Sunday Candy Corn

Always one of our favorites!  Probably one of the worst ones for us, but always good.

Otter enjoyed the party, they had pizza, candy, games and movies.  I picked her up this morning and we ran a few errands.  She says she's tired, but that they didn't stay up too late - 1:30 ish.

Maggie was evicted from Otter's room again, at least for last night.  Otter's purse was left where the dog could reach it.  Maggie took everything out of it (I'm not sure how considering that she doesn't have opposable thumbs).  And some of it was candy.  She ate at least some Nerds and most of one Bit O Honey.  Then she proceeded to run around like a headless chicken, at least until the sugar buzz wore off!  But now that Otter's home, Maggie has access to "their" room again.  Sugar really isn't good for dogs, but it's not as bad as chocolate at least.  Maggie was funny, she was zooming around the living room until we finally got one of her tug toys in self-defense!  We played with her for a while, then she more or less crashed and curled up on a blanket piece that was on the floor.  And she stayed there until this morning.  Guess she was a tired beagle!

We quit doing the Halloween candy thing a couple of years ago, because there aren't that many young kids in the neighborhood at the moment.  But we still had our own treat.  DiGornio's!  And cupcakes, because we had to have something (un)healthy and sugary.

Froggy, I emailed you two pictures this morning.  They are of the latest projects which I won't post here or on the craft blog yet.  But now you've seen them, so you can quit complaining.  About that, at least! :)

Bill mowed the front lawn today.  That is, after he replaced the pull cord on the mower.  The one that Frasier chewed off.  This is the 3rd time.  The first two times were the old mower, and after the second time Bill found some type of thick, harder rubber hose that he ran the cord through so Frasier couldn't chew it as easily.  I didn't realize that he left it on the old mower, however.  He's going to have to do the same thing to the current mower, because Frasier is very smart and he does not forget very much.

I cut down the sunflower.  It was just about dead, I left it up for a while so the birds could get the seeds.  But it was past time, so it got snipped and tossed.  Hopefully, there will be more come up next year.  And hopefully, I'll find them before Bill does!  He doesn't like sunflowers, he thinks the plants look like weeds.  I think he's crazy.  Well, he is!  But I mean about the sunflower plants.

Bill also wanted to play Chase.  With Frasier.  And the lawn mower.  (I told him no!).

I guess that is it for today.  I'm going to probably get the 2nd half of my final pillow cover crocheted this afternoon and then I might get the fabric covers sewn.  I adjusted the tension on the sewing machine and it works better.  I think it still needs to be serviced, but there aren't a lot of places here that work on them.  But I can at least use it now.

Also, Otter is going to finish her skirt.  Hopefully, this week.  It's going to be a busy week, but I'm going to try to get the sewing finished up on my pillows.  Then, it's afghan time!

Quiet Saturday Evening

Otter's at her friend's party, so it's just me and Billyboy.  And two dogs and one hamster.  And one spider, but he's out on the back deck hanging out!

The spider was gone this morning, and most of the web was as well.  So we thought he'd moved on, hopefully to better hunting and not to a bird's tummy.  But he's back this evening, he was busily building his web when I looked out late this afternoon.  I could watch him for hours.

Otter gave up on the skirt for the costume.  She waited too long, basically.  It was a little more sewing time than she thought, she's still going to finish it and wear it as a regular skirt.  But she had to go with a slightly different costume.  She's still Harley Quinn, who is a character from Batman.  Harley is the Joker's crazed girlfriend.  A few weeks back, Otter found a red & black 2-piece jester costume at a thrift store.  She bought it to change around and use next summer at the anime convention she wants to attend.  She went to this year's con with BF, that's when they wore the cat costume pieces.  When it was obvious that she didn't have enough time to make the skirt, she was going to wear one of her other skirts but then I remembered the jester costume.  She decided to wear it instead, she still wore the blonde wig, the black gloves, mismatched shoes and the face make up.  She looked really cute, although I'm not sure that she would make a good blonde!  :)  Anyway, I dropped her off at the party about 6:30 and I'll pick her up tomorrow late morning.  Maggie is probably already moping, looking for Otter.  That's what usually happens when Otter's not here.  But Maggie is back to sleeping in Otter's room, so she'll be fine.

I'm thinking that tomorrow might be when we start getting the tulip bed ready.  Basically, we have to clean out all the weeds, etc. that have over taken it.  Then we will treat the dirt with a combination of water, mineral oil and liquid dish soap.  Not much soap, and baby oil is basically mineral oil with scent so it's what I use.  Then I might treat it again in a week or so, and then we'll plant the bulbs.

I did some crochet today, not as much as I hoped but I was able to finish one project.  I also did some on my pillow covers, I'm on the last piece of the last pillow.  And I worked on Bill's blanket.  The blanket is now big enough to cover the top of our bed, but it needs to be bigger so that it covers the sides a little bit.  It's pretty big, just not quite big enough.  I'm thinking that I'm just about ready to start on the afghan, although I think I'll need to come up with a couple of smaller projects as well.  That way, when I get frustrated with the time it's taking or just want to be finished soon, I'll have something I can finish quickly.  I know myself, and I'll need some smaller items.  I have a few ideas on that.

Otter wore her black & white scarf yesterday, she said it was really warm.  I'm glad that she likes it.  It was in the low 30's yesterday morning, so I'm glad that it was warm.  And I'm glad that I finished all the tails!  The crochet wasn't hard and was quick.  But there were so many tails, because the rows were small and there were lots of changes between black & white.  I enjoyed making it for her.

OK, Froggy.  Now you can't say that I haven't blogged enough!  I've blogged every day this week.  Don't expect it to continue.  I do have a life you know.  And it revolves around crochet!  :)

Friday Spiders

The spider is still there.  I tried to take a picture, but it's just breezy enough that I can't get a good shot.  No movement at all, until I start to take the picture.  Then the wind blows!  The spider is still alive, he's just not in a good spot where I can take a picture.  He's beautiful, though.

It's been another allergy day for me.  I've sneezed more times than I can count.  I had a watering left eye this morning but now both eyes are itchy and dry.  My nose is itchy.  My skin is beginning to react, so I'm probably in for a lengthy allergy spell.  It's already been lengthy, but it was tolerable.  However, not so much anymore!  Otter's complaining of tiredness, which is also a symptom and she's been sneezy as well.

But Otter's also happy because we're having buffalo burgers for dinner tonight.

The dogs seem to like the cooler weather.  They are more playful when it's cool like this.  The extreme cold will get them overactive, but cool weather like this just makes them sillier.

I can't believe it'll be Thanksgiving in just a few short weeks.  And then Christmas is right behind.  Where has this year gone?

Zombie Bites

Otter went to the library today, to a teen program.  It was about zombies.  How to detect them, how to avoid them and - most importantly - how to look like you've been attacked!  She had a great time.  I spent the time browsing the shelves and found several.  My bookshelf was sad, it didn't have any books on it.  But now, it's happy.

Our 8-legged visitor is still hanging out by the window.  It looks like he has a few food sources in his web now.  But he probably won't be there much longer.  It's fixin to** get cold.  Like 30's tonight and tomorrow night.

I hope that it does freeze, my allergies are about to get the best of me.  It's not fun.

Otter has been cutting out pieces for the skirt she's making.  I just took all the sewing supplies out of the closet in search of the one thing she needs.  And it's the one thing I don't have:  interfacing!  I really thought I had some, I don't need it too often but I have needed it enough to keep it on hand.  Guess I get to run to the fabric store on my lunch hour tomorrow.  Or maybe right after work, I have a reserved book at another branch of the library which I want to get tomorrow.  Anyway, she just needs a small amount of interfacing.  She can't go any further on skirt construction without it.  She was hoping that she would not have to spend all day Saturday sewing, but it looks like she's probably going to.  She might be able to start it tomorrow after school.  It's not a particularly complicated project, just a simple skirt.  But the party is Saturday evening so she is out of time.  I made her promise me that she won't wait until the last minute the next time!

We'll see about that.

I'm also going to go through the stuff I just took out of the closet.  I'm thinking that a lot of it will be donated.  It's been there for a couple of years.  If I haven't used it now, I probably will never use it.  Not all of it, there is still plenty of stuff like sock monkey parts and stuffing.  But there is still plenty that needs to be re-homed.  Froggy, if I think that there is anything you might be interested in I will let you know.

**Texasspeak:  Fixin to.  Usually a verb, it means that someone is about to do something or that something is about to happen.

Wednesday Webs

Not the World Wide kind.

This kind:

Oh yeah, it's got a resident.  The 8-legged kind.  It's been there since this morning, I don't think he's had too much hunting sucess today.  It's probably a little too cool for many bugs to be out.  But he's still trying.  The web is over a foot wide and it's just beautiful.  So's the spider!

I took one of the bluebonnet plants in to work today.  My 94 year old boss is a fellow Texan.  He was absolutely overjoyed with it.  Among other things, he has a rubber snake that he keeps in the indoor atrium we have in the office.  The snake has now been draped over the sides of the pot the bluebonnet is in.  I expect this one to do well, it should get plenty of light in the atrium.

We could get our first freeze.  It will at least be in the high 30's tonight and into the early morning hours of tomorrow.  But tomorrow night, it's probably going to be much colder.  Even if it's not a hard or long freeze, it will help as far as pollen and allergies go.

I've been fighting allergies all day long.  I got lunch  from a chinese place near work, Hot & Sour Soup.  It helped my throat which was sore and it also cleaned my sinuses!  For a while, anyway.  I've sneezed more times than I can count.  I've also had itchy eyes.  Otter's been sneezing a lot, too.

Otter's excited.  She gets to vote for the first time, next week in the local elections.  We have several things to vote on.  I'm going to pick her up from school and we'll go vote then.  It is a big deal, to her and to us.  Voting is not something that can be ignored, it's something we have always encouraged.  And now, Otter is 18 and is ready to excercise that particular Right.

And now, I'm going to go sneeze again.  And probably again!

Nice Tuesday

Perfect weather today!  It was cool, maybe got into the low 70's but I'm not really sure.  The sky was cloudless and it was just pretty.  Otter and I stood out in the driveway this morning before dawn and looked at the stars, the sky was just gorgeous.  The moon was so bright that it was almost like a spotlight.

The dogs seem to enjoy this weather, Frasier spends a lot of his time out on the deck anyway - surveying his kingdom.  But he seems to want to stay outside more.  Smart dog, I agree with him.  It's just nice outside.

Maggie Moo is doing fine, her head is still not totally healed up but it looks better.  I might still have to check with the vet, if it doesn't totally heal up in the next few days.  But it doesn't seem to be bothering her.  She's got a serious case of steroid bloat, but she's happy and bouncy.  Otter's going to try letting Maggie back into her room tonight.  We moved the dog block this afternoon.  Maggie came into Otter's room very gingerly and then got up on the bed.  She seemed timid at first.  We'll see how it goes.

I didn't get any crochet done last night after all.  I had a glass of wine and put my feet up, and read instead.  Maybe tonight.

We moved Otter's tv into her room.  It just fits on the stand she used to have her art supplies on.  It's not hooked up to the satellite dish yet, but she can use the vcr and dvd player that are part of the tv.  She's already watched one movie, or at least part of it because dinner was ready.  I'm sure she'll enjoy having it in her room.

She cleaned out a bunch of old magazines that she doesn't want anymore and she's also put a pair or two of shoes into the donate pile.  But don't worry, she's still got plenty more shoes!  :)

We also dusted the living room tonight.  I tend to forget just how much Fenton I actually have, until it's time to dust!  I might get industrious and dust the bedroom, but I'm thinking that might be a chore for tomorrow.  We have to dust on a regular basis, due to assorted allergies.

Dusting isn't so bad, at least it's not laundry!

Fall Monday

It's Fall and this is NE Oklahoma.  So that means that it's windy.  Today, it's WINDY WINDY WINDY.  We have some limbs down (small ones) from the trees in the back yard and Bill said that he saw one was down beside the garage.  But I'm not going to even think about picking them up at the moment.  It's one of those "rocks in the pockets" days, and we also wouldn't been surprised to see fatbeagle flying around with those long ears of hers.

It took a while, ok it took a loooooong while, but we managed to teach Maggie to leave the kitchen when we tell her to "scamper."  But now we are having to re-educate her a little bit, she's gotten used to coming into the kitchen for what she sees as a snack when in reality she's being medicated.  But she seems to remember, although she doesn't like it.  Frasier is easy, he hears the word "scamper" and he either goes into the living room or out the dog door.  He generally comes right back in, however.

I forgot to mention this, but last week when Bill's Pachinko collection increased, the first one he got was at a house a couple of streets away from our old house.  So we drove by and it looks good.  The new owner seems to be keeping it up, the yard looked good and it looked like he's maintaining it.  He was actually going out the back gate to his car, which is what we always did.  The way the driveway at that house is, we hardly ever actually used the front door because it was easier to go out the back door.  Most people that know us figured out pretty quickly that they should just come to the back door and the front door was almost never even unlocked.

I managed to get some crochet in before I left for work this morning.  I'm almost finished with the first half of the final pillow cover.  I haven't had a lot of time to work on the pillows, I've had a few other projects that are gifts so I wanted to get them done.  I'm still working on one gift, but it will take longer because of the size and stitch.  It was a crazy day at work, one where I wanted to just run off and never come back, so I am desperately in need of a crochet fix!  I think I'll get started on that when I finish this entry.  I'm going to get at least the first side of the pillow cover finished and maybe start on the second side.

I have managed to find a use for some of my stash.  The bigger project is being done with the yarn that I found at Wallyworld a month or so back that was clearance and I mentioned as being my downfall.  I just need to keep de-stashing.  Which is hard!  I really hate to not use what I buy, I don't like to waste it.  But I like having an assortment on hand because I generally have whatever I need when I find a project I want to work on.  The problem is that it's Fall and the new yarn colors have come out.  Then it will be Christmas and that means new colors.  Then Spring, and that means more new colors...

As Mom used to say (I think it was her), I can't win for losing!

Sunday Swiss Cheese

Today's title refers to Maggie's holey head.  It's still empty, by the way.  But the belly isn't, Otter had a couple of bites of spaghetti left after lunch so the dogs got a treat.  They love spaghetti.  Me, too!

Maggie is doing fine, her head spot seems much better.  Frasier doesn't think that it's fair she's getting more attention than he is, but he wouldn't want the type of attention she got anyway.  He's not a fan of the vet, any more than she is.

I can't get a shot that's not blurry for some reason.  But here's the newest addition to my Fenton collection.  This is a 6" bud vase, created between 1959 and July of 1961.  At the time, it was called Topaz glass but it's now known as vaseline glass.  It glows when exposed to a blacklight.  Vaseline has a very small amount of a radioactive substance which causes it to glow and it's just gorgeous!  It was very much worth the $10 I paid for it.  It's absolutely perfect and it still has the original Fenton sticker label which is almost never seen anymore on pieces from that era.

It rained a tiny bit on Friday, then we had off & on mild thunder and rain yesterday.  It's dry today, back to the 70's.  It's humid, however.  I've been fighting off allergy issues for days and the humidity is not helping.  I've been feeling like I'm borderline on the asthma scale.

Otter's busily rearranging some stuff in her room.  Bill got her a tv a couple of weeks back and she's trying to figure out where to put it.  She's pretty limited, it's almost got to be on one specific wall.  The problem was that she didn't have anything to put it on but she realized that the small table she had her art supplies on will hold it.  Now she's got to move stuff around to put it where it needs to be.  Eventually (soon) Bill gets to run wire in there so we can hook it up to the satellite.  I think he'll have to make a trip to the attic for that.

We went to the library today.  We also went to Hancock's Fabrics and Otter found the buttons she needed for her costume.  She's going to a costume party next weekend.  She's going as Harley Quinn, which is a character from Batman.  When she gets through making noise in her room, and running the vacuum to get all the glitter off the floor that was formerly on top of her art table, she is probably going to get started on making the costume.  She's making a skirt which she'll probably wear as a normal piece of clothing.  She's also got a reddish satin blouse that we picked up at a thrift store and she's going to customize it.  It's not a color that she'd ever wear except as part of the costume anyway.  Hopefully, I'll remember to get pictures for the craft blog.

I have a couple of crochet projects that I did remember to get pictures of, but they aren't on the blog yet.  They will be, but not yet as they are gifts for various people.  I also decided to fringe my marble scarf, I did that yesterday before I got lost in my yarn stash.

We watched the movie How to Train Your Dragon yesterday.  It was surprisingly cute.

Well, back to my laundry now.  And I'd better go check on Otter.  I don't hear anything else from her room and she is her father's daughter after all! :)

Quick Friday Update

I'm burning daylight here.  Literally!  Sunset is in about 30 minutes so I have to type fast. :)  (I type VERY FAST so it's not a problem).

Anyway.

Maggie Moo is doing much better.  We started her on the medication last night.  Which she sees as a treat.  The antibiotic is a pill and she takes it easly.  The capsule is the fun part.  It was wrapped in a piece of ham.  Talk about an excited dog!  This morning, Frasier was inside when we medicated her so he got a piece of toast crust when she got her pill and then he got a tiny piece of ham when she got hers.  Tonight, she was absolutely dancing when she saw the pill bottles in Otter's hand.  I mean dancing, standing up on her back legs and walking around the kitchen - in circles.  Frasier got a bite of pizza crust when she took her pill and then he also got a tiny ham bite when she got hers.  I think that Maggie is feeling better anyway, she was a little droopy the last couple of days which we thought might be because of her spot on her head and now that she's been on the medication she's bouncy again.  I think the spot looks better, also.

Froggy, you asked me when I was going yarn shopping.  I answered your comment (on my last entry) with another comment.  But I'm re-running my answer:  Not any time soon.  I really am trying to de-stash, and unless I need a specific yarn for a project I'm not buying any.  I bought the yarn for my afghan this week, it's going to be be sage & white alternating rows since I couldn't find athe variegated green & white I wanted.  I had to buy some to be able to finish out my pillows and I started the first side of the last one yesterday.  I have a few other projects in mind that I already have yarn for.

But I have been shopping.  Just not for yarn.  For my other addiction/obsession/collection:  FENTON!  I will get a picture posted in the next day or so, but I found an absolutely pristine vaseline glass vase in opalescent hobnail.  $10.00, which is above my normal price but this one is worth it.  It was at the antique/junk/craft place where I found the picnic basket.

I think that my other vase I got this week is probably Westmoreland glass.  It is still going to be part of my collection even though it's not Fenton.  Fenton is my main glass obsession, but if I like pieces by other companies and they are in my preferred price range, I'll generally buy them.  Besides, it was a $1.48 so it would probably have come home with me if it were Brody Company!  (Brody is an older company that makes (made?) glass items but they aren't rare and aren't especially well-done pieces for the most part).

Otter went to work with me today.  She works cheap - lunch & a trip to the bookstore!  Can't beat that.  We keep thinking that it's the last time she'll go with me.  I've decided that I'm going to treat each time like it is the last time, and enjoy it.  And I did enjoy today.

We might get rain tonight.  The southern part of the state could get "Spring Like Storms" but we aren't necessarily expected to.  Probably just rain, and possibly all weekend.  Well, it is Fall after all.  Otter's BF is from New Hampshire.  He said that while everybody here is happy to see the trees turn, to him it's like they just all turn brown and fall off.  He's seen real season change and I can see where he's coming from on that one.  But to me, the seasons do change up here and we're glad of it.

OK, just about out of time!

Ribbet

OK, Froggy.  There is something new on the blog now!  So you can quit complaining because I haven't blogged lately.

Maggie's head is still empty.  But it's also not healing.  Frasier keeps licking the spot, as soon as it starts to heal up he manages to "unheal" it.  I called the vet today.  The tech couldn't come up with anything that I could put on the spot that wouldn't hurt Frasier, so she asked the vet about it.  The vet suggested an antibiotic pill to ward off any potential infection and also a steroid.  Maggie loved the first one, it was a pill and she could eat it easly.  The second one is a capsule.  She was pretty happy about that one too - but it could have had something to do with the ham it was wrapped in.  The steroid is something that I have to give her on a set schedule with reducing dosages each day.  Being the mother of an asthmatic and an asthmatic myself, this particular steroid and the weaning schedule is something that we're familiar with.  So it's not going to be a problem.  One of the medications can make the dog thirstier than normal, but there shouldn't be any other side effect beyond the obvious one caused by increased water intake.

My allergies are beginning to kick up.  Fall is probably the worst time of year as far as my allergies go.  I'm thinking that ragweed is bothering me, as well as mountain cedar which is always a fun one to deal with.  I can't take allergy meds.  They don't work on me.  They usually cause sleeplessness and fatigue as well as fog brain.  So I just have to suffer.  Motrin helps with the sinus headache.  But mostly, I just have to put up with it.

Think I'll go see what's on tv now.  We don't actually watch a lot of tv, so I have no idea what is on that we might be interested in on Thursday nights.

Oh yeah - the pachinko collection increased today.  By 2!

Maggie's Head is Empty

Or at least there is no bb in it!  The vet thought at first that it might be a stopped up oil gland, but he's not really sure what it is.  He attempted to aspirate it but it's too hard.  He treated the spot after he lanced it, she's got a little bald place now but she should heal up quickly.  We have to watch it, if it gets worse or bigger then he'll want to see her again.  But at this point, it's hopefully something that we don't have to worry about.

Poor Mags, she's already associated the vet with unpleasant things being done to her rear.  Now, she's probably not going to know which end to hide from him!

Frasier didn't need anything today, they just had to get a routine shot so he wasn't totally ignored.  But he wouldn't have minded if he was.

That's it for tonight, just a dog update.  Woof.

Sunday Sunday

Just Sunday today!

Bill replaced the faucet in the kitchen this morning.  The one that was on there was probably the original from when the house was built and it was just wearing out.  Bill was given a newer one and he put it in this morning.  Works fine, no leaks.  Which is really all I care about.

It's Sunday, so I'm doing laundry.  So much fun! (Heavy on the sarcasm here).

Otter's gone off with BF today.

Bill's probably going to go deliver an overhead projector or two that he sold sometime this afternoon.

Really exciting day, huh!

We're watching a spot on Magginator's head.  We first noticed it yesterday, it kind of felt like a bb under her skin just at the base of her ear.  Given the (family**) history, a bb would be the natural thought that springs to mind.  But it's getting bigger and doesn't seem as hard as it did at first, so I'm thinking that she might have a cyst coming up.  We're going to keep an eye on it, but they are going back in to the vet this week anyway for normal stuff and we'll ask him to look at it then.

It's at the base of the ear that is flapped up in this picture.  It doesn't show very well, but it's sort-of behind the lighter spot at her ear.  The white spots are her normal coloration.

Although this picture is blurry, it's visible.  The white spot at the base of her ear is just above it - there is a lighter tan area in her fur and that's where the spot is.  It doesn't seem to bother her, she's just as bouncy as normal - although in these pictures she was dozing off for one of her many naps!  She was just about asleep, but she opened her eyes just enough to see what I was doing.  And then she closed them and went to sleep.  After a while, she woke up.  Then she moved to another spot, curled up and went back to sleep.

**Family history about bb's:  A few years ago, I saw a doctor about my left knee.  That's where I was told that my knees were just getting bad and that I didn't have many options beyond surgery.  Also, I was told to avoid surgery for as long as I could because of my relatively young age and the fact that the type of knee problem I have does respond to surgery but that it would gradually get worse again, and I'd be looking at probably needing surgery again in about 10 years.  So I'm putting up with it.  However, an x-ray revealed that I have what is very probably a bb a couple of inches above my left knee.  It's probably been there for years and years and will probably never cause me a problem, it was just something that showed up on the x-ray and has nothing to do with the knee issues I have.  The doctor said that what most likely happened is that when I was kid, someone was shooting a bb gun and one of them hit me.  He said that because bb's are small, it's quite possible that I never even knew I'd been hit.  And since I grew up in S. Texas, bb guns were pretty much a fact of life and most boys had them.  It was a few years after we'd moved to OK, when I found out about it.  I jokingly told Dad about it and told him that I had decided to blame Toadles for it.  My brother was already away in the Navy when it most likely happened, I don't really think he did it - it just makes for a good joke.  But Dad apparently took me seriously and he was a little upset with Toadles for a while!  Sorry, Toadles. :)

The rest of the bb story is that Frasier does have one under his skin, on his head and it's probably been there for years.  He could well have been mistaken for a coyote at a distance and shot at.  The vet said that since it doesn't seem to bother him, it can be left alone but if he ever has to have surgery or anything where he has to be anesthetized, it can be taken out then.  Unless that happens, it's just there and we don't worry about it.  Frasier's main concern is a) his belly and getting it filled, b) getting his chin scratched and c) getting the required hours of sleep.  And he probably thinks about cats a lot.  Maggie doesn't necessarily think about cats, but her priorities are about the same.

Back to my laundry now.   Urgh.

Before I forget, this is what the sky looked like this morning.  I think it was about 7:30.

It's Just Friday

And I'm glad.  It's been a busy week.  Just busy, not anything in particular.  Just busy!

Billyboy's been listing stuff on eBay, and he's even listing at least one pachinko.  Of course, they are still stacked all over the living room, garage, on the blanket chest in our room...

So far so good with the bluebonnets.  One of them is not doing well, it's probably dead.  But the rest are doing good.  I put them outside this morning and will bring them back inside for the night.  They will probably be put outside during the day for a while, it's cool but sunny and they need the sunlight.  Hopefully, they will survive and bloom.

My wonderful, really cool older boss turned 94 last Sunday.  He hasn't been in the office a whole lot this week, he's been busy being the teenager at heart that he really is.  Today, he came in long enough to tell me that he and his precious wife were going to be busy.  They were going to babysit their great-grandsons.  The oldest one is two.  Shortly before I left, he came back in to tell me how exhausting 2-year-old boys are!  But he's not much older than they are, really.  :)  He's more or less ordered me to bring Otter in to see him, so probably one day next week.  Otter will enjoy it as much as he will.  He and his wife are like great-grandparents to her.  I think that they would have taken her off my hands in a heartbeat!  And she's probably have gone willingly, by the way.

Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of when Bill and I met.  Last year, we cleaned carpets and had Digorno pizzas.  This year, we decided the carpets were fine and we had steaks & baked potatos.  It was a lot more fun than last year!

This weekend's activities include possibly replacing the kitchen faucet.  Such an exciting life we lead...   :)

Rattled!

OK, I know that this is Tornado Alley and we expect certain things in the springtime.  I know that we are for enough "north" to get actual winter, including ice.  Sometimes, it floods in this general area.  We've had more than one hailstorm.  But this is a first:

Shake, Rattle & Roll!

There have been tremors and small earthquakes in the state before, they are usually in the southern part of the state and are fairly small.  Today's was still small in the sense that it wasn't a California-style quake.  But it was a new experience for most people.  It was so small that I didn't even really feel it, but I did hear it.  The duplex I work in was a little noisy, I heard what sounded like someone walking in the attic and it lasted a couple of seconds.  Then I forgot about it.  Then I went to a thrift store at lunch (Fenton!) and the lady in line ahead of me was talking to the cashier about it.  Apparently, the employees at the thrift store felt it.  It was minor, just a little wiggle.  The epicenter is in the Norman area, which is south of Oklahoma City.  It was felt into Kansas and south of Dallas, but the worse damage is in Norman.  And it's not much.  But the reporters are talking like we've had a fall-off-the-face-of-the-earth-into-the-ocean event!

Well, they generally do panic and over dramatize.  I guess it's their job.  If so, they do it well.

OK, on to other things.  Fenton things.  I found a signed Fenton bud vase at the thrift I was in at lunch, for $1.48.  It's in perfect shape and it's now on the shelves with my other Fenton pieces.  I was just saying this morning that my Fenton collection hadn't expanded in a long time and that it was time to find more.  Then I did, so I'm happy.  I also found something for Froggy.  I'm not telling - except that it is not crochet related although it is sewing related.  And I've already got one of them myself.

After Otter got home today, we went to another thrift store so I could give them back the suede coat I bought from them 2 years ago.  And I found something else for Froggy!  I'm still not telling, but I don't have one of these.  Otter and I think that Mom would have also liked it.

And that's all I'm going to say.

Email Issues

For some reason, I am unable to send email.  I have been receiving it, Ijust can't send it.  Bill will check it tonight, but in the meantime if you send me an email and don't get an answer - be patient!

Sunday Fair Food, Continued

More detail!

Here's the cheese sculpture!  I can't get it to orient right, so I guess you have to turn your head to the right to see it clearly.  :)  It was kept in a glass-enclosed area so it wouldn't get too warm.  There is a lot of detail although it might not show up so well in the picture.

Otter and BF rode a lot of rides.  The lines were long, averaged about 30 minutes for a 3 - 5 minute ride.  But they had a good time.  We bought ride passes, which actually save a lot of money because the rides are not cheap.  Ride passes can be used every day of the fair, BF went earlier with his family and then again with us so he definetely got his money's worth.  So did Otter, by the way.

There were not as many vendors and exhibits as have been there in years past.  But it was still fun.  We spent the entire day there.  We managed to remember everything we needed to take, with the exception of one very important item:  Sunscreen!  Otter's got pink shoulders, she had on a tank top.  She's been slathering on the aloe vera green goo that we use.

We enjoyed the prize winning displays.  The quilts were lovely, the artwork was very good although some of it was decidedly odd.  The photograph display has Otter seriously considering entering next year.  The crochet prizes have had the same effect on me - the crochet that earned ribbons was good, but not spectacular.  I'm considering a prayer shawl or another less common piece.  But I'll worry about that next year.

A big thing for Otter is the fact that she's now 18.  So she can legally sign petitions.  She couldn't get to the Right to Life booth fast enough, she wanted her first official petition to be the one that might help end legal murder.  (Legal doesn't mean morally right, by the way.)

The petting zoo was fun, it always is.  I took several pictures, but they all have faces in them so no pictures.  Otter was a typical girl, going crazy over all the animals - especially the babies, and she would have happily taken any and all of them home.  BF was a good sport about it, but I think he enjoyed the rides more than the animals.  We fed assorted animals including an emu, a couple of really sweet horses (mama and baby), goats by the boatload (lots of babies!), there was a camel but I'm not sure if Otter fed him or not, assorted cattle and we petted most of them.  There was also a tortoise, which caused me to immediately snap a picture on my cell phone and text it to somebody!  (Anybody care to guess who I sent it to?).

We avoided most of the food oddities.  The fried butter was the big thing that was talked up and publicized prior to the fair, but I never even saw a stand sellling it.  There were fried pickles, which sounds pretty gross, fried cheese, fried apples - which were in a cinnamon batter and served with warm caramel sauce & whipped cream and tasted pretty good and probably other fried things that I didn't see.  A couple of years ago, fried candy bars were the thing (but not my thing!).  There's always the standard food such as corn dogs.  My bad food was frito chili pie and it was very good.

By the time we left, it was just getting dark and there were still people arriving.  We managed to get a decent parking place, which doesn't always happen.  But we were all exhausted, but it was an enjoyable day for all of us.  My feet, back and knees were really hurting.  I took a couple of motrin last night, I think Otter also took one and she had the heating pad as well.

This is the first year that we can remember where it didn't rain once during the entire 10 day run of the fair.  That never happens!  Last year, it rained nearly every day but this year was clear.  However, we do have rain chances this week.

OK, that's my Fair report!  This was the first time we'd been in about 4 years and it was a lot of fun.  I'm glad we went this year.

Sunday Fair Food

We spent the day at the State Fair.  Talk about exhausted!  It was a lot of fun, though.

We picked up BF and had breakfast at IHOP.  Then we went to the Fair.  And walked around a lot.  We also stood in a lot of lines for rides.

There are always strange food combinations at the fair.  The most talked about one this year is fried butter.  No, I did not try it!  Basically, it's a butter pat wrapped in a piece of dough.  Then it's fried.  Sounds disgusting, actually.  We had cotton candy, popcorn and cokes.  I did have frio pie, so I wasn't totally good today.  It was pretty good.  Now, I'll probably eat oatmeal for the next week!

More details later, I'm tired!  My feet are killing me but my back isn't hurting as bad as it was earlier.  I'm going in search of a motrin now.

Wednesday Stuff. September Books. Whatever Else I Think Of.

Still thinking about ripples!  I've about decided that I'm going to follow the pattern I have as far as size.  That way, I know how much yarn I'll need.  Yarn is sold in different weights, or sizes, and I'm probably going to be needing a lot for this project.  So I'm most likely just going to order it from the manufacturer, which will probably be Lion Brand as it is my favorite.  I'm leaning towards green shades but I'm not quite there yet, it could become some other color entirely.  It won't be blue, since that's what Mom's is.  The pattern I have makes an afghan that is 40" x 60" or thereabouts, depending on the yarn weight.  Also, the crochet hook size will have an effect.

September books:

1.  High on Arrival by MacKenzie Phillips.  I think I read another book she wrote a few years ago, this one is considerably more detailed.  If what she says is true, and it probably is, it's no wonder that she grew up to have as many problems as she has.  This one was better than Valerie Bertinelli's book, it was still a tell-all but not as much of a "braggy, look at me" as Bertinelli's.

2.  Normal Rockewell's Boy Scouts of America.  Wonderful art!

3 - 9.  Batman, assorted.

10.  Up 'Till Now by William Shatner.  Autobiography.  Interesting.

11.  The Art of X-Men the Last Stand.  X-Men is a movie series that we enjoy, not into the comic books as much but the movies are good.  Otter especially liked this one, it had several pictures of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine!

12.  Batman

13.  Homicide Special, a Year with the LAPD Elite Unit by Miles Corwin.  I think I've read other books by this author.  He writes true stories and this one was very informative.  Part of the time he was researching this covered the time period including the actor Robert Blake's arrest on the murder of his wife.  When the news first broke about her murder, I wasn't sure that he did it.  But after having read this book, which is very well researched & detailed, I have to say that my opinion has changed.  OJ is not the only person who literally got away with murder.

14.  Vintage Vavoom - Romantic Decorating with 1 of a Kind Finds.  Absolutely nothing in this one.

15.  Stitch Style, 20 Knit & Crochet Patterns - Hats.  18 knit, 2 crochet and none of them were unique.  Waste of time.

16.  Crochet Edgins and Trims, 150 Stitches by Kate Haxell.  Rerun, I think.

17.  Kyuuto!  Japanese Crafts, Amigurumi.  I didn't find anything I wanted to crochet in this one.

18.  Disney Pixar Toy Story 3, the Essential Guide.  Of course we all enjoyed this one!

19.  Hannah's List by Debbie MaComber.  I only read this one because it was supposed to be part of the Blossom Street series.  It was just barely part of the series and it was a struggle.  I managed to finish it, but it was tedious.

20 - 22.  Batman.

23.  No Redneck Left Behind by Jeff Foxworthy.  Funny!

24.  Brotherhood of Warriers, Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in one of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Units by Aaron Cohen & Douglas Century.  Usually, a lot of words in the title is a bad thing.  But not in this case.  I highly recommend this one to anyone and everyone, and I have one comment:  ISRAEL DOES IT RIGHT.

25.  Manhatten North Homicide, the True Story of One of NY's Best Homicide Cops by Thomas McKenna and William Harrington.  This one was enjoyable, also a true story.

26.  The Fever, How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah.  Interesting, not particularly well-written by informative.

27.  How to Really Stink at Work, A Guide to Making Yourself Fireproof While Having the Most Fun Possible.  Jeff Foxworthy is always funny.

28.  Working Fire, the Making of an Accidental Fireman by Zac Unger.  This one is a true story, and it's very good.

29 - 30. Batman

31.  Comic Art Propaganda, a Grphic History by Federick Stromberg.  Interesting.

32.  Killing Willis, from Different Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted by Todd Bridges with Sarah Tomlinson.  He's another example of a rough childhood and it's a miracle he survived at all.

Otter seems to be recovered from her sinus infection.  She's on a very strong antibiotic and has one more day of it.  I've been fighting allergies for the last few days, they've been really bad this week.  Otter's having allergy symptoms, but it's "just" allergy this time.  Which is a good thing, because she really felt cruddy while she was dealing with the sinus infection.

We are officially done with the refinancing of our house, we signed all the closing paperwork yesterday.  There are always a lot of details involved with any type of home financing, even when it's a refinance.  But all the details are done and we are through!  We had a 30 year mortage originally, we had 25 years remaining but we refinanced to a 15-year mortgage.  Glad it's over and done with.

We've been having a mosquito problem.  We think that they are coming from our "favorite" neighbor.  She has a couple of water features that were put in when she did her recent major overhaul.  We have a more than sneaking suspicion that some of her water features involve standing water, or at least she's not using any fountains, pumps, etc. with them.  The skeeters seem to be coming from her direction.  We've checked, and they are not in the rain barrel this time.  Plus we don't have any standing water anywhere.  She does, and possibly lots of it.  I'm going to see if there is a place we can report it to, if nothing else maybe there will be some spraying done.  I am not a fan of the spraying, it's a chemical that bothers us.  But the bugs are bothering us more.  We can't even spend any time out in the front yard or even in the garage if the door is open.

Is it Friday yet?  Why not?!  It should be.

Ripples

Wow.  This is my 910th post!  One of my blog buddies mentioned that she'd hit 900 and I got to wondering when I might get there.  I was expecting it to be a long way off still.  But I just looked and this is # 910.

Guess I have a lot to say. :)

Otter's better today.  She stayed home from school, which is what I expected.  I am glad that she decided to, even though a sinus infection has nothing to do with lungs anything at all that is upper respiratory can have side effects which can trigger asthma.  She spent most of the day on the couch with her blanket & pillow and a beagle.  She's been pouring down the fluids, which she needs to do because of the antibiotic.  She thinks that she'll feel well enough to go back to school tomorrow.

I know I still haven't posted my September book list.  I meant to do it yesterday, but yesterday got kind of crazy (as my post title inferred).

Among other things yesterday, I transplanted my bluebonnet babies.  There was another one coming up so there are 6 total.  I have two pots with two each and then two pots with one each.  I didn't have enough pots and potting soil to plant them each seperately but they should be ok.  The were a little limp after transplanting, which is normal, but I watered them and left them alone after that.  They look much better today, very straight and healthy.  I'm hopeful.  My nearly 94 year old boss (Sunday is 94 for him) is also a Texan and he couldn't believe that I have bluebonnets in October.  I am going to take one of the pots in to the office, probably a double, when they get just a little bit bigger.  It would be great if they would actually bloom.  They look good and I'm hopeful.

Froggy, the title is inspired by crochet today.  Specifically, I have a ripple pattern afghan that Mom made in shades of blue.  It's a pattern that is easy and looks fun; I've been wanting to make one myself and then I remembered that I had the one Mom made.  You may or may not remember it, Froggy.  I need to get pictures taken and posted but I haven't gotten that done yet.  Anyway, I got it out of the chest that holds our blankets - once I got Bill motivated to take the two pachinko machines off of the top of the chest that is!  I remember when Mom made it, I really enjoyed looking at the details and seeing how good her work was.  I found where she ran out of the dark blue color and couldn't get the exact one anymore but had to continue with a slightly different shade.  I remember when she bought the yarn, I don't remember if she had a pattern that called for a specific amount of yarn or if she came up with the color scheme on her own.  It's a royal blue with a blue/white variegated yarn.  I have a pattern for a smaller size afghan that has the amount of yarn needed, but I'm thinking that I'll probably make mine a little larger than my pattern calls for.  Which means that I'll have to guesstimate on the amount of yarn needed.  Not sure of color or color combinations or even when I'll start, but it will be my next big project.  Aside from Bill's blanket, which is an ongoing project as it uses spare bits of yarn.  I'm just glad that I have such a large piece that Mom made.

It was 38 degrees this morning!  I'm so glad that I got my bluebonnet babies transplanted yesterday.  The trees will start to turn very soon, usually they start as soon as we have a few cold nights.  I'm probably going to be using that blue crocheted afghan quite a bit in the near future!

And it will be warm.  In many ways and not all of them physical.  Froggy, I bet you know exactly what I mean although in your case it's a quilt with birds & flowers embroidered on it.

Sunday Crazies

Otter's first suggestion for today's title was Sunday Pain.  Because she woke up with it.

It's been allergy season lately, fall is a bad time for Otter's allergies.  Mine aren't the best, but hers are worse this time of year.  She has had several times lately where she's needed her benadryl.  Yesterday, she spent most of the day fighting off a headache.  She was supposed to go to BF's yesterday, but didn't even feel up to that so she cancelled and they made plans to maybe see each other today before he had to go to work.  This morning, she woke up with actual sinus pain and not just the headache, so I was pretty sure we were dealing with a sinus infection.  I didn't want to make her wait until tomorrow when our doctor's office opens, so I took her to a doc-in-the-box and he confirmed my suspicions.  She's on an antibiotic and has an excuse for school tomorrow in case she needs to stay home.  Which she probably will.  She's better than she was earlier, but she had to cancel her plans with BF again.  He's understanding, we're taking him to the Fair with us next Sunday so they have that to look forward to.

After the doctor's, we went to Walgreen's and got Otter's prescription and then I went to Wally to get chicken soup fixins.  (Fixins is an official word in the Texas Language).  Otter just finished two bowls of the soup and she said that it helped.  She does feel better but not the best and I'm going to suggest that she not even try to go to school tomorrow.  She's been parked on the couch with a blanket and pillow for the most part today.

While I was at Wallyworld, I bought (big surprise) yarn.  I actually needed this yarn, I have just about finished up my pillows and discovered that I didn't have enough of any one particular color to finish and I didn't want to mix & match colors that don't go together.  I have managed to de-stash quite a bit and will use what I got today for other things, as they are both very pretty shades of brown.  I spent a lot of time yesterday crocheting and really enjoyed it.  But my skin is acting up so I'm not sure how much I'll get done this coming week.  I have dry skin anyway and it's also sensitive skin according to my dermatologist - but I already knew that!  One of my skin allergies is to adhesive.  Like the kind that is on most bandaids.  I managed to catch a fingernail on something the other day and broke it off pretty far back, which wasn't pleasant to start with.  But then I sliced the top of that same finger on something and everytime it would be nearly healed, I'd bump it on something else and reopen the cut.  So I finally gave in and kept bandaids on it for several days, because that was the only way I could protect it and also remember that it was there.  However, now that the cut is healed I have a nice little spot on the other side of my finger tip where my skin is trying to peel off.  Courtesy of my adhesive allergy!  Can't win for losing, as someone I used to know said (can't remember who said that).  I guess I'll go back to my latex gloves when I crochet.  And lots of lotion!

It wasn't Texas' year in the Red River Rivalry.  Well, there's always next year!  Besides, we did win the last 3 in a row.  We just wanted Texas to beat the you-know-what out of the sooners because of the stupid player's comments.

I haven't gotten much of anything accomplished that I wanted to today, but I'm not complaining.  I am just glad that Otter's doing better than she was.  I have managed to get most of my laundry done, but that's not exactly my favorite chore (as well all know!).

This week looks like it's going to be pretty busy.  The closing on the refinance is this week and there are a bunch of other things going on.  And since it's Fall, it's been very cool at night.  We've had a couple of nights that got down into the 50's and possibly even the high 40's although I'm not sure about that.  The days have been absolutely beautiful, but now I think it's time to start looking for firewood.  We'll need it soon enough.  We have some left from last year, but we want to stock up a little bit because it's one of those things where the price gets raised through the roof, once the weather really turns.

I'm actually anxious for winter, I have been wanting real s'mores for a while.  We make them in the microwave, but somehow they are just not the same!

It's Friday and it's "THAT" Weekend

You know the weekend I mean, I'm sure.

And it started early.  The persecution, I mean.  Some years, it's worse than others.  This is one of those years where it's worse.

A few days back, there was a gunman on the Texas campus.  It was on the news which was expected.  Otter said that whenever there's been a school shooting anywhere, there has been at least an announcement made at her school and some sort of special, appropriate comments in memory/honor of the victims whether they died or not.  Not this time.  Nothing was said.  But something would have been said if it had been any other school besides Texas.  I can just about guarantee that.

Well, something was said by an ou player.  (No capital letters here, not for this one).  He said that he wished all other Texas students would do what the gunman did.  Which was to kill himself.  And apparently, it's the Texas fans/team/family members fault that he was banned from the game.  (Yeah, right!).  Obviously, we always want Texas to win.  But sometimes we don't and we understand that.  We've won the last 3 years in a row.  But after the player's comments, we'd like to see Texas absolutely decimate ou this year.  We're not the only ones.

Then today, something else happened.  Bill got pulled over on the turnpike.  We have what are called pike passes, they are an electronic reader that fits inside the car on the windshield.  We have an account set up with the turnpike authority, we go through the special lanes at the toll booth and the amount is deducted from our account.  When it gets to a certain point, we get a light that tells us that our balance is low and then they send a bill out to replenish the account.  The light came on this week, but the low level on the account is still high enough so that there is time for the bill to get mailed out and the payment mailed back.  Bill was coming home this afternoon and after he went through the toll booth, he saw a state trooper who was actually in the other lane start to pass him.  Then the trooper suddenly pulled back and got behind Bill.  And lit his lights.  Bill did what he was supposed to do, he pulled over and got his driver's license and insurance card out.  The trooper tried to tell Bill that he (Bill) had come through the toll lane illegally.  When Bill pointed out the pike pass and told him (politely) that the light was not the toll evasion or violation late but in fact was the low balance light, the trooper than took his id (but not the insurance card!) and the pike pass, and went back to his cruiser.  After he called in for information and found nothing on Bill he could get him for, he had the gall to say that he thought the pikepass was STOLEN.  To which Bill replied that that meant that someone must have broken into his car and switched the pike pass and if that was the case, then he wanted to make a police report right now.  I think that is when the IDIOT trooper realized that a) Bill had done nothing wrong and b) Bill was not even close to being intimidated.  So he gave Bill a warning and not a ticket, the warning says it's for improper entrance to a turnpike.  But what it should really say is that the trooper is a childish ou fan who tried to find a reason to ticket Bill for one reason and one reason only:  the Longhorn emblem on the back of the car.  Bill could tell exactly when the trooper saw it, and that's when the jerk decided that he needed to pull Bill over.

It's not the first time that this has happened to us.  It probably won't be the last.  I have also heard of very similar things happening to other people with Texas insignia on their cars and it's almost always this particular weekend.

We drive especially carefully around this time, because as I said this is not the first time we've had someone with a chip on his shoulder.

The UPS guy that delivered something to work told me that he bought a hat at Six Flags that has something about Texas on it and he is amazed that he gets harrassed when he wears it.  He said that he's not even from this area, he's from Virginia and he doesn't even have a dog in this fight but he still gets a hard time when he has his hat on.

All I had to deal with today is being tailgated extremely closely by what was obviously a very irate ou fan (I could see his shirt in the rear view mirror) who very obviously went out of his way to get behind me and then looked furious when I didn't pull over to get out of his way or speed up.  I was going what the rest of the traffic was going, which was well under the speed limit because of the amount of cars on a street with several lights.  My car has an emblem as well.

And even though the color clashes, I wore my burnt orange golf shirt with the Longhorn logo today.  We wear our assorted Texas t-shirts on a regular basis and my cell phone holder is burnt orange with the Longhorn logo.  We also have burnt orange ball caps with Longhorn logos and we wear them often.  And there are times when we fly the Texas flag.

Tomorrow will be one of those flag flying days.