somewhat warm and pretty humid

77F and 64 dew point.....but was clouded over earlier so I went ahead and did the back yard before lunch.....forgot I had lettuce, so my sandwich was tuna salad and avocado with no lettuce.....maybe I can remember the lettuce tomorrow.....might have avocado, lettuce, sweet onion salad as one side and more mesquite black beans as the other side with BBQ chicken wings for supper today.....the folks who opened the family style soul food eatery live about a block over from here apparently.....I walk by their house when I go to the park.....today I read that their soft opening went well, good amount of business....a grand opening will be coming up soon.....a better market around here for soul food than for Greek ......for Sunday night 80% chance of almost an inch of rain.....but between now and then pretty much the same in store.....mostly cloudy, highs in the 80s, sticky feeling.....

enough cloud cover

to keep it cool this morning earlier so I could go out and deal with the front yard.....staying around 70 inside and out so far.....afternoons are getting to mid-80s......maybe Friday morning it will be cool enough to tackle the back yard.....that artichoke yesterday didn't look that great, but it turned out to be a good one after all.....with garlic pounded steak and mesquite black beans.....the other half of the ribs is thawing out for the oven later today.....a potato can go into the big iron skillet with the ribs.....it's about time to start spraying with mosquito stuff before porch-sitting in the evening.....didn't get any mail today or yesterday either.....no bills or ads, that's about all I ever get anyway.....the paper said that the Badcock furniture store that closed recently will reopen as Home Sweet Home....with a new city approved facade and free-standing sign.....city approval is needed because the building is within the Historic District.....there's a panel that decides.....I think it was last week that I read that the Greek place across the tracks that had closed and that I had never been in anyway has reopened as a family style "meat-and-three" .......I don't have money to waste eating out anyway.....

avocado and tuna salad sandwiches

that's what's for lunch at least part of the week.....I've got half of the memorial ribs still to cook, with baked potato and more of that good sweet corn as sides....and today I'll fix garlic pounded sirloin steak with an artichoke and ranch beans as sides.....steak and eggs with hash browns might be my Sunday breakfast for supper....and oven BBQ chicken wings with black eye peas and Mac n cheese is also likely some time this week....75 outside....yesterday it got to 80 in the living room late in the afternoon, but stayed 70 in the kitchen....been good walking weather lately .....read the local weekly paper after lunch.....it had a special section with the graduation photos of the high school class.....that's on Friday, the graduation.....in the gym....looks like I could go out on the porch and enjoy the breeze, so that's what I'll do.....

library Tuesday

since Monday was a holiday......some clouds right now, should heat up again in the afternoon.....used a ceiling fan some after supper watching television last night.....got stuffed finishing off the ribs.....I've got spicy orange chicken meal in the freezer for today.....with hamburgers all gone I can have grilled swiss on pumpernickel at lunch.....and then it's grocery day again.....right now I'm off to the library.....

Memorial Day

dawns bright and sunny.....warmer out.....had a green salad with my supper hamburger....only one burger left now.....might get close to 90 later, a taste of what lies ahead in actual Summer.....I haven't really looked at watermelons.....suppose grocery stores are open at least part of the day, but it's too late to chill a melon in the fridge for holiday consumption on the front porch in the early evening.....quiet around here.....at ten over on the square there will be the JROTC from the high school doing a color guard, with the high school band playing too I think.....Memorial ceremony....I might look for hiking sandals soon, I wear out a pair every year before schools starts again.....the rubber tip on my cane was wearing uneven, so I twisted it around with water-pump pliers to get a fresh surface.....

not a sunny Sunday so far

well, we had one nice day.....now it's back to being behind a cold front from the North.....I watched that Braves game last night from New York and the conditions looked awful....the ball park was mostly empty, and the folks that were there were dressed for a football game.....there was rain sometimes, and wind all the time....lots of things blowing across the playing field, and the ball blowing around crazy for the outfielders.....looks like some of that is getting down this way.....the big car race over in Charlotte might not get the best weather later today.....or the weekend events in the greater Greenville area, like the hot-air balloon festival or the Highland Games.....it was nice when I walked through downtown here after lunch Saturday, but it was fairly chilly going over for the newspaper this morning.....should not complain too much though.....at least there are no flood evacuations here, like in San Antonio where Dave and Tree had to move their motorhome quick like to avoid the rising water.....hamburger weekend continues, until tomorrow when I finish off the ribs that are already cooked.....had my usual Sunday breakfast.....

was too windy

to launch the hot-air balloons yesterday in Simpsonville, for the annual festival.....should be able to go today OK though they think.....I suppose it was the high winds overnight that made the power go out again in the wee small hours.....Scottish games at Furman today, bagpipe parade last evening.....my pork loin ribs came out delicious, with tender new corn and the bourbon beans as sides.....probably be a  swiss burger and a green salad for supper today......Braves play the Mets at 7 on Fox.....I need to finish my Furst novel on kindle this weekend.....borrowed from the library so it can just expire on you ......but you do get an email to remind you when.....was 45 at sunrise, 55 now.....might get up around 80 in the afternoon.....no clouds, no real chance of rain today, but 20% in the Upstate for Monday.....then a warming trend for the rest of the week.....

yard work done

before the long weekend......after lunch yesterday the front weeds had dried out some, and it wasn't too hot yet so I mowed that part.....and this morning it is 70 with a breeze, so after reading the paper this morning I spent about an hour knocking down the clover in the back yard.....got my guitar magazine in the mail, and the homeowners insurance renewal offer.....the bill isn't due until July.....later on today I'll cut that rack of baby back ribs in half and cook half in the oven and put the other half in the freezer.....I'll eat some with sweet corn and bourbon beans tonight, and save enough for a similar meal on Monday.....I've got plenty of hamburger fixings left too for the rest of the weekend.....

extremely electrical

that's how the weatherman described the storm front coming through yesterday evening and on into the night....he meant that there were lots of lightning strikes.....power went out during the night, around 2 am I think.....so things are pretty wet this morning.....I should have mowed out front yesterday I guess, or maybe it will dry up enough to mow after lunch.....but it's going to be getting hot by then....oh well....I did a grilled swiss on pumpernickel with pickle for lunch, and then a hamburger and slaw for supper.....a homemade hamburger is always better than any fast-food hamburger, that's my firm belief....so today I can do the last bratwurst on a wheat roll with brown sugar bourbon beans as the side....hamburger lunch today......64 and overcast outside, staying 70 in the house mostly.....took a nap after lunch yesterday......walked the park after putting away the groceries.....

baby back ribs

for the holiday.....I said I wasn't doing ribs this time, but they had such a good deal on them I went ahead and got some.....I can freeze half for another week maybe.....got the corn, but the avocados were picked over so didn't get any.....got leaf lettuce, ground round, hamburger buns, bread-and-butter pickle chips, honey mustard BBQ sauce, bourbon beans, etc......I'll make a burger for lunch today, might as well.....real good price on Swiss cheese this week, got that.....so ready for Summer fare, and the weather should be like that.....sultry.....

muggy and foggy

at the same time.....around 70 now, will get to the 80s later I imagine.....last night I cooked one chicken leg, half a bratwurst, and some hash-browns.....slaw as a side too......my chicken salad is all gone now, so lunch sandwich can be a fried egg with mustard and mayo, black pepper......the ads for the holiday weekend came yesterday, full of BBQ ideas.....looks like good prices on hamburger fixings, rib-eye, etc....avocado and sweet corn look good too.....so avocado burgers are on the menu some time this week, and steak and corn-on-the-cob plus slaw probably....I've done ribs recently, and a Boston Butt makes an awful lot of pulled pork for one person, so I might eschew the pig this time around....get some leaf lettuce for the burgers, some swiss cheese.....I had a sharp pain in my foot when I walked bare foot.....read some online and it said "don't walk bare foot".....got a Dr. Scholl's Pro Ball-of-Foot Pad thingy at CVS, and one day with that took care of the pain pretty well.....ten bucks.....and I got mouthwash while I was over there.....

68F, 100% humid

clouded over.....chance of afternoon thunderstorms all week.....jasmine is in bloom, you can smell it everywhere walking around the neighborhood.....finished my last library book, but I have a sea story and a 1930s spy novel on kindle to read.....the chinese frozen dinner was pretty good....I have some soy sauce.....still eating chicken salad sandwich lunches.....it will get hot if the overcast burns off, it burned off about noon yesterday so I got pretty warm out walking right then.....went over to the town square and back, only saw one other person out on foot......

rain

yesterday the neighbors on Washington looked like they were going hunting.....they had a trailer loaded with camping stuff and ice-chests of beer behind a big window van....it was raining as they loaded up and left around lunch time.....this morning when I went for the paper at 7:30 their rig was back in front of their house.....I guess they didn't camp out anywhere overnight 'cause it was too wet.....and another storm just got here about 20 minutes ago.....good thing I never go anywhere or I'd get rained out anyway.....Oxbow went out at 15-1, and paid $32.50 on a $1 bet......didn't watch any Netflix or Prime Saturday night, just sat out on the porch until dusk and then came in and read a sci-fi novel until I got sleepy enough to turn out the lights.....I think for Sunday supper I'll microwave that box of broccoli beef chinese ......used half a bratwurst to go with my french toast at breakfast, since I didn't remember to get more brown-and-serve sausage at the store Wednesday....that worked OK.....will probably stay in the 70s today again, unless this all burns off pretty soon and things heat up more.....

raining pretty good

but it wasn't raining yet when I went out for the newspaper.....but my second walk might have to wait until this afternoon.....the guy around the corner was putting his yard-sale stuff out earlier, he guessed wrong this time .....but they are organized there, with a big porch to move things out of the elements when needed......going to be muggy today.....stayed 75 in the house yesterday, I turned on the ceiling fan in the living room after supper though......supper was fried chicken, hash-browns, cole slaw.....tonight I'll fix another bratwurst sub, with more slaw on the side.....yesterday I put some slaw on top of the chicken salad in my lunch sandwich.....it's good for you, I hope.....this afternoon there's the Preakness on some time, plus Fox has a baseball game at 4.....

heirloom building materials

cousin Charlotte says they are taking down the old Tingle farmhouse out in Ora.....cousin Elizabeth's husband is in the lumber business, working with contractors building places up in the mountains, and he is taking the boards and tin roof, etc.....so it's not going to just be bulldozed and taken to a land-fill, it's going to be recycled ......they decided that it's too dangerous to leave it standing in the condition it's in.....I would agree.....another nice morning here, not too hot, not too cool....pleasant....I'll walk for exercise this morning, since the yard is pretty well cleaned up now.....I fried some onion with a bratwurst, and toasted a whole wheat bun cut in half with olive oil drizzled on, plus some mustard and mayo made a hearty sandwich at supper....with my cole slaw I'd made earlier in the afternoon so it could chill in the fridge.....today I guess I'll alternate to chicken again, like Wednesday.....the chicken salad gets better too in the fridge.....for lunch on pumpernickel......got Franzia sangria in the fridge also.....and I got the first bag of ice since last year yesterday in the freezer......of course around here some trendy bar in Greenville comes up with sweet-tea sangria served at the roof-top lounge.....in the paper it said that's made with white rum in it too.....I don't have any white rum, but I know where I can get it......watched Saving Private Perez last night on Netflix.....pretty funny.....

some high clouds

20% chance of thunderstorms later.....or the newspaper says only 14%.....whichever, it shouldn't rain on me when I go out to trim things up in the back yard......high 60s right now.....I made chicken salad yesterday, and today I'll make cole slaw ......I put a small can of chopped olives in the chicken salad, that worked.....I got "three color cole slaw" and I'll add raisins as usual.....and mayo and buttermilk ranch dressing....some apple cider vinegar, not too much.......well, time to get busy with the weeds.....

73, clear

high of 88 called for this afternoon.....it will stay cool enough in the house, probably about 70 with the windows shut.....if it starts to get much warmer inside I can open some windows and let the breeze in.....got groceries, and got the gas bill in the mail and paid it.....got chicken legs, and a can of chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches for lunches.....drumsticks enough for two meals I think....and enough beer brats for two or three hot weather suppers of brat subs on wheat rolls, with cole slaw.....I'll mix up a big batch of slaw tomorrow I guess, today start with chicken, peas, fried potatoes.....also got two Chinese take-out boxes from the frozen foods section.....they say they are complete meals.....four dollars for two of them and an additional nickel off the pump price at Shell....this is for sure nicer weather than that cold snap....

no excuses

at least I can't think of any.....so I'll have to go out front and knock down the weeds, clean things up a bit.....it's pretty cool out now, so maybe not too much sweat will be involved.....pounded the second piece of rib-eye with diced garlic and fried that up for supper, with ranch beans and hash-browns.....should be enough meat left on the last of the ribs for a meal this evening....with the same sides.....almost done with my nacho-chili dog lunches.....used the last slice of pumpernickel this morning with my poached egg.....good thing tomorrow is groceries.....finished a kindle novel last night....well, the mower won't push itself so I'd better get moving.....

cooler this morning

in the 40s early on......they are late picking up the trashcan, usually that's done before I go get the newspaper.....maybe they got lost somewhere.....the front yard could use some work again, but I don't feel like doing it right now....maybe Tuesday......might get up into the 80s later this week, no rain expected until the weekend......finished two out of three library books already.....have to switch to reading the things I have on kindle I suppose.....one book on kindle is from the library, the other one I bought for a couple bucks.....maybe I hear the trash truck down the block now.....I should go out walking.....maybe that would perk me up or something.....I feel listless today.....

61, wind N 5 mph

yesterday to got up close to 80, by afternoon it was overcast and sort of muggy.....3:30- 4:00 it rained.....and it rained again just after dark, around 9:00.....so I sat on the porch for a bit watching it rain, went to bed a little after 10:00.....nice Sunday morning, fresh outside from the rain in the night....no clouds right now, none predicted.....didn't find anything at the church sale; didn't have any money anyway.....school kid art was taped up in windows of vacant store-fronts.....they were setting up the P.A. for singing and drumming.....steel drums are something one of the schools does....a constant line of cars was going by on Broad St. .......headed to the college commencement at ten in the morning.....by one or so in the afternoon all the excitement was pretty much over, and the stream of cars was headed back out towards the interstate.....some with U-Haul trailers and four years of stuff?  For my Sunday supper I've got ribs, baked potato, corn-on-the-cob.....newspaper ads are BBQ and camping items.....Mother's Day ads were last week.....

some high clouds

30% chance of thundershowers late in the day.....I'm going over to the Methodist church-lady yard sale....that's where I got a nice sweater for .50 last year.....over downtown will be my second walk this morning.....ribeye platter was good last night, today might be the last of the ham with rice n gravy and sweet peas ......I think today is the college graduation.....usually the busiest traffic day of the year in town.....they should have fair weather for it.....so things will be turned down a notch or two around here when college is out, if you can imagine that .....going from slow to even slower.....still two or three weeks 'til high school graduation.....

in the 80s

well, 82 anyway yesterday....same predicted for today....so it was nice enough to get out and cut the grass....and then take a shower.....also did a load of laundry.....nacho chili dog lunch.....the ribs are nice and meaty so they will make two more meals I guess.....sweet corn from Florida pretty tasty.....I can iron skillet a little piece of rib-eye steak this evening with diced garlic .......beans and hash-browns as sides.....did a lot of porch-sitting Thursday too since the good weather finally got here.....might rain Saturday.....I've got interesting things to read.....

normal temps

was 78 yesterday, normal for the date.....should be about the same today.....the next storm front should get here in time for the weekend again.....so it's a nice enough morning to go out and trim up the back yard, which I'll do shortly instead of going for the park walk....the back yard will be enough exercise....made rice n gravy last night with ham slice and the last of the butter beans.....that's not rice with gravy on it, it's rice with gravy cooked in it.....like they do it at the BBQ buffet place out on the edge of town.....except I used brown rice.....today I'll cook ribs, baked potato, corn on the cob.....I also have ribeye, ranch beans, hash browns on the menu this week.....big bag of hash browns was half price.....porch-sitting as it gets dark is pretty nice right now, mosquitoes aren't active yet.....crickets and frogs are in full voice though as it gets warmer.....waiting for the 17 year cicada swarm some time soon I guess.....

nice sunny morning

no wind, no clouds.....things still a little damp from the thunderstorms late yesterday.....another chance of those this evening too.....only 23% chance.....the storms we had were brief but intense.....localized....never did get the grocery ad in the mail, but it was in this morning's paper instead?  Have to look at their ribs, they are featured in the ad.....and I need eggs and orange juice this week....good walking weather Tuesday morning.....didn't get stormy until around 3:30 in the afternoon....maybe by tomorrow it will be dry enough to tackle the back-yard weeds....

scattered showers

right now it looks like they a staying a couple of counties due south .....cloudy here now, but I should be able to go walk the park OK.....yesterday after lunch I went out and trimmed up the front yard.....it had dried up enough to do that.....got some library books.....and I've got two things going on kindle.....slowly working through that ham slice, might use more of it in a sandwich at lunch.....can finish off the tamale pie this evening, and then shop next morning.....a little chilly early on today, was 46 after breakfast.....might get up to 68 this afternoon.....

record breaking Cinco de Mayo

the coldest and wettest May 5th at GSP weather station.....high of 54 and 3.16 inches of rain.....once again, the wind and rain didn't stop until after the sun was going down.....some sun this morning, and the wind has shifted back around to SW.....but Upstate rivers might go over their banks as the runoff comes down from the mountains, and rain continues on into the week.....I did get to walk for the paper today, and maybe I can get another walk done later.....did not walk at all Sunday.....right now I'm going over to the library......

Tamale pie

Raining all day for my Cinco de Mayo.....but it's worked out OK with some tequila and a dish of tamale pie done in the oven.....ended up tasting very much like the chili cheese tamales we used to get in the middle of the night at the Tamale Factory in East L.A. in the late 1960s.....that strange place where you drove up and pushed a button and a steel window opened and you handed in your money and an unseen person handed back out your tamales.....good stuff.....I have leftovers enough for another lunch or dinner.....

was sunny in Pittsburgh

watched a Pirates game yesterday.....looked a lot nicer there then it was here....too nasty to go outside for more than three or four minutes ......so I found something on TV.....a baseball game and two minutes of the Derby show.....the two minutes when they actually ran the race.....I had found the post time online.....did my ham platter supper all in the iron skillet, heated it up that way, worked pretty good....maybe I'll do the last of the curry for Sunday lunch.....and I'll bake the enchilada pie for Cinco de Supper.....raining right now, rained all night I think.....we might get another inch today.....and a real sunny day isn't expected until Thursday.....so the weeds will just keep growing in the yard some more....this weather is good for only hibernation.....sleep well at night and one hour naps after lunch lately.....watched Julius Caesar last night from 1953.....with Richard Burton and lots of other famous actors of the day.....lend me your ears.....

another wet weekend

not ideal conditions for Spring Fling in Spartanburg.....if Furman graduation is moved indoors, you'll need a ticket for seating......the Monday after May 1 is a Bank Holiday in Great Britain.....so this is a holiday weekend over there.....saw a segment on BBC about how it's been so wet lately that the white cliffs of Dover are falling down in places, sending rock slides into the ocean.....10 times more rock slides than a typical year.....so the paths along the tops of the cliff are closed just as tourist season starts in Dover.....on the Early May Bank Holiday.....it's still cold and wet over there too....here it is running ten degrees below usual for daily highs.....66 yesterday instead of 76.....I might watch the Kentucky Derby this afternoon.....might be raining on it too.....flood warnings for Georgia counties not far from here.....reheated beef curry was warm and filling for Friday supper.....Saturday can be the fried ham steak, biscuits and gravy, tiny butter beans again.....really too nasty out this morning for a pleasant walk in the park, so that probably won't get done again.....NE wind makes it feel like it's in the 40s outside....

weather pattern continues

it will take the low front moving from the West some time yet to push the high up North of here out to sea.....until that happens the air will keep moving in a clock-wise rotation dragging cold and damp off the Atlantic and leaving it in the Upstate.....maybe some time next week we might get a sunny day.....graduations and Farmers Market openings might get chilly rain this weekend.....rained last night so the yard is soaked again, too wet to cut the grass.....the warmest time yesterday was after dark....after the wind stopped.....before then it was just plain uncomfortable on the front porch.....there's lots of leftovers for more ham platters.....plenty of gravy left, etc.....might fry a little ham at lunch for a sandwich.....I'll go walking again with a hooded sweatshirt on, to battle the breeze.....it's good weather for sleeping at night, and for naps in the afternoon....but that's about all it's good for.....

misting, damp

foggy, overcast, humid.....some NE wind.....rain went through around dawn.....bit of drizzle on the early walk.....too wet for yard work today looks like to me.....the beef curry on brown rice made for a hearty meal, and there are leftovers.....I put in curry powder, chili powder, and extra cumin.....today I'll fry some ham steak and make biscuits and pepper gravy....heat up baby limas in a little butter.....so it's a gloomy looking day again....in May?  PC graduation is around Mothers Day I think, so that must be coming up sometime soon.....the church across the street has the sign up for a youth Summer camp again this year.....it was a big success last year they say, popular with the powers that be in town anyway.....they were all patting themselves on the back about it.....kids seemed to enjoy it while it lasted....middle of June through early August.....I can watch from my front porch while they play games on the big lawn opposite......it moves to various venues around town during the week, and they go to a water park one time, and maybe camping one weekend or a few days.....according to the 2010 census there's 40.6% poverty rate in our school district....so some kids get fed when school's out too this way....

cold May Day

we are stuck in a weather pattern where the NE wind is pushing cold air and clouds down from Nova Scotia, or some such intemperate place......so I guess I'll wait and see if it gets any nicer later in the day before I go out for another walk.....went by Allstate on my way to the grocery store and gave them the check......got stuff to make beef curry on brown rice....read some online recipes yesterday and I think I can fake a curry OK with what I've got....also got ham steak, biscuits and gravy, baby limas for the suppers that aren't curry.....Cinco de Mayo I'll make chili-cheese enchilada, an experimental Sunday supper.....lunches will still be corned beef and cheese on dark rye.....or maybe ham steak and cheese couple times.....