Trying...

to get back in the swing of things as far as blogging goes!

Maggie Moo, however, has never changed her routine of sleeping as much as she can.  We've been leaving her in the house all the time for a few months, we used to put her and Frasier out in the garage on the days we were not home all day.  They had a dog door to the back yard, water in the garage and outside and also a mat to lay on so they weren't exactly being left in the garage for hours on end!  But a few months back, we decided to try leaving Maggie Moo inside while we were gone since we realized that a lot of the leaky issues were quite possibly Frasier's age creeping up on him.  Maggie did still have a few accidents and may still, she is a dog after all and is about 12 years old herself.  But she seemed to be mostly having her accidents in the spots where Frasier had his and we think she was probably drawn to the smell.  So, we got out the carpet cleaner and hit a lot of places and then we started leaving her in for short spells of a couple of hours.  Then when she seemed to be doing ok, and it was becoming winter (well, the calendar said so anyway), we started just leaving her indoors and she seems to do fine.  She probably sleeps a lot!  She has plenty of places to sleep, she has her food and water plus the dog doors so she can go outside when she needs to.  Although at the moment, she is sprawled across one of her beds, a pillow and two of her blankets - snoozing!

My redbud tree in the back yard is pink all over!  It's really pretty and I'm enjoying it.  Not that the outside is being kind to me at the moment - it's going to be a B.A.D. year as far as allergies are concerned.  Thanks mostly to the non-winter!  Even though we did not plant tulips last fall, we have a few coming up in the tulip bed.  The last time we planted was Fall 2014 and some of the bulbs were 2-year bulbs.  The daffodils have already started coming up and some have bloomed.

But we have something else starting to bloom.  Something very special:

The whiskey barrel is overflowing with them and there are several plants sprouting around the whiskey barrel.  The buds are beginning to open.

Yes, I do think Otter was right:  The Teenager has been talking to them!

One Down, Two to Go

To be ready for Winter.  Well, what the Borg Queen considers ready although the non-assimilated would probably consider it being over-prepared!

Actually, I just went to wallyworld and bought 40 pounds of birdseed plus an 8-pack box of suet cakes.  Big, exciting trip, huh?!

(The other 2 things are more filters for the humidifiers and firewood, in case you are wondering.)  :)

Remember these?:

This picture is from this past Spring.  It's the whiskey barrel planter that my mailbox post is in.  After all the blooms died and went to seed, I harvested the seeds and they are waiting in a bag in the kitchen until I find an appropriate place to plant them.  But apparently, the seed pods had already started dropping seeds - I was pretty sure they had.  I was right.  At last count, there are over 30 baby blues springing up!  I'm going to attempt to transplant some of them when they get just a little bigger.  The Teenager was very much a TEXAN and he loved them as much as the rest of Us did/do.  He was overjoyed when I told him I'd share my bluebonnet seeds with the hope that they would grow next Spring.  I kind of knew then that he would no longer be with us, just one of what we call "my feelings" and I was right.  But I still intend to have bluebonnets at the office, even if it's in his memory.  I told Younger Boss about my baby blues and he really wants them as well - so I'm going to transplant some of the current crop and see if they survive.  I have grown them in pots before, they get tall and not wide like they should but they still smell heavenly.  I'm probably going to plant seeds as well.  I'm still just astounded at the number of them that have come up.  I've had them come up at odd times of the year, but never this many!

In case I don't blog tomorrow:

Last Day of August 2015

I'm still a little title-challenged, but it works.

I am feeling better today.  I went to work.  I got a lot done.  And about 11:00, it felt like the sky fell on me and I suddenly had zero energy.  So, back home I went.  With a stop on the way home for dog food, because that was something I had to do today - the beagle likes it when we feed her!  :)

This is what said beagle did most of the afternoon:

I washed her blankets and bedding today, I didn't really have much choice because they were beginning to smell.  After the dryer is done, she always loves to curl up on her warm blankets.  Today, she was acting antsy and digging around on her blankets.  Which means that she wants to be covered.  I obliged and she was out for hours.

These are a few other pictures from this summer.

This is one of the 18-year black cicadas that emerged this year.  One showed up on the back window. They were predicted to be heavy and very loud, and they were both.

This is my 2nd volunteer sunflower of the summer.  This is the trellis that formerly held the clematis that never did anything.  It's had one bloom already complete it's cycle and there are two or three buds yet to open.

I tried to get a close-up, but of course that means that it immediately got breezy!  Bill has been absolutely forbidden from even coming near it, he says that sunflowers are weeds and pulls them if he sees them before I do.  I may actually plant some next year - he will be well threatened beforehand, if I do! 

We had this ivy suddenly show up in the backyard.  It might be something that grew from birdseed, judging on where it suddenly started growing.  Bill mowed it several times and it kept coming back.  Finally, he dug it up and we transplanted it.  It nearly died at first, but then it came back to life and is growing very well.  When he dug it up, he didn't get all the plant because it's still growing like crazy in the yard.  I don't know what the name of it is, it's just an ivy.

It has berries or seeds on it, and one of these days I'll actually find out what it is.  It may be a weed, but it's pretty and we like it.

The next two pictures are of a visitor that showed up on the cherry tomato plants we have at work.

Isn't she gorgeous?  I haven't seen one quite this big in a very long time.  Younger Boss usually will kill spiders, unless I get to them first and I do try to.  I pointed this one out to him and told him that he is forbidden from even thinking about getting rid of her, but he surprised me and said that he knew it's a good one and that he will leave her alone.  She's been there for several days and I checked on her this morning.  She's still at it and she is still alive, she moved when I was taking pictures.  These are from today.  We always called them zig-zag spiders.  Froggy calls them zipper spiders.

She's happy there and we hope she stays around.  She can eat all the little buggies she can catch!

Late for Sunday!

I meant to post on Sunday, but I got busy with stuff and forget.

Among other things, I did a little maintenance on my yarn drawers.  I took the doilies out of the large drawer that they were in, and then I moved the contents of 2 of my smaller drawers into the large drawer.  Which then left me with 2 empty drawers!  I teased Bill about needing to go to the yarn store, he offered to "help" me with my yarn stash and I threatened him with dismemberment if he so much as thought about getting into the yarn!  He thinks I was kidding, but I'm not sure sure. :)

I didn't get to the yarn store, but I did get to a few thrift stores and one of them had yarn.  Vintage Red Heart brand, clean and non-smelly, 3 skeins in a colorway that they don't make any more and $1.00 each.  Of course they came home with me!  I had to move the futon out of the way a little, which meant that I had to also relocate a certain beagle, and then I rearranged my yarn in the drawers.  I have quite a bit of Red Heart, it's fairly cheap but also fairly strong and works for a lot of items so I have a lot of it.  A LOT.  I spread the Red Heart out a bit so that the 2 empty drawers are now full, and there is room in the rest of the drawers to at least shut them easily.  I moved some of the other varieties of yarn to different drawers, the stuff I don't use much is in the lower drawers that are blocked by the futon and the Better, Good and Really Good Yarn are now where they can be accessed easier.

I took the doilies out because I wanted to get started on my doily curtain.  I pinned a few together to see how it worked and flung it over the curtain rod.  It does work, but I'm thinking that I might change my plan slightly.  The curtain that was my original inspiration consists of doilies that are attached to very filmy fabric and I'm thinking that I'm going to go that direction.  For one thing, it will drape better and I think it will be easier to hang.  The one at the store has a pale pink fabric but I'm thinking I'm just going to use a white gauzy curtain for my backing.  Froggy, even with as many doilies as I have - and I have a lot, I'm not sure if I actually have enough.  So, I will be very happy to get the ones you mailed to me.

I've given up on my clematis plant.  It never really did very well, it would grow a few feet long and twine around the trellis but that was all it would do.  It would grow to a point and then it would quit growing.  It died several times and came back, but I don't think that it would ever have done any more than that.  So I dug it up yesterday - and it was dead at the ground level again.  I'm going to put in a rosebush next year, which was my original plan for that particular trellis but Otter is extremely allergic to roses and she was still living here when I put the clematis there.  I have always loved roses but never had them because of her allergy.  I'm not sure what kind of rose I want, I love red roses but pink roses are really my favorite.  Bill apparently figured that out early on in our marriage, because if he's going to send me roses they will be pink!  So I'm probably going to go with a pink blooming rose.

This is the forecast for the Tulsa area for the week.  Look at Wednesday!  It is still August, as far as I know.  But Bill is going to start getting firewood pretty soon.

The Teenager gave this to me a few years back.  The working mechanism quit working a while back.  After we lost him, I came across the clock again.  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought another clock mechanism, Bill put it in for me and the clock is now in a place of honor in the living room.  The Teenager was a TEXAN and was just like the rest of Us - TEXAS is in our blood and bluebonnets are especially sacred to us.  When we and Miss Dorothy moved to their retirement community a few years back and they were cleaning out stuff they didn't want to take with them or wouldn't have room for, he immediately brought the clock to me.  It means a lot to me, to both of us really.  The office is very quiet and feels like something important is missing.  Which it is, I guess.

It's Just Sunday and I Don't Know What To Call This

I'm tired, so forgive me if I ramble.  I probably will.

We picked up the remaining 6 pachinko machines today.  The one Bill got yesterday actually was a more rare machine, so he gave the seller a little more than he asked for.  He got a good price on them, fair for the seller and for Bill.  But he's out of room for more of them.  Which won't stop him if he/we/I/Otter come across another machine - kind of have to get them when you can.

I did manage to get a little crochet done this weekend.  Maggie got a couple of walks in.  Bill got more machines.  All in all, it's been a pretty good weekend.  I just wish that it was longer.  Yes, I know I was off on Friday!  I'm just not in a hurry to go back to work tomorrow is all.

Otter's plans for her move are firmed up.  They are going to sign the new lease tomorrow and hopefully they will get to see the inside of the apartment so Roomie can figure out how she wants to arrange her bedroom.  They've seen the floor plan and I think Roomie has a general idea but she really needs to actually see the space to figure it out.  Otter is probably going to arrange hers like it is now in their smaller apartment.  Bill and I are going to see about taking Friday afternoon off.  Roomie is off work on Friday but Otter has to work until noon.  The plan is to get started moving Roomie's stuff and helping her get her bed set up while she's there because she has to work on Saturday.  After we get her situated and her bed put together, then we'll start moving the rest of their belongings.  We are going to get as much as possible done on Friday afternoon, but I won't be surprised if there is still stuff to be moved on Saturday.  Roomie has to work Saturday and Otter has to work the morning, but she'll be there around 10:00 or shortly afterwards.  I am probably going to start on the kitchen stuff or anything small that I can do myself and let Bill work on things like taking their beds apart; the kitchen is basically "take it out of one, walk across the hall and put it back in the same place in the new one" and hopefully that won't take too long.  Otter said that they've been packing already and I really think it is possible that we can get all or at least most of it moved on Friday.  Either way, Saturday is to finish up moving anything left and then the old apartment will need to be cleaned.  It's a lot of work, but not as much as when they moved in - for one thing, we don't have to spend time loading the trucks, driving there, unloading and carrying up 3 flights of stairs.  Even though it's going to be sweaty work, it will all be indoors and we won't have to be outside in the heat.  They will still need a couch of some type, I'm going to suggest they consider a futon or something like that.  But they'll figure that out later on.

I've been thinking about moving the rock garden.  Even though we put down several layers of thick plastic, it has had a lot of dirt blown in over the last couple of years - thanks to the builders behind us that left scraped dirt lots for weeks on end and it gets windy here.  Because of that, I am having to deal with pulling grass and weeds out of it on a fairly regular basis.  Sometimes I wonder why we even bothered to put the grass block down, since there has been enough dirt blown in to give the grass an easy way to still grow!  We've been looking around the house and we're probably going to move it to the front yard.  In front of the house, along the front and up against the house.  It will be long and narrow and I will probably have to get a lot more rocks.  It also might be something we do in stages.  I think I'm going to get bricks to give it a defined edge, I have sandstone on the edges now but I don't have that many and I don't want to buy more.  The sandstones I have now will be incorporated in it somewhere, along with most of my concrete animals and I'll probably put a few potted cactus plants in it but probably not the fountain/planter.  It will be underneath the overhang of the roof and slightly back from the edge.  It doesn't get enough light to actually plant most things, I did have hostas planted there and they looked really good.  They don't need as much light.  But then we had a really hot summer and it was very dry, and no matter how much I watered they just couldn't take the heat and I decide not to replant them.  It's basically just a dirt area where nothing will really grow well.  It's going to be a fairly big job and we'll wait until the Fall because it's just too hot right now.  I told Otter to ask J if he might want to help, and that I will pay him and also provide pizza.  (I think the picture above is from the original size, before we enlarged it.  It's from 2009.)

 OK, I'm tired and hungry. It's time for nachos!

Just a Few More Hours.....

Then it's Friday!

Today was what I refer to as Crazy Day, the day shortly before my vacation when the Boys realize that I'm about to be gone for a week.  It followed the usual pattern, and Younger Boss followed his usual script.  Tomorrow will be busy in the morning, but then Younger Boss will be leaving early and the Teenager won't be in at all.

Maggie Moo got to go have a shopping adventure with me this afternoon.  We bought her a pillow to sleep on, shortly after we lost Frasier.  Before that, she slept on their blankets or on the loveseat (when we're not in the living room to tell her to get down) because Frasier tore up anything that even remotely resembled a bed or pillow.  He had a mind of his own and we never could figure out why he did most of the things he did.  A lot of it was the coyote instincts, but I don't think that was why he hated dog beds!  We weren't sure if Mags would sleep in one or tear it up since she'd possibly follow in Big Brother's footsteps so we got a pillow.  She took a few days to decide that it was ok, then it became her bed.  When we were in the living room, anyway!  She's taken to sleeping in the hallway, close to the baby gate that keeps her out of our room.  Last night, we put her pillow in the laundry room which is right outside of our room.  She started to snuggle up on it, but then she bonked her behind on the door and that was it for sleeping in the laundry room!  She moved back to the hallway.  We left the pillow in there, I think she did move to it later on though.  Bill suggested I go get her an actual bed.  We went to a local semi-chain store, where we got her shots when they had a clinic.  They had a few, but I was not about to spend over $30 on a dog bed - even if it was heated!  But then we remembered that Otter's tool store has dog beds.  I texted her this morning while she was on shift, she told me the size but I wasn't sure if it was big enough of not.  But after we left the first store, and Maggie Moo visited their grassy area, we went to Otter's store.  She wasn't working this evening, but Maggie knew where she was when we went up to the door.  I found their dog beds and put one down on the floor - Maggie immediately got in it.  It came home with us, after the cashier melted into a puddle while petting the beagle, and I put it where the blankets have been.  Maggie immediately got in it and went to sleep.  She gets up and changes position every so often, she started out with her bottom in the bed and her head out but now she's reversed course and her head is in the bed but her behind is hanging over the edge.  It's plaid, sort of felt-fleecy feeling and 100% washable.  It has a removable pillow.  It is normally around $19.00 but it was on sale and then they also let me use my 20% off coupon so I got it for under $8.00.  Maggie's pleased.  I might move it to the laundry room tonight.

The electric company did send out a representative from the electrical contractor.  He got here just before I did and he was waiting on me.  I showed him the trench that is still in my yard, I gave him the crepe myrtle labels with the information about them, and he decided how much dirt and grass he'll need to bring.  He was amazed at how deep the trench is, considering that it should not have sunk at all - not that the previous contractor (different company) had ever really finished filling it in.  He will be here Monday morning and it should take him around 3 hours.  I think that there are only 3 crepe myrtles after all, two have managed to come up again but he said he's probably going to bring me 5.  After he left, when Maggie Moo and I were coming out the door to get in the car there was another truck pulling up in front - he had been told that all we needed was a little grass put down and he was here for that.  He said that the electric company does things like this all the time, not take correct information from customers and then send out multiple contractors with incorrect information.  It's really frustrating, we've been dealing with this for over 2 months now.  It had better be fixed on Monday.

At least tomorrow is Friday.  And I have a 9-day weekend!  That is a GOOD THING.

Mother's Day 2015

Happy Mother's Day!

My day has been a lot of fun.  Otter and J came over for breakfast, we had Monkey Bread and assorted fresh fruit.  They stayed for a couple of hours and we had a nice visit.  Otter gave me kitchen towels, which I needed badly.

Bill gave me a set of craft blades, similar to X-Acto knives but they came from the store Otter works at.  It was also something I needed, I originally wanted another cactus but then I realized that I needed the craft blades so I changed my gift request to that.  I actually went and got that one myself, because I had to pick out the specific set I wanted.

Bill and I went to a couple of thrift stores today.  This is what I bought at the first one, it was a grab  bag (clear plastic bags, not a mystery bag) and it was $6.98.  For all of this:

It's on the couch with a blanket for background, but it was a very full bag.  The next picture is what I actually bought the bag for:

Yarn spools!  8 regular ones and one larger one.  And for what is a ridiculously low price, especially considering everything else that was in the bag.  I've seen these priced (and selling for) for upwards of $5.00 each, sometimes more since they have thread on them and the bigger one would probably sell for more than the entire bag.

The tag says it's a handmade purse, silk fabric maybe.  I'm not sure if it's a keeper for something craft related or it it's going to be sold or re-donated.  It's sort of evening bag size.  I didn't even see it in the bag when I bought it, it was in the middle of everything else but I grabbed the bag as soon as I saw the yarn spools.

These are small hats, hand crocheted obviously.  I'm not sure if they are for dolls such as an 18" doll, or if they might be dog hats.  Because also in the bag were three dog outfits.  (The hats are probably for dolls.)

The orange and pink/blue one are obviously hand crocheted.  The pink one is Martha Stewart brand, which I think is really funny.  I did try it on Maggie Moo so I could text a picture to Otter, but it's wool and I didn't even have to look at the tag to figure that out because I started reacting to it as soon as it came into contact with my skin.  The dog clothes are all in the donate pile.

The blue fabric has a tag from when it was purchased originally, I think it was somewhere around $4.00.  The cotton collar is probably not new, but I don't think it's been worn before.  It's very clean and still has that "stiff" feeling.  Not sure if it's etsy, donate, if Otter wants it, or what.

This might be hand-knitted or it might have been done on a knitting machine, but it is homemade and not professionally done.  It's a vest with a sash.  I thought it was an uncompleted cardigan style sweater but the sleeve openings are too big.  It might fit Otter, for a size comparison - I don't think it's anything she would want, but I might well put it on her and have her model it for an etsy picture if I decide to sell it.  The final yarn ends are still attached but they are tied off.  It has a button on the bottom.  It's clean and there is no smell that I can tell.

Froggy, got any idea what these are?  They are obviously holders for "tape" or ribbon of some type and I think they are sewing related.  Possibly etsy bound as well, but maybe not.

There were a few other things, a bag of small safety pins and some misc. stuff.

The next two pictures are from the 2nd thrift store.

2 square doilies which were marked 49 cents each but then they turned out to be half price so they were 25 cents each.  There is also a very long table-runner size doily, I think it was 79 cents.  It has a couple of spots I need to mend slightly and it also has a reddish stain but I think it will come out.  All three are bound for my doily curtain.  The reddish crochet thing is a hanging towel, it has a granny square front and a backing crochet piece.  Not sure if I'm going to copy the pattern or what, but it was somewhere around 70 cents or maybe less.

This is a clear ruler, used in sewing and also in things like crochet.  I'm not sure if it's an etsy item or if I'll keep it, as I frequently need something like this but I have a clear plastic ruler I use.

I keep talking about etsy, I think I'm finally going to start listing things in the store I set up a few years ago and then never used.  I have a few ideas for crochet pieces that are not scarves & hats, because the market is basically flooded with that sort of thing.

We also bought an old nut cracker that it mounted on a wooden board.  It was etsy bound at first, but now I'm thinking we may keep it.

After the 2nd thrift store, we decided to have lunch at Cici's pizza instead of cardboard pizza from wally.  We also went to a fabric store.

Speaking of flooding, we've had so much rain the last several days that there has been some street flooding in the area.  The ground is over-saturated.  We've had several instances of hard rains the last couple of days, yesterday afternoon (I got caught in it literally and got soaked) and this morning were very strong storms.  My back yard literally looked like a lake, the ground can not absorb any more water and it was beginning to stand - which is really saying a lot.  I've drained the potted plants a few times, Bill had to clean out one of the downspouts because it was clogged and the rain gutters overflowed.  The ground is so soft it's almost like walking in a swamp.  There is water standing in ditches and on the side of the road in places it never actually does, and we saw evidence of a few street areas that had obviously been under water at some point either yesterday or this morning.  Next week is supposed to be dry and warm, it's going to be very humid for a few days and then it will be mosquito season so I'm trying to get rid of any standing water I find.

I'm thinking that Maggie Moo might have another UTI or bladder infection.  She's "leaked" twice in the house in the last 3 days, I caught her at it in the hallway yesterday and she would not stop - even when I yelled at her.  I don't think she could really stop.  She's acting like she might not feel too good, she really acts like she did before when she had one.  She might also need to get her rear glands cleaned out, it's been 2 months since the last time and we did think that 2 months would be about right.  Or it could be both.  Either way, I'm calling the vet tomorrow to see if I can get her in there.  She's perky when I say the W or R words (Walk or Ride) but even when she actually gets to do either of those things (or both!), she's not acting like she's 100%.  I don't think she's moping around over Frasier not being here, she seemed to get over that and she acts like she doesn't feel too good.  She's finally sleeping on the pillow we bought to make her a bed out of, at least.

(I did give in the my asthma last Friday and stayed home.)

Time for ice cream now!

Updates? I Don't Know What to Call This Post.

So far, May looks to be following in April's trail in more than just the calendar!

Otter's hand is doing well, all things considered.  I took her some ice cream after work today - it's the accepted treat after a shot and she technically got more than one in her hand yesterday.  So, I think it counts!  I took her (and Roomie!) a carton of cookies & cream ice cream and I also grabbed a package of frozen french fries for them while I was in the store.  They were both overjoyed to get the treats, and Otter was also happy to discover the package of pepperoni slices that were in the bag, too.  She said her hand hurts quite a bit, which is to be expected at this point.  She's also got a fairly high pain threshhold, which is also part of the RedHead Curse so "quite a bit" for her is agony for a non-Red.  She's been trying to keep it propped up and not use it, but that is harder than it sounds.  She has been taking tylenol and following the care instructions they gave her yesterday at the walk-in clinic.  She had to day off from work as a regularly scheduled day off and also tomorrow.  She works Wednesday morning and will go get the stitches checked when she gets off work.  Then they will tell her how long she should have to keep the stitches in.  I'm really glad that they want to remove them in the office instead of telling her she can do it herself!  Like I said before, she's her Father's Daughter...

One more to beam up, Scotty!

We lost another one today.  Grace Lee Whitney, 1930 - 2015.  She will always be remembered fondly as Yeoman Janice Rand, first season & first 8 episodes of the brilliance that is Star Trek.

There are only 4 bridge crew members left now.  And a lot of the "background" actors are gone as well.  Plus quite a few of the writers, directors, etc. and of course the Great Bird of the Galaxy himself, Gene Roddenberry.

I had been thinking about getting an actual dog bed for Maggie Moo.  We had one briefly, but Frasier apparently thought he had to rid the universe of it's presence pretty quickly.  So we started using flannel blankets for them.  Maggie has always been fine with the blankets, but I thought she might like something softer.  I priced dog beds and decided to just get a pillow for her.  I bought one for $3.00 at BigLots today.  She's slept on pillows before, she was briefly using a laundry basket with a spare pillow that Otter had in her room and she also slept in Otter's bed for a while (until she did what she does and licked everything!)  So, I put the pillow down on top of the blankets this afternoon.  And she's done everything she can to not actually get on it!  I got her to sit on it once, but she didn't stay.  Bill thought maybe it smells different, which I also thought might be the case.  So we put it on the love seat - she's not allowed up there but she usually gets up on it pretty quickly after we go to bed.  We have an old blanket on the love seat just to protect it from BeagleBaby.  The pillow is now in the spot where she usually sleeps, we'll see if she sleeps on it tonight since it's on the love seat and we know she'll be up there at some point after the lights go out!  She got a walk this morning and then I took her on another one after I got home from work today.  Otter did ask me if I'm spoiling the beagle sufficiently, I have to say that I think I am. :)

My right knee is kind of sore.  It also has a small cut above the knee cap.  I walked into the baby gate at the end of the hall this morning.  I was taking a load of laundry out of the dryer and I forgot we moved the thing to the other side of the laundry room door.  And I ran right into the stupid gate!  Maggie is much quieter than Frasier was, she will sit at the baby gate and wait for us to get up but she isn't really much of a barker (except for now and that's because she's asleep and dreaming)  We've heard her jingling collar coming down the hall a couple of times, but she will sit or lie down and wait patiently until we get up or one of us goes to the kitchen to feed her.  We always seperated their food bowls in the kitchen, one on each side of the kitchen and the water dish was on Frasier's side but they both used it.  We moved the water dish down a little bit, and I tried to relocate her food bowl to that side as well.  She absolutely refused to go anywhere near her food bowl on that side of the kitchen - we spent a lot of time telling her to get out of his food bowl, now when we want her to eat on that side she finally decides to remember what we told her! :)  Goofy baby, but we love her anyway.

Before Otter's Adventures in BillLand yesterday, I did manage to get the peppers transplanted.  Otter has two jalepenos and a peppermint, we have two jalepenos and two bell peppers.  They are in large size pots on the deck, most are in clay pots but two of them are in plastic ones.  I watered them tonight, they look good.  It could be rainy Wednesday so I might move them up closer to the house so they have a little bit of cover - sometimes rain this time of year is very hard and I'd just as soon not lose them to hail force rain.  Otter will eventually get her plants, but they are fine where they are until she does.  She'll be over one day this week to do laundry (and play with the beagle!) and she might take them then, but I think she'll probably wait a little longer until her hand heals up some.

Then, she'd better quit trying to live up to Bill's reputation!

Renewed

My TEXAN soul has been renewed.

(Taken this morning, April 8, 2015.  In my front yard).

Fiddling Around

Just had one of these nasty little beasties run across the kitchen floor:

It was about the size of a dime and it was running fast, like they do.  I noticed it out of the corner of my eye and what actually caught my attention is the way it was running, they have a particular way they move.  I had to move Maggie Moo's food bowl to get to it, which brought her running immediately.  She listened to me, for once, and didn't try to eat it (she seems to like to eat spiders).  I put the bug jar down and it immediately ran into it.  I was pretty sure what it was but I could look at it better in the bug jar and it was very clearly a fiddleback.  Brown Recluse is their actual name, but we've always just called them fiddlebacks.  It's gone for a very long swim now!  Most of the time, we leave spiders alone or relocate them, but not those.  They either get squashed (if we have shoes on) or flushed.

 

We got the carpet cleaning finished up Friday night.  I eventually got to run the vacuum.  It looks a lot cleaner and smells better.  Although we still get a whiff of the smell every so often, but now we think it's the dogs themselves so a bath is on order soon.  But not tonight, and not tomorrow because it's going to be very cold tomorrow.

 

We might get ice tonight.  It has been in the 70's the last couple of days and was really nice today, so it's going to feel even colder.  The ice chances are not high, but the chance is still there.

 

I found something today:

Except that mine is olive green, not blue.  But my camera is charging so I can't take a picture of it.  I think it's the 8" bowl, I haven't measured it but it is big.  And heavy.  And did I mention that it was only $6.50?  Talk about a steal!  It was at an antique-ish mall that we haven't been into in a while.  It was next to Goldie's, where we had lunch, and we've been talking about moving our booth so we wanted to look at the two close by stores.  We went to the first of two next-door stores and I just happened to see the edges of it peeking out from underneath the stuffed bunny that was sitting in top of it. I "may" have also said something to Otter about hoping the seller didn't know what they have!  The obviously didn't.  It's perfect and it's now holding court on the side top shelf of the entertainment center.  We watched Dirty Jobs reruns this morning and one of the episodes was the one where he went to the Fenton company, deja vu!  The pattern name is Thumbprint and it was made in the l960's.

 

Anyway.  Otter brought her laundry over, and we all went to lunch at Goldie's.  They have the best burgers!  We stopped at Wallyworld on the way home for baby oil, which we then used on the tulip bed.  We planted 56 bulbs today, and we've got pretty good timing because they need the cold ground.  They are fixin to get plenty of cold!  This is probably the last year for the tulip bed, at least in that spot.  We have been talking about extending the back side fence and it will block the sun from the tulip bed if we do.  They will be back, probably not for a couple of years and in a different spot, but I think we'll have them again.

 

Otter was going to have the car all next week, but with the weather chances we decided to keep it for the next two days.  Bill does not really want to drive the El Camino if the weather forecasters do manage to get it right.  Her hours for Monday and Tuesday work for me to get her to and from work, although Tuesday I'll bring her back home with me and she'll take the car then.  Her Wednesday shift is a possible all-nighter, this is the first late shift she's had in a couple of months.

 

I'm also going to change Otter's dentist appointment.  I really can not get off in the morning to take her, she doesn't want to drive if there is a) ice or b) the slightest chance of needing the anesthesia gas and c) her boss forgot what day she needed off so he scheduled her to start her shift tomorrow at 10:00 - the time of the appointment.  He told her that she could just come in afterwards, but I'm going to reschedule it for her.  I'll call them the second they open and they'd better not give me any grief about short notice because I originally started calling them on Friday which was before we knew what her schedule is.  Thursday, I called them and thought that they might have an answering service but they actually had a message on their voice mail saying that they were closed.  On Friday, the message stated that they were busy with other clients and told me to leave a message - and I left two.  I think that they were probably closed, but they didn't have anything like that on the voice mail message on Friday - but they did on Thursday.

 

When she was over here today, we finished going through the stuff in her room.  It was mostly the stuff from her bathroom, and most of it went in the trash.  Which is what I thought was going to happen.  Some has been added to the donate pile, but the majority of it was make up, cosplay make up and thinks like broken earrings, etc.  She took some stuff with her also.  As of this afternoon, she is officially and 100% completely moved out of her parent's home!  There are still a few boxes of her stuff but it's destined for the attic for us to store for her.  But for all intents and purposes, she's out of our house.

Bill moved the sofa table to My Room when we were getting ready to clean the carpets.  It's still there.  It's going to be moved to Bill's Room, also known as the Pachinko workroom/hoard.  I moved the dogs blankets to the spot where the sofa table was originally and also have two plants on stands there.  They're right in front of the window and will get a good amount of light.  I also tossed a cactus that was dead and rearranged my plants in the dining room.  Maggie seems to like the blankets, she more or less flew onto them and sprawled out on top of them.  When she's not actually awake, she's on her blankets.  Frasier hasn't really gone back to them, I think because he liked the spot he always snoozed in and didn't care one way or the other about the blankets.  He would frequently move them, we thought he was playing with them but now I realized that he was moving them out of his way.  Maggie Moo is quite happy, and she'll be even happier when she realizes that she'll be getting more warmth because of the fireplace.  The blankets are not in an area where there is a fire danger, but they are in a spot that will be very warm.  She spends quite a bit of her time in the winter snoozing in front of the fireplace anyway!

Dark Early!

I don't particularly like the time change, I believe I "may" have mentioned that a time or two.  Or a few dozen times!  I just couldn't think of a good title today, and it works...

I spent a few hours running around Tulsa today, looking in various stores for bathroom stuff.  And finding almost nothing, mostly.  I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond - they have some Bed stuff, very little Bath stuff and not much variety in what they do have - and a whole lot of Beyond which seems to mostly consist of make-up!  Looks like the same stuff that wallyworld carries, too.  I looked at Burlington which used to have a lot of household and some clothes - and now has almost entirely clothes with 2 small aisles of household stuff.  And it was messy, it looks like the employees don't bother to keep things neat or follow up after customers.  I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon.  I looked at Target, which did have a few possibilities but not exactly what I wanted.  I did buy a soft pretzel at Target's snack bar, but that was the only thing I did buy there.  I hit a few other stores, too.  I finally decided to just to go Tuesday Morning in my small town but didn't think I'd find anything there since I had been striking out everywhere else.

I should have gone to Tuesday Morning first.  Because I found just about everything I wanted/needed for the guest bath.  I didn't find a bathmat, they did have some but not in a good color to go with the towels because I'm not even going to attempt to match the shower curtain.  I found a sort-of dark goldish color trash can, matching soap/lotion pump, matching small container that I'll figure out a use for and a burgundy plastic drinking glass.  I noticed that I'd been calling the shower curtain ruby, but burgundy is a better word for the color.  The gold I was finding today was mostly bright and I wanted a darker, almost antique gold color.  I found a decorative towel and washcloth, I would like a hand towel in the same pattern but they didn't have one.  I'm going to look at the Tuesday Morning close to where I work and see if they have one, if not I'm going to get another bath towel and get busy with needle and thread to make it a little smaller.  The towels are a cream color with a gold ribbon decoration, it's a little brighter gold but it works.  I am probably going to get a cream color bathmat, they did have some but not a lot.  I had a small plastic and metal basket that I use to keep things like small soap, toothpaste, stuff that a guest might want.  It doesn't really go anymore, Otter had a small woven basket that works better, she doesn't have any use for it so she gave it to me.  It had a green ribbon wrapped around it, I took the green off and am going to use some burgundy ribbon I got at Hobby Lobby today.

Otter has had a rough few days.  Monday was the root canal and her tooth is fairly sensitive still, then she woke up Friday with a very severe migraine.  She was off Thursday and supposed to work Friday morning, but there was no way she could go in.  She was taking the strong motrin the dentist gave her so she took some on Friday to see if it would help the headache - it didn't even touch it, I'd forgotten that she used motrin before and it never worked for her.  I was going to pick her up and take her to work Friday morning, then pick her up when she got off and either take her home to her apartment or drop her off at the library and then she was going to come home with me to get the car for the weekend.  Since none of those things happened, Bill drove to her apartment after work and I met him there.  I took her some rice I made Thursday evening and Bill met me at the door of her apartment.  She was in bed, she got up and let him in and went back to bed.  She was feeling really bad, she wanted to take a night-time allergy pill to at least get a little sleep but it has Tylenol in it so I called the pharmacist to ask about it.  He said that after Motrin, as long as you wait 2 or 3 hours then you can take Tylenol and that she should be fine - I read him the ingredients in the allergy pill and he ok'd it since it has other stuff in it as well.  She was going to take the allergy med and hopefully get some sleep, so we left.  I guess it's just as well that she did not go to Wizard World this weekend after all.

This morning, she texted me that she was going in to work and that she did feel better but her head still hurt some.  I stopped and left her a surprise snack in her car, then when she texted me later she said that she really felt bad.  She was scheduled to work until 4:00 and they were short-handed, so she knew she wouldn't be able to leave early.  I told her I'd bring her some Gatorade, so I stopped at the convenience store near her store and got three bottles.  I left them in the car for her, then I went inside to see her.  She was checking out a customer so I waited until she was through.  She did not feel feverish but he said she felt fairly awful and she was pale - which is saying a lot, she's got the typical Irish Redhead coloration.  She thinks that she might have actually had a bug that was aggravated by a migraine, but I really think it was "just" a migraine.  I headed on home at that point, she texted me about 2:30 that the next cashier had arrived and her boss told her to go on home.  She texted me later on that she'd had some soup broth (with chopped onions added to it) and that she was feeling better because she'd had some rest.  She is going to take an allergy pill tonight and should be able to get some sleep tonight.  She works tomorrow but not as early, she gets off at 3:00 but then they have a mandatory employee meeting at 6:30.  I told her to put her laundry in the car then she can come over here and get it done before she goes to the meeting.  I don't know if I'm taking her to the meeting or not, but she will bring the car back tomorrow at some point.  She's off Monday and Tuesday, so Bill will have the car and she will also have some downtime in case it is a bug.  The dentist appointment is Monday, it was scheduled for 4:00 but the dentist changed it to 10:00 in the morning and I'm glad of that since her tooth is tender.  She thinks it's just because the spot the dentist worked on is on the back of the tooth and it's kind of hard to keep from bumping it with the bottom teeth.

 

I'm hopefully going to get started on the tulip bed tomorrow.  The dirt work, anyway.  The ground is probably going to be cool enough to plant the bulbs very soon.  Possibly extremely soon, we have a cold week ahead of us and may get a "wintery mix" next Saturday morning!  So, I'm going to get the soap/oil/water mix on the bed tomorrow but I still have to get the weeds out of the way first and start loosening the dirt.  I might treat it again in about a week or so, but I might just go ahead and plant the bulbs then.  Either way, this is probably the last time I'll plant tulip bulbs there.  We may extend the back fence and the tulip bed area will not get enough sunlight if we do.  I may plant them somewhere else at a later time, though.

It's a Sweet Day!!!

It's Candy Corn Day!!!!!

I think that people either love candy corn, or hate it.  I don't think that there is much of a middle ground.  I happen to like it, but I hardly ever eat it and only in small doses!

 

Froggy, I don't know what blogger's problem is.  I have checked several times and it is set for not having the word verification on commenting.  I've redone it several times and it still shows that it's not on there, but then I had Otter check it from her computer and it still showed that the word verification was necessary so I'm thinking that blogger might have just started putting it on all blogs.

 

We are supposed to get our first freeze Saturday morning.  And it's a hard freeze.  It is supposed to be in the mid- to high-20's early Saturday morning.  I plucked all the available jalepenos off Otter's two plants yesterday and brought in the three plants that were outside.  One of them was my begonia, it gets brought inside every Fall and by the time Spring rolls around it looks pretty scraggily!  But then it goes back out for the Spring and Summer, and usually turns into a mass of pink blossoms.  It did wonderfully this summer.  The other two plants are the mint and rosemary that were Otter's.  She gave them to me, she wanted the rosemary but it is in the strawberry pot that Bill gave me a few years ago so I told her I'll get her one next Spring.  Besides, it would need to be brought inside anyway and she doesn't really have a place for it that would get enough light inside.  Her patio faces west and gets good sun in the afternoon, so she is planning on a few plants next year.

 

Otter brought the car back this afternoon and got her laundry done while she was here.  She also ran the dishwasher for me.  When she and Roomie were here the other day, they washed the dog's blankets for me.  I took her home and we stopped at Walgreen's because she was out of Claritan.  I tried to get her some at lunch, but the Walgreen's I went to was out of the kind she uses.  The pharmacist said that it's very popular this time of year.  Well, if it does freeze it might just be enough to take out the ragweed!

 

Speaking of cars, I took mine to Chevy this morning.  For the oil change and the recall.  And I left almost immediately, WITH my car.  The service manager was helping someone else and one of the "guys" came over to me.  And then he told me that I had to have both keys with me because the part that is actually fixed is apparently the part that holds the key in place and they can't fix the ignition with one key?  Then he said that they could only fix the key I had on me, but that the other key couldn't be fixed later.  I thought it was the ignition and not the key itself?  AND he told me that the only keys they can fix are official Chevy keys.  AND that if it doesn't have a specific type of black plastic covering, it's not an official Chevy key.  Even though the keys that came with the car ARE official Chevy keys and only one of them has the plastic covering - the 2nd one is a slightly different shape but it is still an official Chevy key.  However, that meant that the 02 Impala key (which Bill has and it is also an official Chevy key) won't be fixed because it doesn't have the black stuff on it.  The other key to the 02 is the one I had, which might have had the plastic on it but it was NOT chipped although the guy tried to claim that it was (not in that model year) and the fact that I had to get new keys because the first key I had was basically smooth and wouldn't work - which means that we are S.O.L. as far as the 02 goes.  And apparently Bill's key to the 08 won't be fixed either.  I told them that I would bring the car and keys back later for the recall and get the oil change then - except that I an NEVER going back to this dealer.  I called the service manager after I left and left him a message to confirm what I'd been told.  He called me right back and first told me that the guy told me right, then he tried to back up a bit.  And then he told me that tomorrow is his last day, he's going to work for another auto repair shop and that it will mean he'll have to deal with less stress - and I think he knew a few months back that he was going to leave Chevy, and that it coincides with exactly when he suddenly stopped caring about his customers.  As far as the key issue, we're firmly convinced that Chevy is trying to same themselves a few bucks because the recalls have cost them plenty.  I am going to get at least my car/key recall taken care of and it has to be at a Chevy shop.  But it doesn't have to be the one I've been dealing with.  After that, I'm not sure what we're going to do when work is needed.  It will probably still be a Chevy shop.  Just not the one in Tulsa that is now on *RHTW's list.

 

Tomorrow is Halloween.  That means that it's also 50-cent corndog day at Sonic.  Bill's already placed his order!  I'm Otter's transportation to/from work tomorrow, I told her that I'll spring for dinner for her as well.  She immediately took me up on that offer!  She'll get the car tomorrow after that so she can get herself to work early on Saturday.  I'm thinking I'll let her take mine, it has the remote start to warm up the heater and she'll certainly need it Saturday morning!

 

I bought filters for the humidifiers today.  We'll use the fan tonight, but then the humidifiers will be up and running tomorrow night.  I don't think it's really going to be cold enough or cold long enough for a fire Saturday morning.  But it will at least be blanket weather!

 

Blankets mean beagles, and I'm sure that Saturday will be no exception.  The beagle will be ready at a moment's notice!

 

*RHTW:  Just run.  Fast!

In Through The Out Door

Alternate Title:  In One Door and Out the Other!

 

There seems to be something about Bill and car doors.  Actually, it's car door & windows!  The El Camino driver's side window has been out of commission for months, the part needed to fix it does not exist anymore.  A while back, maybe a couple of years, the driver's side window glass on the 02 Impala slipped out of it's frame and slid down into the door - which is what the El Camino did, just several months later.  Bill was able to order the part for the Impala and the window was fixed.  This morning, Bill leaves for work and I head for the shower - just as I was getting into the shower I had one of what we refer to as one of my "feelings" and the thought that popped into my head was about Bill needed to come back inside because something was wrong.  I had just gotten into the shower when Bill came back inside because something was wrong:  the passenger side window on the 02 Impala popped out of it's frame and slid down inside the door!  He couldn't drive it to work like that, he didn't want to leave the car parked at work all day without being able to securely lock it and he didn't want to take the El Camino today and have to leave the Impala in the driveway unsecured.  So he called in and took a personal business day.  He was able to get the window blocked into place and he ordered the part it needs.  He said that there is a newly-listed part on Rock Auto that might, just might be what he needs to fix the El Camino window so he ordered that as well.

 

Otter's plans are moving forward.  Roomie went by and signed the lease today, then she and Otter went to lunch as well as started making arrangements for Roomie's moving.  I think they also may have gone to Wallyworld and they figured out who is buying what as far as some of the things that they didn't already have will go.  After I got home, I took Otter back up to Wallyworld and she acquired a few more things.  She was off work today and she did quite a bit of packing and some cleaning out.  She's still got more to pack and this Sunday we are going to tackle her closet.  A lot of the things in her closet have been outgrown and will be donated if possible.

 

I was able to get the table from J's mom in my car last night.  It's 3' x 3' square and the legs are removable.  It's very good quality, solid wood and will work perfectly for them.  I told Otter that I would get a tablecloth for it but the size is not one that's made often apparently.  I'll find one eventually.

 

I realized that I can have rosebushes soon.  Otter is extremely, extremely, extremely allergic to roses.  It's one of the worse ones her allergist had ever seen.  But now I will be able to plant a rosebush or two.  Her allergy has actually gotten better over the years, she'll be able to come visit us without it being an issue for her if she's not actually standing over the plant inhaling the scent!  She suggested I plant one, actually.

 

OK, I'm finally hungry.  It's 8:15 and I'm just now ready to eat.  I had a sandwich for lunch today and orange juice, but I just wasn't hungry until now.

Myrtle!

My friend Shara has a post on her blog where she references "old lady" names, but not in a bad way.  She mentions that she likes them.  So do I.  One of the names is Opal, which is my favorite stone.  I didn't see the name Myrtle, but it seemed like a good name to use for today's title. We just bought ten Crepe Myrtle plants and planted them along the back fence.  Hence the name Myrtle!

 

5 are a deep reddish color, 5 are pink.  They are planted in alternating colors - red, pink, red, pink, etc. and are about 3' off the fence.  They are between the trellis pieces attached to the fence that the honeysuckle might eventually reach to grow on, now that all but one have come back from being mowed down by Doofus and Doofus!  The Crepe Myrtle varieties we bought are going to be 10 - 12' tall.  We hope they grow fast!  Besides the fact that they will attract hummingbirds and butterflies, as well as honeybees (we hope), they will also make it a little more private in our back yard.  Neighbors behind us seems to think that it's ok for them to stand on their back porch and obviously attempt to look in my dining room and living room windows.  We haven't seen either of them do it lately, but we're taking matters into our own hands.  We had looked into ordering crepe myrtles from the Audobon society last year or thereabout, I don't remember why we decided against it at the time.  But Atwood's had the plants on sale so we went up there and filled up the trunk of my car.  We got a pretty good rain this morning so the ground was very soft, we got them planted pretty quickly.  Fall is the best time to plant things like that, tall bushes and trees, because they spend the winter growing their root systems which will help them to withstand spring storms and wind.  They are cold-tolerant to 0 degrees.

 

Otter is at J's house today.  J's mom gave her and Roomie a small kitchen table and 4 small bench-style seats that go with it.  I took her out there early this afternoon and the 4 chairs fit in my car so they came home with me.  I think the table is square, maybe about 3' x 3" so it will be big enough for the two girls and small enough to fit in the dining room at their apartment.  If it fits in my car, I'll bring it home with me when I get Otter in a couple of hours.  She was going to take my car and take herself, but I needed the car this afternoon so I took her out there.  J lives in a small town that is not exactly next door, but it's not too far.

 

Yesterday, Bill and I got the tape measure and measured her room.  I got a pad of paper and a pen, and we drew out how I think it's going to be arranged when it become "my" room.  "My" room as opposed to "Bill's" room which is the pachinko workroom.  So if I refer to it as my room, I don't mean that I'm moving out of our bedroom.  Anyway, there was a point to this ramble.  I was going to the library yesterday and to check our booth.  I did manage to get to the booth store, but I never made it to the library.  I got sidetracked by a yard sale sign.  There were a bunch of signs, but this one particular one just caught my attention.  It was just a posterboard sign and not any different than any other signs, but I just had the feeling that I should go check it out.  I'm glad I did.  When Bill and I were planning out My room, we included the fact that I desperately need more yarn storage space and I was going to head to Big Lots or another store in Tulsa which is nationwide but I'm not sure how far - Old Time Pottery, for another plastic drawer set.  The first ones we got were around $20 on sale, the last one I got was $25 regular price.  The yard sale was an older couple and it was a fun sale, they were just trying to get rid of stuff and not "just make a lot of money" so their prices were pretty much almost free.  I spent $13.00 total, plus $1.00 I paid the young gentleman-in-training who was shopping with his mom for watching my stuff so I could get my car - I think he was maybe 6 or 7 years old and absolutely adorable.  For $3.00, I got a 3-drawer plastic set just like the 5-drawer style AND IT WAS FULL OF YARN.  For $5.00, I got a wider and deeper drawer size 3-drawer set and IT HAD QUITE A BIT OF ALREADY CROCHETED ITEMS INCLUDING SEVERAL DOILIES.  (Capitals is not yelling, it's just for emphasis).  For $5.00, I got a wicker sewing basket WHICH WAS ALSO FULL OF YARN.  The sewing basket is in the donate pile, but the yarn was worth easily 5 or 6 times what I paid for it.  Similar deals with the other two drawer sets.  The already crocheted items are granny squares and similar items.  I might find a use for them, some of them may be donated and there are a few that are partially made but not completed and they might be frogged out.  One of the drawer on the smaller size unit was full of wool yarn, which I didn't realize until after I got it home but I should have figured out because my hands were itching pretty fiercely after I had opened the drawers to look at it.  The wool yarn will be donated, but even with that I still got a huge amount of yarn for very little so I'm not complaining.  I'm going to empty my tote bags of yarn into the larger-sized drawers and probably put some of the yarn I got yesterday into it as well.  I think (maybe anyway) that the smaller drawer unit will solve my overcrowded stash drawers.

 

At Church this morning, it was announced that the 9:00 a.m. service is being discontinued.  Next Sunday will be the last one for the early service, after that it will be back to the 10:30 only service on Sunday mornings.  We liked the 9:00 a.m. service, but there were never very many people.  The 10:30 service is always full, but the most people we've ever seen at 9:00 is about 15.  Usually, it's 10 or less so we're not surprised.  We actually expected this a while back, I think it's been about 4 years or so and the attendance at the early service has never increased.  We're thinking about looking for a different church anyway, we were waiting until after Otter's move to worry about that and now we're really thinking it might be time to move on.

 

The first day of Fall is this Tuesday.  It seems like it's still late Spring, there has been so much going on that I'm running behind!  We've seen a few people having firewood delivered or hauling it home themselves.  So I guess we're actually ahead of the curve this time.  At least as far as firewood goes, I still need to re-stock the Winter Storm/Housebound supplies but I think I can cut down the amount a little since it's just for two people and not three.  Not that we have a huge stock, just a few canned items and water for a couple of days in case we get iced in.  Which does happen here sometimes!

Now it's Thursday

Much better/different than last Thursday!

 

Bill got another load of firewood today.  He thinks we're where we were last year in terms of the amount of firewood we have.  I'd like to get 2 more loads, Bill wants to get at least one more but we'll see.  Today's was free, when the temperature gets to 50 degrees is when they start charging.  I don't mind if we have to pay for it.  Today was in the low 70's, tonight will be cooler and tomorrow our high is 68 degrees!  I'm thinking that we might have to pay for the next load of two of firewood.

 

The promised rain never did develop, although it was noisy in the early evening last night.  It was misty this morning, cloudy and overcast pretty much all day.

 

Otter's jalepeno plants still have blooms and small fruit.  She'll probably be making her final harvest in the very near future.  I'm thinking the mint and rosemary will be moved inside within the next few weeks.  I'll also need to bring my begonia back inside, which means I'm probably going to have to rearrange my plant stands.  Again!

 

We're going to get started on the tulip bed soon.  It needs to be weeded, then the dirt needs to be turned and it needs to be treated.  Then it might get another treatment a couple of weeks later.

 

I weeded the rock garden a bit this afternoon.  Mostly, I pulled grass that was encroaching from the sand stone edges.  There are a few little "false morning glory" vines popping up again, they get yanked as soon as I see them.  Wish we'd known that it wasn't actually morning glory and we would have pulled it out as soon as it came up through the dirt.

 

Well, they were pretty at least.

Yogurt Coupons

I don't necessarily use a lot of coupons.  There are some specific ones, like for laundry detergent and dog food.  But as far as food brands go, there aren't many.  But I have discovered something, I think I've mentioned it before.  Every time there is a coupon for yogurt in the paper's coupon inserts, within a week or so I will have a need for yogurt because either I will need it to combat the effects of an antibiotic, or Otter will.  Last Sunday's coupons had two for yogurt.

 

On Wednesday, I started feeling the unmistakable signs of a sinus infection.  By Thursday,  I was leaning more towards allergies but I felt pretty cruddy and left work mid-morning.  Around 3:00 this morning, I was awakened by sinus pressure and when I got up about 5:00 it was actual sinus pain with the pressure.  The med clinic opened up at 8:00, I was the first one in the door.  Guess what?  I have a sinus infection.  Guess I should have known it was coming, after all I did get two yogurt coupons!

 

I took Otter to work so I would have the car today, Bill took the Impala that she drives when she needs a car.  I was originally going to take her to work and pick her up after I got off because Bill needed the car and not the truck, but since I didn't go in today she could have taken my car if I didn't need to go to the doctor.  I'll pick her up when she gets off and we'll go to the post office to check the box then.  Probably also to the UPS box that Bill has for the business.  Then we might get some kind of take-home dinner.

 

Which will be followed with yogurt.

 

We're also in the market for new health insurance.  The company we have had for 10 years is leaving the state, effective the end of March 2015.  We have plenty of time, but I'm not waiting.  I've gotten a few quotes and am waiting on a couple more.  I knew that the government interference was affecting policy costs, but I was still shocked to get one quote for less insurance than we have now with a premium that was doubled!  And that was from the company we have our cars and house insured through.  We had been thinking it might be time to look into another carrier, now I really thing we will.  But it will probably be after we get the health insurance situated.

 

Froggy, yes the lumberyard probably does not want to store anything they can't use over the winter.  I just think it's a little "unfair" of them to give it away when people don't need it but to charge when people may be desperate.  But it's their business and they can run it the way they want to.  But, in their defense, it is only $5.00 per pallet load and the pallets are very full.  Depending on the weather next week because I think it might be rainy, Bill will get another load.

 

It's in the mid-90's today, it's been mid- to high-90's all week.  Tomorrow?  Well, tomorrow will be in the 70's.  And probably rainy as well.  But still, 70's?  That is wonderful.

 

It rained pretty hard earlier in the week, I don't know what we got in terms of amounts but it was a good, hard rain and there was a lot of it.  I think the old rain barrel is probably full now, and since Bill cleaned it out and replaced the broken spigot control we can use it easily.  The newer one was about 3/4 full, we were trying to use as much water as we could so that Bill could take it off the stand and re-align everything.  It's full again now, so that will have to wait a little longer.

 

My clematis has come back - the mowers we used after Bill's hand surgery took it out with the weedeater.  Along with a couple of the honeysuckle plants on the back fence.  The honeysuckle will probably come back, it's hard to kill.  I wasn't sure about the clematis, it is a strong plant and is very resilient.  But I wasn't sure if it had enough time to really get established, since it had barely survived being eaten to the ground by what was probably a rabbit.  Bad bunny!  But I checked on it Thursday and it's still alive.  It's not huge, but there is a nice size clump of it growing.  It's next to a fan-shaped trellis, I think the trellis is a little further from the plant than I wanted it to be but part of that is because it's growing away from the trellis.  I have some strong twine that we've used before as training for climbing plants and it's attached to the trellis then draped around the baby clematis plant in the hope that the plant will climb it and go the direction we want it to.  I haven't checked the honeysuckle at the back fence, but it's a very hardy plant so I think it will probably come back if it hasn't already.

 

But that bunny better stay away!  He can go find another salad bar, and not the one in my back yard!