Sunday Cats

If the cat is away, the mice will play.  Or, in this case:  If the Otter is away, the parents will go out to lunch!  Otter is at J's house this afternoon, so Bill & I went to El Chico for lunch.  We were going to Cici's Pizza, but it was close to 1:00 and they had a line out the door.  So, we went to the El Chico in the same shopping center and had what we call a "sit-down" meal - the one where you sit down and people wait on you.  It was good, we spent a little more than Cici's would have been but we ate less than we would have at the pizza buffet.  But I wish that I'd remembered to ask for the cilantro to be left off!  I'm somewhere between strongly sensitive to it and mildly allergic.  And I just plain don't like it anyway.  I think I got most of it off, but I'm sure I probably ate a little bit of it.

 

I feel like I may be in what Otter calls "pre sinus infection" mode.  Several times lately, I've felt like I was on the verge of one.  Then it would go away.  I've had three nosebleeds in two days, due to the dry air and they were not bad but they sometimes presage infections.  I woke up with a lot of sinus pressure but not actual pain this morning.  It's better this afternoon, but I still feel it.  I could go to the doctor now, but I know from experience that they'll just tell me that it's an allergy when I know what is actually is based on my history.  I have learned over the years to wait until the symptoms get to a certain point, otherwise I get treated like I don't know what I'm talking about and sent out the door.  Without any relief.  So, I'll watch it for a couple of days and see what happens.  Been there, done that enough times to know what to do and when to do it as far as medical treatment is concerned.  But it might be improving this afternoon, so I'll just have to wait and see what happened.

 

Froggy, my I finished the prototype rice bag/warmer.  I think it's a little bit big and I also think that the pattern called for too much rice.  I took out about half of the rice it called for and it works better, but I think that I'll make them smaller than the first one.  They would work great for hand warmers in pockets, Otter has already requested a matching pair.

 

Otter has to work on Black Friday.  She's not surprised, but she was really hoping not to have to be in the first shift.  She has to be in at 5:00 a.m., the store opens at 6:00.  She will probably leave the house about 4:30, so she'll be getting up at 4:00.  I'm very glad that I'm not in her shoes.  She does have more hours scheduled this week, which she expected and she is glad about that.

 

Bill is off this week, he's taking vacation days Monday through Wednesday.  We've been having problems with our home phone and the soonest someone could get out here is Wednesday morning anyway, so it works out well for him to be here.  It used to be that the phone would go out completely, every time it rained.  They came out a few times and replaced a few things and it got better.  But sometime over the last couple of weeks, something apparently went wrong with the phone lines and now we can hardly hear anyone because of the horribly loud buzzing sound.  We all have cell phones so we aren't out of reach, but it's still kind of frustrating.  It's a smaller phone company and the only one that is available out here, unless we wanted to go with Cox Cable company and that is the last thing we want to do.  So, if anybody needs us it's still best to use the cell phones until Wednesday at least.

 

Bill built a fire in the fireplace while ago, he's back in the office.  He is working on his computer but I'm in the livingroom so he made me a fire.  We have gotten a lot of use out of the fireplace already, Friday night and then just about all day yesterday.  We haven't gotten the possible snow yet but it has been very cold.  We might have gotten above freezing yesterday, but I'm not sure.  I refilled my birdfeeders Friday and switched to bigger ones.  I also put out a suet feeder.  The seed feeders needed to be refilled this morning, the suet feeder is still there and intact but it's considerable smaller now.  We've had mostly sparrows, two varieties in fact but we also saw a female cardinal.  I think that there might have been a couple of starlings.  No sign of woodpeckers yet, but they will probably show up sooner or later.  I have three large popcorn tins full of birdseed, I've used about 2/3 of one.  The dog's water dish was frozen over this morning, Otter went out to pour warm water over it and she said that there were a lot of birds.  Birds need water in the winter but not everybody realizes that.  So even when the (stinky!) dogs are inside, we keep their water dish as full and as non-frozen as we can.

 

The dogs don't seem to mind sharing their water with birds.  Besides, they spend most of their time snoozing, either on their blankets or in front of the fireplace!  Which actually sounds pretty smart to me.

Ready!

Froggy, don't worry.  I got the chocolate!  We bought marshmallows already and I checked the graham crackers.  We're prepared.  Of course, Bill brought in firewood already.  Because I need to make 'smores.  (That's the most important reason for the firewood!)

 

But you are right Froggy - chocolate is good anytime.

 

I don't think we're going to have anything bad, just really, really cold.  But I filled up the car tonight anyway - I try to not let it get below half a tank when there is the possibility of either spring-like storms or for most of the winter.  Just common sense to be prepared.

 

I also brought in the birdfeeders that I put out several days ago.  I bought 4 more plastic birdfeeders at Atwood's the other day that were in their clearance section.  They are kind of cheaply made but they were a buck apiece so I grabbed them.  I'll fill up at least a couple tomorrow morning and put them out - it I remember.  If I forget, I'll get them out Saturday morning.

 

Otter got good news at work yesterday.  Her boss wants to increase her hours and very soon she'll be getting trained on "back of the store management" soon.  It's not actual management, but it is more responsibility.  I think she's really enjoying a job where a) she's not taken advantage of and b) is recognized for being a dependable, hard worker.  And also the fact that the manager knows what he's doing.  And then there is also the fact of the lack of late nights!

 

There was probably more I wanted to talk about, but I'm tired.  It's been a long day and I think I'm going to spend a little while keeping the couch from flying up to the ceiling and the tv from getting lonely.

92!

Otter and I planted 92 tulip bulbs this afternoon.  She put some of the colors in patterns and some are just planted.  There are several rows, either 5 or 6 in each row.  We treated the bed a couple of times, stirred the dirt around a few times and got all the bulbs planted today.  We both have sore backs, but it's done and we don't have to do anything else now.  We found several earth worms and the dirt looked good, nice & rich.

 

It might be winter this weekend.  At least, it will be cold and possibly wet.  The type of wetness will be determined by how cold it actually gets, we have a chance of wintery precipitation - in other words, we have a chance of flurries.  But since the forecasters can't predict a hole if they dig it themselves, we are prepared for all contingencies.  Even if we don't get anything!  Bill's been cutting some of the firewood to size to fit the fireplace.  We hope to be able to use it Saturday.  Guess I'd better get more chocolate tomorrow, you can't make 'smores without it!

Just a Few Random Thoughts

I've been cutting up habeneros to put in the freezer, so my allergy symptoms are temporarily gone!  I used latex gloves, cut carefully, removed the gloves carefully and then scrubbed my hands with soap and hot water.  I've learned from watching Bill that there are never enough or too many safeguards with habeneros!

 

I've been having allergy symptoms today, and I think it's the wonderful mountain cedar making it's presence known.  Hate the stuff.  Almost as bad is the sneaky cinnamon scented pine cones that most stores seem to stock and seem to put by the register and/or entrance so that I can't escape them.

 

Looks like winter is going to show up towards the end of the week.  Possibly as soon as Thursday but maybe not until Friday evening.  We probably won't get anything bad, but it's going to depend on the temperature when the rain starts.  Bill brought in a bunch of firewood while ago, we'll probably have the fireplace going most of Saturday.  Which means that the dogs will be overjoyed, they stake out their nap spots pretty much immediately upon Bill starting a fire.

 

The 50th Anniversary of the JFK assassination is coming up this week.  Obviously, it's been in the news and will be for a few more days.  I think the actual day is Friday.  I was around when it happened, but I wasn't quite two years old yet and so I have no memory of the event.  But it was sort of the background to the childhood of everyone who was young at the time, we all just sort of grew up knowing about it.  No matter a person's opinion of a particular President, murder is never the answer.  There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there, and some of them are pretty wild.  I personally have never felt that the "lone gunman" theory works or that Oswald was the actual killer - although I do think he thought he was and he did fire his gun.  My money would be on organized c r i m e, but that's just my opinion - and Bill's, by the way.  But the point is that it was still a life taken.  I think that people tend to forget that fact, among all the mania that accompanies anything connected with him.  I may have more to discuss on this subject at a later date.  (The spacing on c r i m e is so that it's not searchable, some things always show up on a search no matter how many safeguards are in place and I want to be private.)

 

Along with allergy issues, I've been fighting a case of RedHead Anemia.  I'm increasing my protein and iron.  We had homemade sloppy joes tonight, I made it with ground beef.  I changed it up slightly, I added chopped celery and cut up a banana pepper to add to it, then we also topped it off with parmesan cheese.  It was pretty good, although I'm not sure I used enough chili powder in it.  Not that Bill objected!  It's one of his favorite "easy meals."

 

Is it Friday yet?  It's only Tuesday!  This has been a long week and it's still not even half-way over.

Not Sure Which Season it Really is...

but it might be Spring again.  Judging by the amount of wind we've had the last couple of days, and also by the amount of allergy symptoms I've had.  I'm really thinking that it's April again!

 

I did a little thrift/antique shopping today.  Didn't find anything I wanted to buy, but I was feeling a little housebound and it was nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours.  Otter is gone to her D & D game, she'll be home sometime in the next hour-ish.  Bill spent the day working on assorted projects, including using the chain saw blade sharpener.  Which worked, by the way, and there was no blood spilled!  We got into the shed a bit this afternoon, he pulled two machines out of the never-ending-pachinko stash and he's going to start working on them this week.  But he's still got more pachinko machines than should be legal!

 

I have a "little old man" in the form of a large furry dog at my feet.  He parked himself there a little while ago and I think he's dozing off.  The beaglebrat was already snoozing, on their blankets at the end of the couch.  Lazies!

 

Froggy, I texted you the pictures of the shawl already but I've put the ruffle row on it since then.  I will get it sent to you sometime this week, possibly tomorrow (Monday.)  I'll let you know for sure when it's on the way.

 

Since I finished up Froggy's shawl, I don't really have any more UFO's.  I have temporarily put off finishing the yarn wreath until I've gotten a few planned Christmas gift projects out of the way, so I'm don't consider the wreath a UFO.  I have managed to get quite a few things finished up this year, the afghan being one of them.  Froggy, your shawl was not intended as a de-stash project, but it certainly was a good one.  I still have quite a bit of that particular yarn left, it's the same yarn as the afghan was made from and I bought a lot since I wasn't sure how much the afghan would take.  I'm sure I'll have a use for it at some point, it's really good yarn and I really like it.  But not for a while, my arms are just a bit sore after I spent most of yesterday crocheting!

Dog Days

The dogsters went to the vet today.  Frasier was (over)due for his rabies shot and Maggie Moo was ready for a rear end alignment (anal glands cleaned out) as well as a tire retread (claws trimmed).  Both things were accomplished with a minimum of fuss, Maggie was even glad to get to the vet's today.  Frasier does have cataracts, I thought I could see a hint of opaqueness in his eyes at the right angle and the vet noticed it as well.  Not bad and not anything to worry about, but we are aware of it "officially" now.  Frasier has also had a really severe issue with bad breath, off & on.  The vet thinks it's "dental disease" the same way that a person with bad teeth gets.  He's not willing to do anything to the dog's mouth and neither am I, but he did give me an antibiotic to give Frasier for several days.  It might be something I'll have to give him every several months, depending on how often/strong/if the infection comes back.  Maggie Moo is 28 pounds and Frasier is 69 pounds.  Both are healthy, Frasier is just old but pretty good for an 84-year-old man!  (Approximately 12 years x 7 dog years.)

 

Frasier's shot was due in late August/early September, but we were kind of busy with Billyboy's skin cancer issues and I forgot about it after all the fun with him was over.  But it's not a problem, the dog doesn't really go anywhere where he's exposed to other dogs and the vet wasn't concerned with it being late.

 

Otter is gone to see the new Thor movie.  Or at least that was the plan when she left with one of her friends at 8:30-ish this morning.  She'll eventually be home and then she is forbidden to tell me much about the movie.  Which is guaranteed to drive her nuts.  :)

 

Nearly Friday!

Somewhat Ready for Winter

I added a few things to our "Housebound/Stuckathome/Icestorm" supplies.  I think we're pretty much ready for the possibility of being caught at home this winter, we have plenty of firewood and enough canned/dried food for several days.  Not that I expect it, but we didn't expect Snowmagedden 2011 either!  Our supplies consist of:  canned chili, canned stew, canned Vienna sausage (for Bill, I personally can't stand the stuff), canned tuna, crackers, ritz crackers, instant coffee (the most important!), tea bags, dried pasta, peanut butter (creamy, because that's the kind I like and I was the one at the store), canned orange juice, canned dog food (can't forget the pupsters!), canned beans (also for Bill), bottled water, and a few other things.  I will probably get a small bag of dried dog food, but I think we're pretty much ready.  I might also get a few cans of soup.  We always have things like batteries, candles, first aid supplies on hand.  It's a Borg Queen thing, I have to be prepared for all contingencies.  More than once, it's been a good thing.  Not just in Feb. 2011, but enough times that prove it's warranted.

 

I figure I've always got enough yarn on hand!  And plenty of projects that need it. :)

 

It was very cold last night and this morning, we hit the predicted 21 degrees.  It got into the low 50's this afternoon.  It wasn't breezy, so it actually felt better than yesterday - even this morning.  Although Otter might disagree, she got the joy of scraping off a frosted car before she could go to work!  I did help her, after I'd finished my car.  It was just frost and not really ice, but it was still a cold job.

 

Bill has a new toy.  It's a sharpener for a chainsaw blade.  He need it badly, the chainsaw was getting pretty dull.  I know, it's a tool to make a dangerous item even more dangerous!  But a dull saw is dangerous as well, especially when it's a saw with an engine.

 

Otter's going to see the new Thor movie tomorrow.  She promises not to spoil it for me.  Which will be fun to watch, especially if it's a good movie and she can't tell me!  It's her turn to rent the movie for Saturday, since she's actually off this Saturday, and she's chosen the new Superman movie.  Which I actually want to see - possibly a sign of the end of the world that I want to see a Superman movie!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had the first hard freeze of the season last night.  It was 28 degrees when we got up this morning.  28!  Talk about cold.  The car Otter drives was just about out of gas, so I ran it up to the gas station about 6:30 a.m. and filled it up for her.  I thought my leather jacket and a cap would be enough.  I was wrong!  I came back home and was home just long enough to warm up before it was time for me to head back out the door.  I did manage to get a scarf this time, as well as putting the lining that wasn't originally in my leather jacket in it this time.  After I got outside, I realized that I should have worn my heavy coat but I didn't quite have enough time to go back inside after it.

 

It never really got much warmer.  The temperature was somewhere in the 40's ish I think, maybe a little warmer.  But the wind chill kept the "feels like" temperature about where it was when we got up.  Otter didn't have to be at work until 11:00, she said it was still pretty cold when she left and she just got home (6:45 p.m.) and said it's colder.  When I got home, I got out in the back yard and picked up the few remaining walnuts from the yard.  It was still cold!  Bill brought in a load of firewood and we are now enjoying the first fire of the season.  I made extremely hot chili for dinner tonight.  It's a good day for it.

 

It's supposed to be even colder tonight.  Like the low 20's.  Well, we have plenty of blankets!

Eleven Eleven Eleven

With our grateful Thanks.  May we never forget.

(I miss you, Dad.)

Still Here! (Froggy will get on me if I don't blog regularly)

Froggy, I put 2 more rows on the shawl today, that is on top of the 4 or so I put on it this week.

 

I may be in the market for a new microwave soon.  I think mine is going out.  Well, it is 20 years old so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  Except for being surprised at how long it has lasted.

 

I'm really thinking that Fraiser's teeth need some vet attention.  He has tartar build up and it's gotten bad.  His breath stinks, and so does anything he licks - which means their blankets, the carpet, himself, Maggie Moo!  The problem is that the vet will want to put him under and then we are back to the same problem we had a year ago when the tumor was removed:  an old dog who might not tolerate it.

 

My laptop is covered with dog hair.  Frasier likes to lay his head on the side of the keyboard and get my attention.  No, the laptop doesn't smell!  But it does have a little furriness to it this evening.

 

Thanksgiving is in two weeks.  Christmas is in 6 weeks.  More or less.  I think I might be getting a new microwave from Santa!  Santa Mom, anyway.

 

My allergies were a little better after the freeze, but then they got bad again.  It's been windy and that makes them worse.  Today was cool but at least it wasn't too breezy.  The humidifier is helping.

 

OK, Froggy.  I blogged.

We Got There..

It was 31 degrees when we left the house this morning.  Maybe that means that my Fall allergies will be a little better?  It won't knock them all out until we have a good, hard freeze.  That may be a little while.  But I'm hoping that at least some of the crud has been killed.

 

I also had my first official nosebleed of the season.  Dry air always causes them.  It wasn't bad, it was just unexpected.  But, being a redhead...  Anyway, I put the humidifier in the bedroom a couple of nights ago, on my side of the bed and close to the head of the bed.  It has helped some, I've slept better and when I wake up I'm less stuffy.

 

Not cold enough for a fire yet, though.  We still need to get the chimney cleaned anyway, which we are going to try to schedule for Thanksgiving week since Bill's taking vacation days that week.  If, that is, I can ever remember which company we used in 2009 when we had the chimney rebuilt!

 

The dogs seem to be enjoying the colder weather as well.  When I got home, Otter and I let the dogsters out in the back yard while we did "walnut patrol."  They were very playful.  Frasier particularly.  He ran and ran and ran and ran and ran...To Infinity and Beyond.  He ran over Maggie Moo several times, she finally figured it out and she tried to trip him several times.  She was on the losing end of his craziness quite a bit but she seemed to have as good a time as he did.  He was so funny, I have never seen him run quite so much and he was smiling.  If the grey on his muzzle wasn't so evident, I'd say he was a young puppy.

 

Walnut Patrol consists of picking up black walnuts which fall from the tree in the (nice) neighbor's back yard.  The tree in question was originally outside of his yard, but then fence the builders put up many years ago enclosed the tree into his yard.  The builder is going to move the fence, but the neighbor is contesting it so it's still in his yard.  The builder will probably eventually win the this one.  When that happens, the builder will take out the tree which is not in good shape anyway.  It never really recovered from the ice storm in 2007.  It's a Black Walnut tree and we've literally picked up hundreds of the things.  It has always dropped them in our yard, but never as bad as this year.  They are poisonous if the dogs eat them, or at least can make them sick.  Of course, that means that the dogs love them!  The neighbor may take the tree down himself, he said it would work great to use with his smoker.  Whichever way, either the builder or the neighbor, I hope it is taken out soon.  It won't take much, another ice storm or a bad wind storm like we had last summer and the tree may not still be standing.  The problem is that it might not be standing because it fell over in my yard, on my shed, on my fence or on someone or someone's pets.

 

TGIF tomorrow!

Dirty Jobs

Or job singular, to be exact.  Otter and I got out to the tulip bed and basically stirred the dirt.  There is some evidence of a mole trail, after we treated it.  We're probably going to plant the tulip bulbs next week and we will treat it then.  Then, we'll leave it to sit and hopefully we'll see tulips next spring.

 

I also came across my bluebonnet seeds, the ones I harvested from this year's crop.  I'm going to see about planting a few of them in the whiskey barrel - although I have a baby blue already sprouting.

 

The humming bird feeders came in yesterday and I washed them this morning.  They are now put away until next spring.  I need to get my seed feeders ready, I don't think I need to replace any of them this year.

 

We have a good chance of rain, it's expected to start after midnight.  It could continue through Thursday morning.

 

Real exciting, huh!?

Mousketeers

It took three tries, but we got the mouse!  The first night, Bill baited the trap with peanut butter and birdseed.  I checked the trap the next morning.  It was still there, unsprung and also unbaited.  It's just one of those stories that mice like cheese, they really don't care for it, but Bill used it when he re-baited the trap because it would at least stay on the trap and not be as easy to take off without springing the trap.  Mice will eat it if they are hungry enough or if it's the only thing available, but the mousie was apparently not hungry the second night.  Last night, Bill left the cheese on the trap and spread a tiny bit of peanut butter on the cheese.  This morning, the trap was not where he left it.  Because when it sprung, it flipped off the shelf and took the dead mouse with it.  It was a male mouse, by the way.  Which is the best one to find, a female might well mean that there is a family of mice somewhere.  Mice are social animals and one might mean another is close by, but since it was a male mouse there is less chance of a lot of them.  Bill's probably going to place another trap on the shelf and we'll see if we get any more.  We haven't had them for a couple of years, but with the construction behind us and the fact that it's getting cooler I won't be surprised if we do have/get more.

 

We went to Ace Hardware earlier, Bill got pachinko machine repair supplies and I got more mouse traps!

 

Movie Review:  Monsters University.  We rented it yesterday.  Otter saw it when it was in the theaters but we never got there.  It was ok, better than I expected, but not great.  It was a lot longer than I expected and fairly predictable.  But it wasn't bad.  It also didn't have the Agenda we thought it might.  I'm waiting until the sequel to Despicable Me comes out.  Hopefully, it's as good as we've heard.

 

Froggy, I've gotten several rows done on your shawl.  I put three or four on it yesterday and two today.  It is a pattern that works up fast, it's just been a matter of actually finding the time to work on it.  I also have another pattern that I think I'm going to try, it's made with cotton yarn and is a heating pad.  Basically, it's a knee-high nylon hose stuffed with rice and the outer cover is crocheted.  I'm going to make one and see how it works, Otter is usually a willing guinea pig for my projects and I'm thinking she'll like this one.  Who knows, I might actually make a few and put them on my etsy shop!  The one I've had for over a year now and have never actually used.

Happy Halloween!

(I've used this picture before, but I still think it's adorable!)

 

It's just after sunset and is just starting to get dark.  Our porch light it out, but there is a partial bag of Otter's green apple pops candy on the half-moon table by the door.  We've had one customer already while it was still light, he was a Power Ranger.  Maggie was very happy to see him, she loves people and he made sure to pet her before he got his candy.  We usually have a few kids while it's still light, and Otter volunteered her green apple candy.  Once it gets a little darker, I'll probably put the candy away since we don't have the light on and don't expect any trick-or-treaters.  Next year, we might be more inclined to pass out candy as there are more youngsters in the neighborhood than there have been for the last couple of years.

 

I went to Wallyworld after work today.  Many of their employees dress up for Halloween.  My favorite was the Duck Dynasty costume - full beard, camo clothes and SHE was having a good time.  It was funny.

 

Sonic had a special today, 50-cent corndogs.  The commercial got Billyboy's attention, so I stopped and Sonic and got us dinner to go.  Of course, he got corndogs!  I had a chili/cheese footlong hot dog, I figured that if I was going to be bad I was going to be B.A.D.  It was good.  I'll pay for it later!  And I probably won't have another one for years.  Otter had popcorn chicken, which is about her favorite thing from Sonic.

 

I got a few more canned good for our storm/iced-in-day supplies.  While I was putting them away, they go to a specific spot, I noticed something that I did not see yesterday when I was putting something else in stock:  a dog food bag with a hole chewed in the side and obvious evidence of rodent!  I cleaned up the droppings and removed the bag, then Bill found a trap from the black hole also known as the garage.  He loaded it with peanut butter and birdseed.  I'll check it in the morning and see if we caught anything.  We haven't seen any mice in a few years, but with all the construction behind us I'm not surprised.  I also won't be surprised if we see more.  Or evidence of them, anyway!

 

I checked the rain gauge this morning.  It had just under 3" from yesterday and last night.  Today was beautiful, but it was windy and I've been sneezing all day.  Otter's had allergy problems today as well, she worked through a killer headache with the help of multiple doses of Tylenol.  She took a warm shower when she got home and feels much better.  She's going to take her night-time allergy pills tonight and probably go to bed early.

 

Which sounds really good to me, I didn't sleep too well last night.  Mostly because of my knee alternating with my allergies.  My knee is actually a lot better, but it still hurts.  It's following the normal process, I just don't like it.  I've been taking motrin as I need it and spending a little longer in the shower since warm water seems to help.  Now that it's better, my allergies are reminding me of their presence.

 

If it's not one thing, it's the other.  As my favorite 97-year-old teenager reminds me frequently!  Usually followed by a giggle.  :)

Wet Wednesday

It's been raining all day.  It was expected, but not until mid-morning or later.  Of course, we woke up to rain!  Not hard, although there have been some periods of slightly heavy rain and a little thunder.  Bill didn't take his jacket today and neither did I.  We met for lunch, and got pretty wet walking from the cars to the door of the Mexican restaurant.  I had enough time to run to Wally after we ate, it slowed down until I got out of the car at the store.  Every time I was inside the car or a building, it quit or slowed down.  Any time I was outside, it poured.  I did have an umbrella in the car - but I discovered that it has a hole in it so it was kind of useless.

 

I paid off my car yesterday!  We've always paid just a little more than the payment amount and it saved us two months by doing that.  Not sure how much interest it saved, but it's paid off and I'm happy.  We don't intend to buy another car yet, Bill's Impala has issues but he thinks it will last for a while yet.  Otter drives it when she needs a car and he also has the White Lightning.  My Impala has just over 100,000 miles on it but it is in decent shape as well.  However, I now have an official case of New Car Fever.  I saw one of the newly revamped 2014 Impalas today and it was beautiful!  It's getting good reviews, not just because of the body style.  Of course, I want one.  But not anytime soon and probably not even next year - or at least that is the plan today.

 

I got a letter from my bank yesterday.  Seems that the company that administers the debit/atm cards my bank uses was hacked and my card might have been in the compromised data.  They're issuing new debit/atm cards and all the passwords have been changed.  I have to keep a close eye on my account but I do that already.  If there is anything, I am supposed to notify them immediately.  They don't necessarily think that there will be anything, but I have heard nothing on the news at all about what is a very big company being hacked.

 

I have a very large, slightly wet chupacabra at my feet.  Wet chupa smells just as bad as wet dog!  Really stinky, and of course he frequently gets up to come get ear scratches.

 

I've been working on stocking up our storm supplies.  I bought groceries yesterday, and got several of the things we like to keep on hand.  There are still a few things we need, but I spread it out over several shopping trips.  That way, wehave it when we need it and it doesn't cost us a fortune.

 

But I still need to get marshmallows!

It's Just Sunday

Just normal Sunday stuff around here.  Laundry mostly!  And dusting, along with using the extra-long extender on the vacuum to go after the major cobweb situation on the ceiling.

 

 But I don't want Froggy to get after me about not blogging often enough. :)

 

Otter and I did a little shopping earlier.  Among other things, we went to the party store she used to work at.  While we were there, she talked to her former boss and it was pretty obvious that they wish she was still working there.  Otter doesn't, however, and neither do we.  They have their Halloween hours posted, and midnight closing is on the schedule.  She found out that one night, they didn't get out until after 1:00 a.m.!  Otter was scheduled until 10:00 last night at her new/current job, and she actually got out about 15 minutes early - she only has the occasional night and usually it's 9:00.  But the manager is there until 10:00 and he has to have a couple of witnesses as he counts the money; the employees are rotated so that it's a very occasional thing at that.  Otter's schedule for this coming week has no nights at all.

 

Bill thinks he can drive the El Camino even though the window is braced in place.  He just usually likes to roll the windows down.  He took the winder off the inside so that he won't accidentally forget and try to roll it down.  That way, Otter will still be able to take herself to work this week.  Which is good, because most of her hours this week are in the middle of the day.

 

I have a picture on my phone and I have an adaptor to upload it to the computer, but it's in the other room and I am not in a hurry to get up and go get it.  Its a Bad Knee day.  So, the picture of the very large Black Widow Spider I found in the back yard isn't being posted today.  The builder that built a house which straddles between our back yard and the nice neighbor has to move the section of the fence behind that house (we're not surprised).  We have some bricks stacked back there (on top of the grave of a hairless cat that belonged to Lovely Neighbor) and that will be behind the fence line after it gets moved.  They can have the cat but we want the bricks!  I was moving the bricks (with my foot, I'm not stupid) and that's where the spider was.  She's still out there, I probably wouldn't have killed her anyway based on where she was but she moved really fast once the brick covering her got moved and I probably wouldn't have been able to catch her even if I wanted to.  She was the biggest Black Widow Spider I've ever seen and absolutely beautiful.  That probably sounds really strange, but it's true.

 

After shopping with me, Otter went off to meet J at the mall.  I had a few things to donate, so I went to a thrift store.  I donated and then since I was there I had to shop.  I tried on several skirts but I didn't like any of them.  It was apparently "Unwatched Bratty Kid" day at Goodwill today.  And there were a bunch of them!

Marshmallows

Bill brought home another half load of firewood today.  We should have enough to get us through the winter.  It's all oak and will burn long.  We have a lot of firewood.  A LOT.

 

Guess it's time to replenish our marshmallow stash!

 

After we unloaded the back of the truck, Bill moved it back to the driveway.  When he went to roll up the driver's side window, it wouldn't close all the way.  He tried a couple of things, then he had to tear the door apart to get at the window mechanism.  Did you know that crochet hooks can be used in car repair?  Bill couldn't get part of the window winder handle off and I thought maybe a hook could reach inside the door to get the winder handle clasp off.  Worked wonders!  Of course, then we had to look underneath the car for the clasp because Bill dropped it!  He was hoping it was an easy fix, but no luck.  Several months back, the same thing happened with his Impala and we had to buy a replacement mechanism.  The problem this time is that the car is a 1976 model of a car that is not being made anymore, so it may well mean a trip to a junkyard to find another part.  If there are any, that is.  For now, he's blocked the window in place inside the door with a couple of blocks of wood - just like he did with the Impala.  But he's not going to be driving the El Camino for a while, not until he figures out something if he can't find the replacement parts.  Sorry Otter, looks like you'll be dependent on your mother for transportation for a while!  She usually drives Bill's Impala but he's going to be needing it for the near future.

 

Well, at least he got the last load of firewood first!

Whatever Fits Here

Otter's recovered from the bug, she spent most of yesterday taking it easy and is all recovered.  She did vacuum for me and put up some laundry, but she didn't do anything too strenuous.  The bug seems to last a couple of days, and she's back to normal today.

 

Bill brought home another truckload of firewood today.  He'll probably go get one more this week, probably Thursday.  Tomorrow, he's taking the Impala since Otter is off work.  She'll be housebound, but I don't think she really minds.  She'll need the car on Thursday, so he'll have to take the White Lightning.

 

I went thrifting at lunch today.  I found another popcorn can to use with the birdseed, I have 40 pounds of bird seed stored in three popcorn cans.  I found a couple of other things as well, including a Fenton silvercrest tidbit tray in perfect shape for $4.98.  The locked display cases were filled with what I refer to as "made in China/Walmart junk" but the Fenton was just tossed in with the coffee cups!  Needless to say, it found it's way to my basket in a flash.  I have a couple of silvercrest pieces, but they are getting harder to find.

 

My computer apparently was hungry.  For a snack, it ate my entire picture library!  If anyone has pictures that I've emailed you, let me know what you have because I may want you to email them back to me.  I can probably recreate the drives but there are a few pictures that may be gone for good - including Otter's senior pictures we took at a local park, her graduation and a whole bunch more.  I sent out most of the bluebonnet/Otter in the front yard pictures to assorted relatives and I still have those in my email file.  But I have lost so many pictures.  Bill's going to look at the laptop and see if he can restore the file, but I'm not holding my breath.  I have no idea why it did what it seems to have done, but it's very frustrating.

 

There was probably more but I don't remember!

Rearranged

We've been busy today.  Otter hasn't been busy today.  Otter has spent most of the day in bed.  I woke her up about 8:00 as she requested.  At that time, she said that she had a headache and wasn't feeling too good.  Almost immediately after that, she ran to the bathroom to throw up and has made a few more trips throughout the day.  Her headache has gotten worse, but she thinks it's probably more decaffeination at this point.  She still feels cruddy and felt feverish earlier, but didn't have fever when I took her temperature a little while ago.  However, it was just after she'd thrown up again so I'm not sure it was an accurate reading.  No achies, so I don't think it's flu.  I think she has the bug that Bill and I both had earlier in the week but I don't think she got it from us since it's been several days.  But it seems to be going around the Tulsa area, a lot of people have had this one.  She was already off work today, her D & D group was going to meet but they had to reschedule so she had made plans with J and some of their friends to go to a town near Oklahoma City for something they wanted to go to.  Obviously, Otter didn't go anywhere!  She's pretty disappointed, but she really is too sick to go anywhere.  She's off tomorrow as well, but this bug seems to have a fairly short span and she's actually feeling a little better this afternoon - not best, just better.

 

I've been looking for a coffee table for a while.  We had one, but then when we moved in 2004 we bought two sofa tables (narrow and tall, they fit behind couches) and donated the coffee table.  When the sofa tables were delivered, one was damaged and the delivery guys were very unconcerned - until RHTW* made her appearance.  Upshot is that they took the damaged table back and we kept the remaining one.  And realized very shortly that it was just too wide to use behind the sofa like we wanted to.  It gets used, it's been in a couple of places in the living room and is currently in front of the window to the back.  Bill uses it for pachinko repair and it works fine for what he needs.  I finally got tired of not having a coffee table and decided to buy one.  I've been looking on craigslist and at thrift stores, I don't like any of the newer made pieces because they are generally pretty flimsy.  I saw one listed this morning at a local "garage sale" store and it's now sitting in the middle of the living room.  With a very large, furry dog parked beside it!  We had a tall bar stool that we use as a table, it was in Otter's room for a while and then it migrated to beside the couch.  It's probably going to go back to Otter's room, she needs something to hold her phone and/or alarm clock where she can actually reach them.

 

Froggy, you probably remember the magazine stand that Uncle Aleck made - it's also in my living room and is now beside the couch where the bar stool used to be.  We had two tall lamps that we bought when we moved in, we used them for a while but then one day I realized that they hadn't been turned on in months.  They were behind the couch, the couch was off the wall just far enough that a certain beagle could get her behind back there.  Literally only her behind, it would just fit!  I took the lamps out from behind the couch, they will probably be donated somewhere.  We really don't have any more room, but it works better.  And I have a place to put my coffee!

 

I was going to work on the tulip bed today, but that hasn't happened yet and probably won't.  One day this week I'll get out there.

 

One thing that was on my list which did get done is that I dusted the living room.  That includes all the Fenton!  I had several other housecleaning chores that I managed to get done.

 

I had crochet on my list, but that hasn't happened yet either.  Hopefully, I'll get some time tonight!

 

Maggie Moo is in a little disgrace today.  Someone that Bill knows came by, he had a two pachinko machines for Bill (in payment of a repair job Bill did on one for him) and while we were standing out in the driveway talking a certain little beagle came slinking out of the garage and down the driveway to the street.  She ignored me, but she did hear me calling her name.  Because she slunk even lower to the ground!  And kept walking towards the street.  Little brat finally came back to me, she didn't like being picked up and held but I wasn't about to let her back down again.  After a little while, I put her in the back of the El Camino and she seemed to enjoy it.  New places to sniff!  When I carried her back in, I took her straight to the back yard and let her run for a while.  Frasier came out to play at that point, they were out for a while and seemed to enjoy it.

 

It's 5:00, I think I'm going to go check on Otter (she's awake I think but still in bed) and then I think I'll get my last load of laundry transferred from the washer to the dryer.  And then maybe I'll have time to crochet!

**RHTW:  RedHeadedTexanWoman.  She can be your worst nightmare. :)

(No idea why the text color is changed.)

Lasagne is in the Oven!

And we will eat in about an hour and a half.  More or less, we're also having garlic toast with it.  Texas Toast Garlic Toast made by New York company.  Anybody else having a TEXAN moment?  (New York City!?)

 

It's rainy.  It's cold.  It could well freeze tonight in areas to the north of us.  I have 3 baby blues coming up in the whiskey barrel, so it's about time for a freeze. :(  Although they might be able to handle it, they have come up in December before and then hung on until April or May and then still managed to bloom.  The cold weather means that the tulips will be planted soon.  We're going to get out and work on the bed again Sunday, turn the dirt and treat it again.  Then about a week later, more or less, the bulbs will be planted.  Then, it will be ignored again and left on it's own.  Until Spring!

 

Froggy, I don't usually feed the birds in the spring and summer and not always early Fall.  If I can see bugs, the birds can too.  Except for hummers, they get fed early spring until their migration in the Fall.  Which I think has already happened, I'll probably take my feeders down next week.  Then they'll get washed and put away for the winter.

 

Found out a new way to freak out the Otter today!  I ran several errands at lunch and I had to drive by her store.  I left her a package of peanut butter cookies in the car she drove, on the cup holder between the front seats.  With a note from me.  I get this slightly panicked phone call from her because she has gotten to the car (but not in it yet, smart girl) and she sees that there is something in the car that wasn't there when she got out of it when she got to work!  Geesh.  I had to explain to her that I knew about it already, eventually she figured it out but it took her a couple of minutes to re-adjust her thinking.  :)  She was not amused that I thought her unexpected reaction was funny, but she was thankful for the cookies.  Guess it's my fault that she's a tad bit on the paranoid side, but I have valid reasons for being that way myself and by association, so does she.  (My reasons are by necessity kept private but just accept that I have reasons and they are very good ones).  I guess she forgave me, because she called me from Wally to see if I needed her to pick anything up for me so I wouldn't have to stop on the way home myself.  But it was funny!  However, I'm also glad that she was aware of her surroundings and that she realized something was different - even though that was not my intention.

 

Tomorrow won't really be "cold" but it will be cool.  The morning might be cold.  I've got blankets ready to grab, I love to camp out on the couch on cold mornings with a blanket (and coffee!), and it's pretty much 100% guaranteed that I'll also have a foot warmer in the shape of a beagle.  And maybe even a chupacabra for company!  Dogs got their priorities straight, that's for sure.