Sunday A1 Steak Sauce

Because I still don't really care for ketchup! Well, I do like it a little. Just not as much as Otter.

It's been a long week, and it's been stressful. I have been extremely worried about Virginia all week, I've talked to her several times and also to her 6-year old granddaughter. It's really hard that I wasn't able to be there for her, Froggy I can not thank you enough for taking over for me and going to the visitation today. Virginia is my dearest friend, in fact we are more like sisters than friends and have been for years. She's had so much happen in her life, she's dealt with more tragedy than most people.

OK, I'm going to change the subject now. They still need prayers, but I'm trying not to get depressed!

Well, let's see. What else has been going on this week? Well, I got my new glasses on Monday and they seem to be right. I had to go back and get them tightened up on Tuesday, I have had a sore area on the bridge of my nose and behind one ear from the frames fitting differently than the old ones, but not anything really bad.

Thanksgiving was Thursday, we had a really nice time at Grandpa & Sweeties. Lots of food and family, and Otter got to play Wii for a while - all the adults were so overfed by this point that nobody had the energy to play with her! We had a great time, we haven't seen them in several weeks.

Bill's got a new toy. He bought a planer. You know, to plane wood smooth - not a planner! Yes, it has a blade. I try to keep him away from that type of thing but sometimes ... He needed this particular piece of sharp object. He was making shoe shelves for Otter, but he decided that the ones he was making weren't what he wanted them to be. So he bought her 2 more 2-row shoe shelves which stack on the top of the one she had. The ones he was making will become a plant stand for me. The planer will come in handy for the shoe rack turned planter, and also on some other projects he has in the works.

It's raining. It has been pretty cool most of the day, and it started raining late morning. Not a hard rain, just a nice slow rain. The kind that we need to go on for days.

Otter's allergies are back in full force. She's been alternating between sneezing, stuffy nosed, hoarse and runny nosed. She took benadryl at bedtime last night and it helped quite a bit. She has a day off from school tomorrow, so she's going to stay home and enjoy a relaxed day. And she'll probably sneeze quite a bit! Maggie Moo will be happy that her mom is home with her. She'll probably show her happiness by snoozing all day.

Fraiser is acting strangely at the moment. His blanket is in the dryer. He doesn't like it when it's not where it belongs! He followed me to the laundry room and stared at me, very intently, when I was putting the blanket in the washing machine. Then he turned around, flipped his tail at me, and booked it back to the living room. He's made several trips to the laundry room, just to look in the door. When the blanket comes out of the dryer, he'll probably sniff it a few times and then possibly ignore it for a while. It won't smell the same. But that's the point!

Bill fixed the brakes on my bike. They were sticking slightly. I took it on a test ride Friday afternoon, it rides wonderfully but the brakes were sticking and also squeaky. Now they don't stick, but I think they still squeak. I haven't been able to ride it since then, it's been too cool and now rainy. But I think I'm going to be very happy with it.

I spent several hours yesterday, with a crochet hook in one hand and yarn in the other. Froggy, the scarf for your friend is finished. I'm going to work on Kid#3's next and then her hat. I think that's her name! Anyway, I am also finished with the jewelry roll pouch for your friend, I just have to attach a button so it will close and then after I get Kid#3's scarf & hat done, I'll get it all in the mail to you. I'll let you know.

Looks like Otter's tulip bed won't have tulips next spring. We kind of forgot about getting bulbs, then when we realized it (Friday), we discovered that nobody has any bulbs in stock anymore. So she's decided that she'll just plant something pretty in it next spring and then we'll make sure we get bulbs early next fall.

I gotta go see what Billyboy is up to, he's baking cookies. I spent quite a bit of time this morning cleaning up after his cookie baking yesterday, and now he's probably undone all my hard work!

Updated Prayer Request

David passed away about 11:30 Friday morning. I would like to ask that you continue to pray for Virginia and their family.

Prayer Request

I spoke with Virginia yesterday, and the final test confirmed that David is brain dead. She has made the difficult decision to turn off the machines today. She said that it would most likely be this morning, based on the doctor's schedule. I ask that she and her family be lifted up in prayer. She knows that she is making the right decision and it is the one that David would have wanted her to make, but that does not make it easy on her. So if you have a few minutes today, would you please stop and say a prayer for her?

Thanksgiving

I had something up already, but I realized that it came across as being sarcastic. Which was not my intent. But it's hard at times to be thankful, especially after I heard more pain in my friend's voice this morning than I can even imagine. So I deleted what I'd written earlier.

We have a great deal to be thankful for. And we are. I'm just not in a mood to go into much right now.

But we have had a good day with Grandpa & Sweetie. We haven't seen them in a few weeks and it was just really nice today to visit and not have to be rushed. We tried hard not to eat too much, but that's nearly impossible when it's Thanksgiving.

I hope that everyone else has had a good Thanksgiving.

Just Stuff

I am not exactly in a blogging mood tonight, but I thought I'd better surface and at least update some stuff.

I talked to Virginia yesterday afternoon, their is virtually no chance of David coming out of this. The doctor said what they expected. She is spending every second at the hospital at David's side, and their families have been going at different times. She's going to spend Thanksgiving doing the same thing, and then on Friday the machines will be turned off. In all probability, David's heart will stop beating immediately or within a few minutes. Their priest came by and gave David the Last Rites, she said that his expression was very peaceful and calm afterwards and she was comforted by that. She is also able to take some comfort in the fact that David will be reunited with Sara, their beloved daughter. That doesn't make it easy, but it makes it easier for her.

It's been a difficult week for me, I want so much to be able to be there with her. Since I can't do that, I did something else. I called a friend of hers from the place where we both used to work. Her friend said that Virginia had told them earlier in the week that David was sick but hadn't been back in contact with her since then so she didn't know the extent. I told her as much as I knew and she was going to contact her. Virginia is going to need her friends and family very much right now.

OK, other stuff because I'm getting depressed.

I was able to get my new glasses on Monday, they are right this time and I'm happy with them. I went back and got them adjusted yesterday, they were a little loose. But it's nice to be able to see, the old ones were beginning to be very hard to function with. The new ones fit in a slightly different spot on the bridge of my nose and that is where it's sore. I've usually had sore spots behind my ears when I get new glasses, but not this time. It's getting better, it just takes time.

Otter went to work with me today, we're probably getting to the end of that happening and I want to enjoy it as long as I can. We went to a bookstore at lunch, she found a couple of books and then we went around the corner to the library and we both found things there.

Otter now has a shoe rack with enough shelves for all her shoes! And it even has room for a few more. She was very happy about that. I'll post a picture later on, I haven't uploaded pictures from the camera yet.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we'll be at Grandpa & Sweetie's and I'm sure we'll all eat too much. Sweetie is making her famous potatos, Bill and Grandpa will deep-fry the bird, I'm making bread & green bean casserole and Otter is making dessert. Poke Cake! Froggy, remember the poke cakes mom used to make? Yummy.

Prayer Request Update

I spoke with Virginia this afternoon. It does not look like there will be a miracle here, in all probability David is brain dead. The neurologist was supposed to meet with her & her son this afternoon to give them the results of the latest tests, but they have been told to prepare themselves. She said that she and her son, David Jr., spent the morning at his bedside and were able to tell him the things they needed to such as how much they love him and how if he needs to go on, they will be ok. She said that after they talked to him, his seizures stopped. Virginia said that if the doctor tells them what they expect, they will stop the life-support measures and let David go. She knows it will not be easy, but she also feels like it's the only thing she can do and would be the right decision. I have to say that I agree with her, if he is brain dead then he is gone and no amount of machinery will ever be able to bring him back. The family is still in need of prayers, I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is on them.

EXTREMELY URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

I have an urgent prayer request. My dearest friend Virginia just called me. This is the lady who lost her daughter almost 2 years ago.

Virginia's husband, David, has had what is most likely a heart attack and is not doing well. He was revived, but he was without oxygen for a considerable amount of time and is unable to breathe on his own. At this point, nobody knows anything but the least she can expect is that he will have brain damage. But it will very possibly be much worse than that. He has had several seizures.

Please, please pray for them. They are already dealing with the loss of their daughter and having to raise her children, I don't think Virginia can handle this.

See No Evil

Or much of anything else.

Froggy, I got your text. I was getting my eyes examined and was in the process of getting fitted for new glasses. Which I still don’t have!

Warning: Long Story Ahead.

I don't have the new glasses because when the tech measured my eyes and marked where the bifocal line should be, it was too high. Way too high. I told her that, she marked all over the lenses and promised me that the tech who actually made the real lenses would see her notes. Well, either he didn’t see them or she didn’t make the notes – or they just did their own thing. Because when we went back 2 hours later, they were even worse than the glasses I have now. After we finally figured out what the problem was, their attitude was “so what” and I told them that it was not acceptable. And that I wanted my money back. The clerk was helpful, he was new on the job but he was trying – the arrogant tech was the problem. The new guy suggested that they re-examine my eyes (free this time) and see if the prescription was written incorrectly. So I agreed, because I realized that I would have probably had the same problem elsewhere if the prescription was wrong.

And it’s a good thing I did, because it was wrong. I asked the exam tech about that, he tried to tell me that my answers to what I could see with etc. were different, but I know they weren’t and so did Otter since she was in there with me. I told him that but he didn't answer.

So then we go back out to get the measurements for the bifocal line, etc., and that’s when I really figured out just how bad the lenses were made. Basically, I would have had to spend my life with my head down so I could see out of the tiny, almost not there small area at the top of the lenses if I wanted to see anything. It was a different tech to measure the glasses this time, and the bifocal line is much lower. About where it is on my current glasses. I made sure that everything was marked to where it should be, but by this time it was nearly 5:00 and they closed at 6:00. So they are going to make the glasses in the morning and I’ll go get them when I get off work. And if they are not right, I will get a refund and go elsewhere. I got the new prescription written down for me, in case I do have to go elsewhere. Let’s hope I don’t. Because Texas Woman will come out to play, she nearly did today. And we all know what that means!

In short, it was a wasted day. Well, not totally. Otter had been wanting to go to the mall, so while we were waiting for the lenses to be made (the first time), we walked across the parking lot to the mall and looked around. Didn't buy anything beyond lunch at Sonic, but we still had fun.

I have a Bill story. He had planned on trimming a couple of small limbs off of two trees that were brushing the roof. This needed to be done before the roof replacement. So this morning, he got out his new toy (extension ladder) and his saw and headed out to the tree by the garage. He got his limbs cut down and then he promised me that he wouldn't go anywhere near the tree in the back yard until we got home. Because Bill by himself with a bladed object is not safe! But when we got home, Bill told me that we have termites. These are a special breed of termite, very rare. They are called SAWTOOTH TERMITES. And they just happened to be in the tree in the back yard, and they just happened to eat the wood of the tree in just the exact spot where he would have sawed the limb off. And they are called SAWTOOTH TERMITES because it looks just exactly like a saw blade was used to take the limb off.

He also informed me that Frasier got a rodent of some type this afternoon. The dogs were out there helping Bill when he stacked the wood that the helpful sawtooth termites cut off, and he said that Frasier suddenly came alive and started unstacking wood. Then he jumped on something and caught it, Bill thinks it was a rat but since Frasier ate it he's not positive. Frasier brings things to me when he kills them, but apparently Bill isn't deserving of gifts. Of course, I give the dogs a treat when they bring me something! But Bill always says he doesn't like the dogs. Yeah, right. For someone who doesn't like the dogs, he sure makes a lot of trips to their treat container and then usually puts peanut butter on the treats for them. And for someone who doesn't like the dogs, he sure plays with them a lot. I guess that's how he shows his dislike, by spoiling them even more rotten than they already are!

Oh, one more thing. We also have another variety of termite besides the Sawtooth ones. This type are called Chainsaw Termites. They just came to our house about 30 minutes ago. (Yeah, I know - Bill and power tools are not a good mix!)

Movie Review

Definetely broke the curse!

I realize that I am probably the LAST person in the world to see the new Star Trek movie. It wasn't on purpose, it just happened. We had planned on seeing it in the theater. But things kept coming up over the summer and we just never got there. The movie came out on dvd Tuesday. On Wednesday, we rented it. Today, we sat down and watched it.

It was pretty obvious within the first few seconds that this is one we should have dropped everything and made time for, and I can see without a shadow of a doubt that TREK IS BACK! It's not perfect, there are a few things that we felt were rushed or maybe should have been expanded on. But the curse has been blown to bits, now let's hope that it's not switched around.

And Otter is now, officially, completely, irrevocably, 100% her mother's daughter. Well, she already was. But now, she's part of the Trek universe and that doesn't change.

Mid Week Ramblings

It's only Wednesday, but it should be at least Thursday by now! It's been quite a week already.

I can't believe it's nearly Thanksgiving! Where did the summer go? Oh yeah, it went to the rent house and a lot of company. And a rock garden, even though that was actually a fall project. The next Fall project is actually two: move more irises! And Otter's tulip bed. We have to get the bulbs pretty soon, then we can start getting the bed itself ready. Getting it ready entails weeding, and it's got plenty. Then, we have to "stir" the dirt up a little and treat it with mineral oil, liquid soap and water so that gophers and moles will leave it alone - moles disturb the dirt in their search for grubs to eat and gophers eat bulbs! We usually treat it once or twice, about a week apart, then about a week after the second treatment is when we plant the bulbs. Since I have seen evidence of mole activity in that part of the yard, we might even treat it 3 times.

The rent house was an interesting experience. The selling of it, I mean. We got it listed and got an offer within 4 days. That was good, and faster than we expected. The stress came from the fact that it took 2 months to close because the buyer's mortgage company kept dropping the ball. They lost part of his paperwork, then they had to re-do some other paperwork and there was a waiting period after he signed it, stuff like that. The process of getting it ready to sell was somewhat stressful, but it was more that it was harder work than just getting it ready to rent. Since we wanted to sell it, there were things that we did that we might not have done otherwise. Such as replacing the front screen door, there was some work Bill did to the bathroom floor and that sort of thing. But the hard work paid off, so I'm not complaining.

Now we get to concentrate on stuff around the house. The chimney repair is the first week of December, it should take a couple of days. I'm not sure if repair is the right word, it's not that the chimney is broken - it's more that it wasn't constructed quite right and we're going to get that fixed. The roof is next after the chimney, but we might not be able to get it done this year. The chimney has to be done first because we really don't want people climbing around to fix it, on new roof slats! Or tiles, whatever they're called. We're just running out of daylight, as far as the roof repair is concerned.

Now, I think I'll go surf the 'net for a while and then go watch tv. We've been watching a very well done mini-series on The History Channel. WWII in HD. It's very good, color footage of WWII that has not been shown before and it's in chronological order. Otter is really enjoying it, she said that it's making a lot of things fall into place for her because she wasn't sure of some of the timeline. There wasn't too much on D-Day in this series. I always look for Dad in anything that deals with D-Day. I've seen him once, it was while he was still with us and he was surprised that he was shown but I think he was glad about it. I can't remember the exact name, but it was a major mini-series and I'll eventually think of it.

Today Is

National Homemade Bread Day.

I think I'm going to make some when I get home this afternoon, love my bread machine! Thanks, Froggy for bringing this one to my attention.

Rent House Update

We sold it! The closing was this afternoon, it's officially no longer ours. We wish the new owner all the best and hope he will be happy in his new home.

Rainy Fall Sunday

But busy!

Bill bought a new toy last week, it's a compressor. It's about as tall as he is and very heavy. There are a lot of times when he needs one, so he finally just decided to buy one. He found it on Craigslist. It needed a couple of parts replaced, but it was a very good deal so it was worth putting a little $$ into. The problem was, where to put it? Between our work benches was a plastic shelf unit, and that's where the compressor found a home. The shelf unit has been taken apart and moved to another place in the garage, where Bill did need storage. While we were at it, he cleaned off a wooden 5-shelf unit that we've had for many years. The wooden unit was in Otter's room at one point, then when we moved it joined the clutter, I mean Bill's supplies, out in the garage.

But Otter needed a place to put her many books and magazines, so guess what? The wooden shelf is now back in her room. So she's spent a couple of hours reorganizing her books and magazines, and now there are no more stacks in corners! And the shelf still has some room, which is a good thing because she is her mother's daughter, after all, and books play a major part in our lives. She did comment that the last time she had that shelf in her room, she was unable to reach the top of it. Now she's able to see the top!

I have a Craiglist find myself. I just bought a bicycle! I bought a new one a couple of years ago and did ride it but it was not really big enough. I have long legs, and we thought it would work when we got it but even with the seat raised up all the way it was just barely too short for me to ride comfortably. Otter outgrew her bike, so I gave her my newer one and went back to my old 10-speed yard sale cheapie. That's the one that had the blowout a while back. That particular bike was fine for a long time, but it was a more expensive brand/model and that meant that I couldn't just go buy standard parts when it needed work (which might have been why it was practically free!). It was kind of a pain to have to go to specialty shops for it, and I didn't want to deal with it anymore. The brakes were acting up on it, the chain kept slipping off and the shifter just plain wouldn't work but I was coping with it until the blowout. That was the final straw and I decided to go ahead and replace it. I never had time to deal with it this last summer, we had so much going on between company (which we loved!), summer school and then the rent house so I figured I'd just wait until next spring/summer and get one then. But Bill's been checking Craigslist for me on a regular basis and a likely one showed up Friday. We went to check it out today and it came home with me. It's in decent shape, it's sturdy and the seat is new (and soft), the brakes need a little adjusting but they work - unlike my last one! And the tires are good. Of course, it's raining and probably will be for days. But as soon as the weather is good, I'm going to start riding again and I think it will help my knees a lot. They were better when I was riding on a regular basis. And they have been really bad lately.

I have two lazy dogs on the floor beside me at the moment. One of them is a very clean beagle, she got a bath Friday afternoon. She was not amused! But she was crazed afterwards, she ran all over the house several times and zoomed up and down the hall 7 or 8 times. She really seemed to enjoy the drying process, and she doesn't stink anymore. Frasier needs one, but he's a harder target to catch! He always seems to know when he's about to get a bath, even if I just think about it! He was sleeping so soundly while ago that I actually had to check to see if he was breathing!

Some Stuff of Varying Degrees of Importance

I watched the Fenton episode of Dirty Jobs on Tuesday and really enjoyed it. I don't think that manly people realize just how hard it is to make things with glass. I already knew most of the process, but the show was enjoyable. Dirty Jobs is always an enjoyable show, and Fenton just made it more so.

Frasier is snoozing. He's on the floor beside me, every so often he'll rearrange and I just heard a deep sigh. I've had to treat his ears a couple of times lately, he doesn't like it but he does tolerate it reasonably well. Except that the last time, I didn't get the towel over his ear fast enough and he shook his head. All over me, the floor, the couch, etc. He has now started snoring. Loudly. He might be talking in his sleep and dreaming soon, we think he chases cats in his sleep sometimes.

Otter and I are working up another list of words we'd prefer not to hear. It will be posted in the near future. In the meantime, anybody got any suggestions? Email me or leave it as a comment, but if you leave it as a comment it might not be posted because I want to do one big list. We have a few on our list already.

There was something else, but I've forgotten! Oh well, maybe I'll think of it later. At least it's nearly Friday.

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

The picture is actually D-Day, but it's still one of the best.

Yesterday at the post office, the clerk was complaining that she hadn't heard any patriotic songs and she thought that she should have, because wasn't there some type of patriotic holiday coming up sometime soon? I didn't get the chance to educate her, because the man in line before me beat me to it. And he gave her a very good history lesson, explained what & why we commemorate on November 11th. She was around my age, and so was the gentlemen who spoke, and I was amazed that she was so IGNORANT.

Veteran's Day is too important for us not to observe it! We simply can not forget it and what it means. I don't think it's just because I am the daughter of a WWII vet (specifically, a D-Day Omaha Beach Vet), but it does seem like too many people either don't know what today is or maybe they just don't care. And I'm not going to accept that.

Words from Otter:

THANKS, GRANDPA!

Don't Bother to Call

me between 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. tonight, Central Standard Time. I'll be busy.


Watching this:

About this:

Our Day

We finally made it to the zoo! We've been planning a trip for weeks, but there has been something come up every time. Things like a rock garden rebuild, weather, etc. But we finally got there today.

Everytime we tried to take a picture of the heffalumps, they would turn away from us. When the camera wasn't aimed their way, they would at least look in our direction. Even when the camera was off, if it was aimed their direction they would present their faces. But as soon as it was turned on, they moved or mooned us.

Froggy, this one is especially for you! Isn't it lovely?




One very tall giraffe! He's been alone for a while, the female died several months back and he's been lonely. Apparently, giraffes are very social creatures. Well, his days of enforced bachelorhood are coming to an end. We've got girls! There were two females available, and Tulsa Zoo got them. One has already arrived and the second one should be here sometime this month. Then maybe there will be a population explosion, that is the hope once his harem is in place. Bill thinks that this is one very lucky guy!



It's been a busy year at the zoo, lots of babies! This was the first time we got to see the two new lions. They were born this year. They are about 6 months old, I guess. And bigger than Frasier! Just as lazy as their parents, by the looks of things. When we saw them again, a few minutes after this picture, they were both snoozing.


I don't think we've ever actuall seen the tigers doing anything else besides sleep. They seem to like their platform for naps.

The prairie dogs were busy, well one of them was! The last time we were there, the exhibit was closed. All the dirt had been removed because there had been an invasion of rats and they were trying to get rid of them. I guess they did, since the dogs are back in place.

The otters were not anywhere to be seen, we think that they were probably inside their den. But my otter was visible!

This little guy was snoozing, I don't know why but something about him just reminded me of Toadles.

Another one for Froggy!

When I was a kid, Mom would take us to the zoo frequently. And one of the main stops was the reptile house. Her instructions were to get a good look, so we would know what to look for and avoid since we lived in S. Texas. So I did the same thing with Otter. Now, we get into the building where the snakes are and she can hardly wait to go see the rattlers. Just because she likes them. Today, she got a Clara Lesson - what to listen for. I don't know what had this guy so riled up, but he was not happy! And you could hear his displeasure all over the building. He was in striking position, and he stayed that way for a long time. The picture is a little blurry, he wasn't still. But he was beautiful!

Bill always tells me that prickly pears won't grow in NE OK. This one's been there for years, and it seems to be doing fine. It might not show up in the picture, but it was blooming. I would love to plant mine outside, but I have another problem besides the freezing temperatures we get - dogs! I just don't think that they would be able to stay away from it, at least not one super curious beagle I know of. So I think that maybe my pear will stay in the planter I have it in.

And So It Begins

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33748707/ns/politics-health_care_reform

If The Shoe Fits...

Buy it!

At least, that's what it says on a pair of socks I bought for Otter a while back. Which she absolutely loved.

When it comes to shoes, she is very much her mother's daughter. Here's the proof:

This is the latest addition to her shoe addiciton, I mean collection. These are the type of boots I would have worn at her age, and in fact still would if I hadn't tried to kick the couch into orbit a few years back and messed up my ability of ever wearing cool shoes again. :(

She wore them to school one day this week. She said her feet were killing her by the end of the day, but that the pain was so worth it. I have to say, I know exactly where she is coming from on that one!

However, we are still Cherokee and prefer to go barefoot. It works, having a shoe fetish and also Cherokee feet but it takes some adjusting!

And for the record: Otter did clean out the shoe pile. This is the shoe pile before the clean out, although I don't think that they were all there:

She donated 5 or 6 pair to Goodwill and there were about 3 pair that were thrown away because they were beyond donating. But she's still got over 20 pair, probably closer to 30 if I have to guess. Bill's making her a new shoe rack. It will be about 2' long. It will have 4 levels. Something tells me it will be filled up in a matter of moments!

Rocking Out!

The rock garden is done! Here's the proof:

This is not all the rocks. This is probably 3/4 of them, maybe closer to 2/3. They are on a tarp on the back deck in this shot. Where we'd been placing them over several days because we had to keep stopping because of rain. This is a fairly large tarp. And this does not include what I call decorative rocks - fossils, rocks from Mom, limstone, etc. We bought these when we originally built the rock garden, which was 5 years ago and I don't remember the weight but there were quite a few pounds! Think in multiples of 10 or 20 pounds.



This is the base after we'd finished removing everything. This is before we started enlarging it.


This is also before the enlargement, just a better shot. And my shadow! The fountain bowl is off to the side.

After the enlarging, the sandstone edge was back in place but the dirt wasn't finished being leveled in this shot.

First layer of plastic and some of the metal fence/chicken wire layer. The fence is actually a smaller mesh than a standard chain link fence, I can't remember what it's specifically called.

Fence parts down and the fountain is back in place. Which was a chore, sucker is heavy. The sandstone edge is in place here, as it is in the previous picture. We had to dig down (we being Bill) and place all the sandstone, then pack dirt around them on both sides and pack it down as firmly as we could so they wouldn't shift.

Gotta have a shot of Bill's Nekkid Lady!




It took several wheelbarrow loads to get all the rocks back in place - just as many as it took to get them moved! Although this was much easier than removing them. For one thing, all I had to do was level them out with the rake when Bill piled them up. Removing them entailed shaking them in a shaker box over a bucket to remove all the dirt and was hard work.

Finished with all the rocks and decorative rocks, and if you look closely you can see a certain state shape in front of the fountain. St. Francis and the cat are in place by this point.

The final, finished product! Otter placed her animals around. Some of them, anyway. She has a lot and they will be alternated out.

It's bigger than it looks. It was hard work, but I enjoy hard work and I really enjoyed this particular project. We should not have to do anything to it again, it's got several layers of plastic and the wire fencing should discourage any puppy paws that have an urge to dig here.

I'm so glad to be done!

Prayer Request **UPDATED**

I have another prayer request. This time, it's for my 93 year young boss. He has been hospitalized with hemoraging, probably from his lungs and maybe related to one of many things. It's not extremely severe, but it's bad enough that the doctor admitted him Saturday morning and he's been running tests all weekend. I spoke to him just now, he sounds great but he said that they still aren't sure what it is. He's going to undergo a test tomorrow that he has to be sedated for, and he isn't looking forward to that. I don't blame him!

Anyway, any prayers will be appreciated. His name is EL and he's a very unique individual. His wife, Dorothy, is the lady who had the broken hip earlier in the year. She's doing great, now we want to get EL well.

**UPDATE**

It looks like EL has a slight case of pneumonia, which caused both the heavy cough he developed Friday evening and the bleeding. The bleeding was originally thought to be a result of the cough, which it could be, but it could also be a side effect of the lung infection pneumonia. He is doing well, now that they've identified the problem it can be treated. He might be in the hospital a day or two longer, the doctor wasn't sure about the test tomorrow being necessary. He is bored stiff, he called me several times today and he obviously wants to go home. I know how he feels! But he's doing pretty well, all things considered.

November? Also October Books

It's 75 degrees today, no way is it November! Well, I guess it is but it sure doesn't feel like it.

The rock garden is done! We still need to arrange Otter's concrete animals, but everything else is done. We decided to skip church today so we could get out there and get it done while it was still pretty cool. It was 49 degrees, but it is heavy work so we really didn't feel that cold. We finished sifting all the rocks out of the dirt, then Bill moved the fountain which is very heavy. He marked off the new edges and then shoveled out the grass. Then we raked & leveled the dirt, walked across it a few times to pack it down and then leveled again. The next step was to cut the plastic liner, which is over the dirt to keep weeds & grass from growing up in the rocks. Then Bill placed pieces of chicken wire and some other metal fencing he had on top of the plastic. Because we were using the pad from the pool, we still had quite a bit of plastic left so Bill put down another layer. There was still some left, so you guessed it - another layer! There are actually about 4 layers of thick plastic now so I'll be surprised if there are ever any weeds. Then we placed the sandstones that are the edge.

The next step was to put the fountain back, and then we started moving rocks. Bill got the business end of the shovel and started shoveling rocks from the pile on the deck into the wheel barrow. Then I got busy with the rake and leveled the rocks as he put them back in the garden.

At that point, we decided it was time for a break so we went inside and had left over pizza. Otter and I had a couple of errands, so we got our running out of the way and when we got back, I got busy with the rock garden again. I had to place my TEXAS shape, which involved moving rocks out of the way for it. Then I put a few things back, my St. Francis and concrete cat, as well as the decorative rocks, fossils, limestone, etc. Since there was still some dirt, and it's not supposed to rain for days, I filled the watering can from the rain barrel several times and "rained" it over the rocks. The rest of it, Otter's concrete animals, will wait. We are too tired to even think about that part of it today.

I'll get pictures posted soon, I took some "in progress" shots but I want to wait until we're finished with Otter's animals and then I'll post all the pictures.

OK, here's the books:

1. The View From the Bridge, Memories of Star Trek & a Life in Hollywood by Nicholas Meyer. He's a good director, but he's a bad author. I didn't finish this one. Waste of time!

2. Rocket Men, The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson. I honestly don't even remember this one, I know I read it...

3. Power of the Dog, Things Your Dog Can Do That You Can't by Les Krantz. Again, not very memorable or well written.

4. Apollo Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, by Robert Jacobs, et all. History and very interesting.

5. A Memoir, Shattered Dreams - My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer. Interesting, it shines a light on a very sad situation.

6. Made in the USA by Billie Letts. Not as good as her earlier books, but entertaining.

7. The Missing by Beverly Lewis. Sequel to a book on last month's list. There will be at least one more book in this series, I don't know when it will be out.

8. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakour. I've read this one before, but it was still interesting and very well-written.

9. The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam. There was a movie a few years ago, October Sky. It is a true story and based on a book by Homer Hickam. This is the sequel and I have also read it before. It's still a good read.

10. Batman Death & the City by Paul Dint. Otter checked this one out actually.

11. Batman Going Sane by J. M. DeMatteis, et al.

12. A Little Bit Wicken by Kristin Chenowith. She's a local celebrity. It was an interesting book, but I don't think I would like her as a person. This is her autobiography. Can we say "Hypocrite"?

13. Facing Down Evil, Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage Negotiator by Clint Van Zandt. Very good book.

14. Batman Gotham Underground. It's Batman, what's not to like?

OK, now that my back - shoulders - arms - legs - knees, etc. are sore and screaming at me I think it's time to go take a motrin and chill out for a while. We did remember to set the clocks back last night, but it always takes me a few days to adjust to the time change.