Please Help If You Can

This is basically the same post from Monday.  The storm system wasn't through, it went through Mississippi and sprouted more tornados.  The storm system has not ended, there may well be more from it.

April 2014 Storms

Salvation Army

United Methodist Church

Southern Baptist Church

If you can help, here are some ways to donate.  I don't specifically recommend any groups, but these are groups that do what they say.  Not all groups do, the r e d c r o s s is not and never will be on any of my lists.

If you can't help with a donation, or even if you can:  Pray.  And keep praying.

Normal Monday Stuff

(I wanted the post about tornado relief to be on it's own and not lost with all this stuff.)

 

Otter's annual lung/asthma recheck was this morning.  The doctor is as impressed with her progress this year as he was last year - maybe more so.  He's changed her daily inhaler to a slightly different prescription.  The "molecule" size of the medication is slightly smaller and should be absorbed slightly easier.  She will use it twice a day, one puff in the morning and one at night.  The previous one was two puffs in the morning.

 

Bill is still insisting that he just "has allergies."  But we all know it's actually the cold!  He went to bed about 7:30 last night and slept all night long.  He got up at 5:00, but only because the alarm went off then.  I think he'd probably have slept for a couple more hours at least.  I probably would have as well!  I haven't slept very well for the past 3 nights, I'm sure it's cold related.  I am pretty much over it, I'm just still a little congested and coughing some.

 

If I don't sleep tonight, it will probably be because of Bill's noisy "just an allergy" causing coughing and snoring!

How to Help

April 2014 Storms

Salvation Army

United Methodist Church

Southern Baptist Church

If you can help, here are some ways to donate.  I don't specifically recommend any groups, but these are groups that do what they say.  Not all groups do, the r e d c r o s s is not and never will be on any of my lists.

If you can't help with a donation, or even if you can:  Pray.  And keep praying.

Not Getting Much Done Around Here Today

Well, I did get most of the laundry done (not put up, just done) and we did get to the booth with another pachinko machine.  But that is about it.

 

I did tell Bill very clearly that he was NOT allowed to get the cold that Otter had and then I had.  But he didn't listen.  He's still insisting that it's "just allergies" but he's about the most un-allergic person I know of.

 

This about sums it up:

(Shara, I saw this one your blog but I searched it out online and got it there.  I didn't copy it from you but I think it is brilliant and I thank you for the inspiration.)  Otter had a mild headache this morning, she took Tylenol and had some caffeine - and that was all that was needed.  But then she's a girl, so that makes a difference!  :)

I like this one, too:

It is also very appropriate.  And frequently accurate!

 

Also, the actor who portrays the Most Interesting Man is also the only Redshirt who survived.  (Star Trek Reference.)

Well, there is an exception to the Redshirt rule:

 

 

We were going to have our Last Sunday of the Month Family Day but with Billyboy sick, we decided against it.  He was up most of the night last night unable to sleep because of the congestion, otherwise we might have gone ahead and go to the movie (Captain America 2) but we put that off for a while.  We got fajitas at El Chico to bring home instead, so we still had something fun today.  Just not what we planned.  But it was enjoyable.  We didn't make it to Church this morning, either, because of the fact that I'm just at the end of the cold and Bill's just at the beginning.

 

The weather forecast has changed for the day.  We were supposed to get a hard thunderstorm yesterday, it never quite got here.  Then it was supposed to hit last night.  It didn't.  About 9:30 or so this morning, we were going to the booth and take another pachinko machine.  So of course that is when the skies opened!  It was a hard rain, but it didn't last too long.  We eventually did make it to the booth and I think a 2-piece Fenton set might have sold.  We rearranged a bit more, not as much as I think it needs but it'll do for now.

 

The weather chances are still there, late this afternoon is the latest forecast.  But this area is not quite in as much of the danger zone as it was originally.  It looks like east of here and into Arkansas/Missouri could get the bad stuff.  (Sharra, I hope that you and your family are ok.)  But nobody really knows, it's all just a guess anyway.

 

It's been pretty humid today.  It was really bad after this morning's rain.  The sun came out pretty quickly and it got impossible to breathe almost immediately.  Even though it's not really a hot day, we've had the air conditioner on because the humidity is so bad.

 

Otter has her annual lung/asthma recheck tomorrow.  She's had very few problems the last year, even when she had the cold a couple of weeks ago (Thanks for sharing, Otter!) so I expect a good report tomorrow.

 

Froggy - I got some crochet done yesterday.  It's something I'm not going into details about, in case you are wondering.  :)

Too Busy!

I have tried to take it easy today, but that hasn't happened as much as I wanted it to.  I didn't sleep too well last night and woke up coughing.  I decided to stay home - just like the Teenager told me to.  I talked to him this morning and he said I sounded bad.  Bill left for work at 6:10, when he normally does.  Otter had to be at work at 8:00 and she took my car.  I finally had breakfast about 8:30 or so.  I parked myself on the couch and the plan was to stay there until bedtime.

 

Otter was scheduled to get off at 1:00 and I thought I might get her to run me up to Wallyworld for a few things when she got home.  Other than that, I planned on staying inside and in my pj's.  About 11:00 or so, Bill calls me and said that the booth store owner called him - apparently, when we made price tags for the two newest pachinko machines we put in the booth we didn't realize that one of them had a previous tag on it that was probably from when the person we got it from originally bought it and there was someone interested in it but he wasn't sure which price to charge.  Bill wanted me to go up there when we went to Wallyworld and check on it.  The prospective buyer said he'd come back later on but he was still very interested.   About noon-ish, Bill got home since he'd taken the afternoon off because his Dad was going to come over here and get something he'd stored in our yard.  Bill was eating lunch quickly to get finished before his Dad got here, and the prospective buyer called with questions and said he was on his way back to the booth store so Bill ran up there.  So, I told him I'd help his Dad.  I had to go out and wrangle with the gate - the same one we've had issues with before and also the one that has multiple stage locks because of the electric company leaving it open before.  I didn't have to do a lot of physical work, I just had to be outside for a while and it's windy.  Bill got home just after his Dad and I got done, then Otter got home shortly after that.

 

Otter and I did get to Wallyworld, I would have just sent her but I needed several things and I never actually had time to write a list!  Among other things, I finally got lunch - I got a small salad from their deli.  I didn't get to eat lunch until after 2:00, so I was starved.  I also got dog food, which made the dogs very happy to see when Bill carried the bag inside.

 

I'm tired, I was tired to start with and I'm more tired now.  But I'm glad that I could help his Dad and I'm glad Bill was able to go to the booth store and get that taken care of.  I just would have preferred not to have to be out in the wind is all.

 

When I got home yesterday, I noticed a fairly large limb had come out of the tree by the garage.  Bill dragged it over to the other side of the house and tossed it over the fence.  He commented how we have two trees in the back yard which are in bad shape and the one that always seems to lose limbs is the one we want to keep!  But I noticed that the tree in the back yard which is closest to the house has a biggish limb that might be broken off but is still in the tree.  We could get lots of wind on Sunday, I hope that it doesn't come down and become an airborne missile.  Bill said that there are actually two broken limbs, and he thinks that they have both been up there for a while.

 

Bill's employer has occasional online auctions to get rid of surplus stuff.  This time, it included sewing machines.  Bill bid on a couple, he won one bid and when he was picking it up there was another one that nobody bid on.  It needs a power cord, but I think it's in good shape otherwise.  It was free anyway.  It's a Pfaff.  I can't remember the other one, it might be the same brand.  Now, Otter will have her own machine to use and I will as well.  I really don't like the machine that we call Bill's.  I prefer plain & simple when it comes to sewing machines.  If I sewed a lot, I might like the fancier machines better though.  But I don't sew all that much and what I do sew is usually fairly easy.  Otter is the seamstress in the family, I'll stick with my crochet.  Bill's an Engineer, they are a different species!

You Know What?

I hate colds.  Especially summer colds.  Ok, so it's still spring.  But you get the idea.

 

I managed to work most of the day today.  I went in at 8:00, which was a struggle.  But it was a quiet morning, the Teenager had a few senior moments which involved calling me numerous times over his plans to have lunch with his grandson today.  But when you are 97, you are allowed senior moments!  They weren't bad, mostly he just couldn't decide if he wanted me to come get him or if he was going to have his grandson pick him up at home or at the office (which is what he finally decided on.)

 

I spent most of the morning coughing my head off, or at least it felt like I was attempting to.  But I was still doing better than I had been.  I got back from lunch with Billyboy (Chinese buffet!) and the Teenager got there a few minutes later.  And immediately launched into what we call "Dr. Teenager" mode - which involves repeatedly lecturing me about going home.  I was supposed to be his ride home, so I told him I was able to stay.  I was still coughing myself dizzy at that point, so he called around until he found someone who could take him home.  Then, he ordered me out the door and gave me clear instructions about NOT wanting to see me until Monday.  I left about 45 minutes earlier than I normally would have.  I think I'm probably going to take his "suggestion" and not even attempt to go in tomorrow.  One of his reasons is that he doesn't want to catch the cold, which I agree with and I have tried to stay as far away from his as possible.  Keep in mind that he told me that was his reason for not letting me take him home - but then he thought maybe he should drive me home since I was obviously sick!

 

Otter worked today, she drove Bill's impala since he wanted to drive the White Lightning today.  Of course, that was before it started pouring and UPS notified him that he had a pachinko machine delivered (which is why he took the truck today.)  Normally, he would have gotten it without a problem if he was in the truck but it was too big to fit in the cab and the back is not covered.  Guess who got to go to UPS on the way home?  Yours truly!  I didn't have to carry it, they carried it out to the car for me and it (just barely) fit in the back seat.

 

Bill wanted to take a couple of machines to the booth, so I rode along with him.  I rearranged a bit while we were there.  Then Bill decided to bring a machine home and fix something on it.  I need to seriously rearrange but I was pretty tired, so I just moved a couple of things around.  I'm not sure if anything has sold or not since the last time I was there, which was maybe last Friday?

 

OK, here's the not fun part:  It's Spring.  This is NE Oklahoma, also known as Tornado Alley and that is for a reason.  We might be reminded of the reason this weekend.  Specifically, Sunday is the highest chance and the forecasters sound worried.  Sometimes, that means something.  Sometimes, it doesn't.  But it does mean that we all need to be prepared.  Just in case.

It's Cold Around My House

Or, at least I think I just have a "plain, old summer cold."

 

I went to work this morning, although I felt cruddy with a capital C!  I intended to stay, but by 9:30 I knew it was impossible.  I texted Younger Boss, who told me to go home and rest.  I called the Teenager, who insisted that I needed to go to the doctor and get an antibiotic.  I tried to tell him that antibiotics are not given for colds or allergies, but he's "old school" and still thinks that an antibiotic will cure anything and everything.  I did consider going to the doctor, but I decided to go home and rest for a while to see how I felt.  At that point, I was going to take Otter to work.  She had to be there by noon.

 

I relaxed for a while and realized that I was probably just dealing with a cold.  I gave Otter my car keys and told her to take my car, since I wasn't planning on going anywhere.  After she left for work, I made myself lunch and then I parked back on the couch with my book - and two overly attentive dogs.  I decided to lie down about 3:00, I woke up at 4:00 because the cuckoo clock was chiming.  I was on the couch and I had to turn my face towards the back of the couch because Frasier kept checking on my!  I didn't get up until closer to 4:30 when Billyboy got home.  I hadn't spoken since Otter left for work about 11:30 and I almost couldn't talk!  I was very rusty sounding, but that got better after a little practice.  When Otter texted me when she got off work, I asked her to stop for milk and also more Kleenex since I'd gone through almost every box we had.

 

After dinner, turkey burgers and yes MaggieMoo was parked by the stove the entire time, I took a shower and I feel much better.  I still feel cruddy, just less cruddy.  I'm going to spend the evening like I spent the day - taking it easy.  I'm going to try very hard to make the day tomorrow, the Teenager was unable to get to the office today since I wasn't able to get him but one of his grandsons is going to get him for lunch tomorrow and will probably bring him in then.  So all I'll have to do is get him home.

 

I hate summer colds.  I don't like colds at all, but summer colds are the worst.

 

Oh yeah - the hornet (or maybe a wasp) is back on the front porch.  Actually, it's another one since Bill squished the one yesterday.  But this one is building in the same spot.  I did kill the one building a nest at work this morning.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate those bugs?

Oakie Dokie

I'm still at it.  Allergies, that is.

 

I went in to work Monday morning, but I left about 10:15 or so.  I hardly slept Sunday night, I was tired already from the general allergy symptoms and Oak makes me sleepy anyway.  Not being able to sleep Sunday night did not help a bit!  I stopped by the post office to drop some mail off for work, then I stopped by Otter's store to let her know I was heading home and would not need her to stop at the store for me after all.  I got home fairly quickly, got my pj's on and my robe then parked myself in the corner of the couch where I spent late February/early March.  I stayed there until sometime yesterday evening, when I dragged myself off to bed.

 

I woke up still tired this morning but better since I did actually manage to get some sleep last night.  I had no choice as far as going in today, Younger Boss is on vacation starting today until several days from now (I forget when he comes back) and is out of state.  That means that I am the Teenager's transportation, babysitter (sometimes!) and main source of conversation for the next several days.  He wasn't ready to come in until lunchtime, and he spent most of the afternoon finding reasons to come out to my desk and talk to me.  While telling me that I was talking too much and needed to give my voice a rest since he could tell my throat was sore from how I sounded - then he'd ask me something else!  If Younger Boss had been there, I would probably have headed home about 1:00 or so.  It might be like that every day for the near future, until Younger Boss gets back.

 

It's probably not a bad thing that the oak tree we planted a few years back didn't make it.

 

I am exhausted!

 

Froggy, I texted you a picture of a certain beaglebrat today.  Every time anybody even seems to head in the general direction of the stove are of the kitchen, MaggieMoo runs in there and sits in front of the stove or cabinet next to it.  Then she waits.  Until something gets dropped on the floor!  I was standing in the kitchen talking to Bill while dinner (mac & cheese with ham) was cooking and that's when MaggieMoo was suddenly in there.  She was attempting to sit on her somewhat round behind (Otter calls her Bowling Ball Butt) and at the same time, he back legs were sliding out from underneath her so she was sprawled out in the floor.  She kept looking up at me, then looking at the floor.  Back at me, back at the floor, repeat, repeat, repeat.  She didn't get anything, by the way.

 

It looks like it's going to be another bad year as far as stingy bugs are concerned.  I think it was Friday, Otter was going out the back door and opened it to find a hornet in the doorway - same place we've seen two recently.  Each time, Bill's managed to get it out of the doorway since they weren't in a good spot to try to kill them.  She closed the door and decided to go outside via the kitchen to the garage door and then out the side door from the garage.  When she opened the kitchen door, there was another one.  At that point, she gave up on going outside and called me.  She also blocked the dogs inside, since bugs have come in the flaps before.  When Billyboy got home, he couldn't find the one in the garage nor could he find a nest.  The back door bug was also gone, so he thought maybe it was just looking for a place to get inside like they do.  Yesterday, he found the beginning of a nest inside the back door frame near the top.  He knocked it down immediately.  Today, Otter and I noticed a yellow jacket building a nest on the front of the house underneath the roof overhang.  When Bill got home, Otter showed him where it was and they found a second one starting.  Both are gone now.  Then I opened the back door to let the dogs out for a bit.  And found another hornet nest starting, in the same spot.  I walked around the house and looked, I didn't find anymore yet but we're going to have to be very vigilant.  There is a small yellow jacket nest starting at work, I found it today but didn't attempt to get rid of it because the Teenager was there by that point and he usually tries to go after them with a broom.  Which is a recipe for major disaster!  I'll get it in the morning, before the Teenager gets there.

 

We had a nice rain yesterday, which we needed badly.  The rain barrels are full again.  We were trying to empty the new one out or at least get it down to a level where we could move it.  Guess we'll have to wait a while on leveling it.  The honeysuckle all seem to be doing good.  We've decided to stick with honeysuckle and not get trumpet vines after all.  I think we need 4 more honeysuckle plants, I'll get them in the next few days.  Trumpet vines attract hummingbirds, but I put out feeders for them so I think I'll still have a few of them visiting.  Honeysuckle is a big draw for honeybees, and we want to help them as much as we can.  We don't worry about honeybees, they aren't aggressive unless they are threatened.  We may have bumblebees, too.  They are not exactly aggressive, but they are not quite as passive as honeybees.  But they at least let you know that they think you are in their space and give you warning before they decide to get aggressive.  Bumblebees usually fly right at your face or bump you, which means that it's time to move out of their way.  Also, hummingbirds will go to honeysuckle blooms.

Oakies

Not Okies.  OAKies.

 

Oakies as in the oak pollen count is astronomical.  But I could tell that well before I actually looked it up.  I can also tell you when it started getting up there last week.  I'm miserable.  I have been reacting pretty strongly since yesterday morning, but it was building up towards the end of the week.  Last night when I went to bed, I had a sore throat but it was much better when I got up this morning.

 

Then we went to Church and from the second I walked outside, my symptoms multiplied astronomically.  I wish I could take something for it, but no allergy medication EVER works for me.  I'm spending today inside, except for Church and we had to run to Wallyworld for a quick errand.  Bill's tennis shoes literally were falling off his feet in pieces, he finally admitted that he needed new ones so I ran him to Wallyworld the second he admitted it and we found him a pair of shoes.  My eyes are watering, I have a lot of congestion and I'm sneezing.  I'm blowing my nose every few minutes.  I just feel cruddy.

 

We had a quiet Easter, the ham was really good and Bill made his world famous mashed potatos.  Otter made gravy (Yes, Froggy.  It was Pioneer) and I made green bean casserole.  We had apple pie planned for dessert, but Otter was exhausted after work yesterday and a trip to Michael's.  She went to take a short nap and slept for 4 or 5 hours, so the pie didn't get baked.  Not a big deal, we had cake left that she made last week.  The pie and cool whip will be saved for a later date, but probably not too much later!

 

Now, I think I'm going to read my book or possibly the paper.  I haven't gotten to it yet.  I switched our subscription to the paper from daily to weekend, since I never seem to have time to read the daily paper anyway.  The weekend subscription is Thursday - Sunday, so it's not that many days less but at least I don't have to worry about not being able to find time every day.

 

Bill just asked me if the honeysuckle got watered.  Guess I do have to get out again today after all!  (Yes, Froggy.  Bill and Otter will be helping.  But she has allergies too so she doesn't want to be out any longer than she has to either.)

Hope Eternal

And we are freed.

Darkness. Grief. Pain. Fear. HOPE.

I Don't Know

What to title this.  It's just Wednesday.

 

The freeze happened, it was hard but not as hard as the forecast.  It did ZIP to the pollen, we're still having just as much to deal with as before.  Well, actually, we have to deal with more because now the tree pollen is beginning to make it's appearance.

 

The tulip bed is exploding with color.  It is absolutely gorgeous, all that work we did last Fall was so worth it.

 

I had something planned in mid-May.  For various reasons, I decided to change it to early June.  (Froggy, you know what I mean).  Lately, I've been having the strangest feeling that I would be getting a jury duty notice in the mail and that it would be on the dates of what I have planned.  Well, I was half right.  I got the notice in the mail yesterday, and it covers the original dates I had planned.  Of course, it's the absolute worst time for me to have to be off work.  The middle of the month is not good to take off, which is why I changed my original planned thing to early June.  I checked with the jury duty clerk - crochet hooks are not allowed in the courthouse.  I guess I'll load my purse/tote bag up with books and hope that I a) don't get picked and b) get released early.  I guess I'll find out next month.

 

I went to the booth today.  I cleaned out my jewelry the other day and took several necklaces and bracelets up there.  I think one of my necklaces has sold.  I'm not positive about that though.  I rearranged a bit and put another glass piece up for sale - it's the Fenton piece I've been thinking about selling.  Attempting to sell, anyway!  It's the fan-shaped tray which is actually a plate.  It's part of a snack set, which is a glass plate with a small tea cup.  The tea cup never survives, they are almost always found without the cup.  They were originally sold in sets of 4, most of the time they are found as singles.  Mine was probably made for Anchor Hocking, Fenton made things for many other companies.  If it sells, fine.  If not, fine also.

 

There was probably more, but it's been a looooooooooooooooong day and I am tired.  But at least Froggy will not be able to gripe about me not posting lately!  (Yes, I know you will still gripe.  But not about blogging!)  (Ducking and running now).  :)

Reprieve?

Maybe.

 

We are supposed to get a hard freeze tonight.  Well, technically it will be at 2:00 in the morning.  Yes, it is April.

 

First order of business is to hunt down that dang groundhog!  Then we're going to eat him.  I have an industrial-sized container of picante sauce and several shish-ka-bob sticks ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.  It snowed today!  I saw it and so did a lot of other people.  It was rainy and misty, in the 30's most of the day and then the flurries around noon.

 

The benefit to the unusual cold and the freeze is that we will have at least 24 hours, possibly as long as 48 hours, WITH NO POLLEN.  Because it will all be deaddeaddead.  Nobody is going to complain about that, I hope.  Otter certainly won't be griping.

 

Of course, the first bluebonnet bud picked Saturday to start developing.  But they are hardier than we thought, so maybe it will make it.  The plants have frozen before and have come through unscathed so I'm hopeful.  The tulips will be fine - they are absolutely gorgeous this year.  All our hard work in bed prep and digging to bury the bulbs has paid off.  They are spectacular.  We have pictures, but I keep forgetting to get them from Otter's camera to post.

 

We're going to be on our own for Easter this year.  We're going to have the "traditional" meal **fixins:  ham, Bill's world-famous mashed potatoes, brown gravy (yes, I use Pioneer brand instant - I didn't get the gravy making gene from Mom), green bean casserole, rolls or possibly I might make bread, and apple pie (Mrs. Smith's brand frozen but it's one of the good ones and I bought cool whip!)**

 

Texan language translation:  Cool Whip is what it's all called, no matter the brand. Just like all tissues are Kleenex, all sodas are Coke, and we should all know by now what Fixins means!

Vortexes

I heard a news report today on the forecast for the upcoming allergy season.  The words "Allergy Vortex" have been used to describe what it coming.  In other words, it ain't gonna be pretty!

 

Otter's already started stocking up on claritan and the Alka-Seltzer cold/sinus pills she uses for nighttimes.  Along with Tylenol and Kleenex!

 

It's not too bad at the moment, though.  We had rain and the air is clear.  It's also 20 degrees colder than it was a couple of hours ago.

 

We had bad-ish weather chances for this afternoon/evening.  We did get the storm we expected, it wasn't expected to be bad and it wasn't.  It was just very fast-moving.  We had some strong wind, small hail, rain, a little more hail and then a little more rain.  We needed the rain and still need more.  But we can do without the wind and hail part of the equation!  The plastic plant stand size tables out on the deck are now in other places in the yard.  I probably won't go out to get them until tomorrow morning.  They are still in the yard, just not where we left them!

 

Otter finally got to meet J and see the new Captain America movie.  She keeps trying to tell me about it, but I have managed to avoid most of it.  I don't want it to be spoiled, I want to be surprised when we actually manage to see it.  I do know quite a bit about it already, but I don't want to know anymore yet.  Although she did say that Stan Lee's cameo is good and actually pretty long.

 

It's very humid this evening, it wasn't earlier but it feels like it's getting that way now.  It was 77 degrees today and will be in the low-40's tomorrow.  Tuesday morning, we may wake to a slight freeze.  Then, it's back to Spring again!

 

Just not with the storms, please.

Allergy Forecast

It's going to be a bad year for allergies.  That's pretty much already known.  We had two years of little rain and that resulted in less pollen produced.  We had a cold winter with a closer-to-normal precipitation amount and now we are paying for it!  I actually don't mind the wetter winter, we need (and still need) the moisture.  But it's going to be a bad Spring for allergies.  Otter is a prime example of that fact.

 

I thought she was doing better yesterday, but she didn't sleep well last night.  Even after taking a night-time allergy pill.  She got up very groggy from the pill and more congested than she was yesterday.  She would have been even worse if she hadn't been on her allergy medication the last few days.  She was having some mild asthma-ish symptoms yesterday, so she used her rescue inhaler as a pre-emptive strike and it did seem to help.  That was last night.  But this morning she was worse again, so she decided to call in.  She also asked me to stay home with her, which also means that she felt like crud.  She's mostly been nesting in her bed today, except for the long steamy shower she took which she said helped.  She's taking her allergy meds and getting as much liquid down as she can stand.  She's better this afternoon and will try to go in to work tomorrow.  Her boss understood without any question, she's worked "sick" the last 2 days and he knew it.  He offered her an extra shift Saturday afternoon if she wants it, to make up for today.  He told her to let him know in the morning.  I think she's going to take it.  She really hates to miss work.  She has tentative plans to meet J on Sunday and see the movie they were going to see last Sunday.  I hope she can, it gets really old having to deal with allergies that last and last and last...

 

I've been home except for a run to the post office for Bill, and the UPS place to check the box.  He had two things delivered there and they were waiting to be picked up today.  I also went to Wallyworld, Otter requested popcorn chicken from their deli for lunch.  But other than that, which was maybe an hour total, I've been home with her.  I did manage to get all my laundry done, first time in a few weeks that the laundry basket has been empty I think!

 

I found another dead animal in the back yard.  Close to the back fence.  Again.  This time, it was a frog.  It's really too much of a coincidence that they are all in the same general area and so close to the back fence.  Especially when they are showing up and my dogs have not been out!  I buried this one in a hole by the fence, Maggie Moo immediately dug it up and brought it back to me so it's now been bagged and thrown away.  It looked like maybe it had been out there for a few days.

 

The latest appliance to go out is the coffee maker.  It was getting slower and slower, and we also realized that the coffee was colder and colder each time we used it.  So, I went shopping for a new one a couple of days ago.  We had a Mr. Coffee style, it was a Black & Decker.  I bought another Black & Decker, it may be the next generation of the one we had.  The last one was several years old and we used it a lot, so I don't feel like it was a mistake to get the same brand and similar model.  The glass carafe from the old one looks like it might work with the new one.  The coffee basket itself won't, it's in the eventual donate bag.  The old coffee maker itself went out in the trash yesterday.

 

Frasier is sprawled out at the end of the coffee table, Maggie Moo is curled up on their blankets.  They are both asleep, I guess they are tired from walking around the back yard with me.  Maggie Moo snores.  Loudly!

Poohbear Day!

It's blustery today.

 

No Tiggers in sight, however.  But you never know, one could be around any corner.

 

In the meantime, the wind is blowing hard.  Otter reported that she was nearly swept off her feet by it when she was walking into Arby's for lunch today.  I know it was certainly an interesting experience driving in it.  But this is NE OK and we usually have windy springs.  Just usually in March, not April!

 

Otter's allergies are better.  She's still suffering with them, but less so.  She worked her full shift yesterday, 8 to 5.  She was absolutely exhausted by the time her shift ended.  She probably should have just called in yesterday, but she managed to make the day.  She basically came home, took a shower and spent the evening curled up in bed with her laptop.  She took a night-time cold pill when she went to bed and she was still kind of groggy this morning, so she asked me to drive her to work.  She got off at 1:00, which is when she walked across the street to Arby's.  She went shopping, Ross is across the street and so is Hobby Lobby.  I met her at Hobby and found some stuff I needed.  We stopped at Wallyworld on the way home, to refill our supply of Kleenex and cough drops!  Otter's staying inside the is evening and will take a night-time allergy pill when she goes to bed.  She wants me to drive her to work tomorrow as well.

 

I didn't get to stay inside, however!  I had chores that involved being outside in the wind so my allergies are kicking in a bit.  Not nearly as bad as Otter's are, at least.  Bill's going to mow the weeds masquerading as our lawn tomorrow after work.  I dragged a few limbs out of the way that had fallen out of the trees in various wind storms and also the pieces of the Rose of Sharon bush that we cut down the other day.  It's one that was here when we moved, Sweetie planted it by the shed.  Well, the shed might have come into existence after the bush was planted.  The last couple of years, it (the bush not the shed!) hasn't bloomed much and last year I trimmed a lot of dead stuff out of it.  I got to looking at it a couple of weeks ago and discovered that most of it was dead to the point of rotting to pieces.  So we went ahead and took it out.  The stump is still there, but it's lifeless.  I don't think I'm going to plant anything else there.  It's kind of an odd spot, being right at the front corner of the shed.

 

We are going to plant honeysuckle and trumpet vines this year, however.  I've been calling around and they are available at one of the nurseries.  I'm not sure when, we might get them this Sunday or I may go pick them up Saturday.  3 honeysuckle and 8 trumpet vines but probably not all the trumpets at once.  There are different varieties of honeysuckle, which I knew.  But the more fragrant and more aggressive climbers (the kind we want) are actually the cheaper ones; apparently most people like them to not be scented and to not climb!  Kind of defeats the purpose of planting a fragrant, climbing vine!!!!  They are available now, the trumpet vines are just coming out of winter dormancy and we can get them now but the nursery said that they might look better in a couple of weeks.

 

We really want the trumpet vines to grow tall and fast.  Especially since I saw the male neighbor behind us trying his hardest to look over the fence and INTO OUR DINING ROOM WINDOW a couple of days ago.  He was extremely obvious, and the way that he jerked back, turned around and more or less ran into his house was also very telling.  We're going to wave, next time.  I'm also going to see about a hanging plant to put in the dining room window.  Nothing heavy, I think Sweetie had them there before and there is a hook there.  Maybe an airplane plant.  The idea is that it will at least break up the field of vision directly into our dining room window.  Bill also said that the bricklayers on the house that straddles between our house and Lovely Neighbor's were spending more time looking over the fence and into our window than they were laying bricks.  It was much nicer when our back side neighbors had 4 feet and said Moo!

 

I finally found a pair of sandles that I can wear.  They fit, work with my stupidtoes, have arch support and are soft enough that my plantar fasciitis isn't aggravated.  I found them at Sears.  I actually found two pair, tried them both on and almost bought the other pair.  But then I looked at the style name.  When I did that, there was no question of which pair I would buy.  The name?  CLARA.  As Froggy said, I had no choice.  (No, that is not my name!)  They probably do fit better than the other pair anyway.

 

Froggy, I am counting the days now.  And getting ready.  And working on projects for you.

Pinks, Blues and Puppy Dog Tails

The redbud tree is still brilliantly pink and it's still drawing honey bees from somewhere close by.  Looks like hundreds of them!

 

The baby bluebonnet in the whiskey barrel has friends now.  I found two tiny ones in the yard, in the general area of where some were last year.  We had so many naturalized ones last year!  Bill isn't willing to leave un-mowed spots all over the front yard this year, so I'm transplanting them to the whiskey barrel as soon as we find them.  So far, just two but they were tiny and I'm thinking that there will probably be more.  If they get transplanted when they are still fairly young and small, they generally make it.  They don't have deep roots, but they still don't like to be moved once they get to a certain size so I have to get to them early.  He was going to mow today, but it's been slightly rainy so he's waiting a day or two.  Even if it hadn't rained (which wasn't much), the weeds (not much grass yet) were still just a bit too damp to mow easily.

 

Frasier was obnoxiously clingy yesterday morning.  After the 3rd or 4th time of having to practically push him out of my lap, Bill finally yelled and him and the dog got the point.  For a while!  He seemed to feel ok, he was just overly needy for some reason.  He's fine today, I think he's hanging out in the garage at the moment.  He likes it out there.  It's misty and cool today, but he spent most of yesterday afternoon snoozing in the sun in their yard.

 

Otter's plans for the day got rearranged.  She was going to meet J at the theater and they were going to go see the new Captain America movie.  But she woke up with extremely bad allergy symptoms.  She took an allergy pill, then she laid down on the couch after breakfast and went to sleep.  So we just left her there and went to church without her.  She was just waking up again when we got home.  She felt a little warm to both of us, so I took her temperature but I didn't think she actually had fever.  Turns out, she did.  Just a degree, but it was enough that she decided to stay home today.  I think she and J might attempt to go see the movie next weekend.  She's been parked on her bed most of the day and has taken Tylenol, along with lots of liquids.  She's a lot better so we think it probably is allergy and not anything else.  She will take a nighttime allergy pill when she goes to bed tonight.

 

I went to the booth to put some stuff out and rearrange, Otter asked me to pick up her schedule at work for her so I did that at the same time.  She's got more hours this coming week, so she was happy.  The booth made me happy, I put one of my vases in it Thursday or Friday and it was gone today.  It wasn't Fenton, it was probably by the Westmoreland company and it was signed.  I don't remember price I had on it.  The large oil lamp we have had in the booth for several weeks was also gone and I think it was sold this time - the last time, it was moved to a different booth (probably by a shopper who changed their mind) and one of the owners brought it back to me when he found it.  I changed a couple of prices and rearranged quite a bit.  I'm not sure if anymore shot glasses sold or not, but possibly.  There were so many that I can't really remember.  I probably won't go back there for a few days.

 

Now that the Aripachi machines are gone, Bill got my path from the garage door to the kitchen door cleared off.  No more having to drag groceries through the house and around two nosy puppies!  He also had room to get back to his workbenches so all the his junk stuff is now back where it belongs and out of my way.  I gave him until today, the Statute of Limitations on My Work Bench was up and I was going to take care of it myself if he didn't get it moved by today.  He was off Friday afternoon so he got busy.  Yesterday, I rearranged a lot of my shelf stuff and found a few things to clean out, get rid of and/or take to the booth.  All my birdfeeders are now back on one shelf and my/Otter's planting stuff is on it's own shelf.  We use the workbench for repotting plants, as well as for crafting.  I transplanted a small cactus from a long planter into a smaller pot, since I now have room on my bench.

 

Now, to get all the pachinko crud pieces out of the living room!

Just Wolves

We got almost no bad weather last night OR today.  Which is good, I'm not complaining about that.  But the forecasters did their normal thing, which is to:  chase something that isn't there and report it to people who don't care!

 

We did have some weather today, but it was very short-lived.  It hailed in a couple of spots and there was some rain, but that was about it.

 

Oh, well.  On to other things.

 

We had a local election on Tuesday.  It was county-wide, so there were a whole lot of registered voters who were eligible to cast a vote.  However, a whole lot of them didn't!  Bill went in the middle of the day, he was number 18.  Otter and I went after we hit the grocery store, we knew that there wouldn't be a long line and that the colder stuff would be fine in the car.  It was just after 6:00 when we got there.  We were number 32 & 33.  It was like that all over, talk about people that don't care what happens and are quite willing to give up their freedoms because they just can't be bothered!

 

Otter and I went to the booth today.  We went by on Tuesday, paid April's rent and collected March's sales.  On Monday, my large cookie jar crock was still there but it sold on Tuesday and it wasn't on the sales list we got for the month so I know we at least sold one thing so far this month.  Today, it didn't look like anything had sold but I had a couple of things to put in it and we neatened up a bit.  We were originally going to keep it until the end of the 3-month period, which would be this month as out last.  But we've decided to try a bit longer.  Not sure how much longer, we might just keep it through the end of May (we have to give 30 days notice).

 

I hit a thrift store at lunch today.  I found two blouses, I don't think that they have been worn.  I'll wash them anyway.  I also found a small container with some Christmas ornaments that might be plastic.  But they are bound for the ornament wreath I'm going to make, so I don't care if they are plastic or not.  I'm thinking I'm going to use a Styrofoam wreath form as a base for it.  I was originally going to use vintage ornaments, then it became candy shaped ornaments but now I'm just planning on using ornaments that I like and not a particular theme.  It's also not a project that I'm going to work on very soon.

 

We're watching Captain America on FX channel at the moment.  The sequel movie comes out on Friday.  I think Otter and J are going to see it Sunday.  I'm jealous!  I'm thinking we'll probably see this one at the theater, I don't want to wait for the Blu-ray.  But I am wondering about Stan Lee's cameo, I hope he has one.  It's become a fun game for his fans (we are legion) to spot him in the movies based on his characters.  He's usually very funny.  He'll be in Tulsa for a major convention in November, Otter's already planning on attending.  Not that I blame her!  He's pretty much the Big Dog of them all.

 

Yes, Star Trek is my first love and always will be.  But Stan Lee is supremely gifted and we love just about anything he touches.

Wolves

Apparently, last week's storm wasn't officially a Spring Storm.  It was just a storm.

 

However, we could get the first official Spring Storm tonight.  And the second one possibly tomorrow.

 

We are not expected to get anything bad here, we could get rain and thunder which could also include hail.  But it is not expected to be the B.A.D. stuff.

 

This is what the forecasters have been doing for a while on tv:

Crying Wolf!

People are a little more aware of the weather this year, mostly due to May 20, 2013.  That's not a bad thing, to be aware.  The problem is that the forecasters are dramatic on a good day and ridiculous on a bad day.  Today is probably not going to be a B.AD. day, but they are making is seem like it's a given that it will be.  This will continue for a while, every time we have even the slightest chance of a storm.  The result will be that people will eventually (maybe soon) stop even listening, because the forecasters are so dramatic.  That could well mean that when something does happen, more people will be hurt because the idiotic forecasters will have turned people off from being warned!

 

We finally finished Otter's birthday cake today.  It wasn't a huge cake, but it was big enough.

 

The Aripachi machines have all gone on their way to their new home!  The garage actually has a floor, I'd kind of forgotten about that.  :)

 

Frasier was playing with Bill while ago.  BigStink (dog's nickname, not Bill!) was bouncing around and seemed to be having a good time.  At one point, Bill draped one of their blankets over the dog and he ran around the living room for a while with it on.  He wasn't afraid of it or anything, he just didn't seem to care about the fact that it was on him.  When SuperDog decided it was time to go out, he went out the dog door and the blanket went part of the way out with him.  I think he's having a well-deserved doggy nap now.  He's just like a big puppy!

 

Maggie Moo isn't being ignored, she was part of the fun as well.  It's just that it's amazing to me how young Frasier is acting.  It's wonderful.

 

I went out in the back yard earlier.  While I was out there, I was looking at my Redbud tree which is covered in tiny pink buds and blossoms.  It's beautiful.  It was covered in honeybees!  They generally leave me alone, they are not aggressive so I felt safe to get pretty close.  They just zoomed around me and continued on their way to redbud blossoms.  There were a LOT of bees.  Enough that I think someone in the are might have hives.  They could be from a wild hive, but I don't think so.  Either way, they are more than welcome!

 

But no yellow jackets or hornets are allowed.  EVER.