If I had to choose one word to describe my world right now it would be…beautiful. Even though the chores piled up along with the newspapers that came while we were gone for a few days (stopping the paper runs about 75% successful, thank goodness for alert neighbors).

Quick smile from today’s paper: today’s Non-Sequitur cartoon.  It reminds me of my house, except that our cat believes in species segregation, and basks in a different part of the house than the dogs.

My responses to Cee’s Share Your World questions:

What is your favorite cheese? My very favorite is a cheese called “Huntsman”, which is extra sharp cheddar and Stilton in layers. Trader Joe’s used to carry Huntsman around the holidays, but I haven’t seen it for a while (as in several years), other places where I’ve seen it charge more than I’m willing to pay. Of the ones I can actually acquire (without taking out a mortgage), extra sharp cheddar is my favorite, I usually buy Tillamook brand.

Are you left or right handed? Right. I have no signs of dexterity in my left hand. I broke my right wrist when I was in college and tried and tried, but the left hand just isn’t connected properly to my brain to become dexterous. I actually think better holding a pencil in my right hand, even if I don’t use it.

Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either? Both. I exercise both most days. Right now I am taking online classes in HTML and CSS, which I try to practice in some form or another every day (it gets harder and harder to get things to stick in my head as I get older) and I walk the dogs at least twice a day, use an exercise dvd about three times a week. I also read the newspaper (we do not have television and I don’t listen to the radio so this is my news source).

Complete this sentence: Hot days are …enervating. I used to be more bothered by the heat than I am now, I think it is because I go at things more slowly than I used to. A few years ago I gave myself permission to just not do anything if the thermometer is above 85 deg F. (That’s about  32 deg C). Fortunately in Seattle those higher temps are fairly rare.

Gratitude
We had a beautiful, possibly even perfect trip to Mount Rainier last week. It was about a month earlier than we have gone most years so there was still quite a bit of snow in the Paradise area, limiting hiking a bit, however we got to see a different set of flowers. The avalanche lilies and glacier lilies were abundant. Most years we are lucky to see one or two blooms, not whole fields of the lilies.

Looking ahead
Chores, weeds. The weather forecast predicts high 70’s so it’s time to get the yard cleaned up, in addition to tilting at cobwebs, and finishing my apricot jam.