It's Not That I Don't Love You Anymore...

It's just that I seem to have become somewhat computer-averse.  I suspect that's a boomerang effect of so many years of being tied to one for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  I don't have to be tied to one now.

I'm down at Church a lot these days - we have Perpetual Adoration and in addition to my own scheduled time it's just plain the best place to find peace and lack of distractions for prayer and study.  I'm on my third pass through Genesis right now, each time with a different study guide and each time I've learned something new.   I'm constantly amazed at the distances covered by the nomadic people of the Middle East thousands of years before modern transportation - before, even, the common use of camels.  Abraham can be ball-parked at about 2000 B.C. from textual information that has been matched with archaeological finds.  He took a hike I can't even conceive of:

I think my favorite story is that of Jacob, because I find it entertaining that, having run a con to get what he wanted from his father, he himself was thoroughly conned by Laban.  Then he turned the tables and conned his way out of Laban's con.  Took a few years - twenty, in fact.  Makes me laugh.

I read a lot.  When I want to. Or watch old episodes of "Twilight Zone".  What a fabulous show that was.  Remind me again why I bought a fancy flat screen TV when almost everything I watch on it was made before the era of color and sorta isn't exactly high def?

It's Spring - YAY!  That means scrambling to get things done as green comes exploding out of the ground.  Sometimes I think that if I just sat for a few minutes I could see things grow as I watched.

Took a break (Because I'm retired now and I can.  Heh.)  and braved D.C. for one of it's ephemeral and spectacular events - the blooming cherry trees at the Tidal Basin.  I hadn't been down there for years, mostly because I didn't want to go there on the weekend, when it would be insanely crowded, or take a day off from work.  The peak bloom only lasts a few days and we hit the jackpot with our timing last Monday.  As you can see in the second pic, even the trunks bloom.

And then there's Scooter.  He has to help me with everything.  Which means everything takes much more time than it should.

And he is such an escape artist.  If I'm not very careful I'll turn around and find him helping me in the yard, too.  Slick, that one is.

But he's so darn cute.

Having the extra time I decided to try my hand at making laundry soap.  We spend so much for packaging and advertising.  And I don't WANT my clothes to smell like this or that.  I just want them clean.

A bar of fels naptha soap, some borax and washing soda...

Just add hot water - easy peasy.

I've got about 5 gallons of the stuff for a few pennies a load, and it takes the dirt I grind into my pants when I work outside right out.  I abandoned fabric softener a couple years ago in favor of tossing a cup of white vinegar in with the wash, and I line dry whenever possible.  My mother would think I'm insane but there ya go.   She's the one who used to starch and iron pillow cases - I thought THAT was insane.