you can get a mister thing that fits on the end of a hose at Lowe's........ I have a mister but if I used it, the....police would haul me off to jail.......... Last year I put the mister in the middle of the garden...... I don't mess around with misters..... Neither do I. sorry; absolutely couldn't resist. We have been in the mid-hi 90's for weeks and no rain until at least October. All the garden is cooked, except for the rosemary, lavender, and lemon verbena. We are in a water crisis, as the Sea of Galilee is drying up alarmingly and the whole country is on alert, but most folks can't seem to change their habits willingly. We save the water from the AC and water what's still alive with it. Summer fruits are at their peak, but food prices here have skyrocketed due to agricultural water prices, and we are buying differently. The beach and sea have been full of stinging jellyfish lately, and the humidity is way up. At least it's not bad here on the mountain, much worse in Tel Aviv. We don't go out much, which means I've been reading and napping and just being a slug, which I can get used to very easily. Summeritme blues, you betcha...........Batya

Yikes! Doing Sunday trivia makes it hard to award stars in a timely manner! Thanks in advance for being patient. So, here goes: 1. Cross-country skiing 2. New Zealand and Australia 3. Three generations of the Shea family did indeed take part in the games. "The Shea Family of Lake Placid, New York, is the first to produce three generations of Olympians. Father Jack, 91, was a double-gold medalist in speed skating, son Jim, Sr., was a U.S. ski team member at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, and in 2002 grandson Jim, Jr., won a gold medal in skeleton." 4. The 1968 games in Grenoble were the first to be televised in color. Peggy Fleming and Jean-Claude Killy were the two superstars there. So , for Bobbie, a gold medal! For Nancy and TM silver, and a bronze for Annette. I gave points for the year OR date for #4, figured Nordic skiing would be cross-country, and gave points even if you said the three generations all medalled even though only two won medals. Not sure I would qualify as a judge for the Olympics-haha. Thanks for playing. Have a terrific week. Looking like we may end up with Thursday off due to snow and sleet. I, of course, will be crossing my fingers. :) Cynthia

I asked Jessica, the new triathon instructor/trainer why she didn't enter in the Olympics, and she said she prefers the Iron Man competitions. She does laps for 3 hours before our class. Way above my ability :o) We do have other instructors that treat us as we are, tee hee. After 8 years, I'm not and will never be up to her requirements!

I forgot the most important thing on my bucket list - to have my own swimming pool. I thought about putting one in my back yard in Los Angeles, but the yard would not be big enough without destroying the pergola, and I like the pergola too much. Therefore, we will be shopping in Palm Springs/Cathedral City for a second house, and it has to have a large pool or else be cheap enough for us to afford to add one. We have an agent there already and plan to look in earnest in December or January - whenever we sell our remaining property in Texas to our nephew. We're giving him extra time, but we've told him that it really needs to happen by December of this year. I think it is great that so many people here travel so much, as it is very helpful to be exposed to other cultures. When I lived in San Francisco in my 20s and early 30s, I went to Vancouver just about every August and spent two months each winter traveling all over Mexico plus Guatemala and Belize. I had very good friends in Mexico City and Vancouver and they always seemed to love having me visit. I haven't seen that much of the U.S. - just the West Coast, SW, Louisiana, Arkansas, and NYC. I don't count airports where I change planes, such as Denver, Minneapolis, Miami, etc.