CEA's progress report #4

Item #36:  Get the bats under control: short and long-term solutions
Ah, the bat stories I could tell:  the Mexican freetails living between the boards above the kitchen, the occasional intrusion into the sun parlor, the strategies for evicting said intruders (trust me, wearing a hat is a good idea), stepping on a bat in my bedroom (trust me, going barefoot is NOT a good idea), driving twelve miles before realizing that the skittering sound was a bat in my car.  I have no long-term solution yet, but today I did buy two butterfly nets.  I've also had the chimneys blocked.  Did you know that you are not allowed to exterminate bats?  Nor can you kill the vulture that is roosting in one of the chimneys!  Ah, country life.

JR’s List Item #28 – (March Report) Listen to at least three audio books a month until my 60th birthday.

March audio selections

I love audio books.  I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s because of my elementary teacher who read to my class every day after lunch.  She was an excellent reader and story teller. No matter the reason, when an audio book is an excellent story with perfectly matched narrators, the whole experience for me is magical.

During March, I listened to Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer, Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva, and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I love Jeffrey Archer as an author.  He is masterful at the art of employing “red herrings” in his writing.  Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Alon series has been one of my favorites.  Silva has an interesting way of writing in which he describes the setting, the action, and the character(s) involved only as man or woman; before actually naming the character(s) and continuing the story.  Prince of Fire was not exception. I always find myself guessing who the characters are to whom he is referring.  Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m wrong.  My favorite audio book for March, was The Help.  Not only is the story incredible, but the narration features three individual voices for the three main characters in the story.  It truly was a magical experience.

JR’s List Item #27 – (March report) Read at least one book a month until my 60th birthday.

March reading selection   

I read the Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler.  I enjoyed the book.  It was a nice mixture of humorous and serious moments woven together to tell the story (not to mention that one of the main characters raised Rhodesian Ridgebacks-I happen to have one).  I decided to rent the movie of the book as one of my movies for Item # 29 on my list.  I should have know better, since the movie of a book is seldom a good interpretation of the book.  If I had never read the book, I probably would have found the movie more enjoyable.  But I had and it wasn't.

JR's List - Progress Report

Item #34 - (done) Work with Candace to create our blog 60 to 60.  The blog is up and running,
Item #35 - (progress) Make notes daily about 60 to 60 blog.  I am making progress,  I haven't gotten into a daily routine, but I am getting there.
Item #36 - (progress) Blog at least twice a week on 60 by 60 Blog.  So far, I'm keeping up.

JR's list #12 - (done) Create a hanging basket herb garden.

I love cooking shows. I don't have cable, so Rachel Ray and the chefs of PBS/PBS Create are the shows I watch. I must confess, I am sort of addicted to the Rachel Ray Show.

I have never done much cooking with fresh herbs, but I decided I needed to learn to grow them first. I created two baskets each of Italian Flat Leaf Parsley and Cilantro. Then I planted one basket each of Sage, Rosemary, and Sweet Basil. Finally, I planted Tarragon, Oregano, and Thyme in one basket.

Because I have no roof overhangs and only one tree, I thought I could just hang a chain from the branches of the tree and then hang the baskets on the chain. Armed with a folding chair, plastic cable ties, Duck tape, and a 20' chain, I went to work. An hour or so later, I was done.

I now have my hanging herb garden. It may not be pretty, but it is functional. To quote the George Peppard character in TV's A-Team fame, "I love it when a plan comes together."

CEA's progress report #3

Item #49. "Craft" something once a week, minimum
Progress:  The best time for me to craft is early afternoon when mother is napping or on Sundays when I avoid as many chores as possible.  This past week I started making the menu card for the luncheon we're hosting in May.  I enjoyed getting into that "flow" that Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi wrote about, and time flew!  I made two different collages for the backs of the menu cards, using family photographs and postcards with illustrations of shells, butterflies, birds, and bees, with a few stampings of letters, numbers, and clocks.  The front of the menu card features shells only, because that is my "theme" for the luncheon.

Item #50. Buy flowers every chance I get
Progress:  Since our nearest grocery store doesn't stock flowers, I've vowed to buy bouqets when I'm in the city.  Instead of buying bouqets this week, I bought flowering plants for the garden.