HOW'S THE HOME SELLING GOING?

In two words, NOT WELL! In nine weeks "on the market" the house has had five bookings for showings, but only four actually showed up. Two viewers felt my house needed too much "updating", one kept it in his top two and might come back, one liked it but wanted her son to take a look. Haven't had any re-showings for either of them. And I'm not sure what these individuals mean by updating. Are they talking about replacing the carpet, replacing wall paper with paint, or gutting the kitchen and bathroom? It's funny that when Jaz & I look at a house we look at it and evaluate how we would change it; we don't go in expecting everything to be the way we'd want it. Get a grip, Shoppers!

Of course, one has to factor in that we are experiencing, according to the weather guy, "excessive heat" with temps over 100 degrees for 34 days, one day behind Dallas. And then, of course, we have the Washington congressional debacle which can't make rational decisions and throws our economy as well as the rest of the world's into chaos. Everyone seems to be afraid to make a move of any sort. I am not afraid. Buy my house, and I'll go buy another.

I'm trying to keep the yard mostly green, though there are a few brown patches. So far we have not had a ban on lawn watering, but I expect that very soon. If the house were not for sale, I'd let it go now to conserve water and to keep the bill down. But, I'm a seller now, and I have to do what I can to sell the house. My realtor feels that the heat and the economy are deterrents as I do.

The realtor's company emphasizes keeping a welcoming, pretty plants entrance. Well, I did that but they've been burnt, so I planted new things last weekend.

The blue blooms are plumeria, but they seem to be burning out now. Boohoo! The white are lantana. I've cut back the begonia because they're being killed by the heat; hopefully, they'll come back.

Something that has weathered this terrible weather is a plant whose name tag has disappeared and it continues to grow and produces little red blooms though they don't show right now, but I really love it. It's such a soldier of a plant.

Mack is an added attraction. He wasn't asked to pose here. You can see he's not pleased with the weather either.

AFTER DAILY HOUSEKEEPING: How am I amusing myself once the house is showable? Well, I'm entertaining birds---numerous sparrows, a pair of blue jays, a pair of cardinals, a pair of doves, and on occasion house finches. I discovered that the finches eat seeds but also love nectar, and the hummingbird feeder that I usually have out in the summer was their greater attraction. Those little dickens could suck that pint sized feeder dry in three days. Therefore, I've left it dry for about three weeks. Unfortunately, I've seen hummingbirds on at least three occasions looking for a meal find a totally dry feeder. So sorry, hummingbirds. But it's refilled now. In fact, I have an aviary cafeteria. And those sparrows apparently know me and watch for me to refill the feeder and appear within a minute morning and evening once I fill the feeder. They also appreciate the water in the bird bath and additional pan of water I put out for them.

Occasionally there is an "Ooops" I don't really want to see. For instance, the blue jay which killed a lizard in a very brutal fashion and proceeded to eat it. At least he ate it; didn't just kill it for sport. It did spoil my lunch time appetite.

I'm reading a terrific book: THE VICAR OF CHRIST by Walter F. Murphy. This book was published in 1979, but I find it extremely contemporary because many of the problems it discusses are still with us. It also softens my take on the Catholic church because I find it is as ham-strung as our government is, just different perspectives. I highly recommend it. In fact, you do need to read it. It is a novel, and the premise that an American Korean war hero becomes Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and eventually Pope makes it clear that it is fiction, but it doesn't negate the relevance of the content.

My third diversion is needlepoint. My last needlepoint endeavor was when I lived in Terrell and had my house for sale there; when 9/11 occurred I stopped work on it as I couldn't focus anymore. Then when I moved the project was lost; to this day I can't figure out what happened to that Siamese cat I was working on. This new needlepoint project is one I bought at an estate sale for $6.00, and I think the original price was probably about $30. Anyway, it is very colorful but I really need bright light to see where the various colors go so I work on it in the living room with the shades up during the afternoon when it is very, very hot outside. I may not be doing a very good job, but it is fun. And when I move this time I'm going to make sure that needlepoint doesn't get lost. I don't really see it hanging in a prominent place in my new home; maybe in the closet. But it will still be a source of pride for "hanging in there."

FRUSTRATIONS/JOKES: I don't even know where to start on this one. Let's take this arbitrary beginning.

Who runs this country? The Congress of the U.S. or Wall Street? My reluctant answer is the latter. We didn't vote them into this capacity; however, they have taken over, they want no oversight, and they have none.

Why is Congress no longer functioning? Republicans, and/or Tea Party members of Congress, have so set their goal on defeating the President/Democrats that they are willing to sacrifice the entire country, all of us, and the global economy to win their point. What an empty victory that will be! To think one can cut spending without raising revenue is so stupid. My experience has been that I couldn't cut expenditures for food and housing for my family; I had to take a second job---and I did.

Every member of Congress who left leaving the FAA hanging with no finance should turn over his/her salary for this month of vacation to filling the national coffers, and if that causes them a shortfall then they should take a second job. Maybe they can handle the second job; they're not doing well with their elected positions.

Rick Perry is considering running for President. Dear God in heaven, he's worse than W. Surely our country has not dumbed down to a level of seriously considering him as the leader of this country. He's done sufficient damage to Texas; would anyone really want to give him the entire nation upon which to wreak havoc? I have more respect for the GOP than to think this could happen. Don't let me down, GOP.

Maybe I've covered everything, but probably not. I'll wake up about 3:00 a.m. and think, "I forgot to mention ..." But I need to bring this to a close and go to bed. I seem to wake up much earlier with this hot drought and propelled to do whatever I have to do early on then "cool it" from 11:00 a.m. on. Of course, by then it is already 100 degrees. I thought today was cooler (106 degrees)and it was; Jazz says I'm adapting. Probably right. Take care, Everybody.