7 Quick Takes Friday 5/29

Jennifer at Conversion Diary hosts a weekly blog subject: 7 Quick Takes Friday, in which we list 7 random topics that weren't enough for a full blog post. Here is my edition for this week--plus one.

1. DD and I spent quite a bit of time last weekend watching nature at work in my front yard. At one point there were 2 white squirrels,

3 gray squirrels, a pair of mourning doves, a pair of chipmunks, a cardinal

and a rabbit

all feeding at or around the bird feeder, prompting my daughter to declare the yard looked like a Disney cartoon. We tried to identify a distinctive bird call by searching the internet, but could only narrow it down to probably one of the song sparrows. But it was relaxing for a gal who's had a tough couple of months.

Today, all four of the known white squirrels in the neighborhood were feeding in my yard at once. If you click the pictures below, you can see them just a little better.



2. Since it rained most of the weekend, we spent the time indoors or in the rocking chairs on the screened in back porch. There's something soothing about rocking back and forth, back and forth, talking and talking late into the night. We lit a candle in the wrought iron cage-type holder that has the outlines of flowers and a hummingbird. It casts wonderful flickering shadows onto the wall.

3. Actually, we are 4 inches surplus on rainfall for the month of May. As of Wed., we've had 8 inches for the month, 3 of them falling on the 14th. My poor garden is hanging in there, waiting for the sun. The Swiss chard is looking pretty pathetic. I don't think it's going to survive.

4. While DD was here, I made that strawberry sauce as planned. Instead of sugar, I used Splenda, which was fine, but next time, I'm going to cut the vanilla flavoring back by half--it was too strong for us. However, we managed to pour it over some angel food cake and top with a scoop of cool whip to get it down.

5. Since I never got around to making cookies or anything for the vet and his staff at Christmas, I made a batch of Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings and carried them over this week. One of the gals said he'd just finished complaining that all he had for lunch was a little salad. I believe we shot his saved calories all to you-know-where. Ah, but he and his staff have always been so good to us and the dogs, they deserved it.

6. Speaking of sugar, I had my teeth-cleaning appointment this week. My dentist specializes in cosmetic dentistry and dental-phobes like me. Hallelujah, it was just your run-of-the-mill cleaning--no new problems! Not too long ago I got a letter in the mail advertising their "Dental Stimulus Package", offering 10% off on any cosmetic or repair work done through the end of May. Yep, his business is suffering in this economy. I let them know how much I appreciated the joke, since even in good economic times I do not voluntarily ask them to assault my mouth. My kind of dental stimulus package would be they one where they pay ME to come in.

7. Lastly, one of our new employees is pregnant with her first child. I'm not sure just when she's due, but she looks to be about 7 months along. Today we're having a baby shower for her here at work. She doesn't want to know the baby's gender, so anything goes. I started a baby quilt for her this week, but only got the top pieced, so I'll have to deliver it to her next week. It's bright!

I'm hoping she likes it.

8. Plus one--Today is the 40th anniversary of my high school graduation. This is so wrong.
You can join in with your list if you'd like. Just swing over to Conversion Diary after 6am central daylight time today to check out the guidelines and add your URL to the list, then peruse some of the other entries.

Remember, tomorrow is Saturday at the Movies!