Happy Halloween!!!

The Carpet Shark wishes you a safe and Happy Halloween!!

Quick Stuff

Otter's problem with the apartment is situated.  I'm not going into a lot of the details here, but there were issues with Roomie as a roommate from shortly before Christmas and it never got any better.  It involved Roomie's inability to keep a job but there were other issues that came up later.  Although it turned out to be the wrong move in a lot of ways, things did get better when they moved to the larger apartment.  But then other things happened and Otter told Roomie that when the lease was up next summer it would be time for separate apartments.  Unless Roomie had another job issue.  Which she did.  She may have gotten another job but Otter wasn't really sure if that was true or not.  Saturday night, shortly after midnight, I got a frantic call from Otter because she had discovered Roomie packing to move out on Sunday.

She's pretty sure that Roomie did not want her to know and was going to move out when Otter came over to our house to do her laundry.  But since she did find out, we were able to be over there and not let anything other than Roomie's possessions actually be moved.  There was a lot that happened and that's what I'm not going into, but the upshot is that Roomie's father is the biggest bully I have ever met and I am pretty sure that I'm the only person in his life who has ever stood up to him.  It was pretty nasty and involved literally watching every single move anybody made (including Roomie and her brothers) and a threat on my part to call 911 - and I do NOT bluff.  (And it also involved a very strong visit from *RHTW, full blast and full strength.)  And it was pretty obvious to everyone that the bully in question is now afraid of me and frankly, I'm glad.  Otter wanted her dad to come over at that point and he did, he got there after I'd already given the bully an extremely strong verbal lesson but I'm still glad he was there because I really did not know if the bully was going to back down or not - he did, but I really wasn't sure at one point.  The bully would not even look at Bill and I think he was scared of Bill as well.  The bully was absolutely horrible to Roomie and I think that she grew up being treated like something less than human, which explains a few things about her but does not excuse them.  His wife acts like a whipped dog, one son is obviously not the favorite although I think he got treated better than Roomie, but Roomie's twin brother is treated like he's God.  Hopefully, Roomie will be a ok but I don't think that any of us will ever hear from her or see her, unless it's accidental.  I did tell her that she did not have to put up with being treated like that, but I don't know if it will make a difference for her or not.  She had over a year away from being treated like dirt, we hope that she'll at least take away from the experience that she can be an adult and that she does not have to put up with that.

(I can be very fierce when my daughter's safety, health and happiness is threatened.  And Bill would probably be even more fierce.)

One of the concerns Otter had, and we shared, is that if Roomie did move out when she wasn't there that Otter's belongings might not be there when Roomie was through and I think it was a valid concern.  The bully told Roomie to get "everything" out of the kitchen, and I told him very firmly that the majority of the kitchen stuff belonged to Otter because we bought most of it.  Then he told her to just go get the microwave that they bought her, which makes me think that Otter's concern was right and that at least the kitchen stuff would have been gone and quite probably more of Otter's belongings.

After all the not-fun stuff was done and they all left, Bill helped her move her tv from her bedroom to the living room (they'd been using Roomie's) and he stayed for a little while to make sure that the bully in question OR his daughter did not come back and then he left.  Otter and I followed shortly after that and came home, I brought her (and her laundry) with me and we left her car there to look like she was still there.  She did her laundry, got some serious beagle therapy and we went to a store we needed to go to then I took her home.  When we got to her apartment, she wanted me to stay a while so I did.  Roomie had returned her keys to Otter,although Otter had to ask for them - which was also a problem with the bully, he did not want Roomie to give them back and then he was pretty mad at Roomie when she did give them back.  Roomie told me that she had never given the keys to anyone else including her parents - I don't think she did and neither does Otter, but we aren't 100% certain.  But there are 2 locks on the door and they don't match, Roomie only had the key to one of them.  Since the apartment office now knows that she does not live there any longer, they most likely would not let her in if she came back and asked them to let her in.

Even though Otter was exhausted last night, she said it was already less stressful knowing that Roomie was gone and she didn't have to deal with the problems anymore.  Roomie had already paid for her half of November rent, I reminded her that she was legally responsible for the entire half of the rent until the end of the lease before her father got there and she said that she would pay her half and since she had already given Otter that half, Otter did not say anything to remind her of that fact just in case she wanted it back or in case the bully did.  It would not have been returned.  Otter knows that Roomie has no intention of paying any more even though she legally should.  I think Roomie thought I meant just November instead of the entire remaining lease amount but at this point, it's ok.

One of the things I told Roomie, and I told her a lot - which Otter wanted me to do but I probably would have anyway, is that I wanted her out of my daughter's life.  I told her that I am not going to pick Otter's friends, but that she (Roomie) does not act like a friend does and that she's caused too much trouble.  Otter said that she agreed with me.

Otter talked to the apartment manager this morning as soon as they opened the doors and explained what had happened.  The lease did have a clause that she could have used to get out but it would have cost her a pretty good amount and she would have forfeited the deposit.  But the manager said that they really don't want to lose her as a tenant and they are going to let her transfer back to a one-bedroom unit.  The one that she had before has already been rented, but it was above a serious smoker and there were a lot of times when Otter would have asthma, allergy and headache issues because the smoke would come up through his ceiling/her floor.  So it's just as well that she can't move back to that unit.  I also think she'd prefer one that is "hers" entirely at this point, that never had Roomie in it.  The manager said that there are a couple of single units, one is in the same building although it's at the opposite end.  Actually, it's a separate building because of a firewall but it is two buildings built against each other.  The unit will be ready in about 3 weeks, probably not Thanksgiving week but the week before that.  Possibly even a little earlier.  The deposit will transfer, I don't remember if the manager said that they would charge her a pro-rated amount or not and I don't think she cares at this point.  She went ahead and took their offer and she paid the final rent for the 2-bedroom for November while she was there today.

I went over to Otter's after work today and she is 100% away from the stressed out, tired and worried girl she has been lately.  She has really not been able to relax and enjoy being in her own apartment for the last several months,   She said her stomach has been in knots for days, but it's not any longer.  She said that she could actually feel the stress leaving her body.  She is looking forward to moving into an apartment she can afford on her own, although it will be tight, and being able to decorate how she wants to.  The move itself is not going to be fun:  out her door, down three flights of stairs, out the door and down to the other end of the building, in the building's door, then up three flights of stairs and into the new apartment.  Quite a bit of her books and craft stuff is still boxed from the last move, but she's going to get boxes tomorrow and I'm going to go over there one day next week and help her pack.  She cleaned out some stuff before the last move but she said she may have more stuff to donate.

I just want my daughter to be happy and I think that she will be.  She knows that she'll have to be very careful financially but she is willing to do what she has to do.  If she had not been able to transfer to another apartment and had wound up having to pay to get out of the lease, she would most likely have put her furniture into storage and then stayed with us until she could get enough $ together to get another apartment, which would probably have been a month or so but she wouldn't have wanted to move back in long-term and I understand that.  We will never let her go without a roof over her head and a place to sleep, or a meal.  But she wants to be a responsible adult and we respect that.

The next several days are still going to be very busy, we are going to be dealing with getting the new booth built and then loading it with pachinko machines so I may still be away from the blog for a few days.  But the biggest worry we've had has been situated and we are Thankful.

*RHTW.  There is nothing She will not do to ensure Otter's safety.

Lots

Lots of stuff going on.  I am not ignoring the blog, Froggy.  But you know some of what I've been dealing with.  Well, I think you might know everything!

The main thing has been getting ready for the new booth we're getting for the pachinko machines.  But Otter has been having some issues which culminated in her roommate moving out unexpectedly and unannounced today - Otter found out in time so we were there and it was a good thing as it turned out, because her main issues with Roomie were entirely Roomie's fault but it's still left Otter is a bad spot as far as the larger apartment, etc.  She will get her issues situated but it may involve our help in moving her to a smaller apartment.  Everything is hitting us at once, so if I don't post often it's because I simply do not have time in the near future.

I may need to be cloned!  :)

Fall Means...

Allergies!

I have them for each season, but Fall is pretty bad.  It used to be Otter's worst season, then her worst season switched to Spring but Fall was still a rough one for her.  Over the years, her allergies have gotten a lot better but mine seem to be getting worse.

I have not slept too well the last few nights, mostly due to allergy issues.  I gave in to them today and called in.  I did take the Magster for a walk, that's kind of a non-negotiable thing with her.  But that's about it.  I pretty much spent the day parked on the couch.  With crochet in hand frequently!

Since I was home, I made a pot of pinto beans this morning.  I made rice as well, combined with the beans and a little cut-up sausage turned it into a pretty good meal. And very filling.

Bill got a load of firewood.  The place he gets it from has raised their prices and although it was still a good price, it wasn't all that much cheaper than if we had it delivered.  So, if we get more (which will probably will) I'm thinking we'll just call someone that delivers and order it.  But we do at least have a good start, in case that early & wet winter that we're forecast for gets here.  I still need to get the new box of filters for the humidifiers cut.  Eventually.  When I get around to it!

Froggy - in case the email still doesn't include the picture:

It's an American Dagger Moth caterpillar.  The caterpillar was crawling around outside my house the other day.  This is what it will eventually turn into:

We were kind of thinking that last summer's visitor, the raccoon, had moved on.  But when I took Maggie out in the back yard while ago I saw a few new footprints in the dirt.  I guess he's still there, or at least there has been one out there since it rained the other day.  She's been showing more interest in the shed again the last couple of days, so I guess I'm not surprised.  I was hoping it had moved on, but since Frasier went to the Rainbow Bridge we've noticed more squirrels and cats in the back yard.  Guess they have figured out that they are safe back there, because the beagle is hardly ever out there alone.  We don't trust her not to get under the shed, so we take her out instead of just letting her out.

No tulips were planted this year.  They were Otter's and she has an apartment now; I wasn't inclined to clear the weeds, prep the tulip bed two times, buy bulbs and then get busy with the shovel.  I'll probably have them again but not right away. We've also discussed extending the back yard fence a little bit and that would mean that the tulip bed won't be getting enough light.  I'm not sure exactly where it will be moved to, I probably won't figure that out until we're done with the rock garden relocation.

I've also put off the rock garden relocation until next Spring.  I'm pretty sure what I want to do but I want to be absolutely sure before we start a chore that involves heavy lifting and physical labor!  It will be moved from the back yard by the deck to the front yard along the front of the house.

Now, I'm going in search of chocolate.

Another Star Trek Loss

Lt. Kevin Riley

It's another sad day for Star Trek fans.  Even though Bruce Hyde was only in two episodes, the character of Lt. Riley was a fan favorite.

I think this is the 5th Star Trek related death this year.

Cold Feet

Every Fall, even if it's still warm, I get cold feet.  They stay cold for a few weeks, until I adjust to the idea that Winter is on the way.  Even after 22 years here, I still get cold feet when it starts to get cool!  They aren't really cold, but I think that they are.

On to other news.  Maggie Moo has been itching a lot more lately.  When she was itchy in the Spring, the vet said to try zyrtec but it didn't seem to help much.  At the time, she was about due for more frontline drops on her back and that helped more than the zyrtec so we quit the zyrtec.  But here lately, she's itchy again.  She's got a spot on her back above her tail where she's barely able to reach.  She's yanked out hair and has a slight case of Bald Bobo!  I put her back on Zyrtec again on Thursday.  It seems to be working better this time.  The problems she had in the Spring may have been because she did have a few fleas, which we thought possibly may have come from one of the many dogs next door - Bad Neighbor has a rotating cast of canines and it is highly possible.  Mags doesn't really have fleas to speak of, but we'll keep her on the frontline drops until it gets cold enough to kill any possible fleas that might think she'd be a good dog to hitch a ride on.  The Zyrtec started helping her pretty fast, and she is definitely less interested in yanking the hair off her rear!  I was going to call the vet and see about benadryl but then I remembered the Zyrtec I still had and thought I'd give it a try.  Mags gets a half of a pill twice a day and it makes her pretty sleepy.  She wakes up after a while, at least after her morning dose.  But by the end of the day, she's tired and ready to go to sleep.  She gets her allergy pill, then she is usually sleep (or at least very stoned!) pretty quickly.

I did try a damp washcloth on her backside last week, which did seem to soothe her little bald patch.  I also put a very light amount of vaseline on her, but that was not so easy.  She was happy until the lid came off of the vaseline and I think she could smell it.  I had to literally drag her out from under my bed.  Once I put the vaseline on her she was fine.  I think that maybe the vet might use it or something similar when they have to squeeze her "rear glands" and it has unhappy connotations for her.  I haven't put it on her again since I started her back on the allergy meds.

Guess we're just a family with allergies.  Even our dog!

Bill's going to get another booth for the pachinko machines.  We sold a few out of our first booth, but there were other issues.  Such as a high commission on top of the monthly booth rent but mostly the fact that more than a few small things disappeared - but did not show up as sold.  We knew a couple of other people that had booths there as well, and they also had things stolen.  So then we moved to a 2nd booth type store and it was very nice, but we didn't sell anything.  The lady who owns it is very business -oriented and we really like her.  But the problem was probably the location, we thought it might be a good spot and it was but it doesn't really get much traffic.  However, she is opening up a 2nd location in a currently vacant store that has held other craft/booth stores and is in a very good location, on the main shopping street in our smaller town.  The first booth store is on the same street but is at the opposite end and not quite in the actual "shopping district."  The last booth store that was in the now vacant place is still in operation, it just moved to a different place.  Bill worked out a deal with her today, she hopes to get the 2nd location up and running on November 1 and that is when we'll try it for a few months.  We are not really sure if that type of store is a good venue for the pachinko machines or not, we did sell a few at the first place and the 2nd place is not in the best area for store traffic so we'll give it a try and see what happens.

Now for the sad stuff:

Longhorns are mourning

We lost Bevo!  There will be another one, Bevo is forever.  But each one is special and # 14 was quite a special one.  But Otter and I do wonder, who will he greet at the Rainbow Bridge?  I'm sure he'll have lots of TEXAS company!

HOOK 'EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor Little Neglected Blog

I didn't intend to neglect my blog, Froggy.  It's just been kind of crazy lately!

Otter's had a lot going on that she needed me to help with, Bill's been crazy busy (and he's just crazy!) with pachinko stuff which I have become conscripted labor for and work has been pretty busy.

Last Saturday, Bill and I spent most of the day looking at antique stores (I found cheap, vintage Fenton!) and then Sunday was when Otter, J and I went to the Tulsa State Fair.

The Fair was a lot of fun.  Yes, Froggy.  Quilt winner pictures are coming!

This is in the petting zoo at the fair.  Alpacas are about the softest things on earth.  It was like petting a cloud and the cloud liked it!  I commented to "him" that I could crochet him - and he responded by laying that soft head on my shoulder and batting those big eyes at me!  He (not sure of the gender) seemed to really enjoy the ear scratch as well.

The other thing that happened in the petting zoo is that I discovered that I am a sheep magnet!  I am really only allergic to one animal on the planet, as far as I know.  It's sheep.  I stepped inside the enclosure, and suddenly just about all the sheep were standing around me.  And grinning!  Sheep are evil, no doubt about that.  I wasn't able to stay inside the petting zoo very long, even without touching them (Otter petting them for me) I started having upper-respiratory issues pretty fast.

There were donkeys, ducks, assorted chicken, wallabies (one had a joey on board!), several alpacas, a few variety of deer, about a billion goats (of all ages) and probably a few other animals including a really sweet brahma calf!  Most of the other pictures have faces in them, so they are not going to be posted.

(Sorry this is sideways).  Froggy, look at the next picture.  It's a close-up of one of the deer at the bottom.

It's yo-yo's!

I think Mom and AJ would really have liked this one.

The butter cream sculpture!  This year, it was an angel and a lion.  Sorry it's sideways.  Also, there is a glare that I could not avoid.

This little critter is crocheted.  I'm not sure if it was a dinosaur or a dragon, but it is cute.

Look at the next picture.

The decorative edging is doilies!

The fair was fun and the weather was perfect.  We parked the car at one of the satellite locations and caught the shuttle bus to the fairgrounds.  We wound up with an extra ticket since Otter's friend had to cancel because of a family member's health issue but I was able to give it to someone at the entrance gate who hadn't bought a ticket yet.  We had ride tickets, which Otter and J used but we still had a few left so I gave those to a father with a young boy who were in line at a ride.  We didn't eat anything too outrageous, although there were some "interesting" food choices including bug pizza.  As in insects.  Not on my menu!

I did do one thing that is worth mentioning.  The prize-winning quilts, crochet, photography, etc., were in the same building as some of the kid exhibits - a giant sand box, blocks (which were being played with by adult emt officers), a few so-called odd animals and there was a small enclosure with an aldabra tortoise - on of the big babies.  I had noticed the tortoise when I was walking by, but then I saw a couple (boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife) who were looking at the tortoise.  The man was standing up, behind the woman.  She was squatting down and sticking her fingers through the fence, right in the tortoise's face.  Anybody who knows anything at all should know that was a very dangerous thing to do.  Tortoise was watching her fingers very intently and I could see that it's neck muscles were tensing up, which means that it was about to strike.  At that point, I went over to her and told her exactly why that was a very B.A.D. idea.  She had no idea that they bite!  All the tortoise was thinking was that it was time for a snack.  The woman pulled her hand back - to the very obvious disappointment of the man with her!  I honestly think he wanted her to get bit.  But it probably would not have been a gentle nip - it could have taken her finger off.  At the very least, she would have had a broken finger and it would have been very bloody.  I can't believe that an adult would have been so stupid!

OH YEAH!!!!!!!

TEXAS 24, oklahoma 17

That Time of Year Again...

And the "persecution" has been going for weeks.

I've had several instances of tailgaters and some of them have been really bad.

Yesterday, Bill and I went to Golden Corral for lunch and that was where one of the two good encounters happened.  I had on one of my Longhorns t-shirts, we picked our table and as we were sitting down to eat a man at the next table smiled really big and gave us the Horns hand sign.

(The other good encounter was a couple of weeks back and was funny:  I noticed a guy in a car behind me waving and I watched him to be sure he wasn't about to flip me off of something.  Then he changed his wave to one particular sign:  The Aggie Thumb!  I could tell he was saying something about being a TEXAN, too and he was smiling really big.  When he passed me, I gave him the Horns sign and then we just waved at each other.  That was fun and I think he was enjoying it, too.  The Aggie fans get some mistreatment up here, too but not nearly as bad as what we get.  Or at least that is what I've heard from a few of them.  None of it's right, because it's not generally in fun but is in fact malicous towards us.)

Anyway, the rest of yesterday was not good encounters.  We were getting on the highway and a car from way, way back very suddenly sped up until he was literally right on our tail and he swerved like he was trying to run us off the road.  Bill made the comment that he was thinking about giving the guy the opportunity to see if his brakes were working by slamming on ours, but then another driver flew past us at a very high speed and this one flipped the bird at us.

Otter said she had someone change lanes and run up behind her to tailgate yesterday and they nearly hit her.

And people think TEXANS have bad attitudes?  Sheesh.  We don't start any of it.

(UT/TEXAS has had a bad year and we probably don't have a snowball's chance in the game next Saturday, but it won't change the way that some people act.)

At least nobody has been pulled over by a cop or highway patrol this year - yet, anyway!

By the way, TEXANS aren't arrogant.  We are simply blessed with an overabundance of confidence.  Which can be mistaken for arrogance, but it's not really.  We just don't take "garbage" off anybody.

Yes, I will be wearing my shirts this week.  I frequently do anyway, but especially this week and especially Saturday.

Shhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

I have a beagle asleep at my feet and a hubby asleep on the other end of the couch from where I'm sitting.  Both of them have been known to snore, although at the moment it's all quiet.

Today is a fun day. It's National Coffee Day!  One of my favorite days, for probably obvious reasons.  Guess Bill didn't participate in observing it. :)

Is it only Tuesday?

Whatever Sunday and Dog Stuff Mostly

It was a pretty nice weekend, and today was a very nice day.  Mid-80's and very pleasant.  Unfortunately, it's still ragweed season (and a few other things) so I'm still having some allergy issues.  But nothing too bad.

I have a slightly fat beagle at my feet.  She's sprawled across her bed that is in the living room, every so often she'll get up and rearrange herself.  She is getting a little bit heavier, she had lost some of the weight and was at a pretty good size for a middle sized beagle.  But she's starting to look just a little bit round, so I may change her food slightly.  We changed the brand of food after we lost Frasier, because we'd been mainly feeding a type that was aimed at dogs with joint issues.  She doesn't seem to have the arthritis that he had, but it was ok to feed her the same thing.  After he crossed the rainbow bridge, we went to a different brand.  We just used a "regular" food, but they also make a food for dogs that need a little weight loss so I'll probably switch her to it, at least for a while.  She is still getting walks regularly but she probably doesn't get as much exercise in general as she did before.  Even though Frasier was older and arthritic, he was playful and active up until the very end.  We do get Maggie playing and running, but probably not as often as she did with the Chupacabra.  

Also, the amount that comes out of the dog seems to be a lot more volume than what goes in the mouth of the dog!  We also realized that the Coyote Dog was the one with the gas issues, not the carpet shark known as Maggie Moo.  (Otter said that she bought a costume for Maggie:  a shark.  Which is very appropriate!)

Froggy, this is for you:

You are the only person I know who would go on a frog hunt, considering how terrified you are of them!  (They are more scared of you, anyway.)

Checking Back In

No particular reason that I haven't blogged in so long, it's just been busy I guess.  Work wasn't, Younger Boss was on vacation last week so it was a loooooooooooooooong boring week and the office was entirely too quiet.  Younger Boss said the same thing when I was sick a few weeks back, it's just too quiet now.  We really miss the Teenager.  We both still talk to him, I tell him good morning when I get there and also report in to him after I've gone to see his lovely bride on Wednesdays.  His presence is still felt, but it's just too quiet now.

We went to Ace Hardware this morning, Bill needed wood putty and I got a refill on humidifier filters.  After we got home, I turned around and headed to Atwood's because they had two things on sale that we use a lot of:  coffee and peanuts.  I bought two large cans of coffee and one 5-lb. bag of peanuts.  After that, I followed yard sale signs.  I looked at a few, drove past a few but didn't stop and went to one estate sale.  I spent .75 cents.  I got a strawberry pot for Otter to use next spring when she plants things, that was .50 cents.  The other .25 cents was at the estate sale, it was half-off on the last day and I found a pink doily that was marked .50 cents but it was also half-off.

Bill had some "tummy troubles" mid-week, so he missed a couple of days of work.  One morning, I think it was Thursday, I didn't have enough time to walk Maggie Moo and she was not happy!  She was unhappy with me and she let me know - she barked at me!  She almost never barked, but apparently she thought that the situation deserved a bark.  Bill said she was quiet and calm during the day, but as soon as I got home from work that afternoon she was rarin* to go walking.  This morning, she was ready for her walk way before we were, and she was absolutely wired.  Bouncy and wiggly for about 30 minutes, then she could hardly be still long enough for me to get her harness on.  When I did manage to get her dressed for her walk, she just about yanked my arm out of it's socket in her haste to get to the front door!  She was happy because Bill got to walk with us this morning, she is really turning into a Daddy's Girl and she tried to walk as close to him as she possibly could.  Dorky little thing, cute but still dorky!  I surprised Bill about bought bacon, we had it for breakfast and the dog haunted the kitchen the entire time it was being cooked - she knows what that smell means!  I gave her a tiny amount of bacon grease on her dry food, which she pretty much inhaled as soon as I got out of her way!

I crocheted 8 baby caps for an organization in Tulsa that has a baby cap drive each year.  They want knitted or crocheted caps in shades of purple, sized for small babies and newborns.  It's part of a program that tries to reduce the number of shaken-baby cases each year, they give newborns and hospitalized babies purple caps to wear home with the idea being that purple caps will remind the parents, etc., not to shake a baby.  I don't know if it works or not, but it may.  This is the 2nd year I've made caps for it.  I mailed mine off on Friday, they want them by the end of the month.  Although I didn't intend it to be a de-stash project, it did get rid of two small purple yarn balls and one lavender one.  I also got quite a bit done on Otter's slant-stitch poncho.

OK, Froggy.  I think I've hit the highlights of the week.  You can quit nagging me now!  (Froggy now texts me a particular phrase:  nagnagnag.)

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:

Alright Already!!!

(Froggy, that title is for you.  :)  NagNagNagNag...)  (Just kidding you know.)

First things first.  Fun stuff:

(Notice that the girl minion is a REDHEAD!)

This is the little, wooden rocking chair that my parents gave Otter when she was about 1 or so.  They brought it to her and it was love at first sight, she loved that chair and wanted it to stay in the living room.  She sat in it when she watched tv, she rocked her baby dolls in it, and she was very attached to it.  When she outgrew it, it held stuffed animals.  When we moved to our current house, it went into storage in the attic.  When she moved out and her room became the Room The Yarn Stash Lives In, it needed something and that something was Otter's little rocking chair.  My stuffed, TEXAS-related animals are now sitting in it and the rubber crocodile underneath is also Otters.  Well, hers and mine actually - and his name is Crickey.  The chair and assorted animals occupy a space in the Yarn room.  The yellow yarn ball is in Baby Bevo's hands and so is a crochet hook - the long piece of yellow yarn is actually the first (and probably only) piece of crochet Otter ever made.

It's supposed to look like Baby Bevo is crocheting.

(Billyboy, this one is for you.)

This one isn't really appropriate for my work, but it does apply to someone I know who has to put up with really bad stuff at work.

This one?  Well, it obviously applies to me!

OK, now that the jokes are out of the way.  My Fenton collection increased last week.  Otter and I went to one of our favorite junk-tique places and I found something:

(That is a stock photo and not mine.)  I've been looking for a piece of Fenton in the color known as Amberina.  I found a huge compote, thumbprint pattern and in the Amberina color while we were there.  IT WAS $5.00.  And it is perfect.  The larger pieces in general are becoming more rare, it is glass after all and glass breaks.  This color is pretty hard to find and the thumbprint pattern is somewhat uncommon - not really rare, but getting there.

Fuzzbutt Beagle, also known as Maggie Moo, went to the vet yesterday.  It's been two months since her last rear gland cleaning and nail trim, she was starting to drag her rear around so we knew she was ready.  The vet said that she wasn't completely impacted this time, but that she was close.  So, we'll keep her on the two months schedule unless we need to change it to more often.  She hates to have her claws trimmed and we got tired of fighting her so every time she goes to the vet for any reason, we have them trimmed.  While we were there, she met another dog that was just leaving and she seemed to be pretty happy.  Until the vet's assistant came to get her.  Then, it was time to play Drag the Dog!  Literally.  I had to lift her up off of the floor so the assistant could get her,and she immediately plopped herself right back down.  She literally had to drag/walk her to the back so they could gets her needs taken care of.  When she was done, she just about yanked the girl's arm out of it's socket in her haste to get back to me!  She is 28 pounds, which is about a pound and a half over what she was in July but she's still within allowable range for a small to medium beagle.

However, she is still known as BowlingBallButt for a good reason!

Dog House!

I think that Bill should just move right on out to the dog house in the back yard.  I mean, it's not like Maggie ever uses it and neither did Frasier.  I saw a squirrel hanging out in it one time, getting out of the rain.  But that's it.

But Bill needs to go out there.

He gave me the cold he caught at work!  I had the bug that was going around, then I got over it and got my flu shot.  I spent Saturday feeling cruddy from the shot reaction.  Bill was coming down with the cold sometime last week, I've kind of lost track of time/dates on that.  Sunday evening, I felt the first tickles in my throat and the beginning of a soreness.  Monday, I was pretty sure it was on the way.  I went to work on Tuesday and gave Younger Boss a very strong warning about staying away from me - which worked, because he was gone all day long!  Bill went in to work yesterday but he left around lunch time because he was feeling so bad.  Bill called in today.  I went in, but I knew it was very much a moment of RIF* but I had a couple of things I had to do.  I got them done, then I came home.  I stopped to get chicken soup fixins** on the way home.

Otter texted me that she was on the way over to do laundry just as I was getting the soup on the stove, she got here just before it was ready so she had lunch with us.  She made a point of staying as far away from us as possible, because she is smart and doesn't want to risk a cold or a cold-induced asthma spell.  We had a nice visit with her and Maggie was overjoyed, especially when she got to take a walk with Otter.

I'm going to work tomorrow and will try to stay, but I don't know if Bill will even attempt to go in or not.  He is better tonight, but he's still coughing a lot.

Dog house is waiting on him!  :)

*Resistance is Futile!

**It's a Texan Thing.  If you have to ask, you might not understand!

Labor Day 2015

It's been a fairly enjoyable Labor Day, for me anyway - Bill is still coughing his lungs out but that is actually good at this point.  He was already planning on staying home and working on pachinko machines and that is what he did, so he had a good day.  He just is getting tired of the coughing.  He mowed the front yard yesterday morning and the back this morning.  He was careful not to exert himself and I kept bringing him water and making his stop for frequent rest breaks.

I felt much better yesterday although I still had a few moments of feeling tired.  I feel much better today, I think I'm pretty much over the Wave/flu shot reaction.  Saturday, I was kind of thinking it might be a long, drawn-out reaction like I sometimes have but it turned out not to be.  Just Saturday mostly, I felt cruddy most of the day but I woke up feeling fine and have felt good all day.  I saw Otter for a few minutes yesterday when I took some stuff to her, I met her at her store just before her shift started and she had a couple of minutes to talk.  She had a headache off and on but that was it, her arm wasn't even as sore as it sometimes is.

I went to two thrift stores today, I found several doilies at the first one and nothing at the 2nd one but it was still fun.  Although it was apparently "screaming, unwatched child day" at the second thrift!  I bought sheer curtain yesterday and a sheer valance that is decorated with crochet-ish edging on the bottom.  The curtain just reaches to the bottom of the window frame in the Guest/Front/Craft/YARN room and I'm going to attach the doilies to it to make my doily curtain.  I tried pinning a few doilies together and they would have worked that way, but I wanted them to be more secure.  The sheer curtains will work very well, they are a very pale off-white color and won't really show much with the doilies.  The valance may show a little, but the edging will work very well.  The valance doesn't actually match the curtains, it's a different brand and very slightly different in color but it will still work.  I hadn't planned on a valance but the large doily/tablecloth will need a little more support as well.  I think I'm going to pin the doilies on to the curtain at first, because I may move them around until I get them how I like them.  But I am probably going to get out needle and thread and sew them on once I'm happy with their placement.  I have a boatload of doilies, but I'm not sure if I have enough or not.  When I was laying them out on the floor to get a general idea, it did not look like I have enough to make it as full as I want.  But once I start placing them on the curtains, I may have more than enough.  I'll figure that out as I go along.

Pictures will be posted on the craft blog at some point.

Waving Hello

I'm riding the Wave, in case that isn't obvious from the title.  The flu shot wave, to be precise.

I was a little achy when I went to bed last night and I didn't feel too good.  I slept well and woke up about 7:00 this morning with only a slight headache so I was hopeful of a mild reaction.  But after I'd been up for a while, I started to feel cruddy so I decided to stay home and hibernate today.  I did have to get out briefly, aside from the mandatory beagle walk, I had to go pick up mail for someone who is out of town but that was just a quick trip.  I was feeling better after lunch, so I ran my errand then with the idea of possibly stopping at a specific store but I realized that I was pretty tired out from just driving to get my errand done so I came home.  I took a long nap on the couch and it helped, but I feel a little feverish and just not very good at all.  I was afraid that I might have a stronger reaction this year, based on how fast it hit me yesterday.  The speed of the wave hitting doesn't always mean a worse reaction, but I've never had it hit me within 2 minutes like this year.  I expected a worse reaction last year and I had it, but this year seems a little stronger.  Otter is doing pretty good, she said she woke up with a headache and felt a little tired but she was thinking that she'd be able to work her closing shift tonight.

I made myself a nest on the couch with several things within reach (3 of them are crochet!) but I haven't done anything beyond just take it easy and watch a little tv, aside from my errand.

Bill has been sneezing his head off and coughing a lot, but the congestion he has had is beginning to break up and it's actually good that he's coughing so much.  He's not enjoying it, but it will help to get his lungs cleared.  He's not asthmatic, but the principal is the same.  He is probably going to sleep on the couch again tonight so he can be propped up better.

I really need to get back on Otter's poncho, it won't take me that long if I can just get on it and have some time to work on it.  Fall is not that far away.  We're also going to start getting firewood soon.  I don't think we'll need it very soon, but I'd rather be prepared early than wait and wish we'd gotten it sooner.  We do still have some left from last year, but not enough to get through the winter.

OK, Froggy.  You can't get on me now!

Got It Done

Otter and I both got our shots today.  I picked her up after work, we stopped at the UPS box to clear it and then we both needed to go to the bank so we did that.  We stopped at Wallyworld, yeah I know - on a Friday afternoon and a holiday weekend Friday at that!  But we got in and out of there fairly quick.  It was a required stop, I got our post-shot ice cream at the grocery store yesterday but I told Otter I'd get hers as well.  We took her ice cream (and cranberry juice) to her apartment and then we went to Walgreen's.  When we took out our new insurance, they said that flu shots were covered but that it had to be done at a doctor's office.  But the clerk ran the insurance through to check and it turned out that it did cover the shots at pharmacies as well, so we saved $64.00.  We had to wait about 20 minutes until the technician could give us the shots.

It was about 5:30 when we got them, and I felt the first hint of the Wave hit me at 5:32.  The first thing I noticed was a sudden feeling of coldness, more like a wind hitting me than a chill and I thought it might be breeze from an a/c vent at first.  We went to Subway to pick up dinner, where we were waited on by the slooooooooooooooooooooowest sandwich maker ever and were stuck behind the ditzyest mother and daughter customers ever.  We were probably waiting in there over 30 minutes.  We discussed going to another store, but it was peak traffic time so we decided to just stay there and wait.  By the time we left there, I was really feeling tired and my (left) arm was beginning to feel a little sore.  We went into the liquor store in the same shopping center - where Otter was promptly carded - and that was at least quick.

I dropped Otter off at her apartment and then I headed home.  I didn't get home until around 7:00.  The sandwiches were good, they just took a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time for the girl to make them.  But I think she was fairly new and she was just trying to be thorough, she was nice and it was obvious she was trying to do a good job so we didn't say anything about the lack of speed.

Bill spent lat night on the couch again.  He was feeling bad last night but the congestion was beginning to loosen up.  The air was a little dry and that was causing him problems, so I set up one of the humidifiers for him.  He still needed the fan, he figured out where to put the fan so that it didn't blow away the steam from the humidifier.  I heard him sneezing and coughing a few times - in the opposite end of the house, other his fan, my fan and the humidifier.  He felt feverish last night but he didn't feel feverish this morning.  He wants to sleep on the couch again tonight with the humidifier, so I'll make him another nest.  He doesn't get a flu shot, but he does get ice cream since he has to put up with me after I have it!  He just had a bowl and he said it was good.  He feels better but he's still sick.  He's still insisting that it's allergies, but I think he has what I had last week.  It takes a few days to work it's way out.  Otter said that J might be coming down with it, too.

I'm probably going to bed early tonight, I feel really tired.  My arm is a little sore, I had to take the bandaid off already because of my allergy to the adhesive.  I did bleed a little bit, but not much at all - even for a non-red!  I think a big part of the way we react is probably due to the RedHead Curse.  I'm hoping not to have a bad reaction, but then that's what I say every year.  But I'd still rather put up with the reaction and not have to deal with the flu itself.

Sheepies! And Other Stuff, Too

I find this very interesting, and also very strange:

Baa Baa Baa

They got 80 pounds or so of wool off of this animal, enough to make 30 sweaters!  Bet he feels a lot better today.

I was thinking that Bill had the bug I had or was coming down with a sinus infection the last couple of days, but now I'm thinking he's having allergies.  He isn't allergic to much, but ragweed is one of his triggers.  Ragweed is going crazy at the moment, I'm having some issues with it but not nearly as bad as what Billyboy is dealing with.  He was home sick yesterday but he went to work today.  He already had tomorrow arranged as a vacation day and Monday is a holiday (for both of us!)  He's been sneezing his head off since he got up this morning.  He slept on the couch last night so that he could be propped up and he might do that again tonight.

Otter came over yesterday to do her laundry, and she also babysat her sick dad.  She was gone before I got home, but I will see her tomorrow.  I'm picking her up after work and we are going to get our flu shots.  I picked up ice cream for us at the grocery store just now, along with a trunkload of other groceries, and I told Otter I'll get her some tomorrow before I take her home.

Hopefully, I won't spend all weekend reacting badly to the flu shot.  If I feel halfway decent on Saturday, I might go to the flea market in Tulsa.  Bill will be home, holding down the couch is my guess due to his allergies.  Of course, I may well be holding down the couch myself, if tradition holds!

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!