Saturday Meanderings

Good morning and thank you for joining me for Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all good things this week. Happy official start of summer! We have escaped to the cooler mountains of Arizona only to find ourselves in the middle of a heat wave here. Granted it is not as hot as the triple digits in Phoenix, but 90+ degrees with no air conditioning is not fun. The mornings and evenings are cooler, but the heat of the day has turned us into siesta-loving blobs.

Typically, the weather here is very pleasant 70 degrees and we live with all windows and doors open. Hopefully we will see that again in the next few days. We are in a high fire danger warning and the gusty winds keep all of us praying for no sparks or thoughtless people throwing lit cigarettes out their car windows.

Pleasant Surprises at the Cabin

The new foundation planting we did last year sort of survived the winter, but when we were here in May, there was little signs of life from the peonies, hydrangeas and hosta plants. Now, just a short month later, Mother Nature has again provided happy surprises for me. Peonies are in bloom and the hydrangeas appear to have little blossoms forming. The hostas are no longer dead looking stubs, but showing off their lush green leaves.

Our French basket with faux geraniums by the front door, is home again to a new baby bird family. On Monday, the nest shows 4 spreckled eggs; by Thursday 3 of the 4 eggs have hatched. The mother bird isn’t happy with me having my cup of coffee on the front porch, and Finn’s presence seems a bit intimidating to her.  But new life appears each and every year in that nest nestled in our French basket.

Morning Chores

During the cooler times in the morning, I try to get the outside work done. With the heat, the geraniums need additional watering. Without being here recently, everything is covered with a layer of dust and yellow pollen.

Last year we replaced all the outdoor lights at the cabin with these~Tommy Bahama Solar Path LED lights. With an adjustable head, you can direct the warm white light wherever you need additional illumination. Being a dark sky community, we do not have any available light at night except when there is a full moon.

These lights still look great a year later, and after wiping clean the tops of 64 of them, I am still happy with the simplicity of the design. But more importantly, they provide a decent downward light pattern without that typical harsh blue LED light glow.

Also, I bought extras because my husband tends to replace outdoor lights with whatever is on the shelf, so I’m trying to avoid a hodge-podge of different styles and light colors (yes, he loves the ones that look like medieval torches with faux flames).

If you are looking for outdoor lights, you can find the best deal at Amazon (7% off). They sell in packets of 6 lights. Originally I bought them at Costco but they no longer carry this item.

Coffee Cup Selection

I blame my Dad for this unusual quirk of mine. My coffee cup style has to be just right in order to start my day off correctly. Let me explain. My Dad had these marvelous big meaty, calloused hands, representing a lifetime of love and hard work.  Right after he took his last breath, I sat and held his hands, trying to commit them to memory, knowing how much I would miss them (and him). 

Dad needed a coffee cup with a handle that would fit those loving appendages. If the handle wasn’t right, the cup wasn’t either. You have seen my coffee cups in Phoenix and unfortunately, Anthropologie doesn’t carry the brand anymore. I keep an eye on eBay to see if used ones appear, but they have gotten ridiculously expensive.

At our cabin, I love the Pioneer Woman Blooming Bouquet coffee cups that you can affordably buy at Walmart (4/pack at $18.20). This cup has a handle my Dad would love. Last summer, when I visited my sister in Connecticut, her coffee cups didn’t pass muster so I bought her a set of these. Now when I have coffee in Pinetop, Arizona, I hope she, too, is having coffee in the same cup in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Sort of like we are having coffee together. Coffee tastes better in the perfect cup.

Notice the creamy, frothy milk on the top of my coffee. If you are in market for a milk frother, you will not be disappointed with this one from Insta-Pot, which is 30% off on Amazon (at $34.99). It makes hot or cold foam for your lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, hot chocolate or even tea. Just a little way to pamper yourself.

A Little Herb Garden

With the forest floor surrounding our cabin, coupled with our short growing season, it doesn’t make sense to have an extensive garden here at the cabin. However, after finding limited fresh herbs at the local grocery store, I decide I must have an herb garden.

Home Depot is selling this Vigoro Elevated Garden Bed, measuring 44.5″ long x 19.7″ wide and 29.7″ high. It fits perfectly on our outdoor deck, near the grill and not too far from the kitchen. Since I just purchased the starter plants and seeds today, it isn’t fully planted. At $89.97, I figure it will pay for itself by summer’s end. So far I have basil, cilantro, dill, Italian parsley, rosemary, oregano, French tarragon, mint and lemon balm. Will share pictures once it is planted. BTW, the raised planter is easy to assemble.

Life without Internet

I typically try to post this on early Saturday mornings. However, we have been without internet for a few days now. As a result, there is no television, or ways to access the world from your computer or phone. Over 1500 homes and businesses are affected. What I didn’t realize is how much we rely on the internet.

What if we had to make or cancel airline reservations? How do you find phone numbers to call instead of doing something online? Do we even have telephone operators any longer? All our bill paying is online as it most of the research I do for myself and this blog. During this outage, we did a great deal of book reading for entertainment and went for drives and walks. It was eerily quiet.

In retrospect, I feel like as a society we are a bit vulnerable to rely on our phones, computers and internet for just about everything. We expect to be connected 24/7 don’t we?

This week we hosted friends at the Fantasy Tables Charity Event. This is our fourth year to participate and it was a little challenging this time. Will share details soon. Also, if you missed my earlier post this week, you can find it here. It is fun to re-introduce myself to not only my long-term followers, but all the new ones too.

Enjoy the balance of the weekend! Stay safe out there.