Thursday Thoughts ~ August 21, 2025

August 21, 2025August 28, 2025 ~ GrayMareWrites ~ 1 Comment

Welcome to When Is Summer Finally Over Eve?!

I dream of living near San Diego, maybe Oceanside or Carlsbad, where the temperature rarely goes above 80 degrees. Right now, where I am in SoCal, it’s 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Is there a patron saint of moving?? LOL! I have to say, though, painting the house light blue has made these hot days a little more bearable than the dark green 😊

I’d been concerned about our diabetic kitty, Patchwork. A month ago, her numbers were very high, and the doctor suggested adding another ¼ unit of Vetsulin, the feline equivalent of insulin, to her current dosage. Last week, we had her tested again. Monday night, we got a call letting us know her numbers were way down and within acceptable range. Whew! I had told the doctor that sometimes Patchwork gets what we call Growly (scratchy, grouchy, growls) and refuses the shot, which she had done the night before that first test. Not sure how much that affected the numbers, but I’m just happy to know she’s doing okay.

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Thursday Thoughts ~ August 14, 2025

August 14, 2025August 21, 2025 ~ GrayMareWrites ~ 1 Comment

Happy Friday Eve! This used to have significance when I worked, but now it’s just a way to keep up with what day it is… LOL.

Summer is probably our least favorite season. The heat, kids out of school, and tourists crowding SoCal. And the heat… In all honesty, it’s been a fairly mild summer so far, heat-wise, but it’s still uncomfortably warm and saps our energy a bit. We’ve been boringly lazy, except for a quick trip to Knott’s after a class The Husband is taking right around the corner on Tuesday mornings. Knott’s Berry Farm, the amusement park The Husband just retired from earlier this year, is about a half hour from home, so when we’re nearby we take advantage of our lifetime passes. It gives us a chance to chat with old friends and get some steps in for the day.

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Thursday Thoughts ~ August 7, 2025

August 7, 2025August 14, 2025 ~ GrayMareWrites ~ 1 Comment

Happy Sugar Diamonte’s Birthday Eve!

Sugar Diamonte is the main character in my cozy mystery series. Her birth date is 8/8/88, the same day I started the best job I ever had, at The Pennysaver, a weekly print advertising mailer in Southern California. I worked there for 27 years with the finest group of accounting folks that became family, many of them employed there as long or longer than me. It’s my little homage to them and our time together, giving Sugar a birth date so close to my heart.

Sugar looks like Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping and a pivotal scene in the book unfolds at a movie theatre after she and her neighbor, Maybelle, see The Lost City.

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Thursday Thoughts ~ July 31, 2025

July 31, 2025August 7, 2025 ~ GrayMareWrites ~ 3 Comments

Happy August Eve! Can you believe July is just about over? Knock wood, the summer temps have been mild so far, but it looks like heat is on the way according to my phones’ weather app. But Mother Nature doesn’t watch the Weather Channel, so, really, anything can happen! Who could have predicted an 8.8 Russian quake that resulted in volcanic activity and a tsunami??

I had a lovely birthday last Friday. We started at The Hilbert Museum in Orange (CA). The last time we’d been there, it was housed on the campus of Chapman University. It’s since moved across the street to two connected buildings of their own and it is a beautiful space, wide open in some areas and intimate in others. And it’s free, with advance reservations. Here are some of the highlights.

This painting brought to mind The Grapes of Wrath. Turned out the artist, Emil Kosa, worked for the 20th Century Fox studios in the 30’s, when The Grapes of Wrath was filmed.

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