Slow Summer Sunday

It's a slow Sunday.  It's a hot Sunday.  So, we are having a mostly indoor Sunday.

Well, sort of anyway.  Otter did have one chore that required her to be outside.  She has to clean out the presents the dogs leave in their yard, it's her weekly chore.  Bill's been working in the garage, which isn't really indoors and is kind of hot.  But not as bad as if he were working outside.  He's been doing something with the pachinko machines, I don't remember what specifically, but he's been in the garage part of the time.  I've mostly been inside, doing laundry.  Except for a brief trip to Wallyworld.

The Wallyworld trip was for Bill.  He dislikes that store as much as I do, he just avoids it more than I manage to.  He needed painter's tape for one of his pachinko projects.  He has painter's tape.  But it would probably have taken him at least 2 hours (no exageration) to find it as it's somewhere out in the garage.  So we ran up there to get him some more.  Otter and I went to the grocery side of the store, since we ran out of lunch meat with today's lunch.

Mentioning laundry made me think of this:

We've often commented on how there is enough fluff that comes off of Frasier to make a whole other doggie.  Especially after we wash the dog blankets!

The dogs are being semi-intelligent today.  Frasier is the intelligent one, Maggie is the semi- one.  :)  He's spent most of his time today parked on the tile entry way floor or on the kitchen tile floor.  Maggie's not really any more active than he is, so I guess she's having a smart moment.  Actually, Maggie did have a smart moment earlier today.  I carried her into Otter's room and parked her on Otter's bed, thinking that she would wake Otter up.  Maggie poked Otter in the face with her cold nose.  Then, she curled up beside Otter and went to sleep!

We cleaned out Otter's closet after we got home from church.  Sales tax free weekend starts this coming Friday, so we decided it was a good time to see what she'd outgrown or no longer wore.  She had several shirts & blouses that are now in the donate pile in the living room, which will probably be attended to sometime this week.  She doesn't really need a lot, a couple more pairs of jeans mostly but she could probably use a few more dressy shirts and maybe a skirt or two.  Billyboy always needs jeans, he is really hard on his clothing.  I don't think we'll buy/spend what we have in the past, now that Otter is no longer outgrowing her clothing every few months!

Tropical Storm Don was a flop.  It went into S. TEXAS just a little further south than it was hoped, so San Antonio and surrounding areas are still in drought status and have to ration water, although I'm not sure what stage they are at.  We're pretty dry here, but not anywhere near as bad.  But it's very dry here.

Among other things last week, Otter got her college ID card.  The book list will be available in a few days, on the 8th.

Tomorrow is August 1st.  7 years since we moved from the house Otter christened Couple Days into our current home.  It was hot then as I recall, but not nearly as hot as it is now.  It seems like it took us forever to actually get moved, we had so much eBay stuff that was in the garage at the old house and it took many, many trips to get it all moved.  The actual furniture & clothing part of the move was reasonably quick.  But the eBay stuff took forever!  We wound up donating most of it to Meals on Wheels for their garage sales.  But not until after we'd moved it.  We probably should have just left it all there, and donated it from there.  But we had planned on getting back into eBay after we moved.  We did some eBay selling after that, but not nearly as big as we had been before.  eBay was good for a while, but it's changed so much and I think we're all glad to be out of it.  Except for the occasional item we sell or buy.

Yesterday was International Cheesecake Day.  Definitely one we observed.

OK, back to the laundry now.  Wish I could teach the dogsters to do that for me.  Somehow, I just don't think that they would be interested.  Not that I blame them.

Hoppy Birthday!

(No, that's not a mistake in the spelling!).

Have a good one, Froggy!  Although I don't think you're going to get the draught-busting rain you wanted.

Still, you should at least have some cake.  Get Crazy Uncle and whichever kid is in range to bake it for you.  Then, if they are really nice you can think about sharing it with them.

Hot Summer Thursday Thoughts

I think we're going to wash a car this Sunday.  Probably one of Bill's.  Most likely, his impala.  Then, we're going to water the plants and maybe the yard.  I don't know if I'm going to make any more sun tea, though.  But, I might.

We need rain!

It looks like South TEXAS may be in for some in the near future.  Depending on the tropical storm (I don't think it's a hurricane yet) and where it comes in.  They need it desperately.

Is it too much to ask that they send it here, when they're through with it?

Wednesday. Still Hot. Still Dry.

Still tired of it.

But, we can't do much beyond gripe.  Griping doesn't accomplish anything.  So, I've decided to just not worry about the heat.  We'll just keep watering the plants and dogs, the dogs have turned into mecha-camels and they keep their water dish almost dry.  Otter fills it up, the dogs come along and inhale, then Otter has to fill it up again.  Then, they have it emptied again in record time.

Bill's kind of following in the dog's lead, except he's keeping the ice tray nearly empty.

But it could still be a whole lot worse.

OK, enough on that subject!

Toadly's herd increased last week.  Well, his daughter JediMom's herd, actually.  A new sweet little girl! :)

I have a count down ticker on the top of the blog page.  In case you can't tell what the counter is, it's a hamster in an excercise ball.  It doesn't show up quite as well as I hoped, but it was my favorite counter out of the ones available.  Since they didn't have any otters!

Nobody ever has otters, I've seen a few stuffed ones but they are hard to find otherwise.  I don't think that's fair!  We like otters around here.  For some reason. :)

Otter's Dental Update and Other Stuff

(Only 152 days left until Christmas!  Better get busy.)

Anyway, where was I?  Oh yeah, Otter's dental adventure.  She got the first filling she's ever had, I think 19 years without a cavity is a good thing.  She said it wasn't too bad, not even the shot - of course, she'd already had nitrous oxide (laughing gas) by that point so she might not be a really good judge!  The dentist took more detailed x-rays and she can do the wisdom teeth extraction herself, so no oral surgeon.  We scheduled the surgery for August 18.  It's in the morning, and the dentist said it will probably take about an hour.  I didn't want to wait until that close to her first day of college, but the other option was the day before her orientation and she really needs to be clear-minded (and pain free) for that.  But the surgery is on a Thursday and she will have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to recover before school starts.  The dentist is on vacation the week prior to that, so we really didn't have much choice if we wanted to get it done before school.

After I brought my loopy Otter home, I went to the grocery store and one of the items on my list was the ice cream she'd requested.  Also, lots of jello!  We usually have jello on hand but we were down to our last package.  About a week prior to her surgery, she's going to increase the amount of jello she eats.  I don't know if it's just one of those stories or if it's true about jello helping with blood coagulation, but it can't hurt!  Besides, jello is just good.  And good for us, as well.

We didn't have a lot of rain yesterday, but it was enough to cool things off a bit.  This morning, it was just barely drizzling and there was also a "cold" front that came through so we didn't even top 100 today.  It was nice, but we're supposed to be back to hot again tomorrow.

I'm thinking that it is probably a good time to clean out the rain barrel.  It needs a periodic cleaning out, and it's pretty empty now so we'll probably get to it this weekend.  Basically, Bill unhooks it and then I use the garden hose to rinse it out.  It's pretty easy.

We're also beginning to think about winter.  I know, it's hot as blazes at the moment!  But it's time to start thinking about firewood.  Last year, Bill and a guy he works with split a huge trailer load of wood from a mill in Arkansas.  It was pretty cheap and we got a huge amount of wood out of it.  But a lot of it was bark - basically, the sides left when a board is cut out of the center piece.  Bark is still wood, it burns just like logs.  But it burns faster.  Which we knew beforehand.  But we didn't think we'd go through it as fast as we did - however, February's record blizzard had a lot to do with that.  I think we're going to get "regular" firewood this year.  Bill's friend decided not to get the wood from the mill this year, otherwise we would probably go ahead and at least get some.  I'm possibly going to order it as soon as this weekend, Bill found a different place to order it from, other than Bubba and Bubba.  The wood we've gotten from them the last couple of times has not been the best quality.

Otter made brownies Saturday.  I think I hear them calling my name.  And so is the ice cream!  (Froggy, remember the little mouse that always ate the corner out of the peach cobbler?  You know, the one that looked like our father.  Well, my house has one of those little mousies too.  It likes brownies!)

Sunday Sun Tea

This:

Plus:

Equals this:

And, when you also do this:

Plus this:

And this:

you get this:

Not much and not enough, but at least we did finally get some rain and it cooled us down.  It's kind of sad when 90 feels cool!

Of course, it then got humid and yucky and warm again, but it was nice while it lasted.

We actually almost didn't make sun tea.  We couldn't find the jar!  Bill looked, I looked, Otter looked.  All over the house.  Then, I had Otter look one more time and she found it.  We filled it up with water, added tea bags and sat it on the deck.  Then we went to church, and it was ready about 11:30.  It didn't get all that much time, but it was so hot that it really didn't need much time.  I realized today that I've probably had my sun tea jar longer than I've had Willyboy!  I think Mom gave it to me when I first moved out on my own.

Otter and I ran a few errands this afternoon.  We went to a thrift store while we were out.  She found two skirts & I found two nice blouses.  We went to Michael's, but didn't find anything.  That's not a good thing!

Otter's dentist appointment for the filling is tomorrow afternoon.  I'm going to call the dentist's office in the morning and make sure that she'll have time to check my partial because it doesn't fit anymore.  I haven't worn it since Friday because it fits so badly.  I've been eating one-sided.  But at least I'm not in agony, it was really painful by Friday and not just because it fit differently and I had to get used to it.  I seriously considered taking the pliers to it myself.

I'm thinking of selling some of my crochet creations.  I don't really enjoy it as much, when I make something to sell, but I think that I'm going to attempt to sell some things.  We're facing a bill for oral surgery for Otter's wisdom teeth, and also it will help me to de-stash a little.

I brought all of my yarn stash into the living room yesterday and went through it.  I have managed to use up some, but not that much - which seems odd because I've really been attempting to use it.  It's just that I have so much of it!  I'm about 3/4 of the way through with the last scarf for the military donation and then I just have the hat to match it.  After that, I'm going to start making a few scarf/hat sets as well as individual hats and probably scarves as well with the idea of putting a few on eBay to see what happens.  If they don't sell or don't sell as much as I'd like, they'll probably get donated so it won't be a waste of time/effort/yarn.  I make a lot of things and donate them anyway.

Now, back to my laundry.  Then I might go have another glass of sun tea.  Along with a carob brownie that Otter made yesterday.

W(h)ine Wednesday

OK, it's still hot.  According to the news, it's probably going to be this way for a while.  How long a while is, is anybody's guess.  But at least until early next week.

That's whine # 1.

Whine # 2 is the big one of the day:  Otter and I went to the dentist this afternoon.  We needed to get our teeth cleaned and I also asked for an x-ray of Otter, since she's had some discomfort lately in the far back part of her jaw.  Not in the joint, but more on the jaw itself.  A couple of years ago, the dentist noticed that her wisdom teeth were starting to move and at the time they were going sideways.  But they weren't far enough that she could tell yet if they would turn or not.  Well, they turned.  But they didn't turn enough.  They are not coming in completely straight, but they are on their way.  Even if they were straight, Otter doesn't have enough room for them anyway.  So, they are going to have to come out.  The bottom ones, at least.  Otter has managed to make it 19 years without a cavity, her first one was discovered today.  It's a spot that the dentist noticed last time, it wasn't quite a cavity at that point but she thought it could become one.  It did, and Otter gets the joy of having a filling next Monday.  At that time, the dentist is going to take a better x-ray so we can see exactly where we stand as far as the wisdom teeth go.  Then, we'll decide how/when to take them out.

Otter has asked if she can have the gas instead of shots next week, when she gets the filling.  I'll talk to the dentist's office in the next day or so about the possible repairs to my partial denture and I'll ask about it then.  I'm thinking that the gas might just be the way to go.  Otter is a redhead, after all.  And that means a) the bleeding potential and b) fast metabolizing of any and all types of anesthesia including dental shots.

I'm hoping that we can get the oral surgery done before college starts next month, but it might have to wait a bit.  Depends on a few things.  Finances, as well as the dentist's schedule and mine.  I had to get my wisdom teeth taken out when I was 15 (all 4 of them) and it was not fun.  Mostly, I remember having to eat lots and lots and lots of jello prior to the surgery because jello, being made from what is essentially bone marrow, can potentially help with the Redhead Curse known as excessive bleeding.

Couldn't eat jello for a loooooooooooooooooooong time after that!

I'm also going to be needing some dental work done.  I have two crowns on the bottom left side of my jaw - and a few of my real teeth.  There is a spot underneath the farthest crown that the dentist tried to fix when she was doing all the big work, and she said at the time that it was probably going to need more attention in the future.  Well, the future is here and it needs attention.  The problem is that the area is actually under the crown.  The crown will need to be removed for the work to be done, which will result in the crown being destroyed.  That means that I'll have to get a new one.  Not gonna be fun!

But at least Otter has inherited her dad's teeth and not from my side of the family!

Same Song, Second Verse

The rest of the song (it really is one) goes:  Should get better, but it just get's worse.

Here's why:

Look familiar?

Like maybe they are just taking the first day off and sticking it on the end, each day?

Otter and I were wondering if we built a big bonfire and sacrificed a few meteorologists over it, would it make it rain?  (Not really!).

Monday Stuff

Still hot!  See yesterday's for the 7-day outlook.  Which is still about the same, unfortunately.

We got Otter enrolled at college over the last few days.  We started the process last Wednesday, but there were still a couple of steps to go through that we had to wait on an email for but it didn't come in until late Thursday and they were closed on Friday.  So, since it took so long last week when we were there, I arranged the day off today. we went out there this morning (for a few hours more) and finished the process.  Basically, she's going to the local community college for the next two years with the plan being for her to transfer to a university for the last 3 years.  Yes, I know - that means 5 years.  But the degree program she's after is a 5-year Master's degree because apparently you can't become a certified librarian unless you have a master's degree.  We are very fortunate that the nearby university offers the degree, because it's not a very common one and I'm not even sure if another school in the state offers it.  Well, there might be one - but I suspect it's that particular school that no self-respecting TEXAN would ever consider attending, under any circumstances. :)  Besides, that particular school does not have the best reputation for the subjects Otter is interested in and the closer school has a very good program.  The community college is very highly rated and I think several of her friends are also going there.  So, we feel good about it.

Anyway, we are now officially the parents of a college student.  She'll be taking 13 hours, 3 days a week for the classes she wanted.  Monday - Wednesday - Friday.  At least to start with, I'll be taking her and picking her up because it's on my way to work.  She'll eventually get to the point where she is driving herself, but that will mean that she'll have to have her own vehicle and she hasn't quite gotten enough $$ saved yet.  Or, at least not enough to buy a dependable car.  She's working on that.  But it's not going to be a problem for me, it's literally on the way to work and her school hours are almost the same as my work hours.  In two years, she'll probably be literally "away at college" because the closer school is close but not quite close enough to drive to/from each day.  Although Bill disagrees with that!  Well, he'll get used to the idea when it's time.  Maybe.  Froggy, I bet you know exactly what I'm talking about concerning Uncle Crazy and KN3 being away!  (And men think that mothers are overprotective?)

Since I was off today, we had a few other errands we scheduled for today.  We've been cleaning out stuff and Bill found bunches and bunches of old books from his college days, as well as assorted books from training he's taken for work.  They are on their way to being donated, we took two big grocery bags full today and there are probably 3 times that many still left.  We also went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and a couple of other things.  Now, we're at home (obviously) and I'm doing the laundry I didn't do yesterday because we went to The Movie.  (See next paragraph).

Movie Review:  HP7.5.  It was very good, fairly intense at times but it did stick the book for the most part.  There were some things that were skipped which was probably necessary due to time, and there were a few things that were changed slightly but they didn't hurt the story.  We really enjoyed it.  We saw the 3-D version, the 3-D glasses were kind of a pain yesterday but I had a sinus headache before we even headed out to the theater and it didn't help matters.  But it was a good movie and we had a lot of fun.

OK, back to my laundry.  Then, I think I'll go see about some crochet.  Maybe.  I have a sore left hand below my thumb, caused by carrying something too heavy with that hand and today's bags of books didn't help.  There are times when I really need to be an octopus.

Sunday Sevens

Our forecast for the next 7 days:

What Otter and I did this afternoon:

Technically, it's actually # 8 but it's known as # 7 Part 2.

Sad Day

This was in my email inbox this morning:

Dear friends of Fenton Art Glass,

As you may have heard last week, our company announced the cessation of production of our collectible and giftware lines on Wednesday, July 6.

Our QVC shows (July 14 at 6-7 a.m. and July 16 at 4-5 a.m.) will go on as scheduled. The glass required for these two shows was made and decorated several weeks ago so that it could be shipped to the warehouse facility at QVC. For a preview of items to be offered during these two shows, click here.

Here's what's going on now at Fenton. The gift shop's annual Tent Sale began last Friday, and, over this past weekend, lots of folks found glass items they liked. The Tent Sale is scheduled to go on through August 7. When you visit us here in Williamstown, you can see our beadmakers and decorators at work (Monday-Friday), and you can enjoy the historic glass in the Fenton Museum and the Experience Fenton video or the Fenton episode of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs (Discovery Channel© program) in our theatre.

In case you haven't seen it, here is the text of our press release from last Wednesday:

FENTON ART GLASS TO CEASE TRADITIONAL GLASS PRODUCTION AND SHIFT PRODUCT FOCUS

(Williamstown, W. Va., July 6, 2011). The Fenton Art Glass Company announced today that it would wind down production of its collectible and giftware glass products. The company has faced financial challenges since its restructuring in 2007, and recent developments combined to force the shutdown of its traditional glassmaking business.

"The market for our pressed and blown glassware has diminished," company President George Fenton said. "We cannot sustain the overhead costs. Our employees have worked hard and efficiently, so this is a very sad day for us. Shortly, we will begin the process of shutting down our main furnace. Remaining employees will be finishing existing glassware from the company's inventory that will be available through the Fenton Gift Shop as well as the company's web site and Fenton dealers across the country."

As a part of winding down the traditional business, Fenton Art Glass is exploring the sales of one or more product lines.

"We know that our many customers and friends will have questions," Fenton said. "Our web site www.fentonartglass.com will be updated regularly beginning the week of July 11."

Inquiries regarding sales of equipment and other assets should be directed to Fenton Art Glass at assetinfo@fentonartglass.com

Management at the Fenton Gift Shop is evaluating the impact of the termination of traditional glassmaking at Fenton Art Glass. "The Fenton Gift Shop is in discussions with Fenton Art Glass, the glass manufacturing company, to provide customers with a wide range of samples and special decorations as well as final quantities of limited edition pieces," said Randall Fenton, President of the Fenton Gift Shop. "The annual Tent Sale in Williamstown starts July 8, and the Fenton Gift Shop and the outlet store in Flatwoods, West Virginia, remain open."

Founded as a decorating company in Martins Ferry, Ohio, in May 1905 by brothers Frank L. Fenton and John W. Fenton, the Fenton Art Glass Co. constructed its factory in Williamstown during the fall of 1906. The first glass pieces were made there on January 2, 1907. During its 106-year history, Fenton introduced the first iridescent ware (now known as "Carnival glass") as well as classic patterns such as Hobnail and a wide variety of handmade colored art glass as limited editions.

The best way to keep up to date on any news about Fenton is to go to our web site and sign up for the regular eNewsletters (look for the brown box in the lower right of the home page). These are scheduled for every Monday and Thursday, and there may also be special issues if the need arises.

All of us here are grateful for the messages of support we have received in the past few days.

Sincerely,

George W. Fenton, President

Can't say I'm exactly surprised about it.  Fenton announced that they were closing a few years ago, then a number of employees got together and attempted to keep it going.  It looked like they had a chance, then the economy crashed and the rumors have been flying for a while.  As far as "exploring sales of one or more product llines", that means that Fenton itself will no longer be in business but possibly another company might be willing to still produce some of their lines through purchasing it.  But Fenton's essentially gone now.  This time, I think it's final.

Melty Monday

It's that kind of day.

The kind of day that even makes Texans cringe, if that gives you an idea of just how hot it really is.

We have a heat alert through tomorrow night, but there will probably be another one issued after that.  We won't be below 100 for days.  In fact, next Sunday's forecasted temperature is 106.

However, Otter and I will be inside an air-conditioned theater, stuffing ourselves with popcorn and candy while we watch the final Harry Potter movie.

Until then, we're only going outside when we absolutely have to!

Sunday Lazies

Today's title is inspired by the two dogs that live in our house!  I'm not sure which one is lazier, by the way.  The do occasionally get up, but most of their time has been spent snoozing.  Which is probably a good idea, since we are still having S. TEXAS summer.

Otter and I had a couple of errands to run today.  We were on our way to Michael's when Bill called, because he'd seen an ad for a yard sale today and it had a pachinko machine.  We will take any excuse to go to a yard sale, so we ran right over there.  The pachinko was the only thing we actually bought, but it was still fun to go.

We did eventually make it to Michael's, and Otter found what she was looking for.  Next stop was the book store and she found something there as well.  I didn't, but I wasn't really looking.

I posted a new entry on the cooking blog just now.  It was actually yesterday's dinner, I keep finding recipes that we use but I've never put on the blog.

I spent part of yesterday crocheting, and I finished up Otter's hat that matches the scarf I made her while we were on vacation.  It's made with the same type of yarn that I made a hat/scarf for myself out of, mine was the yarn I found in SA with Froggy.  The yarn is a bigger weight (size) than "standard" yarn, and the hat was a little too big.  The pattern calls for a specific size hook, which is a little larger than the one I prefer.  I made Otter's hat with my normal hook, and it made the hat the right size.  Hook size will affect the size of the stitches.  So I got my hat out and compared it, then I frogged the entire thing and am going to re-make it with the smaller hook.  I'd worn it a couple of times, but it was just loose enough that I was afraid it would come off.  Marble Scarff with James Brett Yarn That's the scarf, I don't thnk I ever took a picture of the hat but it's the standard cap I make:  Basic Crochet Cap.

I didn't spend the entire day crocheting.  I did read a lot as well.  We also watched a movie, The Gaurdians of Ga'Hoole.  It's based on a book that was intended for younger teens and Otter read it a few years back.  It was Bill's turn to pick the movie, and that's the one he wanted.  It was ok, Otter reports that the story in the movie is pretty different from the book but the animation was very good.  My turn next week.  I already know what it's going to be.  Rango is being released to blu-ray/dvd on Friday!

Also, there are two other movies that are being released to the theater that we are going to see.  Both are opening on Friday.  One of them we'll see on Sunday.  We've already got the tickets.  It's expected to be a blockbuster, since it's the final Harry Potter movie.  The 2nd one is one that we'll see the week after, and will take one of Otter's friends:  Winnie the Pooh!  Because you are never, ever too old for Winnie the Pooh!

Frasier's Shot & Maggie's Squashed!

As in Rabies shot and rear glands cleaned out, respectively.

I realized yesterday that I'd forgotten about taking the poochsters in to the vet last week, I had intended to get an appointment for them while we were on vacation but it completely slipped my mind.  I called yesterday and they had an appointment at 3:30 today.  Basically, every time we have to take either dog in for any reason at all, Maggie gets a butt squish.  She doesn't like it, but it's necessary.

They were crazed when I was putting my shoes on, I think that they knew they were going to go for a ride.  "Ride" is one of those words that they recognize, but we hadn't even said it yet.  But they still knew.  They get loaded into the car on the driver's side, into the back seat.  Maggie immediately gets in the middle where the seats are split in front and sits there like a figurehead on a ship, and Frasier immediately sprawls out across the back seat.  Those two places seem to be their assigned seats, because that's what they always do.  Maggie was happy, she was leaning on Otter most of the way and I could tell when the beagle realized we might be heading towards the vet.  As soon as we turned into the parking lot, she looked away and would not look at either of us.  Frasier is much easier, he doesn't seem to mind the vet's office.  Probably because he knows that there is a treat waiting for him after whatever he's there for.  Frasier was first, he got his rabies shot and his treat and was happy to go into the room with the tech and happy to come back to us. Maggie, on the other hand...  Well, the tech got to play "Drag the Beagle" and that also included redirecting the beagle away from the front door because she would much rather have gone through that door instead of into the exam room.  It didn't take too long, then we got them loaded into the car and home again.  Maggie was perking up more and more, the closer we got to the house.  They were so happy to be home, but that might be because I gave them their heartworm pills and they always think that's a treat.  And we're not telling them any different!  (However, Maggie did drool on everything she could on the way home.  Including my Coach bag!).

After we got home, we got the car loaded with stuff to take to the recycling center tomorrow.  The trunk is full.  It's amazing just how much stuff there is that we use on a daily basis and is recyclable, I'm always amazed at how fast our bins fill up.  We don't actually have much trash any more, but I'm not complaining about that.  The city we live in gives residents 200 trash bags per year.  We never use them all up.  Well, they do get used but it's for other things than trash.  Even still, we almost always have at least a quarter to a third left and sometimes more.

I'm not sure about the Robin's nest in the redbud tree.  I did think that she was going to use the nest, but I haven't seen her lately.  They will often build more than one nest, I guess they go until they get it right.  But I'm not positive, yet.  She could still be there.  We'll just watch and see.

Meanwhile, it's still S. TEXAS summer.  Hot, hot and more hot.

At least the humidity is a little better.

Mid-Week Thoughts

I just posted a new entry on the craft blog, the desk Bill refinished.  It looks great.  Go check it out.

We had a good 4th, noisy and fun.  Otter just wanted sparklers, so we got her a few.  She knew that Bill still had a treasure box of fun toys and he brought it out.  It had bottle rockets and a few other noisy things in it.  He might have finally used up all the bottle rockets he's had for a few years, she used up all the sparklers and between them they used most of the contents of the box.  It was loud!  The neighbors on either side had pretty big things, and there are two or three in the area we can see from the back deck who always have very large displays.  It's always fun to sit out and watch them.  This year was no exception.  The dogs slept through most of it, they have some things that bother them but fireworks don't even affect them at all.  Otter got to clean all the debris up from the yard yesterday, and there was a lot.

There is definitely a robin nesting in the redbud tree.  I put out a small seed feeder close to the redbud tree and I also refilled my two hummingbird feeders yesterday morning.  I have a few blooming things, some lantana and a couple of begonias which the hummingbirds really seem to like.

My work schedule is going to change slightly.  When Otter went into kindergarten, I worked out a part-time arrangement with my bosses so that I only worked school hours.  Now that she's out of school, they offered me a pretty good raise if I'd work until 3:30 instead of 2:30.  After discussing it with Bill, I decided to take their offer.  It's not changing much, just an hour later each day but I'll still be getting off fairly early.  It will start on August 1, which was pretty much up to me.  I'm still part-time.  The office is not really busy enough to justify full-time anyway, but if they had asked me to work until 5:00 I would have said no.  3:30 works for everyone.

I'm absolutely amazed, and not in a good way, by the verdict in the Anthony trial in Florida.  There is simply no justification for what can only be called a miscarriage of justice.  She got away with murder, and the worst kind of all.  Just appalling.

I finally found the red, white & blue yarn I've been searching for!  Red Heart, which is one of the bigger brands of non-fancy yarn, has had it in their line for years.  It's still in their online catolog, but it's not in stock and nobody has it.  Red Heart has some fancier yarns, but their main line is acrylic yarn which is actually very good.  But I wanted the red, white & blue variegated because I want to make another scarf/hat combo for the military donation.  I finally found it yesterday.  Hobby Lobby's house brand, I Love This Yarn, is a very soft & fluffy yarn which is absolutely wonderful to work with and to wear.  The have a new color:  red, white & blue variegated.  I bought two skeins, which should be enough for a scarf and hat with a small amount left over.  That will make 6 sets, and I think I'm going to start on chemo caps or baby blankets to donate as my next project.

Guess that's it!  I'm just glad that it's Wednesday, I like short work weeks.

Some Monday Stuff

Today is the last day before we have to go back to work.  So we decided to enjoy it!  It would have been a holiday anyway, but days off are always fun whatever the reason.  Except sick days, but that's different.

Anyway.

We decided to start our day at the hog trough, also known as Golden Corral, at the breakfast buffet.  It was pretty good, although I overdid it and am paying for it now.  But I have been fairly good this last week, considering that I was on vacation.

We got some rain early this morning but not much.  Bill was going to mow early, but since it had rained and we went out for breakfast he didn't actually get the mowing done until around 10:00.  And he also played lumberjack!  The tree in the back yard that is closest to the dining room window had a limb that was broken off a while back, he trimmed that off a few weeks ago but there was another low-hanging limb that was a problem so he decided to go ahead and trim it back.  I have a long handled tree trimming tool that I actually use quite a bit, and Bill attempted to use it.  He couldn't quite reach high enough on the limb, so I had to hold the end of the limb and pull it down.  Which is when Bill realized that it was just a little too big to cut with my tool, so he decided that since it was partially cut through he could just pull on the limb and it would snap off.  Which it did.  Except that it didn't snap off at the cut place - the entire branch came down!  He got way more than he bargained for, but for the limb to break off like that it had to have been weak already.  Nobody got hit or anything, but Otter and I did get busy cutting the limb up into smaller pieces and hauling them off to the compost pile that is on the other side of the yard.  Some of it was big enough to cut for firewood, although not a lot.

While Bill was mowing, he discovered that a mama robin is building a nest in the redbud tree.  I saw one carrying twigs off while he was mowing, and I think it might be the same one.  I had a few yarn pieces, so I put them out around the tree and maybe she'll use them.  The dogs haven't had free run in the back yard for a while, and now they will have even less.  At least until any baby robins have fledged.  Sometimes birds will build a nest and then not actually use it, they often build more than one.  So we'll watch this one for a while and see if it gets a family.  We hope so.

After all the yard work and tree drama, Otter and I went in search of an antique store we'd seen advertised.  It was in a very small town about 20 miles away.  We didn't buy much, but I did find a piece of rare Fenton I'd been looking for.  $12.00 is above what I normally prefer to pay, but this one was worth it.  Fenton made a hen on a nest piece and it's very hard to find.  I've never actually seen one in person before.  This one is perfect and it still has the original Fenton label, so it came home with me.  We also went thrifting, and I found another Fenton piece marked $2.00 but then it was the color of the day (green) so it was actually only $1.00.  It's a hat, but not one that I already had.  Otter found a few books, so she was happy.

While we were out, we also went by the theater and bought advance-day tickets for the Harry Potter movie that opens on the 15th.  We'll go see it that weekend.  We decided on the 3-D showing, and it's one that will get the full works:  popcorn, cokes, candy.

We're also happy because Rango comes out on dvd/blu-ray on the 15th.  That is my weekend to choose the movie we watch on Saturday, I think it's safe to say that I've already made by choice!

235 & Proud of it

Sunday Fireworks

Fireworks are usually shot off on the 4th, which is tomorrow, but our small city has a permit which allows people to shoot them off on the 3rd as well as the 4th.  So I expect to hear some noise tonight.  The permitted hours end at 10:00 or maybe 11:00 p.m., so they won't be late.  The main noise will be tomorrow night, but we'll probably be out on the deck enjoying the show.  All Otter wanted this year was sparklers, so that's what she got.

This time last year, I was getting ready to go spend a week visiting Froggy in TEXAS for my vacaation.  This year, our vacation ends with the 4th.  Last year, the 4th was on a Sunday and that's the church service that Otter will never live down thanks to the launchers on the stage!  Church was tamer this year, no noisy cannons.  It was also a nearly empty sanctuary, there were only about 3 or 4 other people besides us at the early service today.

We ran a few errands this afternoon.  Otter's alarm clock quit working, so we went to Big Lots and got her another one.  Bill had a couple of stops and then we went to see Grandpa & Sweetie for a short visit.  We haven't seen them in a few weeks, so it was nice to get to visit today.

It's a slow Sunday.  I don't have a lot of laundry since I did some during the week.  Not a lot of projects going on at the moment and it's too hot to stay outside for long.  The dogs are lazier than normal, Frasier has spent a lot of his day sleeping on the cool ceramic tiles in the kitchen or front entrance way.  Maggie Moo has their blankets arranged to where she has a pillow for her head, she's been there most of the day.  Bill's working on a pachinko machine and Otter is keeping her Wii system from being lonely.  I'm probably going to go read the paper and maybe see if there's anything on tv.  That's the exciting day for us.

But we still have one more day before we have to go back to work!

Friday Fun

Today's vacation adventures included more antique and thrift stores.  We went to two neighboring small towns.  Otter found a few things, a couple of books and some fabric.  Bill found a pressure canner, which he's been looking for to use with his model casting.  I found another Fenton piece for $5.00, a book and some vintage yarn.

We also had lunch.  Froggy, any guesses as to where?

We were home early afternoon, and then we all spent a couple of hours being lazy.  Dogs included, but then that's their natural state.

I had a couple of errands to run, and the last one was El Chico for fajitas to bring home.

All in all, it's been a fun vacation and the days did not rush by so we've had time to really enjoy it.  Since Monday is a holiday, we still have a couple of days left and then next week will be a short week.