Blazing Hot

Actually today was a tad cooler, only about 101.  By Tuesday it's supposed to get 109.  We had our AC checked out today.  Some part was melted and will be replaced.  Possibly a short in a wire.  It's running OK and will make it through the weekend.  We were told that the unit is not a very good one.  They put the cheapest units that they can in mobile homes.  It's held up for 10 years though so we can't complain.  It'll have to be replaced in a couple of years.  $6,000 or 7,000 worth.  We may have to live with a couple of window units until we can afford that high price.  My brother said that he would help us out.  We're not going to replace the unit until we have to though.

I finished an oil pastel the other day and I really like the way it turned out.  It's based on a photo that I took over 20 years ago of the creek at Falls Creek near Davis, Oklahoma.  I'll post a photo of it here eventually.  It's hanging in my bedroom.  My birthday was last Tuesday and I ordered some colored pencils online.  I found a good site that had oodles of them for about half the price that Hobby Lobby charges.  I already have all that Hobby Lobby has.  I'm working on a colored pencil drawing of some flowers based on a photo in a book.  I wish I had my new pencils, I could use some of those colors with these flowers.  Bill wants me to do some drawings of kinfolk.  I think that will be my next project after the flowers. 

I've been gluten free for about three weeks now.  I've been as strict as possible but I got a hold of some gluten anyway and I had diarrhea the last couple of days.  The only thing unusual that I had was some spices that I put on some chicken.  I have read that some spice companies use flour in their stuff.  I believe it.  Bill will have to finish the chicken stuff, I don't want anymore.

I need a haircut, my bangs are starting to get into my eyes.  It'll have to wait until next week though, out of funds right now.  We're going to have to save as much as possible if we want to be able to replace the AC unit when it goes out.

We haven't been doing any riding around or picture taking in quite a while.  So the photo of the day will probably be a repeat.  This photo was taken a few years ago from the top of Mt. Scott.  That's Elmer Thomas Lake in the background.

Out of It

My computer that is.  It was in the shop for over a week.  That's because the lady who works on it was out of town at her father's funeral and when she got back she was snowed under.  That's OK, I didn't suffer, I had Bill's computer to do the bill paying.  It's nice to have mine back though.

The weather is still very hot and no rain in sight.  We've prayed for rain several times but I guess it will rain when the Lord decides.  Until then June and July have felt more like August.  Fall can't get here soon enough.  My brother's AC went out on them so he and my mom spent the night with us last night.  We had a very nice visit.  My mother is nuts but then my grandmother was nuts too.  They had a very hard life.  My brother's  unit is fixed now so they went back home. 

There's a young couple that we know that wanted Bill to do their wedding, this evening at 7:30 out on the Refuge.  Unfortunately the groom can't get off work.  He's in the Army and he got himself into trouble.  Don't know what he did but he got himself busted back to private.  I guess they'll get married some other time. 

 I haven't done a much art but I have been reading a lot.  I really like knowing that there is a stack of books waiting for me to read them.  Mom took a few of them home to read too. 

Photo of the day, I don't have any new photos so I think I'll post a picture of something that we really miss, water.  

Broken Promises

We're 10 inches behind in rain.  I've heard that it's the driest that it's been since the Dust Bowl era.  We're not having the big dust storms that they had because the farmers changed their plowing practices and we have more grassland now.  But, never the less, it's still bad out there.  The worst part is that we have all these clouds around here.  Yesterday we had banks of clouds that normally I would say we were going to get a lot of rain.  But we got nothin', zilch.  The promise of rain but no follow through.

The 4th of July was really quiet.  The majority of the people respected the ban.  I'm glad, the fire danger is very, very high.

I've heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.  That's where I am with the gluten free thing.  I know for a fact, a proven fact, that my body can't tolerate gluten but I continue eating the stuff somehow hoping that if I ignore it, it will go away.  Doesn't happen and now the side effects are getting worse.  So here I am, once again gluten free and this time for good.  Stop the insanity!

I've had a cold for the last few days.  I think summer colds are worse than winter ones.  Probably because it's so hot and when you feel feverish it makes it worse.  I feel much better today though, getting over it, I think.

I've done several oil pastels and colored pencil drawings.  I'm going to post some of them here.  Bill wants me to do some drawings of relatives.  I was thinking about that myself.  That should be a challenge.

Photos of the day, three oil pastels based on photos that I took and a colored pencil drawing of a lynx based on a photo from the National Geographic.  

No Fireworks

We're under a burn ban.  No individual fireworks and no community fireworks either.  The grass is way too dry, the least little spark will start a fire.  Just a week ago we nearly lost my favorite little town, Medicine Park to a big fire.  It started on Fort Sill and burned over the east side of Medicine Park.  I think about 12 or 13 homes were destroyed.  It burned over the mountain and down to the edge of Lake Lawtonka.  Fortunately the main part of the town was spared.  All the shops and the old homes survived.  Still it was a very close call.

We had the day off today so we drove around a little.  We went to the once a month flea market in Marlow.  My brother and a friend of his go there almost every month and sell stuff.  Most of the stuff belongs to Kenneth's friend.  Kenneth just helps him sell.  They seem to really enjoy it.  There weren't very many vendors there, probably because of the intense heat.  We drove from there to Rush Springs, Sterling, Elgin and then cut across by Lake Ellsworth and ended up by Lake Lawtonka.  We took a tour through Medicine Park and then we took Sassy back home.  We had lunch at our favorite little cafe, Leo's Country Cafe, good home cookin'. 

Photos of the day, some of the damage from the fire.  The first photo is what's left of some mobile homes.  The heat must have been really intense because glass and metal melted.  Nothing left but wreckage.  The second one is on the side of the mountain near the lake.  Looks like a moonscape.  All barren.  I don't know if the trees will come back out next year or not.