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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At Least Monday is Over

But it's not Friday yet.  Unfortunately.

Bill sanded the switc hplate down to the wood, the one I threw out and then rescued from the trash.  I painted it again, with the white basecoat and when the paint is dry I'll cover it with modge-podge glue and put the scrapbook paper on it that I found.  It's supposed to be small doily-ish patterns and I like it.  After the modge-podge is dry, then I'll apply a sheet of clear mylar.  Then the fun begins!  The part where I kept messing up.  Cutting the holes out and cutting it around the edges!  After all that's done, I'm going to hit the painted (but unpapered) sides with clear sealer and then they just have to dry.  Then I can actually put them on the wall.

I'm not as tired today, but I do still have Redhead Anemia issues.  Not as bad, it's just "there."

I'm also having more allergy issues this afternoon, but that generally happens after I pull weeds in the rock garden.  Literally, IN the rock garden for part of it.  And around the edges.  I found a frog in the rock garden.  Actually, I almost picked "him" up with a bunch of weeds!  Did you know that frogs can give dirty looks?  This one did, anyway!  :)  He was not a huge frog, but I think he was still fairly young.  He hopped away from me, to the other side of the rock garden and probably is happily hiding in the honeysuckle now.  He might be the one I've been hearing the last few nights.

I've also heard tree frogs lately.  Especially when it rains.  I haven't seen them yet this spring, but they are obviously here already.

No sign of hummingbirds yet, but I put out two feeders Sunday.  I thought I might have seen one zipping by but it was hard to tell.  It's still a little early though.  But sometimes they arrive early, and just because I haven't seen them does not mean that they aren't here yet.

Fraiser is a little creaky today.  He and Maggie Moo were happy to go out in the back yard with me.  While I was pulling weeds, Maggie Moo was sitting on her behind and staring at the ground.  After a minutes, she reached down and pulled a large beetle grub out of the dirt.  Then she ate it!  Frasier was walking around like he does, looking for spots to water.  But then I noticed he was laying down in a grassy spot and when I called him to come in, he didn't want to get up at first.  He seemed to be more than a little stiff, but he did get up and came inside.  Then he went out the dog doors and to their yard.  He laid down in his usual spot, and I took an anti-inflammatory to him.  He hasn't needed them lately, but it's been cool and damp which seems to affect him  I called the vet and ordered a refill.  I still had one pill left for him, but I also had some from Maggie Moo's bladder infection she had last fall and the vet said that I can use them.  They are still within a safe date, they are the same dose but were cut in half for her.  I was going to take the brush to Frasier while we were outside, but that will wait a day or two.  Mostly because of my allergies, I didn't want to stay outside any longer than I had to.  He love the brushing, and so does Maggie Moo but she's not long haired so it's just a fun experience for her.  At the moment, they are both in the living room and both of them are snoozing.  Frasier is probably snoozing because of the medication, but Maggie Moo is just napping because it's what beagles do best, after all!

Now it's Thursday

Much better/different than last Thursday!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Well, they were pretty at least.

Tuesday. Mom Thoughts

Thoughts both as a mom and about mine.

We lost Mom on this date in 2001.  Froggy was thinking about having peach cobbler tonight, we're having apple pie.  Froggy makes her cobbler from scratch, but I'm not a pie cook so I cheat and buy a frozen one.  But it still counts.

Froggy commented on my last entry, the one that shows Otter's hands involved in crochet.  She said that it was great to pass things on to our children, and I have to agree.  Froggy is a quilter, and her daughter (KN3) loves to sew.  My passion/obsession is crochet, and Otter seems to be a natural at it.  We're both crafty, Froggy and myself, and we got it from Mom.  Mom was always doing something, usually it involved sewing or paint but she had varied interests.  But I didn't get the crochet from her - I taught her actually, after I learned in 6th grade.  But there are a lot of other crafty things that she passed down to me.

And I'm grateful.

The list includes the fact that Froggy and I are both avid readers and so are our daughters.

My rock garden is directly inspired by Mom's, and so it the fact that Otter loves rocks.

Mom always had a soft spot for babies and animals.  They always liked her back.  Dad was the big "dog whisperer" of the family and he loved babies just as much, but Mom had something special when it came to babies.  Otter shares that trait.

Family.  Our most important earthly treasure.

Sunday Wandering

We have been Wandering today.  We went to a neighboring small town, about 1/2 hour away and where we've been before.  We hit a couple of junktique stores and didn't find much.  But it was still fun.  The only thing we actually bought was lunch, at Taco Bell/KFC.  And Otter spent 10 cents on something.  Big spenders, right?

We're having neighbor troubles again.  The police were at the door about 2:00 this morning, she called them again and said that the dog was barking.  This time, he was.  The reason?  Because lovely neighbor and her company were standing out on her back porch having a very LOUD conversation and the dog was barking at them - in other words, the dog was doing his job.  She doesn't have the guts (polite word for what I'd really like to say) to come talk to us face to face, but she did leave a rude note stuck under the windshield of my car.  RedHeadTexanWoman would like to come out and play, but I'm not letting her out at this point.

All of lovely neighbor's problems with us started when she let her cat out and Frasier killed it.  In our yard.  She claims that her daughter let the cat out, but that wasn't the first time it had happened and we were never really sure that the daughter actually did it.  Bill said he did consider digging the cat back up from where it's buried in our back yard and taking it back to her.  But he decided that would just inflame things.  However, we are watching things and waiting because we expect more.  In the meantime, I'm keeping the note and making my own notes on what is happening and what has happened before.  Such as her dogs breaking through the fence and getting into our yard more than once, and her dogs breaking through the fence & biting Maggie.  There are a few other examples.  The previous neighbor didn't have a problem with our dogs, and neither did this one - until her cat was let out and that wasn't our fault, either.

It's just frustrating.  We are keeping our gate locked anyway.  Bill said that he is afraid of finding our tires slashed or something similar, I'm more concerned with something being thrown over the fence to the dogs that could harm them.  Or worse.  If that happens, we are immediately taking them to the vet and asking for poison tests (hopefull this won't happen).  And then we'll go to the police and probably a lawyer as well.  Anyone who knows us will know that we are the least likely to ever go the lawyer route, but we will if we have to.

OK, subject change.  Flu shots.  I have had a slight reaction, about normal.  I have had some tiredness but that could also be from being awake a good part of last night.  Otter was doing fine, but then she threw up last night.  She was fine before and after, so that could have been a flu shot reaction but might not have been.  Either way, it's still a whole lot  better than actually getting the flu.

Froggy, I thought I was through with your sock monkey hat.  But I'm having a rethink.  I crocheted two small circles with black yarn for the eyes, but they made it look really creepy.  So I think I'm going to go back to the button idea.  I have to get larger buttons than what I have, which will probably be tomorrow.  I'm about 1/2 way through with doing the tails on the scarf.  I will get them in the mail as soon as I can, probably about Tuesday or so.  I'll let you know.

It's nice today, it was a little over 100 yesterday but it didn't feel that hot.  Then we had a cold front come through last night.  It's in the 80's now, it was cooler and cloudy this morning.  We had a couple of short sprinkles earlier.  After we got home from our Wandering, Bill mowed the lawn and I did some weeding in the rock garden.  Now it's sunny but there is a nice breeze.

We are going to celebrate Labor Day with steaks.  I might get to the grocery store tomorrow sometime, but we don't have anything big planned.  Bill has a few projects he wants to do involving pachinko machines and possibly Otter & I will go to a thrift store or maybe the Dollar Store.  But mostly we are just going to do whatever and enjoy the day off.

We still have hummingbirds, we'll have them for a few more weeks.  I refilled both feeders yesterday.  But it will be time to switch to seed feeders soon enough.  Guess I'd better get busy and see if I need to repair or replace any of my bird feeders.

In the meantime, we're just enjoying the nice weather.  It's not officially Fall for 3 weeks, but it feels like it today.  Except that my feet aren't cold yet.  They will be, as soon as I realize that it really is September!

Sunday Spells

Alternate title:  How do you spell __________?

Bill keeps asking me to spell words for him.  Since I couldn't decide on a good title for today, Sunday Spells it is.  There are not a lot of words that I can't spell.  But they are sometimes the words that Bill needs!  That's when it gets really fun.

Today is the first day of Spring, although I think it's actually still Winter until something like 11:23 tonight.  But as far as I'm concerned, Spring has sprung.  It's an absolutely beautiful day.  I spent a little time outside, I pulled weeds from the morning glory bed and a few brave weeds that dared to come up in the rock garden.  Actually, they were on the edge of the rock garden since it's got several layers of thick plastic underneath the rocks.  I did notice a few morning glory sprouts coming up.  I didn't stay out very long because a) the allergy thing has shown up and b) I'm still using the mederma scar cream and I have to avoid too much sun exposure.

I'm going to keep using the mederma, it is making a difference.  It is still itchy at times, but not as bad as it was.  I did some research and I think that the extreme itch reaction I had was most likely due to my sensitive skin.  I probably should not have been surprised.  But the scar is thinning out and fading, a lot quicker than I expected it to.  It's still sensitive to the touch, but I think that's normal.

Otter enjoyed her Spring Break.  It's back to school for her tomorrow.  Also back to work for Bill.  The dogs probably enjoyed Bill being home last week, they got to stay inside all day.  The snoozed a lot, but they'd have done that anyway even if they'd been outside.  They can be a tad bit lazy. :)

Blogger seems to be acting better today, I really wasn't sure if the last entry would post or not.  It looks like it did.  I'm not sure what the problem was, Blogger acts up at times and it gets really frustrating but I'm glad that it's working today.

The only remaining Borders store in this area has been added to the closing list.  They are supposed to start their clearance sales in the middle of the week.  Otter and I will go, but we really would prefer that they not have to close.  I won't be surprised is the entire chain eventually goes under.  Especially since they have started to add a lot more stores to the closing list.

Otter learned a new recipe yesterday.  We made salsa.  It's fairly easy, mostly it's just toss a few tomatoes, onion and pepper with a small amount of lemon juice into the blender or food processor and it's done.  Otter added garlic to hers and she used lime juice instead of lemon juice.  The store was out of jalepenos the other day, so we used soreno peppers.  They are ok, but I like the flavor of jalepenos better.  It was still good, still spicy and tasty.  I really like the Ninja food processor/blender that Bill got me for Christmas (or maybe it was birthday).  It's perfect for making salsa.

Other than that, just normal Sunday stuff going on.  Bill's been working on a pachinko machine and listing stuff on eBay, Otter had a few chores and I'm doing laundry.  The dogs have been out in the back yard for a bit, they weren't too crazed this time, and are now back to napping in the living room.  I also got a little crochet done and will probably do some more later.  Or maybe I'll follow the dog's example and take a nap!  That sounds really good, actually.

It's Just Monday

And it's the first day of Maggie's new sleeping arrangements.  She's now been blocked from the hallway, Otter's room and the rest of the house.  Seems she's decided that she can leave us puddle gifts again.  The first one was Friday evening, we thought that she'd ralphed and cleaned up after herself like dogs will do.  So we put a towel down and then after the carpet was dry, cleaned it with a spot cleaner that I have.  This morning, we realized that she was leaking again.  Because I caught her in the act, several inches away from Friday evening's surprise.  I was going to block the hallway where she could still get into Otter's room, but Otter said that Maggie's been licking the blanket again lately (really licking it, not leaking) and she's tired of having to change blankets in the middle of the night.  So, Otter said to block Maggie from her room and that's what I did.  I don't like it, for one thing it means that Frasier can't keep me company as I blog, but we have no other choice.  We'll see how it works, then she might (if she's very lucky!) get access to Otter's room again.

Bill wants to just put the dog out and leave her as an outside dog, but that's not happening.  For a lot of reasons, not including the fact that she'd be bored & destructive on her own and Fraiser would be bored & destructive on his own.  So well see what happens.

One thing that did happen this evening is that we mowed.  And we weren't the only ones, it seemed like most of the people in the neighborhood were also taking advantage of the lack of rain today and mowing.  It was nice to be outside, it's pleasant and not too warm.  Otter weeded the rock garden - it has very little actual dirt that has gotten between/under the rocks, but there was just enough for the morning glory seeds from last year's vines to fall off and sprout.  They were all over it!  I really don't like to pull morning glories, but they would probably have died anyway because the dirt layer is so thin.

The moss rose that I planted in the fountain turned planter last year has come back.  Sometimes it will, but not generally when it's in an area that gets as much below freezing temperatures & ice as we get.  But it's back and I'm pleased.  The flowers are still planted, when they finally finish and die back they will be pulled because they are definite one-season plants.  And then the moss rose will do their thing, and I hope that they come back next year.  They probably will, if they've survived as cold & icy a winter as we just had, they are probably acclimated.

I've been meaning to get my hummingbird feeders out, but the rain and cool temperatures are probably keeping hummers away for a little while yet.  Probably this weekend, or in the next day or so.  At least one feeder to start, until I see the first bird.  Once one shows up, the rest will follow.  Some years we have a lot of them and some years we don't, but we have had quite a bit of other birds showing up already so I think that the hummers will be here soon.

At least, I hope so.  I'm ready for my hummingbirds!

Some Spring Stuff

I'm happy, I got to get outside and play!

I planted morning glory seeds along the back fence, I had 8 or 10 packages of seeds in various colors and now they are all out there under the dirt. Hopefully, they will come up soon. We have blue ones there already which are georgeous, but I wanted some other colors mixed in. I had a few seeds left, so I planted those under Otter's trellis at the side of the deck and maybe there will be some color variety there as well. Playing in the dirt is always fun! Right, Froggy?

The latest addition to the rock garden. I bought this many months ago and tried a couple of different colors on it, but never could get it to look right. I wanted it to look aged, I fiinally just hit it with a coat of Kilz and called it good. I'd love a real one, but so would the dogs. So, concrete it is! Otter's 3 piece alligator is in front of it, it's just there to see how it looks. Because it's small, the dogs keep relocating it so it probably will get moved soon.

The rock garden from a slightly different angle, and the 3 banana trees are planted at the end of Otter's trellis. Also visible are some of the irises which are exploding right now.

This is the back of the house, that's our bedroom window visible and if you look closely at the side of the house - there's also a beagle. The irises are just starting to bloom, they have plenty of blossoms but they also still have billions of buds. There are two white iris plants out there, there will be more because they spread like wildfire. Which is what we want them to do, by the way. There was one white one last year, now there are two and they are not really close to each other so I'm not sure if last year's has multiplied or if maybe there was one that was dormant last year and didn't bloom.

A close up of an iris.

This looks like one stalk, but it's actually two - one stalk has two white blooms and the purple is on another stalk that was leaning on the white ones. Guess it was jealous and wanted to be in the picture, too.

I had some inside chores to do, but they got put off. If I don't get my outside time, I get cranky. Just ask Bill! I also pulled a few weeds that were along the edge of the rock garden and had to come in and wash my hands two or three times - allergies!

I let the dogs out while I was out in the back yard. They were crazed before we went out, they were very excited because they could see the across the street neighbor's lawn mower. They are so strange at times. Ok, they are always strange but today they were moreso! Anyway, they ran around for a while in the back yard and then found assorted spots to water and/or sniff. When I came in, they were ready to come in as well.

Now, they are probably having a nap. Sounds good to me!

Sunday Salsa

This is fun, coming up with different condiment names for Sunday posts. Otter has several suggestions which will be used in the future, and Bill has a few as well. (Even though this is "my" blog, all three of us contribute to it.) Today, it's salsa time!

Even though our anniversary isn't officially until Tuesday, we went out to eat to celebrate it today. We went to Chili's, which used to be my favorite but Bill was never all that wild about. When we started discussing where to go, he suggested Chili's because he knows how much I used to enjoy it. So that's where we went. It was actually very good, and Bill said it was much better than it used to be. Of course, the one we went to today is 500 miles north of the ones we used to go to that he didn't like! Which, I have to say, is good because the Chili's we used to eat at in SA had really gone downhill. I had quesadillas, which was my favorite "Chili's before" meal and Bill had a bacon cheeseburger with fries. Otter had chicken strips with fries and it also came with corn on the cob. We also had lots and lots of chips and salsa before the meal. Otter and I have leftovers in the fridge, which will probably be eaten tonight if anybody is actually hungry. Which might not happen, we didn't eat until 2:00 and we had quite a bit to eat even with getting take-home boxes. Bill said that he probably should have stopped before he finished his huge burger and gotten a take-home box as well. The service was also very good, which is one of the things we judge by.

Since then, Bill's gone back to doing what he was doing before we left - working on a pachinko machine. He's actually working on my machine, he gave me this one because I like the face of it so much. Which I thought was very nice! He's nearly through with it, then he isn't sure if he's going to get another one torn down to redo or if he's going to start working on the frame so that he can put the two he's through with inside so they can be played.

Otter got her regular Sunday chore done (cleaning out the dog yard) which she hates, but it needs to be done. Especially when they haven't been let out in the big yard too much. I cleaned the fireplace, which was pretty dirty. It's not my favorite job and Bill usually does it but I volunteered for it this time so he could enjoy his chore - well, it's not really a chore. He loves to work on those machines. I've also been doing laundry. Otter and I each have a bathroom to clean, which will get done sometime today. Since it's 4:30 now, we are probably running out of "some time today" but they will get done today.

The dogsters got some back yard play time this afternoon. It's been either too cold, wet or windy for us to be outside much and I've really missed it. I need my outside time as much as the dogs! So, while Otter was cleaning their yard up we let them out and they ran non-stop for about 30 minutes. They chased each other and then I played with them for a while. I don't run with them, my knee would probably just fall off if I did that but I stayed in one place and they almost acted like they were playing tag - and I was frequently it! Then they started sniffing everything in the yard to see if anything had changed, Frasier found something to roll in and then they just sat and watched us work. I cleaned out a lot of debris from the rock garden. Roof debris, the roof was replaced in early December if that gives you an idea of how long it's been since I've really been able to be outside!

Froggy, I commented after you commented on my post which showed the hats & Otter's sewing creation. Basically, I realized that my hat didn't look like Kid#3's and that I'd messed up a few rows. I had problems with it, I was watching tv at the time and usually I can do both. But when I'm working on something that involves counting stitches, counting rows and changing stitches, it doesn't always work. I went back and looked at my cap and saw where I'd gone off pattern on it. I decided to just frog the entire thing and start over. It will probably use more yarn than I originally did, so the frogged yarn was balled up and will be put on Bill's blanket I'm making. I have a lot more of that yarn, so I'll start with a fresh ball and do it right this time.

Also, Froggy - the Hobby Lobby ad here has yarn on sale. I don't know if you have the same ads that we get, but if you do you might want to go check out their yarn department. I have some yarn in mind that I wanted but since I didn't have a project, I haven't bought it yet. But since it's on sale for about half off, I'm going to get it. I'm picking Otter up from school tomorrow and then we're going to Hobby Lobby. The yarn I want is very soft and fuzzy, it's made from bamboo. I'll find a project for it, or keep it until I come up with one. It looks like it's going to be fun yarn.

Otter just reported to me that my dog is dead to the world. Well, he was pretty tired when they came in. Maggie Moo was sitting by the love seat, she was actually leaning on it, and she looked very happy but also very tired when I was walking by her. I'd say that the doggies had a good day!

2009! (Edited) (Edited Twice)

It's 6:15 a.m., and I've been up for 30 minutes. I'm only on my 2nd cup of coffee, so I'm not awake yet.

But I do want to say something. I keep hearing about how the decade is ending and the next decade is going to be better/different/etc. Except that the decade isn't ending. Math Lesson: count to 10. What do you start with? 1. Not 0. The decade STARTED with 2001 and ENDS with 2010. So the last year of the decade isn't this one, it's the next one. Which means that 2000 was the LAST year of the previous decade, and 2001 was the FIRST one of this one.

Anyway. Here goes:

January

January started with mice, living in our closet. That problem was solved fast.
Bill worked on the quilt he made for me, that took a lot of time. But when he finished it, I was thrilled.
It was a very cold month and the cold caused me significant asthma issues.
A new president was inaugurated. Not one I'm impressed with at all.
We celebrated our 24th anniversary.
Ice storm - but that's not unusual!
Bill decided the time had come to switch jobs, he had an interview with the local school district and they really wanted him but they couldn't afford him. But it gave him the boost he needed!

February

The decorating bug visited, it spent a lot of time in our bathroom.
I found the quilt I started when Otter was in kindergarten and started back on it.
FutureJediMom's tribe increased!
16 years since our move to OK.

March

I started Froggy's collection of crocheted pot holders. I probably need to get busy and increase that!
Bill started clearing out unused shelf space in the garage and getting rid of some of the junk, I mean clutter!
The tulips started budding.
I crocheted a lot, working on Froggy's collection mostly.
Otter's asthma/allergy doctor agreed: no karate, so even though she hadn't been going in a while this was the month she officially dropped out. She's much improved.
Bill interviewed for a position that opened up at his current employer and got it! It turned out to be the position he was originally hired for and it was a true Godsend. But he didn't start the new position until April, it was very hard to keep quiet about it for most of March.
Snow!
Otter turned 17. Too quick! She should still be about 3 or 4.

April

Bill worked on his hydrogen generator project, he had a lot of fun with it. It did work, but not nearly as much as we'd heard that they would - which was not a surprise.
Bill's job transfer officially happened. It was a Very Good Thing.
Maggie decided that she needed to sleep in our bed instead of Otter's. That was not allowed!

Easter! We had a wonderful time at Grandpa & Sweetie's.
I mailed Froggy's collection to her.
We had the first hint of spring, we started hearing tree frogs. Fun!
Otter's parakeet died. While it was a sad occasion for her, she realized that she really did not enjoy having a bird and started thinking that maybe she should have got hamsters instead of parakeets like she originally wanted. She did the research and presented her case to her father, then two little furrballs moved in and I think I enjoy them as much as she does. "Nadine & Helena."
Sweetie's birthday was this month.
The irises started blooming!
Miss Dorothy fell & broke her hip. This was the beginning of some really rough times around the office, it was pretty bad because we were all so worried about this precious, precious lady. She's fine, thank God! But it was scary for a while.
One fun thing this month, a mockingbird outside the dining room window started imitating my cuckoo clock!
Otter had an interesting experience in school, they started disecting things. She enjoyed it, she's her mother's daughter after all.

May

We started hearing about swine flu. The media did it's usual thing, and it got to the point where I didn't even want to turn on the tv or read the paper!
The morning glories started coming up!
Maggie Moo discovered the hamsters, so the cage got moved to a higher location in Otter's room.
We got bamboo for the back yard. Which was a lot of work and then we didn't need it after all.
Work was wild, mostly due to the situation with Miss Dorothy.
We realized this month that Otter was probably going to have to go to summer school.
Mother's Day was very nice.
Rain. Lots of Rain. Lots and Lots of rain.
The tree frogs seemed to have multiplied exponentially! We enjoyed hearing them.
Put the pool up.
Last day of 10th grade.

June

Miss Dorothy got to go home from the hospital, she had been admitted again in May.
Toadles came to see us! He was the first of our summer visitors and we really enjoyed his visit. We had a train hunt, hit flea markets, and just had a great time. He got to hear the local coyotes, they talked to him. Otter also got a Toadles wake-up: ice cubes!
We saw a rabbit in the back yard, first time in a long time. The dogs spent a lot of time trying to find it, but they never managed to.
Nana came to visit! We had a wonderful time, and Otter really enjoyed it.
We saw the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Very somber, but so well done.
I finally got to see the Chihuly exhibit in Ok City! Spectacular, absolutely spectacular.
Billyboy had a birthday.
Father's Day this month.
Minor air conditioner repair needed at the rent house.
The pool split! It was not a fun thing.
We had several heat warnings, early for the heat to happen. Still not as hot or as long as S. Texas, but pretty warm for NE OK.
The builders behind us put up a privacy fence, so the bamboo came out.
Froggy came to see us! Lots and lots of Braum's trips, many flea markets & thrift stores. Lots of Fenton finds this month. :)
Talequah visit, to the Cherokee Heritage Center.
My vacation started at the end of June, finished up in the first week of July.
Summer school started for Otter. And she finished the first draft of her manuscript! (This is the edit)

July

Bill decided to sell some gold stuff we'd had for years. Not anything big, just a few little things.
Painted the rain barrel. It was white, now it's dark green.
Bill shot off a few fireworks on the 4th. And one bottle rocket blew up as soon as it was out of the bottle, which means that it was in Bill's face. I was not pleased!
Air conditioner at the house started acting up, turned out to be minor.
Summer school continued.
I got a raise! Totally unexpected, very much appreciated.
Billyboy's brother Scott & his family visited. Really cute kids. Otter enjoyed their visit so much, they are just great kids.
FutureJediMom had news - the first thing guessed was that the Tribe was expanding again, but it turned out to be the 2nd thing everyone guessed - they moved back to Texas. Which made Toadly very happy - FutureJediMom is his daughter, by the way.
Harry Potter movie premiered, I took Otter and a friend of hers.
We started putting trellis pieces on the privacy fence, and the morning glories took off!
Otter finished summer school with a B! She worked really hard and we are very proud of her.
Bill brought home a load of firewood in the White Lightning and broke one of the shock absorbers.
Otter went to Texas to spend a week with Nana and got to see pretty much all the other relatives. She had a great time, but it was very quiet around the house! We're glad she could go, it didn't look like it at first because of Summer School.
Dogs still looking for the bunny, it ran right in front of them and they still missed it!
Froggy's birthday!

August

The month started with a call from our tenant, they had bought a house and would be moving at the end of the month. We discussed our options and decided that it was time to sell.
Bill sold the Redneck Joke, also known as the parts car - the blue El Camino.
Otter came home from Texas, tired & happy. She had a great time.
FutureJediMom and the Tribe (or she might have called them the Herd) came to see us on their way back home to Texas. It was a short visit, but we are really glad that we got to see them. I think that Otter would have willingly kept any and all of the kids, by the way. We would have let her!
Grandpa's birthday this month!
Sales Tax Free weekend, we found a few things - mostly t-shirts for Otter to wear to school.
One particularly bad thunderstorm this month. Lots of hail. We started thinking maybe we should get the roof checked. Which we did, and the insurance started a claim for us.
11th grade started. Otter chose buffalo burgers for the special meal the first day of school.
Tropical Storm Bill! Then Hurricane Bill!
We argued with the insurance company on the type of coverage we had for the roof. We are going to change agents very shortly, since the agent we had been using couldn't give me an answer as to why we were told we had one coverage type but then didn't - at least we were not charged for the better coverage, we paid for the type of coverage we had. But it was not the better coverage we thought we had.
The tenants moved out a few days before the first, so we were able to get into the rent house this month and see what we needed to do. We started the cleaning process there. At first, we thought it was minor but then we realized that the carpet was not repairable and that there were a whole bunch of little things that were tenant related. It really added up.
Toadles had a birthday! He was hatched, by the way. Or maybe the aliens left him, we're not sure. :)

September

Busy month! Mostly related to the rent house. But we got it done, over the course of the month. There was a LOT to do. Otter helped us a great deal, and we really appreciated her efforts. She also helped out a lot at home, since so much of our time was spent at the rent house.We met with our realtor and signed the contract. He was very positive about it. We signed the contract on a Wednesday, he showed it for the first time on Friday and on the next Tuesday we had an offer. We got what we wanted for it and we were happy about that.
I had a major skin allergy attack, from something planted in the back yard - we think it was the "tree" on the neighbor's side that I brushed up against while mowing. I just about scratched all my skin off!
We realized that Magginator was having some housebreaking issues. We locked her out of the bedroom at that point. At their regular vet visit, Maggie weighed 30# and Frasier weighed 71#.
We had to buy a new lawn mower, Bill wore the old one out!
We discovered mosquitos in the rain barrel. Unexpected, we didn't think they could get in.

October

Frasier brought me a dead vole, good doggie!
Otter and I went to the rent house to say goodbye, since it was our home for 10 years. There were a lot of memories.
We saw the Toy Story movies in 3D at the theater.
I made my major Fenton find of the year - Cactus! This one made my year, as far as Fenton goes. It was spectacular! Now, I just need to top it. :)
We started redoing the rock garden.
We realized that Magginator had been leaving us surprises all over the house! We bought a steam cleaner and started cleaning everywhere.
We got our flu shots this month, as early as we could since all indications were that the supply was short.
We had to turn the heater on this month, as it got cold early.
We should have closed mid-month on the rent house sale. It looked like it, but the purchaser's title company kept messing up their paperwork. Then it was his mortgage company that kept screwing up.
We celebrated the anniversary of our meeting by cleaning the carpet!
Froggy had an internet issue - Scooter's dog chewed the cords up. So I didn't feel alone in doggie issues!
Otter really enjoyed sewing class at school.
Bill and I went to the rent house for one last check, we realized just how much work we'd done over there and it was a lot. It paid off, but we really worked hard.
The redecorating bug moved into Otter's bathroom!
We had the dryer vent cleaned out and also asked them to sweep the chimney - which turned out to need some work so along with the roof replacement, we now had to get the chimney rebuilt.
We worked on the rock garden some more.
We actually went to an auction! First time in months.
We signed our closing paperwork on the rent house sale.
We steam cleaned lots of places in the house.
Our realtor informed us that our rent house set the new price standard for that neighborhood - it raised it considerably. We're glad that we were able to do that.
Otter counted her shoes - 20 plus pair.
FutureJediMom's birthday this month.
Halloween.

November

We finished the rock garden! It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it.
The Dirty Jobs show Fenton episode aired. Obviously, I really enjoyed this one.
After who knows how many delays, the rent house closing finally happened! We had reached the point where we told the title company that we were not delaying anymore, it either happened by a certain date or we were cancelling the sale. All of a sudden, the tenant's mortgage company got their stuff together and it happened at about the last minute, on the last day we gave them. But it happened!
Bill bought a compressor on Craigslist. It meant that he had to clean out a lot of clutter in the garage. Good Thing.
I bought a bike, to replace the one that I'd had for a while but gave up on because of the fact that it is old and falling apart. Of course, the weather turned then so beyond a test ride I haven't actually got to use it!
Since we finally had time, Bill started getting estimates on the chimney and signed the contract for the roof repair. We really weren't sure that they would happen this year.
We got banana trees. 3 of them died, 3 of them might make it - we'll find out for sure in a few months.
I finally, FINALLY got to see the new Star Trek movie! It was tremendous!
I got new glasses. After a delay caused by the tech who made the new lenses.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving, we went to Grandpa & Sweetie's house and had a wonderful time. Great food and great visit.
Bill got a new chain saw! He used it on tree limbs. No blood this time!
Bill finally got around to replacing the windshield on his Impala.

My friend Virginia lost her husband. Two years after their daughter died, and completely unexpectedly. She retired in the early spring, they only had a few months together where they were retired and they were raising their grandchildren. It was a really rough time, he died the day after Thanksgiving. This overshadowed everything this month. They still need our prayers.

December

The roofing company had an opening and were able to work us in!
The chimney rebuild happened on the same day, it took a couple of weeks for that because they had rain delays but they were able to get it finished and in perfect time because it started to get really cold shortly after they finished.
Bill bought a few pachinko machines.
Otter had to seperate her hamsters, they quit getting along and now she has two cages.
We got our first freeze. It got cold early this year, but then it got warm again and the trees were confused - they started budding out.
For the first time in all her school years, Otter got sick and school and I had to go get her!
Nana & Carolyn had birthdays this month!

Christmas happened this month. We had a nice one, very quiet and relaxing. I did get one present that I need to mention - FENTON! It's pink, it's a rose bowl style vase and it's perfect. It's on the shelf in the bedroom, which badly needed another piece.
We had an ice storm, it was actually an official blizzard and hit Christmas eve. We were really glad that the chimney work was done!
We had a nice vacation week (we're technically still on it today).
I caught up with Bill! I'm 48 now.
Paul graduated from Texas A & M! Froggy was very happy.
Carolyn & Jim visited, we enjoyed getting to see them.

Otter made a wonderful find at a thrift store - no Fenton for me, but she had a good day. She found a jacket. New with the original tag. She paid $2.00 for it. The original price tag? $169.00.

We finally decided how to rearrange Otter's bathroom! She chose a burgundy shower curtain and is using jewel tones for the other colors. It is turning out wonderfully.

I made another major Fenton find, on Dec. 31. It's a footed compte, milk glass in the Rose pattern. The one I've been looking for, and in the shape I've been wanting. It wasn't quite as good a deal as the cactus, but it was a good deal. (This is the 2nd edit).

This has been such a busy year, but it has been a good one. We got to see a whole lot of people, family visits were so much fun. We accomplished a great deal around the house and the rent house sale was something that took a lot of work but was so worth it. We have had very little in the way of health issues, just a few things but they were all relativly minor. Otter's asthma has improved so much, it looked like she was going to have bad problems for the rest of her life but instead we got a Miracle. Bill has a great job now, he's so much happier and the reduction in his stress has helped a lot. It's been a very good year. Our wish for everyone is that 2010 will be a good year for us all.

And now, it's 8:38 a.m.!

Mid Week Ramblings

It's only Wednesday, but it should be at least Thursday by now! It's been quite a week already.

I can't believe it's nearly Thanksgiving! Where did the summer go? Oh yeah, it went to the rent house and a lot of company. And a rock garden, even though that was actually a fall project. The next Fall project is actually two: move more irises! And Otter's tulip bed. We have to get the bulbs pretty soon, then we can start getting the bed itself ready. Getting it ready entails weeding, and it's got plenty. Then, we have to "stir" the dirt up a little and treat it with mineral oil, liquid soap and water so that gophers and moles will leave it alone - moles disturb the dirt in their search for grubs to eat and gophers eat bulbs! We usually treat it once or twice, about a week apart, then about a week after the second treatment is when we plant the bulbs. Since I have seen evidence of mole activity in that part of the yard, we might even treat it 3 times.

The rent house was an interesting experience. The selling of it, I mean. We got it listed and got an offer within 4 days. That was good, and faster than we expected. The stress came from the fact that it took 2 months to close because the buyer's mortgage company kept dropping the ball. They lost part of his paperwork, then they had to re-do some other paperwork and there was a waiting period after he signed it, stuff like that. The process of getting it ready to sell was somewhat stressful, but it was more that it was harder work than just getting it ready to rent. Since we wanted to sell it, there were things that we did that we might not have done otherwise. Such as replacing the front screen door, there was some work Bill did to the bathroom floor and that sort of thing. But the hard work paid off, so I'm not complaining.

Now we get to concentrate on stuff around the house. The chimney repair is the first week of December, it should take a couple of days. I'm not sure if repair is the right word, it's not that the chimney is broken - it's more that it wasn't constructed quite right and we're going to get that fixed. The roof is next after the chimney, but we might not be able to get it done this year. The chimney has to be done first because we really don't want people climbing around to fix it, on new roof slats! Or tiles, whatever they're called. We're just running out of daylight, as far as the roof repair is concerned.

Now, I think I'll go surf the 'net for a while and then go watch tv. We've been watching a very well done mini-series on The History Channel. WWII in HD. It's very good, color footage of WWII that has not been shown before and it's in chronological order. Otter is really enjoying it, she said that it's making a lot of things fall into place for her because she wasn't sure of some of the timeline. There wasn't too much on D-Day in this series. I always look for Dad in anything that deals with D-Day. I've seen him once, it was while he was still with us and he was surprised that he was shown but I think he was glad about it. I can't remember the exact name, but it was a major mini-series and I'll eventually think of it.

Rocking Out!

The rock garden is done! Here's the proof:

This is not all the rocks. This is probably 3/4 of them, maybe closer to 2/3. They are on a tarp on the back deck in this shot. Where we'd been placing them over several days because we had to keep stopping because of rain. This is a fairly large tarp. And this does not include what I call decorative rocks - fossils, rocks from Mom, limstone, etc. We bought these when we originally built the rock garden, which was 5 years ago and I don't remember the weight but there were quite a few pounds! Think in multiples of 10 or 20 pounds.



This is the base after we'd finished removing everything. This is before we started enlarging it.


This is also before the enlargement, just a better shot. And my shadow! The fountain bowl is off to the side.

After the enlarging, the sandstone edge was back in place but the dirt wasn't finished being leveled in this shot.

First layer of plastic and some of the metal fence/chicken wire layer. The fence is actually a smaller mesh than a standard chain link fence, I can't remember what it's specifically called.

Fence parts down and the fountain is back in place. Which was a chore, sucker is heavy. The sandstone edge is in place here, as it is in the previous picture. We had to dig down (we being Bill) and place all the sandstone, then pack dirt around them on both sides and pack it down as firmly as we could so they wouldn't shift.

Gotta have a shot of Bill's Nekkid Lady!




It took several wheelbarrow loads to get all the rocks back in place - just as many as it took to get them moved! Although this was much easier than removing them. For one thing, all I had to do was level them out with the rake when Bill piled them up. Removing them entailed shaking them in a shaker box over a bucket to remove all the dirt and was hard work.

Finished with all the rocks and decorative rocks, and if you look closely you can see a certain state shape in front of the fountain. St. Francis and the cat are in place by this point.

The final, finished product! Otter placed her animals around. Some of them, anyway. She has a lot and they will be alternated out.

It's bigger than it looks. It was hard work, but I enjoy hard work and I really enjoyed this particular project. We should not have to do anything to it again, it's got several layers of plastic and the wire fencing should discourage any puppy paws that have an urge to dig here.

I'm so glad to be done!

November? Also October Books

It's 75 degrees today, no way is it November! Well, I guess it is but it sure doesn't feel like it.

The rock garden is done! We still need to arrange Otter's concrete animals, but everything else is done. We decided to skip church today so we could get out there and get it done while it was still pretty cool. It was 49 degrees, but it is heavy work so we really didn't feel that cold. We finished sifting all the rocks out of the dirt, then Bill moved the fountain which is very heavy. He marked off the new edges and then shoveled out the grass. Then we raked & leveled the dirt, walked across it a few times to pack it down and then leveled again. The next step was to cut the plastic liner, which is over the dirt to keep weeds & grass from growing up in the rocks. Then Bill placed pieces of chicken wire and some other metal fencing he had on top of the plastic. Because we were using the pad from the pool, we still had quite a bit of plastic left so Bill put down another layer. There was still some left, so you guessed it - another layer! There are actually about 4 layers of thick plastic now so I'll be surprised if there are ever any weeds. Then we placed the sandstones that are the edge.

The next step was to put the fountain back, and then we started moving rocks. Bill got the business end of the shovel and started shoveling rocks from the pile on the deck into the wheel barrow. Then I got busy with the rake and leveled the rocks as he put them back in the garden.

At that point, we decided it was time for a break so we went inside and had left over pizza. Otter and I had a couple of errands, so we got our running out of the way and when we got back, I got busy with the rock garden again. I had to place my TEXAS shape, which involved moving rocks out of the way for it. Then I put a few things back, my St. Francis and concrete cat, as well as the decorative rocks, fossils, limestone, etc. Since there was still some dirt, and it's not supposed to rain for days, I filled the watering can from the rain barrel several times and "rained" it over the rocks. The rest of it, Otter's concrete animals, will wait. We are too tired to even think about that part of it today.

I'll get pictures posted soon, I took some "in progress" shots but I want to wait until we're finished with Otter's animals and then I'll post all the pictures.

OK, here's the books:

1. The View From the Bridge, Memories of Star Trek & a Life in Hollywood by Nicholas Meyer. He's a good director, but he's a bad author. I didn't finish this one. Waste of time!

2. Rocket Men, The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson. I honestly don't even remember this one, I know I read it...

3. Power of the Dog, Things Your Dog Can Do That You Can't by Les Krantz. Again, not very memorable or well written.

4. Apollo Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, by Robert Jacobs, et all. History and very interesting.

5. A Memoir, Shattered Dreams - My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer. Interesting, it shines a light on a very sad situation.

6. Made in the USA by Billie Letts. Not as good as her earlier books, but entertaining.

7. The Missing by Beverly Lewis. Sequel to a book on last month's list. There will be at least one more book in this series, I don't know when it will be out.

8. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakour. I've read this one before, but it was still interesting and very well-written.

9. The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam. There was a movie a few years ago, October Sky. It is a true story and based on a book by Homer Hickam. This is the sequel and I have also read it before. It's still a good read.

10. Batman Death & the City by Paul Dint. Otter checked this one out actually.

11. Batman Going Sane by J. M. DeMatteis, et al.

12. A Little Bit Wicken by Kristin Chenowith. She's a local celebrity. It was an interesting book, but I don't think I would like her as a person. This is her autobiography. Can we say "Hypocrite"?

13. Facing Down Evil, Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage Negotiator by Clint Van Zandt. Very good book.

14. Batman Gotham Underground. It's Batman, what's not to like?

OK, now that my back - shoulders - arms - legs - knees, etc. are sore and screaming at me I think it's time to go take a motrin and chill out for a while. We did remember to set the clocks back last night, but it always takes me a few days to adjust to the time change.

Random Thoughts & Musings

This is the tree outside my office, it is suddenly "on fire" and is beautiful. Until today, when it rained and we had lots of wind - which deposited quite a few of those leaves all over my car!

This is a recipe for disaster if there ever was one. Both dogs have had a condition lately that we've called "Burning Rubber Butt" and now with both dog rear ends together, it's only a matter of time until everything in this house melts from the stench!

This picture is blurry, sorry about that! This is the Fenton (what else is there, really?) piece that Froggy got me at the flea market last summer. It's a cranberry opalescent hobnail vase, I can't remember the years it was produced but it's not recent by any stretch of the imagination. It is fairly rare, especially to find it in such a good condition. She got a very good price for it, which I might have paid except that I was trying to make my Fenton $$ last and get as much bang for the buck as I could. And I did get a lot of bang for my bucks! But I'm very thankful, Froggy! It's on the new wooden shelf that Bill built for me.

Here's the shelf! Both hummingbirds are Fenton as well. I'm thinking that I need another piece (or two!) in cranberry or rose pink to go on the shelf. But since I don't currently have any other pieces...

Well, I'll see what I can do about remedying that situation! :)

Anyway, the shelf was going to be a very pale pink but the color I bought turned out to be a lot closer to pepto bismol pink than the label & sample showed. Also, the varnish coat caused the paint to bubble so I got the sander that Bill bought me a couple of years ago and sanded all the paint off. Then I hit it with Kilz, and then painted it a green color that is very similar to the green fabric on the bulletin board I made a while back. The green paint is paint that I originally bought well before we moved, the label said it was 5/30/04, so I've had it a while. Bill was going to replace the curtains on the sliding door we had in our bedroom in the old house and he was going to put up a wooden curtain rod. I bought the paint to use on the curtain rod. Then a month later, Dad left us and we bought our then-new home in a matter of weeks so the curtain rod never actually got painted beyond the kilz coat and is in fact hanging up in the garage. Where it's been for 5 years and will probably stay until I can think of a use for it! But I did at least find a use for the paint!

We got the 2nd opinion on the chimney today. It does need to be repaired, but it is at least clean now. The problem it has is something that is probably related to the way it was constructed when this house was built. It wasn't constructed badly, but over time things change as a matter of normality and some of the bricks are a little loose. The first inspector told me that some of the bricks had fallen in and that we were in danger of losing the entire chimney, basically. Well, Bill didn't think that was right and after I cleaned the fireplace last week (dirty, messy work), I stuck my head in there and I could see what Bill was saying was right. So that's when we decided to get the second opinion. He came out today, and some of the bricks have loosened up a little which is what happens over time. The concern in that case is that if we have a really big, hot fire (and we usually do have that kind), a stray spark could concievably get behind one of the bricks. If that happened, we could lose the entire house and possibly us along with it. He gave us a bid to repair and it's similar to the first bid, but the work he wants to do looks like it will be better and will last longer. The two prices are virtually the same. So we are going to go with the guy from today. I'm not sure when, soon, but Bill's got to arrange the time off because it is probably a 2-day job. And we need to get it done before the roof work. He suggested that we not use the fireplace, unless it was a situation of an ice storm and no power but we have a little time before winter hits. Not a lot, but enough.

We may have missed our window on the roof, however. Winter is coming and it's not far. So, although we would prefer not to have to wait, it looks like it might be next spring before we can get the roof replaced. We know we have missed our weather window to do the painting outside that we need to do.

Sunday is rock garden day! It's been raining all day and it's just way too muddy & wet to even think about it today. Yesterday would have been good, but it was very windy and as soon as I went outside my allergies fired up and they are still around. There really isn't that much left to do, it's just been a matter of finding the time when it's not raining. And in NE Oklahoma, it rains pretty much all Fall!

Winter is Coming!

It got into the 30's last night. The high 30's, but still the 30's. So in other words, it was cold. But then, I'm usually cold from September 1 to May 31 just because of the fact that I'm a South Texan through and through.

Lots of stuff going on lately, quite a bit of it is house-related. We got the estimate on the chimney repair from the guy that came out last week. But there are a few things he said that don't quite make sense, so Bill's getting a second opinion this week. Then we'll decide what to do about it. The chimney is dirty, but we have a serious question about whether the chimney is really bad or not in terms of the work that the cleaner says it needs.

Also, Bill is going to steam clean Otter's carpet tomorrow after church. Along with the carpeted area in the first bathroom and the part of the hallway he didn't get the other day. It will be a few days before the living room, he was waiting until after the chimney cleaning and since that still hasn't happened it's going to be a few more days until he gets to the living room.

We're also still working on the rock garden. We haven't been out there in several days, I think it was Tuesday afternoon when we worked out there last. We've had a few rainy days, which is normal for this area. Tomorrow (Sunday) has a chance of rain, but that doesn't always mean anything given the talent (or lack thereof) of the local forecasters! But if it's possible, we'll be out there and it is quite possible that we'll be able to get it all done. Possible, not probable - there is a difference! So, while Billyboy is cleaning the carpets, Otter and I will be outside playing in the dirt and rocks. We'll be having a Clara moment, in other words.

And since it's Fall, I have housecleaning to do. Which means that we (Otter, that does include you) are going to be busy the next several days. I clean pretty frequently anyway, but spring and fall mean that I have to CLEAN. Yes, I know my Borg Queen side is showing.

But one thing I haven't done in way more days than I care to count is crochet. My skin is doing it's thing. There are times when I really, really hate having sensitive skin (extreme sensitive in the words of the dermatologist - like I didn't already know that) and this is one of them. Happens every Fall and winter when the air gets dry. Not fun! I go through a huge amount of lotion. Maybe I should buy stock in one of the companies that makes it! :(

Yeah, that would be a good idea!

I Must Have Rocks in My Head!

We started on the rock garden redo this afternoon. It's a lot of work, it's going to take us several days and it is hard, dirty work. But once it's done, it will be so nice. The rock garden will be larger and we're going to rearrange some of Otter's concrete animals a bit. As well as move the fountain-turned-planter back a few inches and see what else I come up with.

Basically, today's activities included moving all the aforementioned concrete animals out, all the fossils, limestone, geodes, "grammy rocks", statues, the TEXAS shape, the signs and any rocks that we thought were interesting and wanted to make sure they got back on top instead of buried in all the other rocks. Bill's wheelbarrow is now full of rocks and there are still a bunch more to go. Bill's got some large heavy-gauge nylon type plastic bags that we originally bought the rocks in, and as soon as he finds them :) we'll start putting rocks in them as well. Then, after all the rocks have been removed, we're going to pull all the plastic up, get the hoes and get busy re-leveling the dirt. Oh yeah, the fountain-turned-planter will still need to be moved out before we can level, but it's the last thing we'll move out because it weighs a TON. Or at least it feels like it, when we've had to move it. Then, after all that, we'll move the sandstone pieces that are my edge out of the way.

Then, after all that fun stuff, I am going to use the ground liner from the pool in place of the thinner plastic I used when we first put the rock garden in. It's fairly thick and should last for several years. This is a spot where I want to keep weeds & grass out of forever, so I'm not going to use anything such as newspaper which would biodegrade. The next step will be to do everything in reverse to put it all back in place. Although some of the places will be changed, Otter has a lot of concrete animals and some of them will be put on the other side of the trellis so that they'll be at the base of the trellis. But I have to level some of the dirt underneath the trellis, thanks to a certain small & fat beagle who shall remain nameless. Otter's concrete animals used to be in assorted places, there were some in the rock garden and then she had some of them placed in the flower bed that used to be along the back of the house. When we took that flower bed down, they moved to the rock garden.

I'll be glad when it's done. It will look very nice. Until then, I think I'll go take a motrin or two and hopefully my arms & shoulders won't be too sore to use tomorrow. And then I'll think about Mom, and how she moved all her rocks from one side of town to the other when we all moved. And she had way more rocks to deal with than I do, along with all sorts of other interesting objects.

Some Miscellaneous Sunday Ramblings

First order of business:

I have been pretty quiet on the political comments lately. Fair Warning: That is about to change. So nobody can say that they weren't warned. My political views have not changed. Well, they might have - IF it's possible to get even more conservative than I already was.

On to other things.

After looking at the rock garden, I've decided that it is going to be worked on and extended. But I think it's going to be my Fall project. It's starting to get warm and I want to avoid the worst of the hot weather when I'm outside doing what is hot & dirty work. Also, the month of June is pretty much filled up with assorted relatives visiting which extends into July, and July itself will be pretty busy for Otter. So the rock garden redo is put off for a few months. Probably, I might still decide to get out there and start working but I don't think so.

It isn't a one-day job to rebuild the rock garden. I will have to remove all the decorations, take up all the rocks (and there are billions), the rocks will have to be laid out and washed, the dirt will have to be leveled up a bit (thanks to a couple of dogs who shall remain nameless). Then the grass will have to be dug up where it will be extended, then plastic sheets put down and this time we are going to do what we did at the old house: on top of the plastic sheets, we're going to lay chicken wire. Then all the rocks will be put back in place. Then all Otter's concrete animals and my Texas paver, along with the sandstone that we use as an edge barrier. Picking up all the rocks is the hard part, they will have to be shoveled.

I'm pretty sure that the chicken wire will work, one of the dogs we had at the old house kept digging up the rock garden I had there and after we'd put it back together a few times Bill came up with the idea for the chicken wire. It worked like a charm, dog couldn't dig past it and dog quit!

I will probably not get my May book list posted until tomorrow or so. This is going to be a busy week, and then Toadles arrives Friday. But I will try to get the list up soon. I think I've read about 10 books.

With the warmer weather, we should be seeing bats soon. However, they might have to find another place to live. Birds keep building nests in the bat house. We took one partially started nest out last week when it suddenly showed up. But the birds are determined, and they are rebuilding. So we're going to let them, and then later on when it's past baby bird time we will see about cleaning it out. But there are two really big frogs out in the dog yard, they hang out around the water dish, so maybe they will eat a lot of mosquitos. But no sign of the dove nest yet, so I'm not sure if we'll have front-porch birds or not.

Also, I am having cell phone problems. It keeps cutting off and from the way it's acting, I think it's the battery. I took it in today, the technician thinks it's probably the battery but he couldn't say for sure. Of course, they didn't have any in stock so he had to order me another one. It should be here sometime this week. If they'd had batteries in stock for my phone, he would have been able to test it with another battery.

The bamboo is doing pretty good. We lost some of it, which we expected, but we were hoping that we wouldn't lose as many as we did. But the ones that survived are starting to spread and send out shoots. We had discussed getting more, but I think we'll wait until next spring and see how it does. Hopefully, it will take off.

Picture Wednesday

In no particular order!

This is a volunteer sunflower. It's one of 4. This one plant alone has over 15 buds. The first one is just starting to open up. Yes, I know it's sideways! Blogger isn't letting me turn the picture so there may be a couple of sideways shots. Turn your head! This is the second year for volunteers, last year's came up as a result of bird seed but they have apparently naturalized now because there are 4 of them and I did not put seeds out in the areas where they are coming up. Happy, happy!

Just starting to open up.

The rock garden! It will be extended about a foot and a half, all the way around. Eventually. I'm not sure if it's this year's project or not, it was going to be the big thing I worked on this spring but after the bamboo block I'm kind of tired of playing in the dirt. The trellis that Bill built for Otter is to the side, you can see a sunflower and one of the chairs on the deck is visible through the trellis. Also by the chair but not visible in the picture is another sunflower. If you look carefully, in the middle of the rocks is a particular paver block that Grandpa gave me for Christmas many years back. Anybody care to guess the State? :)

We haven't gotten in yet, it's been too cool for the water to be even comfortable. We had a spell of warm days, then as soon as we got the pool up it got cool again. Late May and we are back in jacket weather.

Playtime!

Maggie tackled Frasier. But he got right up again and they started running around the living room. Maggie was zooming up and down the hallway for a while.

Like I said, no particular order! This is a closer shot of the fountain that is in the back of my rock garden. It's now a planter. I went back to Ace Hardware and got a couple more moss rose plants. A couple of years ago, Bill painted it with a white colored concrete paint and it's slowly flaking off. The bowl is cracked and he patched it but the patch showed, so he painted it. We had problems with the latest pump we had in it, which is probably because it got left in it all winter, so I decided to make it into a planter. It turned out pretty good and it will probably stay this way now instead of a fountain. Bill took the pump out of it Sunday afternoon, and there was a tree frog inside of the reservoir where the pump was. There was another tree frog down in the rocks behind the fountain. We've been hearing them a lot lately in the evenings.

Still sideways! Bill's Nekkid Lady fountain topper. She is holding an urn on her shoulders and was originally designed to sit in the middle of a fountain or pond. The water would come out of the top of the urn and flow over all sides of it. But since my fountain is not that style, Bill cut off the top edge of the urn and rerouted the water to where it would flow out of one side. It worked great, when the fountain was a fountain and not a planter. At one point, I had a plant sitting on top of the fountain but we wanted to add to the flowing water so we bought a topper. Of course, since Bill was in charge of picking the topper... The fountain probably originally had a topper or decorative piece on the top. We bought it when Builder's Square was going out of business, so we've probably had it at least 12 or 13 years. Since it was missing the top piece, it was on clearance for next to nothing. I don't remember the price, but I think it was around $40.00 which is almost free for the size & style fountain - we had been pricing them and decided that they were more than we wanted to spend. But when we found this one, it came right home with us!

Beagle Bliss! This was after their play session, they had a grooming session and she stayed in this position for several minutes. I think she was actually comatose.

One of my hosta plants in the front of the house. I have always loved hostas but never had a place for them until we bought this house nearly 5 years ago. (Time flies!) They are a lower light plant and the front of the house doesn't get full sun so I bought several the first spring we were here. Then for the next couple of years, I bought a few more and filled in. Now they are firmly established and are getting big, which is exactly what I wanted them to do. They die back completely during the winter, then they come back bigger each year and I think that they have propogated, because there are a couple more than I remember planting. There are a few different varieties of them.

The grooming session that produced Maggie's bliss. She is smiling.

Looks kind of scary, but it's just clouds. Nothing to worry about here.

Bluebonnets. At the end of May. And they still have buds!

They still have buds AND they are forming seed pods.