Sneezy Friday

This picture perfectly represents my week.

Pass the kleenex please!  (Texasspeak:  any brand of tissue is kleenex.  It just is.  Deal with it.)

Rambling

Just normal stuff going on around here. Mostly.

Today is National Puppy Day.  That means Maggie Moo pictures!

And, since he will always be my puppy:

Can't believe it's been nearly a year already.  Miss this boy!

It's been extremely windy the last few days, but that is normal for this time of year.  So far, the broken limbs are still in the tree but at least one of them has moved a little.  It's not a huge limb, but there is one piece in particular that is very big although it's not broken off completely.

I put my yarn pieces out for the birds last weekend.  I also discovered a nest being built inside Otter's trellis.  Not sure what kind of birds though.  We are trying to avoid getting anywhere near the trellis.

And, since it's spring and the bugs are out:

I saw the first one at work yesterday!  INSIDE THE OFFICE.  I was standing in the kitchen area when it came from somewhere behind me (which means from inside.  Again) and crashed into the kitchen window.  It was probably trying to get out.  I eventually got it on the end of the broom, then I slowly and carefully took it outside.  And then I crushed it into a million billion pieces.

Hate those things!

Honeybees, now they are welcome.  They have plenty of bluebonnet blossoms to visit!  The redbud has lot of blooms left although some are beginning to blow off and I've seen a few leaves on the tree.  But I did see at least one honeybee on it as well.

Otter goes back to the dentist tomorrow for the 2nd of 4 visits.  I'll bring her back home afterwards, she'll probably get as far as my couch and then she'll sleep for a couple of hours.  She asked me if I would make potato soup tomorrow, of course I said yes.

More later!

First Day of Spring 2016

Today is the first day of Spring.  Of course, I'm still waiting on it to actually be winter!!  We didn't have much of one, so I guess the fact that we didn't have as much firewood as we usually do (and need) didn't really matter all that much.  I think we maybe only used the fireplace twice.

While I don't mind at all not having to deal with icy road conditions, and I'm not at all upset that Bill and the Otter didn't have to deal with them either, the lack of cold weather means that it's going to be a bad bug year.  I've been seeing flying things for a few weeks now, which is way early.  We may have to deal with worse ticks and fleas this year, thanks to the warm winter.

And the allergy situation will be bad this year as well, it's already started for most of us.  Part of the reason for the allergy forecast being so bad is because things are blooming way early as well as being staggered.

I'm not trying to gripe, I know it sounds like it.  I'm actually enjoying seeing the trees bloom and the birds are already starting nesting.  I'm just also already having allergy issues is all.

There really isn't a lot going on around here to blog about.

I'm not complaining about that, either! :)

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!

May? Spring?

I'm not really sure about either one of those things.

The calendar says it's May 13.  But it's back to jackets the last couple of days.  At the moment, nearly 8:30 p.m., we are sitting on the couch.  With blankets!  (And a warm beagle on her pillow at my feet, also sharing the blanket with me.)  It's pouring at the moment, it started raining again this afternoon after a break in the rain for a couple of hours.

Maggie Moo is much better.  She was bouncy and happy this morning, she went outside for a necessary trip and then she came running inside and zoomed around for a few minutes.  About 6:15, it wasn't raining and she was bouncy, so I said "walk" and that was enough to get her attention.  I didn't get out the door fast enough for her, and she barked at me!  Probably because I was taking too long, she didn't think I should stop long enough to lock the door!  Shed actually "baroo'd" at me - twice!  Baroo is the term for the noise beagles are known for that isn't actually a bark, although they do bark sometimes.  She couldn't get out to the street fast enough.  Then she wanted to walk in the street and not beside the grass!  We had a short walk, it was fairly quick but it was enough to occupy her.  She was tired out from the walk, and I went ahead and gave her a pain pill but I only gave her half of the dose.  It was about time for her to go out for the day anyway, and she was excited about that.  Probably because she knows that means her treat can will be opened!  She was happy when Bill let her in this afternoon.  She was not quite 100%, but she was glad to see him and then me when I got home.

I wanted to take her for a walk but she didn't act like she wanted one.  However, she did want to take a ride with me and was more than willing to let me get her harness on and got in the car easily.  We went to a local pet store because I wanted to get her a different style harness and I needed to take her with me for that.  I got her one that is closer to the old-style harness that Mom used with her chihuauas, it's burnt orange.  I also got her a new leash, the one we've used with her for years was beginning to show it's wear and it needed to be replaced.  The new one is pink, it's decorated with words such as "Diva, Prima Donna and Princess" with pictures of things like crowns - in other words, it fits Maggie's personality to a T!  While we were there, she also met a cat - the resident cat who always greets every animal that comes in.  Maggie was happy to touch noses with the cat, the cat meowed at her and was her normal superior feline self and Maggie was happy.  The particular store hosts cat rescues, some of them have dogs but this one is kitties.  There were a few really young kittens in a couple of large cages on display, Maggie was fascinated with them.  They didn't seem to care that the nose sticking inside the bars was a dog and not a cat, they were cute.  I have no idea if she's ever been around cats, but I think she probably has.  She was a 2-year old dog when we got her, her previous owner was a lady who died of old age and was a friend of a person who ran a rescue group for dogs.  When she died, Maggie was given to the rescue friend to be re-homed.  I'm thinking that Mags had been around cats in her first home.  But since Frasier would kill any cat he could (downside of the coyote heritage), we never allowed either of the dogs near any cat if we could avoid it so we really had no idea how Maggie would react to a cat.  She seems to like them.  She was funny on the way home, she was very interested in looking out the front windshield at a work crew when we were stopped at a light.  Shortly after that, it started raining and Maggie was a little unsure at first, then she curled up and went to sleep.  She did not want to get out of the car at home, she had figured out by that point that it was raining and she does not like rain.  She ran from the car door to the front porch, I don't think she even got one raindrop on her fur but she had to shakeshakeshake before she even took one more step.

We had chili tonight, made with buffalo.  It makes it so good!  I sent a pound of buffalo and a dozen tamales home with Otter the other day.  I don't know if she's used either one of them yet, but J was very interested in anything made with buffalo.  She saw the doctor today and the stitches are gone!  She said that it itches a little still but that the doctor said it looks good.  She has to be careful for a few days and keep a bandaid on it at work.  But she does not need to go back.

OK, back to my blanket and my beagle now.

I still say it can't be any later than March!

After 22 Years...

You would think I would have learned by now.

As soon as I declare a season change, especially if it's changing from Winter to Spring, it gets cold again!  And wet, it's been raining since sometime last night and we turned the heater back on.

I'm not switching quilts again, however!

The benefit to the cooler weather is that all the wicked little stingy-ended bugs are staying on their nests and it's easier to spray them.  Bill killed three nests tonight, all on the house and all near doors.  Two were yellow jackets and one was a wasp.  Indications are that it's going to be a bad year for the evil things.

(This one is borderline on what I usually post as far as language goes, but the one non-family friendly word is actually slang and is not quite impolite enough to worry about it.  Besides, it pretty much all true!)

Two of my favorites, pitties and blues!  And Bruno has good taste, bluebonnets smell heavenly.  He's a pretty smart puppy, obviously.

This little goofball, on the other hand...  When I got home, she was out in the garage.  Behind the tall boxes that block them off from parts of the garage we don't want them in.  And she was stuck!  Stuck as in lost, because she couldn't figure out how to get out - by going back the way she came!  As in back around the end of the shelf and back up to the front of the garage where she'd pushed a box out of the way.  Goofy little thing, that's for sure.  Sweet but still a goofball!

Switched

It is officially Spring for us today.  I know it's been Spring for a few weeks now, but it's not official for us (me mostly) until this:

gets taken off the bed and replaced with this:

(I can't find an actual picture of the camo quilt on the bed, although I know I have at least one and have posted it before.)

The other picture choice for the camo quilt was this one:

Otter had on purple socks that day, otherwise she really would be invisible like the sign she's holding up says!

Otter came over yesterday for a short visit - she did laundry and we went to Hobby Lobby.  But she wasn't wearing camo so we could see her!  :)

Froggy, I didn't see your comment on the bluebonnet post until I signed in to post this.  Blogger is supposed to tell me when there is a comment, and sometimes it actually does.  Just not this time.

I really don't have a lot to talk about today, but Froggy will get on me if I don't post something. :)

Otters, Lions, Lambs

Otter is 23 today!

Bill took the car back to her today, I met him at her apartment so he could get home. But first, I took her a small cake!  3 or 4 bites, but she was happy to get it.  I also took her and Roomie a radio.  It's am/fm/weather and is both electric and battery operated.  I put batteries in it and set it to the best Tulsa station for weather reports.  They are keeping it in a specific, easy to grab spot in case they need to run down to the basement or we have any storms at all - which do happen here, in Tornado Alley!

March came in like a lamb this year.  It seems to be going out like one as well.  After all, the lion hit last week and was on the high end of EF2, nearly a 3.  I sincerely hope that we don't get anything else, but as I said before - this is Tornado Alley, after all.

At least it's not Monday any longer.  :)

Buzzing

It must be Spring.  Because my redbud is blooming out all over the place.  It was covered in honeybees today.  There were about 10 or so when I looked out the first time, then a couple of hours later there were what looked like millions!  They were also checking out some of the blooming weed in the back yard.  Honeybees are wonderful little creatures.  Otter isn't too concerned with them being close to her, they aren't aggressive.  If we got in the way, they just went around us.  (That's a stock photo, not my tree.)  We don't get too close, but we get close enough to watch them.  I'm thinking that someone in the area may have a bee hive, because there were a whole lot of the little buzzers.

Otter came over with her laundry after work and we got the new insurance situated while she was here.  I guess it's a law now, probably to keep people from claiming benefits they don't actually deserve, but in order to put her on our health insurance she had to be here when we made the call.  The insurance specialist talked to her and also to Bill to verify his participation and now we are all signed up for the new insurance.  The old one ends at midnight on March 31st, the new one takes over at that point.  It's $211.00 more per month, but (thanks to noboma!) we don't have a choice.  Our current carrier is leaving the state and we had to replace the policy.  I've been looking at different carriers and coverage for a while, insurance companies (large ones) that used to offer nationwide coverage are now having to reduce their coverage areas by huge amounts.  Premiums are also skyrocketing, which is another (not so) lovely effect of nobamacare.  Also, the enrollment period is very short.  Just a few months.  After the enrollment period ends, unless you have a qualifying event such as our situation, you are out of luck on getting new insurance.  How is that fair?  How is that constitutional?  It's not.  At all.

Otter and I went to a thrift store while her laundry was in the dryer.  We didn't find anything, but it was fun anyway.  It was really cloudy when we were there, at one point we heard thunder - and then we heard a very nervous lady ask if that was really thunder she was hearing?  That's actually pretty common after a tornadic storm like we had last week, it can take a few thunderstorms before people relax again.  There were at least 2 confirmed tornados.  The one that hit the trailer park in Sand Springs, and then there was also a very weak one that was just south of the Tulsa Airport but it was short-lived at least.

The dogs have lost their backyard privileges again.  Friday evening, Maggie Moo came running into the house like she usually does (full speed ahead!) and her feet were covered in mud.  And so was the carpet!!  There are now at least 10 holes that weren't there before.  They all seem to be over mole trails, but the yard is well on it's way to looking like a moonscape again.  So, I closed the gate.  And Frasier pouted for a while, he eventually came back for attention but he was not happy with me for a while!

The inernet company is coming out this Friday to bury the cable.  Finally.  They said it would be 30 days, but it's been closer to 60 or so.  Bill really needs to mow, but he hasn't been able to because of the cable just laying across the yard.  The weeds have gotten really tall, and now he'll also have to worry about what looks like sinkholes!

Weather Recap Mostly

First things first:

On what would have been his 83rd birthday, we remember Leonard Nimoy with utmost love, admiration and immense respect as well as our thanks for his sharing of his gift with us.  LLAP.

I wanted to go into a little more detail about last night's weather.  The forecast called for possible thunderstorms late afternoon into the night but the forecasters were all saying the same thing:  that the main threat would be high winds and hail and that the chance of any tornado forming was slim to none.  Obviously, they got that part of it wrong.  Otter was supposed to work from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 but her shift got changed and she wound up working noon to 5:00.  It was a cloudy and cool day until mid-afternoon, when the sun came out.  Which was actually not a good thing, because warm could make any storms intensify.  When I left work at 3:30, it was clouding up quite a bit.  Otter actually got off work a little after 4:00, she was getting what could have been a migraine so her boss let her go a little early.  So she was home well before the bad stuff started, but Roomie was still at work.

I'm not sure what time it actually was, but I think it was before 5:00 p.m. or somewhere around it because I got home around 4:00 and we ate dinner as soon as I got home.  I was working in my craft room and Bill was watching a movie in the living room.  I heard thunder when I got home and it was cloudy but nothing else at that point.  I had the radio on when I was crafting and the reports suddenly changed from watching the weather for "later possibilities" to "indications are a tornado is forming west of Tulsa" and they started the serious discussion.  I told Bill and he turned off the movie, we switched the tv to the local stations and it was a little scary.  It always is scary when the warnings include areas that are very close to us!  I was texting with Otter and she had her tv on.  She was still dealing with her headache but it wasn't as bad as they can get.  Roomie had not made it home yet, but was on her way.  When the reports changed, we told her to get ready to head to the basement - her apartment complex is one of the few in this area that actually has basements, the basement serves two purposes:  the laundry rooms and storm shelters.  She got dressed, got her shoes on, grabbed her purse and cell phone and shortly after that we heard the sirens.  She went down to the shelter and said that most other residents did as well, except for a few (males) she described as "redneck idiots" who were standing outside in hopes of actually seeing a tornado!

The sirens sound for a couple of minutes and then they shut off.  A lot of people think that means "all clear" but it doesn't.  Otter thought it did, Roomie was there by that time and they went back upstairs to their apartment.  We told them to go back downstairs, and the did.  The tornado track was originally going to go north/northeast of us/Otter but the storm itself was on a track to go right over the area Otter lives in.  The tornado destroyed a trailer park in Sand Springs, which is on the west side of Tulsa (and not where we live) and it was bad.  One person died there and there were several injuries.  Lots of homes have been destroyed.  But the tornado dissolved before it actually got the the Tulsa area, although the storm itself went through downtown Tulsa and at one point the weather forecasters thought that it was about to re-form while it was still over Tulsa.  The storm shifted more south and went right through Tulsa and it was pretty big so most parts of Tulsa were affected by rain, hail and strong wind.  That storm went on east of Tulsa.  I don't know if the size of the tornado has been determined yet, but even a small one can do damage.

There was a children's gymnastics studio somewhere in the Sand Springs area, classes were ongoing and it was full of children.  The tornado struck it as well, it took the roof off and destroyed the building.  But they'd had enough warning and the owner was able to get all the children and parents into the basement.  No lives lost and no injuries there, thankfully.  It was one of the first places that the first responders were able to get to, each child was carried out individually by firemen and anybody that was able to - they were barefoot and one of the main dangers after a tornado is broken glass and debris on the ground.  All safe and accounted for there.

Otter and Roomie eventually were able to go back up to their apartment, and Otter texted me about 8:30 that she was going to take a nighttime allergy pill to help her sleep since her head still hurt although it was a little better.

There were a couple more storms following the first ones, I took these pictures before it got dark last night. They are all taken from my back deck and descriptions are below the pictures:

Looking south from  my deck, the clouds were very low.

I turned around and took this picture to the east, that's our chimney visible.

Over the roof of the house.

To the west.  Visible is what's left of the woodpile and that is the dining room window.

Back to the east again, that's the shed that is full to the brim with pachinko machines.  What looks like a window on the side is actually a mirror that Bill put there a few years ago.

These clouds were the edge of the storm that had gone through Tulsa and was heading east rapidly.

The next storm system came through from the south/southwest and we got a lot of rain out of it.  Possibly some hail, we couldn't tell for sure but it might have hailed.  The rain barrels have both overflowed again, the rain gutters couldn't handle the amount of water coming down and it was very windy.  Also very noisy, there was a lot of thunder and some of the lightning was beautiful.  It rained pretty much all night and it was still barely sprinkly this morning.  Bill checked the trees and we didn't lose any limbs this time.  I'm surprised at that actually.  No sign of hail damage on the cars so if we did get any hail, it wasn't much.  It was pretty bad in some spots.  Some people are still without power and it might not be restored until Saturday.

This is pretty early in Tornado Season.  I sincerely hope that it is not an indicator of the rest of the Season.  It was bad.  But it could have been so much worse.

One thing we discovered:  the girls (Otter and Roomie) don't have a radio.  We're going to buy them a battery operated radio.  I've seen some that are electric with a battery option, that is probably what we'll get them along with extra batteries.  Nobody in the basement with them had a radio or any way of known when it was safe again.  If they have to go through this again, they'll take it with them to the basement.

Tornadic Storms in Tulsa Area. We are ok. **EDITED**

There is a little town west of Tulsa called Sand Springs.  It is not where we live, but I wanted to mention it because they have had a tornado go through and there is a lot of damage.  Injuries, but not major.  No deaths, but there are still a lot of people who have lost homes.  Please pray for them, as well as for the emergency workers who are trying to help them.

It's been a rough evening.  We were in the firing line for the thunderstorms that sprouted the tornados (there have been a few) but the tornados themselves went north and northeast of us.  The north track took them over into the areas east of Tulsa and there are still people who are in the track of at least one tornado.  It's 7:02 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 as I type this.

We are now getting the thunderstorms but the tornadic chances are just about gone, at least for us.

But other parts of the state are in danger, specifically the Moore/Oklahoma City area.

Please pray.

(EDIT:  There was one death in Sand Springs after all)

Sprung!!!

And not a moment too soon.

Bye, groundhog!  Get some glasses before next February rodent - otherwise...   :)

Spring?

I know it's not officially Spring until this coming Friday.  But it sure feels like it today.  It was rainy all day Friday, into early yesterday morning.  Then it was cool and overcast most of yesterday.  But today started out nice and has stayed that way.  Warm-ish but not hot, the sky is blue and beautiful.  It's slightly breezy.

Unfortunately, things are beginning to bloom and I'm a little sneezy when I'm outside.  But it's worth it, at least so far, just to get to be outdoors.  The ground is a bit soft from all the rain and it is muddy in places - my dogs have spent quite a bit of time decorating the kitchen floor with a paw print pattern!

We had intended to go back to the Methodist church today but we overslept.  We'll go back there next Sunday.  Bill brought me a cup of coffee in bed this morning, it was nice to sit in the dark and wake up slowly.  I still am not a fan of Daylight Saving Time!

Otter came over yesterday to do laundry. We went to Wallyworld and I got sheets for the futon, as well as a couple of pillows.  I also bought a desk lamp which is very similar to the Pixar logo.  I didn't realize that until the cashier mentioned it - he was a friend of Otter's from high school, which explains why he always looks so familiar to me!  Anyway, the lamp works very well beside the desk.  Bill checked the light fixture in the ceiling and found out why it was so bad - two of the three bulbs were burned out!  Amazing how much brighter it is in there now...

As we were walking out of Wallyworld, there was a girl scout troop setting up a cookie booth.  Needless to say, we bought some.  I have about 7 or 8 boxes in the freezer, I'd like to get a few more boxes, hopefully I'll see at least one more booth but they only sell them through the end of March I think.

My tendinitis is really bad in my left arm.  It's actually better than I've had it in the past, it's just that I keep forgetting about it and using my left arm for something I shouldn't and then it hurts.  So, I'm forcing myself to take a crochet break.  Believe me, it ain't easy!  I had a few craft projects I had on the shelf but hadn't gotten around to yet so I'm working on them now.  I got the base coat of paint on the shadow box and part of the first coat of blue.  I was hoping it would only need one coat, but I think it's going to need two for an even color.  Otter always says that it is not a good day unless she gets paint (or markers, glue, etc.,) on her hands.  So I guess it must be a really good day for me!

Movie review: Big Hero 6.  I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  It's funny and the storyline is good.  A little predictable, but still good.  The animation is pretty good.  The best part?  The Stan Lee cameo!  It's actually an end-of-credits scene but it's really great.  Bill told me to put this one on the "to buy" list.  It was cute and I highly recommend it.

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!

It's a Beautiful Day

Really nice and also like Spring, not like the first week of July!  The sky is gorgeous, the perfect shade of blue and no clouds at all.  It's warm but not hot and there are birdies chirping all over the place.

 

It was in the 50's last night.  The 50's!  In July.  Bill opened the house up this morning, it was nice & cool.  The birdies were chirping their little feathered heads off then, too.  Including a huge dove that landed in one of the trees in the back yard.

 

Well Done, Tulsa Police Department! Well Done.

 

Today has been a "whatever" day.  Otter had to work, she talked me into taking her this morning and we took the recycling stuff on the way.  Bill's been working on his pachinko restoration as well as moving more of his stuff back to the office/pachinko workroom.  I've been doing stuff around the house, and for the first time in a long time and probably the last time in a long time, the laundry basket is empty!  That won't last long, it never does.  I swept the front porch off, judging by the "evidence" I'd say the resident bat has been back.  Fine with me, he is welcome to come eat all the buggies he can catch!

 

Otter and I have shopping plans tomorrow.  At least in the morning, she still has quite a bit of sewing and misc. stuff to do on her cosplay clothing.  But we are going to the mall so I can go to the Coach store about getting some of their leather cleaner/conditioner and we're going to hit a few thrift stores while we are out and about.  Bill's going to be enjoying the day at home, he is still working on the pachinko restoration and the work room but he enjoys it.  Seems like it would be work-like to me, but not to him.

 

Well, Bill just reminded me that I was going to mail something but I forgot to take it when I got Otter from work so I guess I'd better head in the general direction of the post office!  I guess I'd better check the UPS box while I'm at it, and I think that he also wants me to take his car so I will run it by a gas pump while I'm at it.

 

Also, Blogger is acting up again.  Froggy, your comment posted but when I told it to post KN#3's comment, it sent hers to the delete file.  I was able to find it but I couldn't get it to post or move the comment back to the "waiting to post" file so I retyped what she said and posted it that way.  I do remember Uncle Buck's RV and he would generally have a crowd of grandkids with him where and whenever he travelled, now that I've had time to think about it I do remember Mom saying something about the rain when y'all went to the zoo but I don't remember all the actual details.

 

OK, the post office is waiting on me!

Windy Monday

I'm so glad that my jury duty is over and that it is back to "normal" around here.  Well, as normal as it ever gets for us!

 

There have been a few news reports about a specific trial that was starting the jury picking process today, it's not one I would ever have wanted to be considered for.  I know without a shadow of a doubt that I would be the absolute last person on earth the defendant would want on a jury.  It was a pretty horrific crime and I'm just really glad that I'm done.

 

I edited my last post, but Otter's late night shift wasn't actually that late.  She texted me about 8:00 or so, to let us know that she might be getting off around or before midnight.  Then about 10:00, she called to let me know that she was heading home - she was supposed to call and let me know when she headed home, no matter what time it was.  We were still up anyway.  The store was not too busy yesterday, so the supervisor had the employees that were there in the afternoon get started on some of the inventory.  As a result, when the 6:00 p.m. crew got there, quite a bit of the work had already been done.  Otter was well caffeinated, she had a couple of Cokes (in non-Texan language, she had Mountain Dew), because she was anticipating several hours which would end late at night or possibly early this morning.  The result is that she got home just after 10:00, and she was still pretty wound up.  We went to bed about 11:15, I have no idea what time she finally wound down and went to bed but she thinks she was up for at least a couple of hours after we went to bed.  She did ask me again to let her sleep in this morning and not wake her up - she usually tells me if she wants me to make her up before I leave for work.  She called me about 10:30 this morning when she woke up.

 

Today is one year since the tornadic outbreak that devastated the middle part of Oklahoma.  The first horrific storms went through the Shawnee area, today marks the one year date.  Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Moore monster.  It was a bad time for so many people.  This spring has been calmer so far, although there have been a few twisters.  I hope & pray that there are no more.

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.

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.

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.

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!