Sunday stuff

Since I shared a picture of smiling George in my last post, I wanted to do the same for Poppy. I took this picture yesterday afternoon, and it's as close to a smile as I could get. She hates it when I point my phone camera at her and won't cooperate! Trust me, though...she had a big grin on her face both before and after I snapped this.

I don't think I've shared any pictures of the crepe myrtles this year. They were late to bloom (probably due to the drought) but after we got a solid week of good rain, they burst out in color.

Last night I decided that today I would spend the afternoon in the kitchen, baking up treats for the week. I had to go to the grocery store for a few items I was lacking. I decided to make banana bread (to use up the three overripe bananas in the fruit bowl), buttermilk blueberry muffins (blueberries were on sale and looking good), and a first attempt at healthy homemade granola. 

The banana bread and blueberry muffins were first. They look like they've turned out really well. I'll report back after we taste them. 

A close up of the baked goodness...

I made the granola last. Some of the ingredients I chose for my mix were kind of pricey: coconut oil, pecans, walnuts. Then I made the fatal mistake of sitting out on the back porch to cool off for a few minutes while it baked. 

And as you've probably guessed...

I burned the granola. Two big batches of granola, at that.

It's too scorched to be useable, even after getting rid of the worst parts around the edges.

Oh well. I guess two out of three isn't bad!

Weekend pictures

Smiling, happy George.

The zinnia patch is butterfly heaven these days.

An owl watched us start off on our evening walk with the dogs from the power line.

Sweeties

Yesterday when I had coffee at Paulette's house, I finally got to spend some time with her sweet new dog. This is Pixie:

I've had cats that were bigger and heavier than Pixie! She's teeny-tiny, and unlike so many small dogs, she never barks and isn't mean. In fact, she's very gentle and eager to be petted. I liked her a lot. But it's funny how living with my two 60+ pound ruffians make her seem like some creature other than a dog, you know?

Here's another thing that happened the morning I had to go to jury duty. I got a private Facebook message (very early) from the mother of two of the little kids that have made friends with me at work. It said, "A-- and E-- have a surprise for you today!" I responded that unfortunately I wasn't going to be there and explained why. She said, "No!! Tell them you can't have jury duty! Your babies at school need you!" That really made me smile. Then when I got back to work yesterday, the kids had brought their surprise for me: homemade chocolate chip cookies! Their mom had helped them bake them on Sunday. It was the sweetest thing ever.

I shared this photo with mom yesterday afternoon and thanked her. She said they wanted to do something for me because I'm always so kind to the children. How nice was that?

Wasted time

Jury duty this morning was a bust. I arrived a few minutes early, and thank goodness I did, because magistrate court was no longer in the same location as last time. They sent me to the older federal building across the street. After driving over there, struggling to find parking (I ended up having to use a nearby parking garage) and finally arriving, hot and sweaty, the security guy stopped me at the door and told me I was in the wrong place......AGAIN. He told me to walk back outside and the correct building would be on my left. 

So I walked out and turned to the left and there was....nothing there. Frustrated, I saw a city maintenance worker and asked him where I was supposed to be, and it turns out the last guy should have told me to take a right, then a left. Damn it! More walking...

Once I got to the right place (finally!) the security lady at the door stopped me and told me I'd have to take my purse back to my car and leave it there. Apparently, handbags of any kind are no longer allowed in the courtroom. It seems like a ridiculous rule to me, considering that you have to go through metal/weapon detectors either way. Besides that, there was nothing in the jury summons that mentioned the new rule. But the security person was adamant, so I had no choice but to traipse back to the parking garage, lock up my purse, and then walk back again. By this time, I was so sweaty I could almost wring the moisture out of my hair. I was also 10 minutes late. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper!

All that trouble, and after a half hour or so the judge came out and said that all the cases in front of him had just been settled, and that we were free to go. 

Arghh!!!

Of course I'm glad I don't have jury duty after all, but it sure felt like a huge waste of my time, and a giant hassle. At least it was still early, not quite 10:00, and I had the day off in front of me. I called my friend Paulette (she's retired) and asked if she'd like to meet up for a cup of coffee. She invited me over to her house for coffee instead, and I went and we passed a couple of pleasant hours chatting. The morning ended better than it began.

This was the second time I've been pulled for jury duty recently. The first time (back in May, I think) the clerk of court called the Friday before and told me court was canceled the next week. This time, the cases got settled before a jury needed to be picked. I sincerely hope they'll take my name out of rotation for a good long while, now! Enough is enough!