Stream of Consciousness Saturday, Puzzle

Puzzles are another passion of mine. As long as cheating is allowed.

For many years this has been my mindsuck: (Sudoku)

I like it because I can see all of any one number in the puzzle by clicking on the one I’m curious about. Like this: (chosen Sudoku number)

And though I’ve chosen to stay with the moderate level, I’m sure that my actual level is beginner. I know this because I find these hard:

Outside of filling each empty box with penciled in possible numbers I rarely see the answer until the page is full of eraser smudges. And even then… see the clothespin? Yeah, holding the solution page ready for peeking. Yet, I’m obsessed and feel that someday I might get it. That idea in itself is the real puzzle!

And puzzle me this, my other non-electronic fun is:

Yes, that is a clothespin to the answers. The thing about crosswords is you need to be a mind reader. Did the puzzle maker mean the vegetable or the actor? Is it spelled the way we’re taught in school or in another language or some abbreviation of some company name?

Still, I can spend hours in puzzlement about the brains of puzzle makers versus my ADD/dyslexic 71 year-old brain.

They say these are supposed to keep our minds nimble.

In the background I have Beauty and the Beast on. This is it’s last day on Netflix. I’m only on season one and there are four. Why I chose to wait until the last minute for everything is another puzzle. By the way, I would normally plug in a trailer here but electricity and internet are intermittent.

On a day like today:

A proper Oregon day of rain!

Nothing is better than:

A cuppa

And a puzzle.

Per Linda:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “puzzle.” Use it any way you’d like!

Thankful

Since the wee hours of the morning we’ve had rain. It may be humid, there were lightning strikes but enough rain to put out the starts. We even lost electricity.

Even so thank you for the rain dances and prayers. This has been so glorious!

Making Monday

Scrappy socks are nearly finished. Most of the pair are made of the Mani-Pedi crew color yarn. The toes and heels are scraps from the previous pair I made. I’m loving how they are working up.

We lived through the triple digit hot Sunday. Today was sort of hot but not nearly as bad. Tomorrow is supposed to be 72. I might wear jeans and T-shirt instead of shorts and tank-top what a relief! I might take a nice walk as air quality is also supposed to be good for a change.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, Photo

The mustachioed sky is nothing like a pistachioed sky which sounds more delicious. Instead it seemed the sky didn’t want us to relax with clouds. More than 22 lightning strikes were counted. Though it sounds like all were taken care of quickly. The day was cooler with spits of rain so I can’t complain. Even Kali was happy to go outside as the mist was so light she could barely feel it. Oh, and that fresh clean smell that brings such peace. But can it be trusted?

Thank you, Linda G. Hill. Here’s her prompt instructions:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “the last photo you took.” Take the last photo you snapped. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you look at it? That word is your prompt. Enjoy!

This and That Thursday

As I meandered my thoughts about today, I found my eclectic stroll even more so.

My current binge is The Walking Dead, again. My son has all ten seasons. I like watching the old way because there are extra bits like ‘the making of’ or interviews. The show parts I can let slide by as I have committed a lot to memory.

I was watching Outlander again. But it won’t have a new season until next year some time. I’d love to read another book or two, but I’m caught up there, too.

One thing I found in common between these two shows is the music. Guess what? Same musician in both.  Bear McCreary is amazing!

Today was my last Beginning Recorder  class with Jennifer Carpenter of the American Recorder Society.  They were free. As soon as I can, I plan to join. There are more lessons coming up in September. I’m loving learning on my alto and soprano recorders.

Meanwhile, I have a lot of Kindle and paper books to keep up the education.

And there are lessons on YouTube like those of Sarah Jeffery and Team Recorder. She is so much fun.

For those who think Recorder is for grade school take a listen:

That beginning photo at the top of my post? I stepped outside with the dog. The wind was hitting me in the face and the sky looked like it disguised itself with a mustache. It felt so grand to feel such a cool breeze coming from the north. That meant a lot less smoke for us today. I’m thankful for that!

Maybe soon I can start taking walks!? I did learn at the doctor’s appointment on Monday that I have lost over 23 pounds now. Lots still to go but hey, it’s working.

Thankfully Tuesday

After a very busy Monday: bone density scan then shopping and driving two hours both ways on roads that make it feel much longer and more painful than my recent six hour drives, and breathing smoke for weeks, this:

Beautiful rain.

Smoke

https://theconversation.com/whats-in-wildfire-smoke-a-toxicologist-explains-the-health-risks-and-which-masks-can-help-164597

Thank you, Kim Smyth for sharing the URL.

Tetris Tuesday

No. I didn’t play Tetris. I needed to do more rearranging in my ‘studio.’

My daughter is deeply in a move. So much so that they are living with no furniture for two weeks. Everything has already moved or has been given away.

Which brings me to my new acquisitions from her. Two folding tables and a cubicle shelf for hobbies and books.

That meant moving the smaller bookshelf full of music books to another location.

End of the piano facing the livingroom.

That left the window area for the cubicle shelving for art, crafts, more books.

The yellow bag has drawing goods. The Avatar bag crayons and colored pens and coloring books. Soon each will leave the bag for new cubes.

Now I’ve opened the smaller table for all kinds of fun.

Right across from the piano.

Meanwhile, we actually had a tiny bit of rain today. Not enough to put out fires but it cooled things down a bit.

Three more Marvel films moved me on the timeline. Captain America: the Winter Soldier, and both Guardians of the Galaxy. I did like G of G. They were more my kind of movie. And Grood is the coolest!

Okay, time to make some noise or music accordingly.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, Hope

Hope. That is the word in my constant thoughts. 

I hope they can knock down the fires with the least amount of harm to lives and land as possible.

My husband took this when out shopping. This was looking south, the direction I hope to travel soon.

I hope the fires are out so folks can enjoy their summer.  Not just mine. Everyone has been trapped from the pandemic and now we all hope we can get out and enjoy each other and the world at large.

And just as we all feel safer about venturing out, fires, floods, hurricanes, a new variant. I hope our glee to enjoy life isn’t premature.

I hope to hug my adult children and their new families.

I hope the routes are free and clear to make a safe, fun drive. I don’t want to push the fates or God with my will on this. My regrets could outnumber my desires, I’m afraid.

So it is with hope I face this next week. And as in the year past I’ll be flexible to how it works out.

Per Linda G. Hill

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hope.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Blurry Dark Friday

I was on the Zoom meeting with my friends around 4 in the afternoon. Suddenly my face disappeared on the screen. I looked around and it was dark. I turned on the light. I thought nothing of it. Too busy chatting to notice.

Kali needed outside. I put the laptop to the side. When I got to the door, I thought my cataracts had gotten way worse. My eyes burned. I rubbed them gently. Nothing cleared. This is what I saw:

The world was smokey and yellow. The sky was dark as 9PM not 4PM. You should see a field or two, trucks or cars on a highway, and Green Mountain which is only 12 miles away.

The only good of all the smoke is that our temperature didn’t reach the 90s. But as I said to my son, not breathing and cooler is not a goal I would endorse.

For those who are curious, this is from the Bootleg fire in Chiloquin, Oregon.

There are so many fires in Northern California and Oregon. It feels like a rerun of last year. The draught is so bad lakes are drying up. Again, I realized that the folks in the fires and those in the east with hurricanes and floods have it worse by far.

But maybe, don’t you think, global warming/climate change should take the lead beside the epidemic as something to work harder on than the band aid approach we’re giving it?