TGIF TGIF TGIF TGIF TGIF TGIF

Can you tell I'm glad that it's Friday?  :)

It's been a long week.  I'm glad that it's over and done with.

Otter is better, it is NOT strep and that's a good thing.  But she's still not well.  However, I think the problems she's having today are allergy and not the virus she had.  We bought her some stronger allergy medicine on the way home today.  The benadryl does work, but she can't take it during the day and function.  So she got an alka-seltzer cold/allergy pill that has both a non-drowsy and a nighttime med in the same box.  She'll probably start on it tonight.  She was fairly miserable when I picked her up.  Among other things, we also bought a 3-pack of large boxes of lotion kleenex.  She'll probably go through most of them this weekend.

And I may help her on that.  I have what could be allergy, or could be the early symptoms of the virus she had.  It's an easy Friday night snack dinner, we're having nachos.  I'm going to load mine up with picante sauce and see if that helps.

We didn't get up at darkthirty to watch the royal wedding on tv, but we did see some of the highlights on the regular news we usually watch at 6:00 in the morning.  I do like the dress, I thought it was very pretty.  Classic, elegant and understated, which is what I like.  I'm just glad that it does not look a thing like her late mother-in-law's ridiculously ugly dress that was all the rage when I was shopping for a wedding gown!

I've got crochet plans tomorrow.  I finally found the pattern for the swiffer cover that I've been looking for.  It wasn't misplaced, it was actually in my pattern notebook.  I just couldn't find it when I looked for it, I guess the plastic sleeves stuck together and I thought maybe I didn't have that pattern after all.  I have one swiffer cover, that I bought last summer at a craft mall in San Antonio when I was visiting Froggy.  It works great, but it's starting to show signs of wear (we use the swiffer a lot) so I decided that it was time to make a new one.  I never did copy the one I bought before it got used, and cotton yarn tends to clump up after it gets wet and scrubbed on the floor.  I'm about 3/4 of the way done on the one I'm making (which is blue, as opposed to pink camo like the one I bought) and should be able to get it finished quickly.  It's a fast pattern, I worked on it a couple of nights ago but haven't had a chance to get back to it.  I haven't used thin gauge cotton yarn too much, but I really like it.  I have a few other plans for it.

We are absolutely heartbroken over the devastation wrought by the multiple tornados in the south Wednesday night.  It's just unbelievable.  I've already posted links to the Salvation Army and other charities, on previous posts about natural disasters.  They should be easy to find, if anyone is interested in helping.  Tornadic damage kind of hits "close to home", seeing how we live in Tornado Alley.  But they can and do happen anywhere.  I'm sure that they can use all the help they can get, and that includes our prayers.

The bluebonnet in the front yard has a 2nd bud!  It's doing great.  Bill mowed the yard today, he was very careful around it.  We planted morning glory seeds yesterday, we'll see what happens.  There are already a few coming up on Otter's trellis by the rock garden.  Obviously, we can't tell what kind they are, but I expect them to be the original variety and not anything from last year's bad seeds.  Hopefully, the seeds we planted yesterday are good and not bad like last year's!

We also have had our first hummingbird visit!  It was a few days ago, maybe last weekend, when we saw one on the feeder.  We've seen it a couple of times, and I had one buzz me yesterday when I was in the front yard.  The feeder had been up for a while and was probably fermented, so I cleaned it and refilled it last night.

Hummingbirds, morning glories and bluebonnets.  Happy, happy!

Waterlogged

Today, it did not rain.  Yesterday, it did.  Sunday, it rained.  Saturday, it rained, Friday... get the picture?

We're no longer in the beginning stages of a drought.  We've more than made up for any lack of rain last year.  The problem is that we seem to be getting it all at once!  It has nowhere to go, the water just keeps coming down and is causing some major flooding in parts of the state.  Also in Arkansas and I think Missouri and Kansas, as well.  We did need rain.  Just not all at once.  A nice, slow rain would have been good.  So that the ground would have time to absorb it and not get over-saturated.

More rain is forecast tonight and probably tomorrow.  I'm not sure about Thursday.

We're back in jackets, it's been cool and of course wet.

Otter isn't feeling too good at the moment.  She was having what we hoped were "just" allergy issues last night.  She took a benadryl and went to bed early, with a slight sore throat and lots of congestion.  She got up this morning with a very sore throat and more congestion.  And fever.  So, back to bed she went.  I took her temperature a couple of times during the morning, when it got to over 100 it was time to call the doctor.  I took her in this afternoon, the doctor does not suspect strep this time (I quizzed her about that, to be sure), but took a throat swab for a culture just to be on the safe side.  The rapid test came back negative, but then so did the one in December.  When it was strep after all.  After we got home from the doctor, Otter took a looooooooooooooooong shower and then I made chicken noodle soup for dinner.  Both seem to have helped her, but she still doesn't feel good.  Just better.  The doctor gave her an excuse for today and also for tomorrow, which is probably for the best.

Since I was home with her today, I got a lot done. Among other things, I made stew & rice (for the freezer for Billyboy's lunches), I made Beanie Weenie Surprise (also for the freezer for lunches), did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, watered plants, swept and started a crochet project which I'm nearly through with.  I'm tired!  I also had to deal with two over-affectionate dogsters.  They like to help, Maggie especially was fascinated with the broom while I was sweeping the kitchen.  Don't know what the attraction was, she's seen it before.  Frasier isn't interested in helping with housework, but he does like to sit and watch me crochet.  No idea why!  Although it might have something to do with his addiction to taking things outside that he doesn't think belong inside.  He has taken a yarn ball out before.

Th-th-th-that's all, fffolks!

Halelujah!

For He is risen just as He said.

Wild Blues

Or, how to make a Texan happy!

Look what we just found!  It's by the whiskey barrel.  It's actually right on the edge of the street and we hope that it doesn't get run over by the mail truck.  But it's there and it's naturalized, and we're thinking that maybe we should have left the other ones that sprouted in the whiskey barrel.  Maybe, this one obviously came up well after they did.

Whatever!  We're just glad we've got it.

Sunday Squirrels

We went to a local park this afternoon.  It has creeks, trees, birds, frogs and azaleas.  And a boatload of squirrels!  We sometimes take peanuts and feed them.  They are not tame, but they are very used to people and we can feed them from our hands.  Feed one or two, and you'll suddenly be surrounded by billions of little bushy tails!  We didn't feed them today, but they still follow people around if they think that there is the slightest chance of food.

We took Otter there to take pictures.  We decided to take her senior pictures ourselves, we weren't impressed with any of the packages we saw offered at any of the millions of photographers in the area.  The park is a local landmark and there are always lots of people.  In the spring, most of them are taking pictures.  Today was no exception.  Lots of little kiddos being herded (and chased down) by parents with cameras in hand.

My allergies didn't particularly like today's outing, but I enjoyed it otherwise.  So did Otter.  But we'll take peanuts next time.  Not that I expect the squirrels to starve, by any stretch of the imagination!

Movie Review:  Tangled.  It was pretty good, better than I expected.  It was funny.  I probably would not have been happy at theater prices, but we enjoyed it.  Especially the horse!

We have been watching, and there are almost no morning glories coming up.  We've always had a whole lot, but not anymore.  I'm thinking that the seeds we got last year must have been infected with something which is what we thought then, because very few came up from the seeds last year and even less of the already established ones.  This year, there are none at all in any of the areas I planted the seeds.  Including Otter's trellis.  There are a couple of vines that have come up at the end of the trellis, but they are the ones that were already established.  We bought several packages of seeds at the hardware store and I'll get them planted probably tomorrow.  Then we'll cross our fingers and hope.  (I'd plant them today, but my skin would probably run away if I spent that much time outside;  allergy overdrive!)

Several iris plants have blooms.  Several more have buds.  There are now two different shades of purple, and the yellowish ones have spread out.  Just no morning glories!

Otter has a movie review:  Insidious.  (I think that's the name).  She said it was good and that it was very scary.  She and BF saw it yesterday.  They also went to dinner.  They called it their Anti-Prom date.  The prom was last night, but neither of them wanted to go.  They wanted to do something that they would both enjoy, and the Prom was not it.  So they decided on dinner and a movie instead.  They actually went to the next small town over and had a Mexican dinner.  Otter said that she really is glad she got the shoes she did last weekend when we went shopping, but that she's now got blisters from them.  But they look good, and since she's her mother's daughter when it comes to cute shoes...

I did (finally) find time to crochet this week.  Yesterday.  I put 2 or 3 rows on the afghan and really enjoyed it.  I am going to work on it and a couple of other projects I've had planned for a while, then I'm going to get back to de-stashing.

Today is Palm Sunday.  We went to the early church service, which is what we usually do.  There normally aren't a lot of people, we are hoping that will change.  Because I don't see Pastor Dave keeping the early service much longer if he's only got 6 people in the audience!  Pastor Dave was complaining about how windy it has been lately.  He said that the wind was the reason he left West Texas.  He didn't pick a very good place, if he wanted to avoid wind!  Although we usually do get it earlier in the year.  But at least the area behind our house has grass now, it was scraped down to dirt when the building started back there and it was horribly dusty when the wind blew.

Like it always does here!

Friday

Soft & Fluffy Friday.  Or at least that's what I've decided today is.  Soft weather, also known as mist alternating with rain accompanied by a cold wind.  It's almost like an early Fall day, instead of early Spring.  It's been in the mid-40's most of today.

Yesterday, it was Spring (and in the 80's.)  With the standard Spring Storm as well.  We had wall clouds, two in particular that were very close but didn't sprout anything.  However, we had sirens going off and were ready to run to the safe room if necessary.  We didn't have to, thankfully.  But we did get a hailstorm.  Gravel size, and no damage to the cars or anything.  Just to the Asian Lillies I just planted!  Also, some of my hostas have damaged leaves and the tulips look like they took a few hits as well.  But it could have been a whole lot worse.

It was worse, after the storms (there were more than one) moved through our area and on east/northeast.  There was also a tornado well south of us.

So, while we are thankful that we are ok, let's not forget that other people are not ok and their have been some deaths.  Prayers will help.

Yesterday, I was going to wear my new shoes.  And I realized that there was no way my left knee was going to let me.  So, my lunch hour was spent returning the shoes to Payless.  It was not a fun trip because I really did NOT want to do that.  But I think it was the right decision, since I wasn't going to be able to wear them.  Then last night I twisted my left knee and it was agonizing!  I was reaching across the bathroom to throw something away and I think I just moved wrong, because my knee twisted pretty hard.  I should have just taken one or two steps so I could reach the trash can.  I had to take an extra-strength motrin when I went to bed.  It's better today, but it has reminded me a couple of times today that it's not happy.  So I spent today's lunch hour running errands and one of those errands was to go buy a big bag of chocolate!  Chocolate cures everything. :)

I'm just glad that tomorrow is Saturday.  I might actually get to crochet, I have not had any time since last Saturday.  I get cranky when I don't get to play with my yarn!

W(h)ine Wednesday

I haven't whined in a while, and it is Wednesday so I felt like it was a good title.  Actually, I'm not whining.  But I am tired.  I guess I could complain about that, that could be considered whining.

I think I'm going to go have a glass of wine and put my feet up.  They are ouchy for some reason.

Otter has a homework assignment for cooking class.  She has to create a casserole recipe and cook it for us.  I have to take a picture of her cooking it, as well as a picture of it after she's served it.  Then we have to write a paragraph about it which she will turn in along with the pictures and printed copy of the recipe.  She's got a few ideas, she's been cooking since she was small so it shouldn't be a problem for her.  She has to create her own recipe, she can't use one from a book or even from a family member.  It has to be original.  It won't be a problem for her.  I will post the recipe on the cooking blog after she's turned the assignment in at school.  Bill suggested that it have an ingredient also known as beagle, but that suggestion went over like a ton of bricks.

I still haven't gotten the hummingbird food mixed up!  I forgot about it yesterday, I was going to get it done after I showered all the allergens off but I got sidetracked.  Hopefully, I will remember it tonight.  Don't want the birds coming after me!

There's a yellow jacket, or possibly a hornet, starting a nest on the front porch.  We discovered it yesterday while we were outside playing in the yard with the weeds and Bill's going to take care of it this evening.  So far, there is just one insect on it and the nest is small.  But it needs to be gone.  We generally leave insects alone, except for spiders which have to be taken outside or the beagle will eat them, but not when they a) have stingers and b) are very close to the door.

Speaking of insects and beagles, there was a mayfly in the living room yesterday morning.  You know, big and look like mosquitos.  They are harmless, they don't even have mouths and I forget what they are the end life cycle of.  The one in question was flying low, right at beagle eye-level.  Dog went crazy trying to find it, she saw it once and then it got out of her sight.  She kept looking around for it, she wanted to catch it.  She gave up on it after a few minutes.  Then it appeared again, Maggie almost flew through the air herself, from one side of the living room to the other, and snatched it out of the air.  She didn't kill it, but she did wing it.  She opened her mouth and it more or less flew out, but it didn't get very far.  As soon as it landed, stupiddog smushed it - with the top of her head!  Then she tried to roll on it, but she kept missing it.  There is a reason why she gets called stupiddog!  She had a good time with it, although it got picked up and thrown away pretty quick.  It was really funny.

Frasier's latest thing is to wait until somebody is petting Maggie, then he will nonchalantly mosey over and lie down.  On top of Maggie.  She gets squashed against the floor or the couch on a regular basis.  Frasier always looks so pleased when he manages to trap her.

OK, still nothing to whine about!  Guess I'll have to try harder.  Maybe next time.

Gutters

(No, not mind in the gutter kind of gutters!)  Bill cleaned the rain gutters out this afternoon.  They were pretty full, lots of helicopter maple seeds, dirt, leaves and just general gunk.  They are nice & clean now.  If we ever get any rain again, they might actually do their job!  It might rain Thursday or thereabouts.  Hope so, we need it.

After he cleaned the gutters, Bill replaced the filter in the drain pipe to the rain barrel.  It's basically a pantyhose leg, periodically it needs to be replaced.  It works wonderfully, actually.  It's a creative way to recycle torn hose.

I did some yard work this afternoon.  I planted two Asian lily plants in the whiskey barrel.  One has red blooms, although they are called purple, and the other one has light pink.  They are supposed to be perennial and full sun.  We'll see!  I pulled a few weeds around my hosta plants and cleaned out leaves, etc. from the same area.  The hostas have come back well this year, they are starting to spread and self-propogate and look very good.  My skin has been on high alert ever since, I'm heading for the shower very soon in hopes that the itching will go away.  I scrubbed my arms up as far as my elbows after I came inside and it did help.  But I still got itchies!  Also, my sinuses are not happy with me.  They weren't happy before I played in the dirt, and they are really angry with me know.  But at least I got to spend some time outside.  That's always a good thing.

While we were outside, I noticed that quite a few of the iris plants in the back yard have buds.  They should be blooming very soon.

No shuttles for Tulsa.  I'm surprised and at the same time, I'm not surprised.  There were 20 other cities attempting to get one, there were only 4 available.  The surprise comes in from the fact that NASA had rules for this, and the majority of the cities that will receive one did not meet the qualifications.  Sounds like some politics involved!  Well, it's not the first time and won't be the last.  But it would have been really neat to have one here.  Even if it wasn't the Enterprise.

I think I'm going to head to the kitchen now, and mix up some hummingbird food.  I have been meaning to for a few days but keep forgetting.  They'll be here soon and will be hungry.  I don't want to disappoint the little needle beaks!  They have been known to dive bomb us before, being redheads were are already targets for them.  I don't want to give them any more reason to attempt to stab us!

Fingers Crossed & Breath Held!

Tulsa's trying to get something.  From NASA.  Something very special.

Here's the article.

Tulsa's hopes

(Tulsa's hopes is a play on a line "All my hopes.." which any self-respecting ST Geek will recognize).

Tulsa has been trying to get it for months and months.  It sounds like Tulsa actually has a very good chance.  We certainly hope so.  The decision will be announced tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. local time.

And the best part?

This is the one that Tulsa wants:

In case you can't tell the NAME, see the next picture for a hint.

And if you still can't tell:

It's The ENTERPRISE!

Sunday Snakes

No, not the reptilian kind with the forked tongues & scales. 

I'm talking about the plumbing kind.  This week's adventure was having to play plumber (well, Bill did anyway).  The a/c drain pipe in the garage was clogged up.  The clog was actually in the pipe between the a/c drain and the kitchen sink which caused both ends to overflow.  Bill discovered it when he went out into the garage to get another pachinko machine to bring in to work on.  There was water running down one side of the garage - the side the pachinkos were on, of course.  We had a rapid rearrange session, then he figured out where the water was coming from.  This was Wednesday evening, so we didn't do anything about it then.  Aside from turning off the a/c (it was cool that evening) and not using the dishwasher or kitchen sink, the dishwasher had just finished running and that is probably what caused the overflow leak.  Thursday morning's breakfast dishes were washed in the bathroom sink.  Bill talked to the plumbers at work and they told him that it was probably a clog and not anything more severe such as a broken pipe based on the symptoms, so he stopped on the way home from work and bought a pipe snake.  It did the trick, and we can now use the sink, dishwasher and a/c again.

I'm really glad that it was the other day and not today, because I don't think I could stand not having the a/c on in the house.  It's in the 80's, not extremely hot outside although the humidity is a problem for me.  The problem I'm having today is simply because I'm a 49 year old woman!  I haven't had a hot flash in several months and the one I had today made up for any that I've missed.  I've seldom been this miserable, it was very windy and cool this morning so I stood out on the back deck in the wind for quite a while.  Then I came inside and stood with my head in the freezer.  After that, I moved to the bedroom and turned the fan on high - and stood in front of it.  I am not looking forward to the next few years, if today's was any indication of what's on the horizon.

After I cooled down, we managed to make it to church.  Where the a/c was on and I actually got a little cold.  And enjoyed it!

I think I might get a hummingbird feeder up soon.  I haven't seen any yet, but we've seen quite a few birds suddenly appear and I expect them soon.

Otter and I went shopping this afternoon.  We both needed Easter dresses and also something to wear to her graduation.  We went to Penney's with the intention of hitting Dillards next, but we both found what we wanted at Penney's.  Love their sales!  My dress is a totally different size than I was looking for, I knew I'd lost a little more weight but I really didn't think I'd gone down any more in terms of clothing size.  Until I tried on the size I thought I would wear and it swallowed me.  The next size down actually is almost loose, but the size down from that would probably not work (yet) and I don't think that they had the next one down anyway.  No luck in the shoe department today, although we did try.  We both bought sundresses but mine has a shrug-type jacket.

Well, I guess that gives us an excuse to go shoe shopping this week.  Like we need one!

While we were out, we went to Lowe's and found a couple of plants.  Not much in the way of herbs, which is what Otter wants to grow this year.  She found a rosemary plant at the grocery store last week and would like to find another mint plant, probably peppermint specifically.  We bought 4 small jalepeno plants and a couple of lillies (forgot what kind) for the whiskey barrel.  We'll look at another store this week after school that usually has more edible plants than Lowe's does and see what we can find.

Then, we'll probably go shop for shoes. :)

It Was Otter's Turn Today

Allergies!  We can't seem to dodge them, this time of year.  Otter's been fighting hers for a few days and the wind is not helping.  She has been taking benadryl at night for the last couple of nights.  This morning, she woke up feeling cruddy.  So she took a benadryl and went back to bed.  Where she stayed most of the day.  I went to work, she was fine by herself.  And she had two doggies to look after her.  She's feeling a lot better this evening, but she's still got the allergy issue to deal with.  However, she will probably be back at school tomorrow.

She did manage to get out of the house for a few minutes.  We had a local election, so I picked her up after work and we went to vote.  We also stopped at Wallyworld and got milk as well as a rotiserie (sp?) chicken from their deli.  The chicken was dinner tonight.  I had a filling lunch from the so-called Chinese place by work and Bill went to lunch with some people he works with and had (not the best) Mexican food.  Otter had chicken noodle soup for lunch but she doesn't have much of an appetite when her allergies are acting up.  So I got a deli chicken and dismembered it.  Bill and I made wrap sandwiches with it, Otter's portion is on a foil-covered plate in the fridge for whenever she decides she's hungry.  The next time I decide to make chicken salad, I'll probably just buy a deli chicken instead of cooking one myself.  There isn't much of a price difference, actually, and it would already be cooked so it would save time.

We've been looking for chairs for the back deck.  We have plastic adirondack chairs that we've had for several years and we've enjoyed using them.  We spend a lot of time out there in the spring & summer.  But, after many years of being used and then left outside to freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw/etc., they are starting to break.  We decided to go with wooden ones this time.  The hardware store we like had some nice ones on their website, sturdy and not too expensive.  We went up to the store while ago, but they don't have them in stock yet.  So we ordered them off of the website.  I'm not sure how long the delivery will take, we're having them delivered to the store and I'm not sure if they are assembled or not.  I think they are, but I'm not sure.  But it will be nice to have chairs that I'm not afraid of landing on the ground in!

(Otter reported that her chicken was very good.  She had it with potato chips and ketchup, so I think her appetite is returning).

It did get to freezing last night.  Our area was 29 degrees this morning.  But it didn't feel like it was that cold.  It was nice this afternoon, sunny and around 70.  We are going to have a couple of nice days with more rain chances this weekend.

Hope we get rain, we could sure use it.  We could see smoke from grass fires from the house this afternoon.  Not a comforting sight!

A Few Observations on Monday

First of all, it's cold again.  It could freeze tonight.  We had the a/c on last week and the heater today.  I know that Texas weather is very quick to change.  But it doesn't even begin to hold a candle to Oklahoma weather!

Along with being much cooler today (50's), it's also been extremely windy.  We have Fire Alerts, which means that there is no outdoor burning allowed.  At all.  There have been some serious grass fires and there was one house fire late last night that became 2 houses completely gone and many surrounding houses with roof damage, due to the extremely high winds.  It's very dry here, which doesn't help matters.  We had a chance of rain last night, but we didn't really get anything out of it.

Froggy asked me about the March book list, seeing as it's April now.  Froggy, you apparently haven't been paying attention because I haven't posted one since the January list.  There wasn't one for February.  I'm not doing them anymore.  I've decided to comment on a few books as opposed to trying to list all the books I read.  The February list was probably the biggest one, or it would have been if I'd kept it.  I didn't even start one for March.  I'll occasionally post stuff about books.  I have been reading less and less fiction and more history and biography type things lately.  I think I've just about read everything the library has in the way of crochet books.  I have not found much fiction lately that I want to read.

Maggie Moo went to the vet today.  She and Frasier enjoyed their car ride.  Frasier parks in the back seat, which he takes up completely.  Maggie rides in the area between the two sides of the front seat.  She just fits.  She always pays attention to the direction we are going, and she knows exactly where we have to turn to go to the vet's.  The vet moved, however.  He's in the same strip center he was in before, but he's moved to the opposite end and has a much bigger space.  Maggie was being watchful today, when we didn't turn in to the parking lot where we usually did I noticed that she looked happy.  Then when we did turn, she wasn't aware that we were in fact at the vet.  She got out of the car easily, and happily went in the door with Otter and Frasier.  Then she saw the vet standing at the front desk, and that's when she realized just exactly where she was.  She was not amused!  She was even less amused a few minutes later, when the tech came to get her.  The tech had to play a round of Drag the Beagle.  When the procedure (behind squash) was over, the dog more of less flew out of the procedure room and straight back to Otter.  And she couldn't wait to get out of there and back into the car.  Not that I blame her.  Frasier weighed in at 69 pounds, or so.  He wouldn't be still on the scale, so he could actually be closer to 70 or 71 pounds.  Maggie has lost about 4 pounds, she's just under 25 pounds.  Which is a good thing.

We finally finished Otter's birthday cake.  It was good and it took us a while, but it's finally gone.  When we went to the bank earlier, the teller couldn't believe that she was even 18 let alone 19!

She graduates in just over a month.  That is simply not possible, she just entered kindergarted a few months ago!

Sunday Shortcakes

Got strawberries, angel food cake & cool whip in the fridge!  Which will be eaten later today, since we're all kind of stuffed from the chicken wraps we made for lunch.

Yard Sale Season has begun.  We went to one in the neighborhood last week, where we found a smaller desk for me and Otter found some craft stuff.  We went to three today, Otter found a necklace at one but that was all we bought.  We followed signs to another one, but they were apparently yesterday's signs because it wasn't there.  We also hit a thrift store, but that is a regular activity for us (no luck there).  Sunday yard sales are not really common here, for some reason.

While we were out, we also went to the library.  Which is also a regular activity for us!  Otter found a bunch of books, she also turned in the majority of the last haul.

It's been really warm lately.  Yesterday was so pleasant, we had the house open most of the day with a fan in the window.  It was breezy, but we were able to sit out on the deck in the morning and it was really nice.  Today is warmer and still pretty, but it's also WINDY.  Enough that I was nearly blown off my feet by one gust.  It's another one of those days where we keep expecting to see the beagle fly by.  We could get rain tonight, with the chance of more tomorrow.  Hopefully, any rain we do get will be ended by the afternoon.  The beagle has to go get her rear end squished at the vet's and I do not look forward to the idea of loading wet dogs in the car!

Bill cleaned out some junk from the shed while Otter and I were out hitting yard sales.  We have wasps in there.  They get in at one end, by the door, and then they can't find their way out.  They go to the window at the opposite end from the door, since they see the light shining through.  Then they spend their time batting against the window, trying to get out.  We have to go open the door and let them out on a regular basis.  They are not smart, it takes them a while to figure out that all they have to do is go back the way they came in and they'll be fine.  They are not nesting in the shed, we check frequently.  They just aren't too bright!

Otter saw the first honey bee of spring today.  She was cleaning out the dog yard, which is her least favorite chore and I don't blame her.  She said that the honey bee was busily collecting pollen from all the dandelions that have suddenly sprung up.  We also heard the first frog of the year yesterday, so Otter replaced the bricks in the dog's water dish because we don't want drowned frogs!

Bill didn't quite get to the bikes when he was working in the shed.  But I'm thinking that we're going to have to get them out pretty soon.  Someone gave us a bike that they weren't going to use a while back, so I'm thinking that I might start riding it in place of the one I bought a couple of years ago.  My bike isn't quite tall enough for me and it also needs new brakes.  If the other bike is in decent shape, which it looks like it is, I'll probably start riding it instead of buying new brakes for mine.  Depending on how tall it is.  I'm fairly tall, 5' 9".

My allergies are both better and worse today.  The respiratory allergies are better, which is surprising considering the wind and the fact that everything is blooming.  But my skin allergies are starting to kick in today.  I'm itchy!  I don't particularly like having allergies to so much stuff, but Otter's are even worse than mine.  I'm allergic to lots of things, she's allergic to nearly everything!

TGIF! Cough, Cough, Achoo

I've given in to my allergies today.  They have been getting worse over the last few days, and after hardly sleeping because I couldn't breathe last night, I decided to just give in and let them have their way.  So, I'm home.  With my coughing and sneezing!  And slightly sore throat.  And two dogs, who are curled up in the living room floor. Where they've been since breakfast! Which was the only reason they interrupted their sleep - food, followed by more sleep. Smart doggies.

I hate allergies. I have a lot of sinus pressure, but not actual sinus pain so I'm not worried about an infection. But I am not enjoying it! This spring is predicted to be a bad one as far as allergies go. The freezing weather we had in early February delayed the blooming cycle of some plants/trees. So they are all blooming at once, instead of being spread out somewhat.

Otter enjoyed her birthday.  We took her & BF to the restaurant known as the Hog Trough in the family but it has another name, Golden Corral, which is what the rest of the world calls it.  We met her grandparents there and had a fun meal.  Then we came back to the house for birthday cake.  Which was really good, and of course we had to have ice cream with the cake.  Froggy, any guesses on where the ice cream came from?  After the cake & ice cream, Otter and BF took the dogsters out in the back yard and ran around with them.  When the dogs decided that they'd had enough play (which took a while), both poochies came inside and crashed on their blanket.  And stayed there, unmoving, for hours.

OK, my crochet is calling me.  Although I'm not sure I have the patience for it today.  Along with having sneeze/coughing outbreaks, I'm also grumpy.  Maybe I'll just go make some herbal tea and watch tv for a while.  I'm sure the doggies will be more than willing to keep me company.