Rambles on a Friday

Since getting home on Monday from my wee holiday, the weather has been wonderfully atrocious, meaning I've had to postpone the dreaded Two Decks Project (oh, boo hoo).  It has stormed and raged all week...and yes, I'm really glad to have the excuse not to get started on what will surely been the DIY nightmare of the year.  At least the most grueling.  Next week things are to gallop into the 80s so my reprieve will be short-lived. Until then, I am reveling in this, my view across the valley. And yeah, I took this photo about an hour ago and it really was that dark at High Noon...

While walking the boys this morning, I actually saw a funnel cloud forming.  Course, I didn't have my camera as I was juggling two leashes, an umbrella and a couple of rambunctious critters.  The funnel was truly headed for tornado status--albeit a small one--but just as the tip began to narrow and spin toward the ground, the clouds above it burst with heavy rain and the funnel dissolved before my eyes.

I love wild and crazy weather...as long as there are no tears before bedtime.

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Yesterday, regardless of the weather, I had to swamp mow.  The grass in the back garden was nearly over Ozzy's head and even Max was having trouble with the...ah...the manly bits; dangling participles; Willy's wonka.  So, in the rain, there I was, slogging through foot-tall grass, yanking my push mower through the soggy swamp.  When I was finished, I decided the pushing, pulling and drenching counted for my daily aerobics.  The boys were very happy later to discover they could lift their legs without...well...issues.

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I had to mail a birthday card whilst out this morning.  A small annex to the main post office has opened near me, very cool because now I don't have to go clear across town. Oddly--to me--the annex is in the local video store.  I'm standing in line when I glance over to the rack where the new movies are on sale.  Amazed, I see the second part of The Hobbit for $10.  I quickly snag the only copy and at some point over the weekend--still savoring my reprieve--I'm going to sit down and watch The Desolation of Smaug...a movie I've been waiting months to see.

Then there's the 900+ page novel I'm about to start reading--another thing I've been waiting months to do.  A stormy, dreary weekend is just about the perfect scenario because once the rains stop and that nuclear yellow orb returns, I've got to hit the deck running...literally.  Times two.

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I'm still having trouble with my writing.  I have beginnings, or endings, but no middles.  Or I have endings and nothing else.  Or beginnings that go nowhere.  I could become worried, but for now I'm just letting things percolate, writing on the blog instead, enjoying my books and keeping my mind open to possibilities.  I was reading a post over at Paperback Writer the other day about sparks, those wondrous little gems that fire the imagination.

Maybe while I'm power-washing, sanding and staining the decks, the drudgery and heat will erode my mental roadblocks and the sparks will fly.

I live in hope, dear readers, I live in hope.