might get up to 80 today.....I can check the radar for a window in which to take the park walk, 40% chance of thunderstorms after 11 this morning.....I hear a train a'comin'.....well, that's to be expected.....

I think I'll wait

to try the park walk....there is a storm system approaching from Georgia.....the 21st is J's birthday? Maybe I'll drive out there later, if it doesn't rain all day......watched The Clockwork Orange on one of the old movies channels last night.....seems funny when a vision of the future includes music on cassette tapes.....well, they were cutting-edge technology in 1971......

really nice afternoon

mid-70's.....breezy.....been out on the front porch a lot, just kickin' back.....

cut the grass

In SC, a "lawnmower" is properly called a "grass-cutter"....you live and you learn....anyway, I cut the grass this morning, since there was a cool breeze to make it pretty comfortable out.....I was just going to do the front, but I went ahead and did it all at once, and don't feel bad at all, back-ache-wise.....stayed up and watched the Lakers win their second game.....might be ribs and a baked potato for dinner, haven't decided yet.....

early on

there was fog and drizzle, but now it's high clouds with the sunshine coming and going....might get up to 80 late afternoon.....went grocery shopping.....I got a piece of fish for tonight, and some white corn.....and beans? I'll figure it out .....Celtics won again....I stayed up almost to midnight watching that, and tonight the Lakers will be on that late too....oh well, I can always take a nap in the afternoon if I feel like it.....Lakers and Celtics in the finals? The classic battle between La-la Land and the Beantown Bullies.....

checking the radar

there's a thunderstorm headed straight towards Clinton....doesn't look very big though.....I guess I'll finish off the squash and meatloaf today, and then the fridge will be sort of cleaned out for shopping ......I'm low on raisins, and paper napkins.....

cool Tuesday

good walking weather.....overcast, breezy.....stayed up late watching the Lakers beat the Suns, slept well....they are playing "Exile" bonus tracks on the radio, and interviewing Keith Richards....the meatloaf yesterday turned out tasty....I put salsa in it.....tonight will the Celtics win again?

last night

a front went through around 9 that dumped a lot of rain....and featured donner and blitzen for sure......and about 3:30 in the morning it was raining real hard too....woke me up.....today I've got the windows open, because it's just around 70, with breezes, and occasional sprinkles....will probably be more thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.....oatmeal for breakfast, grilled cheese sandwich with deli ham for lunch, and I need to use up some ground beef, so I'm going to do microwave meatloaf, since I don't want to be running the oven at the hot end of the day.....I've done these before, the trick is oatmeal as the bread part.....

Sunday morning

Around 80 I guess at 11 in the morning, muggy outside.....I went over to the grocery store for a couple of things, and I punched the button to get $5 cash back at the robot cashier thing, and it just started spitting out a whole pile of fives....I told the girl that her machine had given me back way too much money.....we counted it, and it had churned out forty bucks.....the other lady said "Good thing you're honest!" Well, the whole thing is on camera....that's what the sign says....my receipt said $5 change, so that's what I left with.....I'm going to go with more tacos and beans this evening.....good chance of thunderstorms tonight.....will watch the Celtics-Magic this afternoon....that's about it for Sunday......

86+58% humidity=91 degrees heat index

that's what it says on Wunderground....looks like some storm tracks around Clemson and places...nothing here, just muggy outside, not too bad inside under the fan....AC is off still, though I did run it around dusk yesterday for about an hour.....just been playing with guitars mostly this afternoon.....did make a delicious tostada for lunch.....

after my park walk

I cleaned up the pile of blankets and stuff at the end of my bed....I might keep an eye out for some kind of blanket chest at the junk stores.....and I put the sheets and some other laundry in the washer, and vacuumed the house....72 degrees outside, and about the same inside....the Preakness is on today, so I'll try to remember to watch that, since I enjoyed the Derby.....I have some local squash I should remember to cook tonight or pretty soon....and I have options for lunch....like maybe a tostada....

taco craving satisfied

perfecto! what I call "dinner house" tacos....don't know if anyone else calls them that, but you probably know what I mean.....and I've got enough makings left for another dinner and a lunch, I would imagine....I forgot I had olives until I was half-way through eating....oh well, next time....had frijoles on the side, did remember them.....there was this little Cocina in Pedley that had just about perfect tacos, we used to get them take-out on payday Fridays....either that or Dragon Palace chinese.....

they had a band

last night over where they have bands on Thursdays .....but I wanted to watch the Celtics-Cavs, which was on at the same time.....I don't like the Celtics much, but I like King James even less....for some reason that guy just annoys me....after his performance in the last two games, I guess he annoys a lot of people, including the national media.....it got up to 88 yesterday, but never got warm enough in the house for the air to come on....I had a pork chop, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner.....I made white gravy, which I haven't done in a while....tonight will be taco night at the Bailey St. address.....

no freon needed

well, the air conditioner was in great shape....all the circuits checked out, and it was full of freon, so that isn't leaking.....I might need to run it later today, if it gets into the 90's like they are saying....so grocery shopping got shifted to today, I'll leave in a few minutes.....they have a big tent thing set up at the pharmacy school....probably going to have the ceremony where the college accepts the renovated building from the contractor, or something like that.....they put two story antebellum columns on the front, so it matches the other college buildings a few blocks away on the campus proper.....they are taking bids for food-service, it said in the paper....I'll need to figure out some meals while I'm in the store.....Summer type meals, since we are going to have a spell of hot weather ....for a week or so at least....

79 degrees, 78% humidity

a bit of a breeze, pretty nice really....I usually go grocery shopping on Wednesday, but Burn's Service didn't tell me any time they might be here to look at the AC, so I'm just waiting around today.....they work until 5, apparently.....had oatmeal for breakfast, and a ham and swiss on whole wheat for lunch.....don't know what supper might be, I'll think of something....I've got eggs....haven't had an omelette in a while.....they seem to be saying that, in current wisdom, it's OK to eat eggs.....I could put swiss cheese and spinach in it.....

Southwest Airlines

says it's going to start going to Greenville-Spartanburg airport.....I'm getting ready to fix chili pepper shrimp, pan browned leftover garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans sauteed with sweet onion.....people are fixing up some of the empty old houses in the neighborhood....I guess the idea is that the Pharmacy School is going to generate some demand for rental housing.....a house like mine might rent for $400 a month, I guess....less than renting a bedroom in a cheesy apartment in Escondido.....a lot less maybe.....

cloudy

rained a little yesterday evening, might rain some later today too, 20% chance.....I'm going to save $100 a year on car insurance with Allstate, since we adjusted my annual mileage down from 7500 to 1200....the 7500 is what I drove in 2007 I think.....but I went by the AC shop, and it's going to cost around $100 for a service and balance on my Heil unit....they should be out tomorrow morning, if it's not raining.....by Friday it's supposed to be up around 90F, so might as well make sure the AC is working properly.....got some wheat bread and some unsalted mixed nuts while I was over that end of town near the grocery store.....

not warming up today

clear and bright, but another chilly wind day.....so it was plenty cool enough to mow the grass front and back.....that will count as the second walk for Monday, since my back is aching now, after shoving the mower around, etc....think I'll have cold chicken, bread-and-butter, a pickle and a pepper for lunch....with a glass of wine.....yesterday I had a Mac attack, and went and got a Big Mac Meal, with sweet tea.....been probably about a year and a half since I did that.....watched the Celtics win last night.....

Quitman, Georgia

Quitman was the final home of James Pierpont, author of "Jingle Bells". He was organist for the First Presbyterian Church. [4] A local Quitman ordinance prohibits chickens from crossing the road.[5] umm, sort of a slow day....well, they are all slow days really....

like mountain air

this morning....brisk north wind coming down off the high country....sausage scramble and grits for Sunday breakfast.....stayed up relatively late watching the Lakers win by one point, after many lead changes in an interesting game.....

windows open

so the breeze is blowing through the living room......should be another pleasant day, it's predicted to cool off some more Monday and Tuesday.....I didn't feel like a hot meal for supper yesterday, so I just made a cold pot roast sandwich....I've got a new thing of mustard, it has a little horseradish in it....pretty tasty....I think it got up to 87 yesterday, but I still didn't need the AC in the house, which stayed about 80.....

jasmine scented breezes

blue sky, 70 degrees inside and out...."another beautiful day in paradise" ...as we used to say in L.A. .....but we were being sarcastic most of the time....here it is the simple truth....well, there is an air quality warning today in Greenville....mas californication......don't know if it extends to Clinton or not...don't think so, myself.....going to have a spinach salad for lunch....been trying to remember how Fat Ivor did the spinach salad, it was fantastic, a great lunch item....chunks of grilled chicken?

that's bizarre

I saw there had been an earthquake at Ocotillo, and the map came up, so I followed the roads with the view from outer space all the back to Lake Wohlford Resort, and then started blowing that up until eventually I could see my old trailer, with my Jeep and Chrysler parked alongside.....bizarre....space and time......and cyberspace.....

the 9V battery

in my oldest distortion pedal is run down to the point where the power indicator light doesn't even come on, so when you put said stompbox first in the signal chain, what comes out of the amp is that jagged edge valves about to melt down tone like Neil Young live or something...you know what I mean....so then you can turn on the radio and hope for "Mississippi Queen", and similar tunes to jam with. The hot humbuckers and whammy bar on the Silvertone work great for this burning overdrive zone thing.....

68

cool enough for the walk around the park, just got back.....should get up around 90 by supper time....judging from last year, I can get by with running the AC just a couple of hours in the late afternoon or early evening when it's 90 to 100 outside, and the rest of the time make do with the ceiling fans. After I got back from shopping yesterday, I thought of three things I was going to look at in the store, but forgot about while I was there....but they are things that can wait 'til next time really, I'll get by.....didn't do anything for Cinco de Cinco except microwave a sort of enchilada thing for lunch......quiet here this morning, but at some time on Thursdays the guy will come mow the church grounds, which will take a while, and make a constant drone in the background of the afternoon....so I'll just stay inside and play the radio then.....life is SO complicated.....

reading the paper

Trader Joe's East is applying for an off premises beer and wine license up on Woodruff, in the Simpsonville-Greenville area....up where they just put in an IMAX and 3D movie complex.....Californication, anyone?

roosters crowin'

train whistles blowin'.....well, they don't exactly sound like whistles anymore....they recently changed the law in Clinton, so you can have chickens.....so lately there have been roosters to go along with the trains in the morning. Just about every place I've ever lived you could hear roosters and trains, to some degree....and most places you could have horses too, if you were so inclined....you can ask for a zoning variation in Clinton if you want to keep horses, you just have to show you have enough set-back or whatever it is......breezy and warm today....went grocery shopping, walked, etc.....had beef bbq and corn on the cob last night.....tonight more beef stew or whatever you want to call it.....later, there's fried chicken and mashed potatoes to do....they had a good price on fresh spinach greens....

another walk

after lunch....77 with a bit of a breeze, wasn't too bad out....just went over to the little downtown part....nothing much open over there anymore.....quite a few cars parked, but not obvious where the people had gone, the few shops open looked mostly empty.....you could smell the burgers cooking at Wilson's though....they seem to do a good lunch time phone-in business....call ahead and pick it up hot.....when I take my early morning walk you can often smell the biscuits from McD across the tracks.....honeysuckle smells nice too right now, and the magnolia blossoms are just starting to open....

overcast, sultry

on Tuesday morning....no rain predicted today....I vacuumed the carpet and then did the park walk, and worked up a sweat.....got the ceiling fan on again...had reheated pot roast last night, with french bread toast to soak up the wine sauce....I should do something this evening to go with the corn, before it's not so fresh.....watched half an inning of the Angels-Sox last night, and Boston scored three runs, with homers....so I turned it off and read a book instead.....Padres still on top?

power went out

the storm vectors keep coming up from the south.....so I went out to the back porch and got my back-up power rig for the DSL modem.....the car battery jumper has a 12V outlet, and I can plug my camping inverter into that to get AC, and then I can get online.....I got that all rigged up and running, and the power came back on.....still raining....I've thought a couple of times about trying to walk between the showers, but getting soaked once today was enough....I'll add extra walks some other day, or whatever.....

dang deluge

caught me coming back from the library....coming down so hard it was rough driving safely....from the car to the front porch I got soaked through to the skin, changed shirts once I got inside, and hung the wet one over a kitchen chair....but it won't dry soon in this humidity....pushing up towards 80 inside, but is comfortable sitting in the living room with the ceiling fan on low.....

the storm front

that flooded Nashville and other places is passing through here today, started raining right after breakfast, so I drove to get the morning paper. Library books are due, so that will be done in the rain too looks like.....

south wind

around 75, inside and outside.....I don't know what flower or bush it is that scents the breeze in the morning, but it's nice....lots of big colorful blossoms and blooms abound....the Lakers start the second round this afternoon against the Jazz, I guess I'll watch that....yesterday the Kentucky Derby was interesting, they sure put on an elaborate ritual for that thing.....the humidity is high, so even walking for the paper at 7:30 in the morning leaves you sweating pretty good....but my back stays looser in the hot humid than it does in the cold dry....the doors in these old houses get tighter and looser too with the changes in seasons....in the Summer you have to jiggle the door around to make sure the dead-bolt has shot, whereas in the Winter it just functions the same every time.....

Jam On

the Sirius XM jam band station this weekend is doing a thing where what they play is covers of well known songs done live by jam-type bands.....I've heard some pretty strange things so far....it's all good, some of it almost beyond belief....like Pink Floyd "The Wall" done by some kind of bluegrass string band.....

not sunny

but warm, 80's today, 90's Sunday they are saying.....both Spartanburg and Greenville are having street festivals this weekend....and some other town around here too, I forget which one....and it's May Day.....there might be "pop-up" thunderstorms in the afternoons.....these don't approach an area on radar like a storm front, they just pop-up suddenly....but don't usually last long....but can deliver a good soak and lightning.....the beef burgundy came out tasty, and of course added to the left-over situation.....so I can just microwave meals for a few days looks like....