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.)

Warm. Saturday. Drowsy.

It's Summer, and it feels like it.  It's not particularly hot, it's just that it is hot enough to notice but the humidity makes it worse.  Humidity is a big asthma trigger for me, so I'm spending a lot of time indoors.  Which I don't like!  I need my outside time.

I got a little bit of outside time this morning.  I walked Maggie Moo, she was very happy about that - she sniffed every single thing she could and I don't think either of us got much exercise because it was a "stop and sniff" walk with a great deal of stopping.  But she was happy about it.

I followed yard sale signs today.  I was going to the post office to drop some stuff off to mail and I saw a sign not too far from my neighborhood.  So, I followed it.  Nothing I was interested in, but I decided to just follow signs for a while.  I only drove around for about an hour but I saw several sales.  I stopped at a few and drove by a few more.  Didn't buy a thing, except for when I stopped to get a coke (which was a real coke and not a Texas Coke a/k/a any flavor/variety/brand I wanted at the time) but I still enjoyed getting out.

As of about 4:00 this afternoon, the Teenager is still with us.  Younger Boss says that it's very hard to see him linger like that.  I know how he feels, it was that way with Dad.  It is very tough.  But he is as comfortable as possible and his family is with him.  I guess that all we can do is pray.

Day 9

Last day of my 9 day weekend.  Back to work tomorrow.

Bill and the mechanic neighbor looked at the car seat and determined that the part that broke is not the seat itself, but it is the frame that holds the seat in place.  Bill made a few calls on Friday but apparently a lot of places were also closed on Friday.  So he's going to check on it tomorrow.  Chevy was open but it was somewhere close to $700.00 just for the part (no labor!) from them and we are NOT doing that unless we absolutely have to.  Bill did consider getting a replacement from a salvage yard, but since it is a fairly important structural piece he's decided against that option.  I'll ride with him in the morning, he has to be in at 7:00 but leaves the house earlier to beat the traffic.  I'll get myself to work in the El Camino and then I'll pick him up after work.  Hopefully, we can go pick up the part right then and get home in time for him to install it.  The seat should just come out and go right back in.  We are probably getting rain mid week, starting Tuesday, so Bill's kind of in a hurry.  Me too!

Otter came over Friday morning.  She got her laundry done and then we went shopping.  We hit a few yard sales, drove past a few more and went to a few stores.  We got lunch at Long John Silver's to bring home and share with William.  Then we went to the booth store and another similar store.  We had a good time but didn't really buy much.  We did get to Big Lots, which is probably the only place I really bought anything at and that was mostly household stuff.  I bought her a little gasoline to replace what we used.  She and Roomie are still discussing their options but I think that they are leaning towards a 2-bedroom unit.

We had a fairly quiet 4th.  We went to Taco Bell for lunch and then to Hobby Lobby to get some sinew-type thread/string to repair Bill's houseshoes with.  While there, I did cruise the yarn aisles.  The summer colors are out and are everywhere, but the fall colors are beginning to be stocked.  I saw a few I really liked but I didn't buy any.  Yet!  Bill actually had the "unsmartness" to tell me that I have too much yarn - which is when I asked him to tell me again exactly how many pachinko machines he has!?  I also reminded just how much room his machines take up vs the corner of the craft/guest/YARN room that holds my stash.  He stammered out that he meant I had a lot of $$ invested in yarn and then I reminded him how much a skein of yarn is vs the $30 - $several hundred he's spent on machines.  At that point, he saw the light and shut up. :)  Which is good, because I was going to take no prisoners on that one!

Speaking of yarn, I finished the mink scarf yesterday.  I had it about where I wanted it when I realized that I'd made a mistake several rows back and had to frog out several inches.  It wasn't a mistake I could leave in and ignore, it changed the stitch per row count and the shape.  Mink yarn is harder to frog than regular yarn, I'm thinking it might felt very easily.  I used less than one ball of yarn so I still have plenty left.  I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, it is fairly expensive ($33. per skein 2 years ago) but I'm sure I'll find something.  (No, Bill.  It's still cheaper than your machine stash!)  I started a new scarf for Otter, we got the yarn for it a while back but I hadn't gotten a chance to work on it it yet.  I started it and did a few rows because I wanted to see if she likes the pattern I made the mink scarf it - which she does.  I will get back to it soon, I just wanted to get it started so I could show it to her.  She had two sets ordered from different yarns.  I had one scarf made already and made the matching hat this morning but I have to wait for her to come over again so I can check the size before I call tie it off and call it done.  But I'm going to get back on her poncho soon so her 2nd scarf/hat combination may wait a while - but they go fast.

I have some sort-of TEXAS flag printed wall border, the kind that a teacher would have used years ago over the blackboard.  I got it at a thrift store for about a buck many years ago and it's just been stuck in the closet.  I took two pieces of it, it's long, and taped them together.  Then I took one of my many yard sticks and marked it off in 1" increments with smaller marks at the half inch marks.  No, I would not have done that if it was actually the TEXAS flag!  It's now hanging on the wall, attached with pushpins at the top and bottom.  Now, when I'm making a scarf or one of many other projects that need to be measured I don't have to drag out the measuring tape or yard sticks, and then fight to get it flattened out on the floor.

We had homemade cheeseburgers for our July 4th meal.  We were going to grill steaks but it as supposed to rain so we decided against that.  Of course, it didn't rain.  There were quite a few neighbors that had fireworks, including some of the really big ones, so we stood outside and watched the show for a while last night.  There were several lightning bugs, I always wonder if they get confused on July 4th?  The mosquitos eventually showed up, so we came inside but it was fun.  Otter took her sparklers left from last year when she came over on Friday.

I have a prayer request:  The Teenager was hospitalized Friday for low potassium and general weakness.  He's a tough old bird, but the key word is old - he is 98, after all.

I Don't Have to go to Work Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you can't tell, I am really glad that my vacation has arrived.  Took long enough!  I wish that Bill was able to take the week off like we originally planned, but he can't take any time off at the moment unfortunately.  He is off Friday for the holiday, but that's also the day that Otter has off this week and we had already planned a shopping ramble.  I don't think he really cares, he wants to spend the day working on pachinko machines.  However, there is a chance of icky weather on Friday so we might stay in the Tulsa-ish area and not go as far as we have planned.  We'll still shop, thrift and possibly yard sale shop.  Froggy, we're also going to the steakhouse for lunch.

It's been a fairly busy, productive weekend.  Yesterday, Bill mowed the front yard and I got the limblets that had started up again on the trees in front.  Today he got the back yard.  We went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and Cici's Pizza for dinner.  We went to Ace Hardware today, I also went to Joann's Fabrics and Walmart this morning.  I got a lot of crafting and crochet done, Bill has been working on pachinko machines for a few hours.  He moved the freezer out to the driveway so it could be defrosted, then he moved it back in place.  It's plugged in again although there's nothing in it - we gave it to our (nice) next door neighbor and he'll get it sometime this week.  If he and Bill are able to move it to his house without laying it down then it can be plugged in again right away and he can start using it.  There was a big, blue dragonfly that kept zipping into the freezer and then zipping back out.  I think it was after the water from the thawing frost.  Maggie Moo got several walks, and she got to see her best canine friend this morning - Luna the wolf.

Maggie and Luna seem to be smitten with each other.  As soon as Maggie saw her down the street this morning she just about pulled my arm out of it's socket in her haste to go see her friend!  Maggie is not normally like that, she's fairly easy-going and walks well.  But as soon as she sees Luna, she's going to do everything in her power to get to her.  Luna is the same way about Maggie, although Luna is still very skittish about just about every other dog.  I got a picture of Luna with my cell phone this morning, I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when we walk in case we see her.  She's absolutely gorgeous.  Her owner said that she's not sure how Luna will do with fireworks, but her two others (one is part wolf) don't like them so she's already going to be staying home Friday and Saturday evenings.  Maggie Moo is totally unconcerned about them, Frasier never cared about them either.  Maggie is a very low-maintenance dog, Frasier was about as high-maintenance as it got.  I do miss him and I always will, he was one of those extra-special dogs.  But I have to admit that Maggie Moo is a much easier dog.  She is also smitten with her new bed.  When she's in the living room, she often is curled up in it or laying across it.  She sometimes sleeps next to it, but she usually has at least one and usually two paws/legs stretched out over it.  At the moment, she's napping and has her head on it like a pillow.

The electrical contractor is supposed to come out tomorrow to repair the damage to my yard from 2 months ago.  I would love for them to be able to bury the line that was put in place on Friday but the marking crew would need to come out first.  I'm very tempted to stand out on my deck with my leather whip at the ready, just in case they might need a little encouragement to do their job and do it correctly!  (Not seriously!  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Maybe.)

Froggy, I finally got around to getting a hair dryer.  My blow dryer went to Otter's apartment.  KN#3 was amazed that I didn't have one when y'all were here a couple of weeks back.  I also bought a full-size ironing board.  I've been using a table top size for years and it worked fine, I didn't have a lot of room at the old house so I used the small one and it was fine.  Then we moved here and even though the house is bigger and I have an actual laundry room, I didn't really have a place for a full-sized one.  So, I used the tabletop one on top of the dryer.  Also, I was hanging Bill's work shirts and jeans in the laundry room behind the door and then Otter's work clothing when she worked at the party store - Party City, in case anybody is interested in it (I didn't mention the actual name at the time for safety reasons.)  When she changed jobs, the uniform is one of their t-shirts and jeans so her clothing didn't really need to be ironed.  I just never changed my system, for some reason.  I took the iron holder/clothes hanger off the back of the laundry room door when we put Maggie Moo's pillow/bed in there and I decided to just go ahead and get a bigger ironing board.  It's now in my closet, it's collapsed and leaning up against the back of the closet.  Bill's work clothes are now going to be put in the front of his part of the closet.  I might eventually move it to the front/craft/guest/YARN room.

I might be done with my mink yarn scarf soon.  It's about 2 rows to an inch, and it is measuring about 56 or 57 inches.  My standard scarf size is about 60" in length.  I'll know "when I get there" if it's done or not, but it might be.  I'm going to get back on Otter's slant stitch poncho as soon as the mink scarf is done.  Then my UFO's will be done, with the exception of my scrap yarn lap blanket because I'm out of scrap end pieces for the moment and that's what I'm making it with, and Bill's quilt because I still need a little more fabric but I'm looking for things that fit his personality and interests.  I do have projects lined up, however!  Two scarf/hat sets for Otter and one for Froggy.  I also have a couple of non-crochet related craft projects. I'm finished with the tray I was working on and am nearly finished with the shadow box I'm making with Mom and AJ's stuff.  Next up is a mouse pad that I'm going to cover with the crochet pattern fabric that is on the bottom of the tray, and I may start on the Christmas ornament wreath soon.  I have a few small craft projects I'll probably work on soon, but they aren't anything major and can wait until "whenever" if they need to.

Middles

I've discovered something.  Today, I went to several yard sales.  A couple of them were neighborhood wide.  Lots of houses having sales.  And almost all of them were one of two items:  baby clothes, young kid toys and supplies or medical equipment and things that an old person in bad health would need.

We are firmly in the middle!  We no longer have a kid at home, and we aren't in need of the medical supplies, either.

Guess we really are middle aged?  :)

The electric company is in my bad list now.  I took Tuesday afternoon from work and got home in time to meet them.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  And called the crew chief.  He eventually called me back and had the gall to act dumb with me.  Which usually is the final turn of the key to unlock *RHTW's cage.  He made a bunch of excuses, tried to pretend he'd never set the time up with me, claimed he couldn't call me back and then when I told him that I knew he had my number he then started making excuses about the number of calls he always had and that he couldn't be expected to call everybody back now, could he?  I let him have it.  Somehow, I don't think he still likes Redheads!  He told me that he could meet me at my house Wednesday morning.  I told him that I was not taking anymore work off for them.  Then he told me I could just leave my gate unlocked - at which time I reminded him that THEY were the specific reason we always keep the gates locked.  I told him that it would have to be on our schedule and that I would call him back "sometime."

Otter came over on Wednesday afternoon to do her laundry.  She called me just as I was about to leaver work and said that they'd shown up.  I told them to wait until I got there to let them in.  They didn't have the small backhoe from Monday, it was just a little too big to fit through the gate so they had to get busy with shovels but they got the trench covered up.  I'm not sure when they actually left, they didn't tell me.  I noticed that they were gone and waited about an hour before I locked the gate up again.  They left two pieces of plywood and a shovel.  I'll eventually call them and ask them if they are going to come get it, and also ask them when THEY are going to replace the two or three crepe myrtles that they killed.

We've been walking Maggie Moo more often lately.  We didn't walk the dogs much over the winter because of the weather, then Frasier was having obvious issues with the arthritis so we didn't get too many walks in once it became Spring.  Now that Frasier's crossed the rainbow bridge, Maggie Moo is obviously in need of more physical activity so we've been walking her again and more often than we would have been doing if he were still here.  I took her to a local walking part the other day, she really liked that.  Especially when a lazy squirrel walked across our path - she didn't want to chase it, but she was very interested in it.  One morning she was very bouncy and led me to the closet where the leash is kept.  It was still pretty early, so we had a short jaunt down the street and back.  Today, Bill and I took her for a walk around the neighborhood.  She's been very playful the last couple of days, she seems to be getting back to normal - normal nutso for her.  She has wanted to play tug again and is interested in chasing her tennis balls again.  She's no longer looking for Frasier, but she has looked towards the outer dog door flap a few times when she's been in the garage like maybe she's wondering if he's about to come in from the dog yard.  But she's doing ok.  I've taken her with me a few times lately when I've gone somewhere she can go.

At the moment, she curled up on her blankets.  She seems to take longer naps after walks for some reason!

*RHTW:  Just start running now.

Gone to Sleep **EDITED**

**EDIT:  (My email is temporarily not working.  It worked fine, but then Windows did one of it's unneeded updates yesterday and now my email isn't working.  We are trying to fix it, but so far none of the fixes have worked.  I'm so tired of people who don't even know me thinking that they know what is best for me!)

My "Mom Ears" have gone to sleep.  After 22+ years of listening in my sleep for Otter, I've realized that the Mom Ears have quit listening.  I realized this a few days ago, after waking up several morning in a row without waking up in the night and not waking early when she had to be in to work early.  I'm sure that they are simply resting, if grandchildren are ever in the picture for us I think the Mom Ears will wake up.  Along with the Eyes in the Back of My Head that all moms seem to develop upon the birth of their children.  :)

 

We didn't actually make it to church today.  We had planned to, but Otter called me yesterday before she went to work because she was concerned about a specific tire that was low (we've been watching it).  She went to get air in it, but the pump wasn't working right and she thought she actually caused the tire to lose air.  So I took her my car and got the one she'd been driving, the 02 Impala that she and Bill share.  The car is about to need new tires and we will put them on it when it officially becomes her car, unless we have to do it sooner.  I took the car to another air pump and thought it took some air, but the gauge told me it was lower still.  So, I drove it on home and Bill said he'd check it this morning - he was fighting off a mild case of the stomach bug that I shared with him so he wasn't really inclined to mess with the car yesterday.  We decided against church in case the tire was bad and actually got flat, since Bill didn't have enough time to check it before we would have had to leave anyway.  Bill did check the tire later on and it seemed to be holding air.  However, he thinks the tire gauge is broken!!!  He fired up the compressor and put a little air in it, along with the other three tires.

 

Otter brought my car back this morning, along with her laundry.  She went through about 4 boxes.  She repacked them into less boxes, and some stuff is to be donated as well as some that could be thrown away.  Then she and I went to a thrift store while her laundry was in the machine.  She found a cute dress, a couple of large t-shirts to sleep in and a lace poncho-type shawl.  I found a sweater I really need.  We also ran into a friend of hers at the thrift store that she hadn't seen in a while.  After we got back, the last of her laundry was ready for the dryer.  I took her home after it was done, along with two boxes of stuff and some of my drinking glasses that I don't need any longer.  And her laundry!

 

I started on the lap blanket she wanted yesterday.  I bought 4 skeins of yarn for it, but I was thinking I wanted to get one more.  Which I was going to do yesterday, but I never quite got there when she called me about the car tire - I was looking at yard sales (no luck) and had been to the booth store with my next planned stop being Hobby Lobby for the yarn.  But after I looked at how much yarn I've already used for the size it's at, I think I actually need to get two more skeins.  It's a fall color and the winter colors will be out soon, so I need to get it as soon as I can.  Probably tomorrow.

 

Bill got the grill out this afternoon.  We had steaks tonight along with baked potatos.  We have barbecued chicken and fajita chicken for the next couple of night's dinners.  The dogs were very interested in what we were having for dinner, they sat where they could see us and stared at us the entire time we were eating.  They each got a small bite of steak, and they were happy with it.

They are easily entertained, and food is always a fun thing!  But their favorite activity? NAPS!!!

Empty Feeling

As of this afternoon, we really do have an Empty Nest.  Otter brought the car back and we took her to her apartment, along with the last of the stuff she's taking for now.  While she was here, we boxed up the remaining stuff that was in her room and it is now stacked against the wall in "her" room, along with the craft items which ere already boxed.  There is still a little bit in the closet, but I'm not sure if it's anything she'll take now or at all.  Her winter clothes are still here, but she'll need them soon.  She took the rest of her blankets and towels, her nicer clothes (the ones she paid major $$ for) and a few other things including a Swiffer I found at a yard sale for her for 50 cents.  We vacuumed her room while she and I were packing up the last of the boxes and there was definitely a mousie or several nesting under her bed last winter.  She had some dirty clothes in the laundry basket, I washed that for her last night and she brought her dirty laundry with her to do so she could wash it while we packed the last stuff up.

 

We took her back home (that sounds so strange!) after all the packing and laundry was done.  Both Otter and Roomie/Other Daughter have televisions, but they don't have cable or satellite service yet.  They might not get that for a while, they don't have internet either but that will probably be more important to them than cable tv.  We bought them each a wall-mounted antennae for their tv sets, Bill installed them for them today and they can now get the local stations.  There are over 30 local stations in the Tulsa area, so they have a lot of options.  They wanted to be able to see local stations and were going to get antennaes later on, but we wanted them to have access to weather warnings immediately.  We do get some really B.A.D. weather, and they needed to be able to access any warnings.

 

When we got home, we both felt very strange.  Empty is the word that fits.  While we are glad that she/they were able to make the move, it's still hard for the parental units and it's going to take us a while to adjust.  Maggie was overjoyed when Otter got here, but she has been adjusting better the last few days.  We've been working with her to get used to me doing most of her care/feeding/belly rubs/etc., over the last few weeks and it seems to have worked.  After we got home, I let her in Otter's old room and she was fine.  We weren't sure how the beagle would act, she used to sleep in Otter's bed but that ended a couple of years ago because Maggie licks everything and Otter got tired of getting into bed and discovering that the pillow was wet!  I pulled the door to that room shut and moved the dog block back into the hallway so that we can get into the hall bathroom from the living room without having to climb over the thing.  The hall bathroom door is being left open, at least for now.  There are still a few things in that bathroom that Otter left, but most of it is stuff that she doesn't really want/need although she'll probably get her earrings later on.  She took all the important stuff - hair stuff and asthma meds - when she moved on Wednesday.

 

There is still one quilt, the 12-year quilt needed a patch and I did that this morning.  But I gave Otter a quilt that my mom gave me, Mom and our special Aunt (referred to as AJ) made it and I helped with it.  Otter was overjoyed to get it, she nearly started crying - Froggy, that is the picture I texted you and I think she was actually crying when I took the picture.  But it needs several repairs, mostly just thread that has biodegraded on seams and hems.  I'm about half way through with that.  But there are a few spots where the fabric has worn through and some small tears, Froggy is going to send me some fabric she has that will work.  This particular quilt is made with fabric that came from clothes we all wore so it has a lot of meaning.  I discovered that it doesn't have a lining or any batting - but then in S. TEXAS, we didn't really need super warm quilts!  We also switched our bed quilt today while I was getting Otter's blankets organized, we now have the camo quilt on our bed.

 

I'm not going to be in a hurry to paint, I have several projects in the works at the moment and Bill's got several pachinko machines in line to be refurbished.  I'm going to move the desk to where I want it and start putting the Yarn Stash in there, and we're going to get a ceiling fan soon.  I also want to put miniblinds in the window.  Otter's bedroom in her apartment has miniblinds so she didn't need to take the curtains, so the miniblinds can wait a little while until we have time to install them.  But the painting will wait a while, we wanted to get it done soon but we don't really have time right now so it might wait until Spring.  We're not going to get the pull-out couch/loveseat now anyway, winter is not really the time we have guests so it can wait a few months.  Unless we come across a really good deal.

 

Otter could still use a floor lamp, Roomie has one so she has enough light in her room (she has the living room) but Otter needs more light.  I was looking for one yesterday when I hit yardsales and a thrift store but I didn't find any.  I did find the Swiffer I mentioned, I crocheted a cover for it today and I'm going to make at least one more for her.  Roomie's mom bought them a microwave, so that's one less thing they need.  Really, about the only thing they need now is a vacuum but they can probably get a carpet sweeper instead.  I told them that they can borrow my vacuum if they need it, but they'll probably see about a carpet sweeper pretty soon.

Myrtle!

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Derpy Sunday

Been that kind of day today!  All day long.

 

Not helped in the least by the fact that I had a nosebleed to deal with, with no warning.  I thought my nose was trying to run when it was in fact bleeding.  Not a good time to discover that I'm down to one box of Kleenex!  (TEXAS speak:  All forms of tissues are Kleenex.  Even the Puffs with lotion that we use.  They just are.)  It's allergy related, nothing to worry about.  IF I didn't blow my nose too soon and have it start bleeding again, that is!

 

Otter does have an ear infection.  She was supposed to get off at 6:00 Friday evening, but by 5:00 her ear was really starting to hurt so her boss let her go a little early.  I took her to the urgent care clinic we use and she saw a doctor there.  It's not bad, it was caught early.  But she still has an antibiotic to take which is in the form of horse pills.  She has to split them, they are huge.  Yes, Froggy.  We did get a lot of yogurt!

 

Otter and I went to a fabric store in one of the small, neighboring towns yesterday and we also went to a few yard sales.  We didn't really find anything at any of them.  We did see one estate sale sign on one of the main streets so we followed signs until we found it and I bought a few things there, but I still spent about $1.00 there as it was the last day of the sale and everything was 75% off.  We went to the Hitching Post, Froggy that's where I sent you the pictures from.  One of the booths has something I really like, one of these:

This isn't the actual lamp, but it is very similar.  The shade on the one I saw is much bigger and a different style.  I like it a lot, but it's kind of big and I am not really sure where I would put it.  I could put it on the sofa table for the moment, but I don't know if I want to pay $30.00 for it.  I'm still thinking about it.

 

I found a different hat pattern that I decided might work well as a Chemo Cap.  I have been looking for a good pattern to make them with, a lot of organizationpings that work with people who are being treated for cancer take donations of them and then they are given to people who have hair loss due to chemotherapy.  The pattern I found was more of a stocking cap and it looked like it might work.  I made it with very soft yarn, so that if it did work I could donate it - they need to be made as soft as possible.  It worked, but it used up a huge amount of yarn and also took way too long.  Also, I don't like the way it looks - at least not for what it was intended for.  I'll keep looking, I'll find a good pattern eventually.  I can use my standard hat pattern, it would need to be made slightly looser and larger than I normally make them but that's not a problem.  But I want to see what else I can find first.

 

I have a slight headache, courtesy of the nosebleed.  I kind of have to just deal with it, since anything I could take for it is a potential blood thinner and that's the last thing I need right now.  One of my least favorite parts of the Redhead Curse is the bleeding issues we have.

 

The weather has been really nice lately.  Last week was really unusual for July in NE Oklahoma - 70's and 60's at night.  Today is nice, I think it's in the 80's but it was very cool this morning.  I was out trimming tree limblets about 8:00 a.m., and it was actually almost cold.  I had a lot of help, in the form of a beagle!  Maggie Moo apparently decided that she needed to help me.  Help me keep the limbs from flying!  She was very bouncy and playful, and as soon as she saw me by the tree she literally bounced over to me from the other side of the yard.  She got in my way quite a bit, but she managed to get her delicate little furry behind on top of a bunch of branches, then she settled down and stayed there.  Even as limblets were falling (and nearly falling on her!)  She had leaves on her head at one point, but she didn't move until I was through.  Then, she got up and bounced (literally) around the tree, behind the shed and on top of the shell-top to the El Camino that is stored behind the shed.  Who knows what goes on in that little furry head!  Frasier was out in the yard with us, but he's smart enough to stay away from falling limbs.  Maggie is such a goof sometimes.  OK, most of the time.  When I got ready to go inside, I yelled for Frasier and he went straight to the back door to wait for me.  I hollered for Maggie a couple of times, but didn't see her anywhere so I figured she was probably under the shed again.  Then I got to the deck and she was sitting in front of the back door, wagging at me and apparently just waiting until I was ready to go inside!

 

We have been dumping the dog's outside water dish just about every day lately, because it's had wrigglers (mosquito larvae.)  Nearly every day.  It's now sitting empty, we always put their inside water dish out in the garage when we leave for the day and we'll continue to do that, but the outside dish might stay empty for a day or two.  The frog hasn't been seen in days anyway, and that might have something to do with why the wrigglers have been so bad.

 

Otter's harvested a few jalepenos from her plants on the deck.  They are not huge, but they are good.  Bill's been helping keep them under control!

Still Here

I have not fallen off the face of the earth!  Not yet, anyway.  It's just been an insanely busy few days.  Nothing in particular, the normal stuff.  Just more of it!

 

Anyway.  Froggy, I'm glad you got the box and that you liked the stuff in it.  I have pictures of all the things I crocheted, but I can not locate them.  I know that Otter and I got them uploaded on my computer, but they are nowhere to be found.  That has happened a couple of times with this laptop, they are out there somewhere and I'll eventually find them.  But the frog cap was the main item I gave you hints about.  The creepy turtle potholder was the "other" thing that I didn't hint about.

 

Bill's hoarding, excuse me collection, of pachinko machines increased by two.  He found one on craigslist that was near San Antonio and his sister picked it up for him.  She was here last week, so she brought it with her.  The other one is one he found on craigslist at a local-ish yard sale.  It's one he looked at months ago, in a neighboring town and the seller made the usual mistake:  rare and worth bunches.  Except that it wasn't either of those things.  What usually happens in that case is that the seller realizes his mistake after he tries to sell it for those bunches and bunches of money and winds up emailing or calling Bill to see if Bill's offer is still valid.  This time, the seller didn't call but he had a yard sale this weekend and listed a pachinko machine.  We went over there this afternoon, it was in a nearby small town, and it was the same person/house/machine.  I think Bill offered him around $30 last time, but of course he didn't take it then because it was worth hundreds (not!).  It came home with us today.  $10.00.  Part of the sudden price decrease was because the guy put it out in the driveway and his wife bumped it with her car when she was backing out of the driveway.  The damage is minimal and also easily fixable.  But even before that, I don't think he was asking very much from the way he talked.

 

After that, we stopped at a local Jack in the Box for lunch.  They are in this area again after a period of many years.  If today's lunch is an example, I expect that they will be gone again soon!  While we were eating, Bill got a call from a lady in Tulsa who saw his website.  She has a pachinko machine that she bought from someone in Indiana who Bill's acquainted with online.  Bill was never very impressed with that guy's machines or services he offers online.  Apparently, the lady bought a machine and a cabinet for bunches of money (like probably over $1,000.00) and it quit working.  She called the guy and he told her to JUST WHACK IT to fix it.  Which is when she looked online and found Bill.  Turned out it had balls jammed and was easily fixable, but whacking it would not have done the job and might have damaged it.  Froggy, I was waiting in the car when I texted you about being bored and not having anything to read.  I normally have a book in reach, but I took the one in last night that I had in the car.  I was so bored that I actually read the maps we have in the car!

 

I managed to finish my new scarf yesterday, I started it last week but then had hardly any time to work on it.  I also put three or four rows on the afghan, I think it's close to 200 rows now and is probably about half done.  I want to get it finished this year, it's a couple of years old already but its big and not a good project to work on when the weather is warm.  Which means that the last two years have not been good afghan weather.

 

I did a lot of crochet yesterday, and as a result I have sore arms today.  But I was thinking that we were going to be working on cutting limbs up and bundling them for trash pick up.  They have to be 4' lengths and tied up in bunches.  I got started on cutting them up this morning and discovered that the limbs are so old they were disintegrating!  So Bill's decided to just burn them in place.  Well, not exactly in place - they are too close to the wooden fence.  We'll move the pile out a bit and then he'll start burning them.  I don't know if he's going to get it all done at once or in small burns, but Bill and fire are not words that go together well!  Otter was also concerned at the thought of her father starting a fire of any kind but she also thinks that it would be good to get marshmallows ready to roast.

 

Otter's got her priorities.

Day After Groundhog Day!

Not that we actually believe a rodent is capable of predicting anything!  Also, look at the calender.  There are still 6 weeks until the first day of Spring so it doesn't matter!  But it is fun, I agree.  Of course, if we'd ever actually had winter...

Check this out:

Yarn Bombing!

My latest yarn adventures include crocheting a scarf yesterday.  I started it yesterday, but didn't get it finished until this morning.  There was an article in the paper a couple of weeks back, about two pre-teen girls who learned how to knit from an aunt or grandmother of one of the girls.  They then taught all their friends and classmates how to knit.  The entire bunch of them decided to knit scarves for the school district's on-staff police officers.  Then they taught the rest of the 6th grade, or at least most of them, how to knit.  One of the local yarn stores has now picked up the effort and is sponsoring a drive to provide every Tulsa police officer with a hand-knitted or crocheted scarf.  The one I made yesterday/today is the first of a few that I'll donate.  I'm not sure how many, probably 3 to 5.  But it just depends, once I get going it is hard to stop!  I was looking for a de-stash project and had planned on making Chemo caps next, but the yarn store wants the scarves by Feb. 25 so the Chemo caps have been put off for a bit but I am going to make them as well.  I used a deep grey color for the first scarf, the same one I made the sock monkey hats out of.  I have two different green colors, a smoky blue and possibly also will use camoflauge yarn for the scarves.

Otter and I went to two estate sales today.  Well, we drove by two estate sales.  We didn't actually stop at either of them, we could tell from the street that neither of them had anything we were interested in.  We also went to an antique/craft mall that we like but we didn't find anything there either.  The only thing we actually bought was at Marshalls store and it was a pair of slacks for Otter.

Also, we bought dinner.  It was in the form of a pepperoni pizza!  Dominos had a special, so we got two.  One for today and one for tomorrow.  Tomorrow's might well be breakfast!

OK Froggy. I Blogged. Are You Happy Now?

(Sorry Froggy!  Couldn't resist.)  (Ducking for cover now.)

I originally was going to title this "Sunday Discoveries" but I've already used that title before.  Also, I'm kind of getting away from just a "Sunday" post and just posting whatever whenever.  But I did make a discovery today and it is Sunday, so I probably could have re-used that title.

But I like the one I used better!!! :)

Anyway.  My discovery today.  It's a new allergy.  Or, more correctly, it's one I didn't know I have because I've never been exposed to the allergen until today.  Acai berry.  Otter and I went to the mall for a little while and we stopped at Teavana.  Which might be a required stop, at least if you ask Otter.  We like to sample the different teas they have and they are usually good.  The people that work there are more than willing to go read the labels if I ask about specific ingredients and they don't know, usually lavender is the big one that I'm liable** to come across there.  Kiwi is one of my other big triggers, but it's not in too many things that Teavana would have.  I tried a new tea sample today and it was very good.  She read me the list of ingredients prior to tasting it, and it didn't have anything I really needed to worry about.  At least, that I knew about.  The only thing it had in it that was new was Acai.  About 10 or 15 minutes later, I realized that I was itchy.  And had been for about 5 or 10 minutes.  After about 10 more minutes, I remembered the tea sample and that it had acai berry in it.  When my allergic reaction is a skin reaction, it can last an hour or several hours - depending on how much of the offending substance I've had.  I don't think that I had much at all, but it lasted about an hour and a half.  So it's a fairly strong allergy.  I did some research, and apparently the main allergic reaction is hives - which is the more correct term for the reaction I had.  It has a pattern to follow, as it works it's way through my system.  I'm mostly not itchy now, but there is still some residual itchiness.  I'm just past the point of wanting to scratch all my skin off!  Guess that's one more thing I'll need to watch for.  Acai is promoted as a superfood, but it really doesn't do anything like it's marketed to do anyway.

We also went to an estate sale while we were out but we didn't find anything.

I've been working on UFO's, which I think I've mentioned a few times.  Yesterday, I kind of finished one.  I say "kind of" because it's the scrap yarn pillow cover and I've used all the scrap pieces I have as of now.  The pillow cover isn't quite finished, but I'm out of small pieces so I have to wait until I have more to be able to actually finish it.  But I did at least cross it off my list, for the moment.  Otter, my Chief Enabler, did attempt to get me to buy more yarn in Wallyworld earlier.  It's a  beautiful variegated color, purples and greens mostly.  She tried really hard, but I resisted.  She thinks it will make a wonderful something for a relative (no, Froggy I don't mean you.  For once!  But let me know if you want something.) but until I have an actual project, I'm not going to get it.  I was in my yarn drawers yesterday and at least two of them are filled to probably beyond capacity.  But it's a spring yarn, it's new in the store and it will be there for a long while.  So if I do come up with a project, I shouldn't have any problem getting it.  But I really, really need to de-stash a little (OK, a lot) before I go buy anymore yarn.  I was thinking about Chemo Caps, but they need to be a soft yarn since they are designed to be worn by women with hair loss due to chemo.  I have quite a bit of soft yarn, but it's smaller amounts and not necessarily enough to make a cap out of any one particular color.  Except for one full skein in lavender which I will probably use for it, but the colors I have don't necessarily lend themselves to being put together.  I might see what I can do about making multi-colored hats, but I'm really not sure if any of the yarns I have will work together and it's not just because of my color match inability.

Yesterday was our 28th Wedding Anniversary.  We made pizza, which was a lot of fun and also very good.  I made a pecan pie Friday evening so we could have it yesterday - it's like molten lava when it first comes out of the oven and it stays that way for hours so I make it the night before I want to have it.

Bill's sniffly.  He's probably having allergies but he wasn't feeling too good this morning so we didn't attempt church.  We didn't go the last 2 weeks because I was sick and we didn't go today - Pastor Dave probably thinks we've gone back to TEXAS!  The trees are starting to bud out and I've seen bugs, and that is always a good indication of things blooming.  Which means allergy season is starting early - not that it ever really ended from last year.

**Liable.  In the TEXAN language, it means likely to.  Also, the "i" is just barely pronounced and the "a" is emphasized slightly and more like "ah" than "aye."

Sunday Finds

I have a prayer request first:  the mother of one of my blog friends has been having health problems since she fell on Thanksgiving day.  She has some fractures including one in her back and has been in and out of the hospital since then.  She was sent home at first with a botched diagnoses, then rushed back via ambulance to the hospital where the fractures were discovered.  She was sent to rehab and now has had to be admitted to the hospital again, she has some dehydration issues and some serious problems.  I've mentioned Shara before on here, I think.  Shara is my blog buddy and it's her mother.  Please keep their entire family in your prayers, Shara's husband was one of the innocent victims of the union debacle with the Hostess company - he wasn't even a Hostess employee, but was a delivery driver.  He's since found another job, thankfully, but it was a rough & scary time for them and now her mother's situation on top of everything else.

Otter and I went to a few estate sales today.  I saw three advertised on Craigslist and they all said that it was the last day so they were 50% off.  I never saw them listed on their earlier days, however.  But we decided that they sounded interesting so off we went.  And we're glad we did, we found a lot of fun stuff.

We didn't find anything at the first sale, but I did leave one of Bill's cards for Pachinko Restorations - one of the guys running the sale knew what a pachinko machine is, the other one didn't so we got to give him a lesson.  The one that did know said that he's had one in a sale before and he'll keep us in mind in case he finds anymore.  I also got us put on their mailing list.  It was pretty close to our old house, but we didn't drive by it this time.

This was from the 3rd and final sale and is my Find.  Well, one of them but it's my favorite!  We almost didn't go to this sale, I got a little turned around on my directions (msn maps are not good) but I wasn't lost, contrary to Otter's belief.  I knew where I was, but the map had some of the landmarks in the wrong place - that has happened before with msn maps but I didn't think it was necessary to deal with the gps for an estate sale in an area that I used to go through frequently.  Anyway, we found the sale and looked around.  Otter found a couple of things and we were about to go check out when I remembered seeing that there was also stuff in the bathroom.  We hadn't been in there because someone was using it for it's intended purpose when we walked back by it.  Otter said she didn't think that there was anything in there we'd be interested in, based on sticking her head in the door of it as we walked by it the first time.  But, I decided to go back and look.  And I'm glad I did.  The above pile was $10, marked to $5.00 today.  The yarn alone is worth probably 3 or 4 times what I paid.  The floral-print sewing basket was part of it.  There were about 15 crochet hooks and they run anywhere from a couple of dollars apiece to about five dollars each.  There was quite a bit of embroidery thread and most if it is unused and still in sealed packages - Otter got some like it at Michaels the other day and it was around $3 - $5 then.  There were several small embroidery hoops as well as a crewel/embroidery kit that hadn't been touched.  There were two or three small books with crochet patterns.  A couple of knitting needles and scissors.  Some of the things were already in the donate pile before the picture was taken.  Some of it will go to etsy.  But most of it is now in my stash/crochet supplies.

This is my second find of the day and is from the 2nd sale.  The Fenton piece was $2.00, marked to $1.00 and the small dark thing is a cast-iron piece that was originally meant to either hold matches or be used as an ash tray.  $3.00, got it for $1.50.  It's on the hearth of the fireplace at the moment, next to my cast-iron sad irons.  I actually already have one like the Fenton piece, but Fenton rules and yarn rules are amazingly similar and I had to buy it.  I'm thinking that it might go to work with me, I need something on my desk to hold rubber bands since the Teenager keeps taking them out of the container I have them in - it also holds paper clips and he keeps messing with the orderly (Borq Queen) way I keep my desk!

The next two pictures are Otter's find and it's a pretty big one.  Both in size and in what it is:

It was marked $8.00.  It was 25% off, so she got it for $6.00.  Which is an amazing price, considering that a)  it's a big one, b) it's a Redman basket (I think.  Shara?  When you have time, that is.  I know you have your hands full right now),

and c)  it has the wooden, legged stand!  I'm not positive that the stand originally came with it, I've seen pictures of them though so I think it did.  It fits perfectly inside the basket.  It's also one of the bigger baskets.  It's in extremely good shape.  Otter's probably going to use it to store fabric, my (smaller) green one is now in her stash and holds things like lace, thread, sewing stuff.  I'm sure that she will find a good use for it.

We had a couple of other things to do, such as get Otter's glasses adjusted again.  We went to the mall for that, we managed to get a good parking space or we wouldn't have attempted it today.  We saw a couple of kids visiting Santa while we were there and we also went to Hot Topic.  We usually get something there for Otter for CHRISTMAS, she likes their t-shirts and usually she'll pick out a couple of them and then I'll get it later.  But today, we went ahead and got her one and also a couple of other things.  Pony things!

Movie review:  Men in Black 3.  It was surprisingly good.  It was just a little predictible, the twist at the end was obvious early on but it was a good movie.  I think it's probably written into our TEXAN dna, but we'll watch just about anything with Tommy Lee Jones in it!

(The next paragraph will probably mean nothing to non-Trek fans - all 12 of you!)

(/WARNING:  SPOILER ALERT AHEAD)

I have another movie thought.  We've been hearing things about the next Star Trek movie.  Most of the rumblings have been wondering who the villian will be.  Most of us, and admittedly we can be rabid about what we like and don't like, do NOT want the villian to be Khan.  (From the original series episode Space Seed and then from the best of the TOS movies - The Wrath of Khan, Movie # 2.)  Quite a few of us, or probably most of the TOS fans in fact, are not exactly crazy about the latest movie reboot.  We like it, but it changed too much.  However, it's Star Trek so we have to see it - dna code again! :)  Anyway, probably the absolute worst thing that they could do would be to use Khan again.  Like Otter says, we'd probably riot in the streets!  However, what I've heard lately - and read twice now - is that the villian will probably be someone else entirely.  Someone much closer to Kirk and someone who was very briefly in the series very early on.  I think that it's a very good idea, if they do go with who I/we/most of us think they'll be using:  Gary Mitchell.  The Borg Queen is keeping her fingers crossed on this one.  FutureJediMom, what do you think?  (I think you know who Gary Mitchell is.  If you don't, let me know and I'll enlighten you.)

I've mentioned before, but Oklahoma weather is bi-polar.  It's December 2nd.  We had to turn the air conditioner back on this afternoon.

Ouchies

We got ours today.  I've been having allergy issues and was probably a little over the threshhold to get my shot, but I did anyway.  The threshhold is the line between not having an illness of any sort and having one.  It won't affect the flu shot or it's effectiveness, but it can make a reaction worse.  Since I pretty much always have one, I don't know if I'll notice or not. !!

The shot itself didn't hurt, and I felt fine for a while longer than normal.  But within about 1/2 an hour, I felt what I refer to as the "wave" come over me.  That's the wave of not feeling the best, and it's generally accompanied by a slight feeling of fever.  We were in Wally at the time, getting our mandatory ice cream, but we were nearly finished getting what was on our very small list.

We took our tylenol (Otter)/Motrin (me) about 3:00 or so and I'm probably going to take another dose when I go to bed tonight.  Otter will probably take her allergy pills.

On a lighter note, there was no appearance of the RedHead Curse today!  Although we did remember to warn the tech giving us the shots.  At least she's had the lesson and will be prepared the next time she has one of us to deal with.

The lasagne is in the oven, the garlic toast will go in when the lasagne comes out and then the ice cream will come out of the freezer.  That's the exciting Friday night we have planned.  We usually have relaxed Friday evenings anyway, but this is our annual "sick weekend" or at least it could be, so we don't generally have much planned other than maybe a drink and watching whatever is on tv.

Also, Bill's stash increased today.  He bought another pachinko at a yard sale in a neighboring town that he saw advertised on Craigslist.  This one was out in the middle of nowhere, down a country road basically.  He didn't have one like it before.  It's dirty, but they usually are.

I might see about reducing my stash tomorrow.  If I feel halfway decent, and if my arm is not too sore from the shot.  It takes a LOT to keep me away from my yarn!

OK, Now It's Really Friday

This time last year, we were getting ready for this:

A day early, but it's an anniversary!

But I might not actually get anything posted tomorrow, so I wanted to mention it today.  It's amazing how much can happen/change in a year.  Otter's gone from being a teenage high school student to about to start her sophmore year of college and she's not a teen any more.  'Scuse me while I go catch my breath!

Froggy, you probably know exactly what I mean.

Otter's off with HP and his family this afternoon, there's a local annual event that is kind of a cross between the fair (strange food and fun displays but without the rides) and an art show.  She was excited about the presence of a car from the latest series of Batman movies.  Hopefully, she'll get to see it.  I saw it the other day, I was on my way back to work and it was being put back in the 18-wheeler that it travels in.  My Batman obsession is only topped by my Star Trek obsession, and Otter is very much her mother's daughter on both counts so she was hoping to get to see the car.  If you can call it that, it's a strange looking beastie.  It's not the car from the 60's tv series or the movies from the 80's/90's.  It's also not very big.  If she gets to see it, and remembers to take pictures, I'll probably get them posted here.  Eventually.  This time, she did remember to put sunblock on and she also took it with her to reapply as needed.  Red heads and sun exposure don't make a good combination.  The last time we went to the State Fair, we forgot the sunblock and she was pink-on-the-way-to-red before we realized it.  We wound up buying her a parasol to use to keep the sunshine off of her (very pale) skin.

This is a good example of my day:

I didn't actualy get IN the fridge, but I did stand in front of the open back door while the cool morning breeze was blowing through and then I stood in front of the fan in our bedroom.  I saw a cute joke:  Global warming is really just mother nature having a hot flash!  No, we don't believe in either global warming/climate change or mother nature.  But it was funny.  (I have been known to stand in front of the open freezer on occasion.)

It's been a warm day today!

Otter and I ran a couple of errands this morning, including taking a trunk load to Goodwill to donate.  Of course, we had to shop while we were there.  :)  Otter found a couple of movies on dvd that she wanted.  I didn't find anything, but that was ok with me.  I was too warm to really be in a shopping mood.

Bill saw a listing on Craigslist for a pachinko machine at a garage sale.  It was literally on the other side of Tulsa from us, we live outside of Tulsa.  But it was a nice drive, the traffic on a Friday at 1:15 is not bad.  He got the pachinko, and I got another stuffed armadillo for my accidental collection.  And the seller was a fellow TEXAN, so it was nice to get to talk to another one of us.

Then we came home and had chili.  Always good!

Sunday Lazies

Today's title is inspired by the two dogs that live in our house!  I'm not sure which one is lazier, by the way.  The do occasionally get up, but most of their time has been spent snoozing.  Which is probably a good idea, since we are still having S. TEXAS summer.

Otter and I had a couple of errands to run today.  We were on our way to Michael's when Bill called, because he'd seen an ad for a yard sale today and it had a pachinko machine.  We will take any excuse to go to a yard sale, so we ran right over there.  The pachinko was the only thing we actually bought, but it was still fun to go.

We did eventually make it to Michael's, and Otter found what she was looking for.  Next stop was the book store and she found something there as well.  I didn't, but I wasn't really looking.

I posted a new entry on the cooking blog just now.  It was actually yesterday's dinner, I keep finding recipes that we use but I've never put on the blog.

I spent part of yesterday crocheting, and I finished up Otter's hat that matches the scarf I made her while we were on vacation.  It's made with the same type of yarn that I made a hat/scarf for myself out of, mine was the yarn I found in SA with Froggy.  The yarn is a bigger weight (size) than "standard" yarn, and the hat was a little too big.  The pattern calls for a specific size hook, which is a little larger than the one I prefer.  I made Otter's hat with my normal hook, and it made the hat the right size.  Hook size will affect the size of the stitches.  So I got my hat out and compared it, then I frogged the entire thing and am going to re-make it with the smaller hook.  I'd worn it a couple of times, but it was just loose enough that I was afraid it would come off.  Marble Scarff with James Brett Yarn That's the scarf, I don't thnk I ever took a picture of the hat but it's the standard cap I make:  Basic Crochet Cap.

I didn't spend the entire day crocheting.  I did read a lot as well.  We also watched a movie, The Gaurdians of Ga'Hoole.  It's based on a book that was intended for younger teens and Otter read it a few years back.  It was Bill's turn to pick the movie, and that's the one he wanted.  It was ok, Otter reports that the story in the movie is pretty different from the book but the animation was very good.  My turn next week.  I already know what it's going to be.  Rango is being released to blu-ray/dvd on Friday!

Also, there are two other movies that are being released to the theater that we are going to see.  Both are opening on Friday.  One of them we'll see on Sunday.  We've already got the tickets.  It's expected to be a blockbuster, since it's the final Harry Potter movie.  The 2nd one is one that we'll see the week after, and will take one of Otter's friends:  Winnie the Pooh!  Because you are never, ever too old for Winnie the Pooh!

Sunday Shortcakes

Got strawberries, angel food cake & cool whip in the fridge!  Which will be eaten later today, since we're all kind of stuffed from the chicken wraps we made for lunch.

Yard Sale Season has begun.  We went to one in the neighborhood last week, where we found a smaller desk for me and Otter found some craft stuff.  We went to three today, Otter found a necklace at one but that was all we bought.  We followed signs to another one, but they were apparently yesterday's signs because it wasn't there.  We also hit a thrift store, but that is a regular activity for us (no luck there).  Sunday yard sales are not really common here, for some reason.

While we were out, we also went to the library.  Which is also a regular activity for us!  Otter found a bunch of books, she also turned in the majority of the last haul.

It's been really warm lately.  Yesterday was so pleasant, we had the house open most of the day with a fan in the window.  It was breezy, but we were able to sit out on the deck in the morning and it was really nice.  Today is warmer and still pretty, but it's also WINDY.  Enough that I was nearly blown off my feet by one gust.  It's another one of those days where we keep expecting to see the beagle fly by.  We could get rain tonight, with the chance of more tomorrow.  Hopefully, any rain we do get will be ended by the afternoon.  The beagle has to go get her rear end squished at the vet's and I do not look forward to the idea of loading wet dogs in the car!

Bill cleaned out some junk from the shed while Otter and I were out hitting yard sales.  We have wasps in there.  They get in at one end, by the door, and then they can't find their way out.  They go to the window at the opposite end from the door, since they see the light shining through.  Then they spend their time batting against the window, trying to get out.  We have to go open the door and let them out on a regular basis.  They are not smart, it takes them a while to figure out that all they have to do is go back the way they came in and they'll be fine.  They are not nesting in the shed, we check frequently.  They just aren't too bright!

Otter saw the first honey bee of spring today.  She was cleaning out the dog yard, which is her least favorite chore and I don't blame her.  She said that the honey bee was busily collecting pollen from all the dandelions that have suddenly sprung up.  We also heard the first frog of the year yesterday, so Otter replaced the bricks in the dog's water dish because we don't want drowned frogs!

Bill didn't quite get to the bikes when he was working in the shed.  But I'm thinking that we're going to have to get them out pretty soon.  Someone gave us a bike that they weren't going to use a while back, so I'm thinking that I might start riding it in place of the one I bought a couple of years ago.  My bike isn't quite tall enough for me and it also needs new brakes.  If the other bike is in decent shape, which it looks like it is, I'll probably start riding it instead of buying new brakes for mine.  Depending on how tall it is.  I'm fairly tall, 5' 9".

My allergies are both better and worse today.  The respiratory allergies are better, which is surprising considering the wind and the fact that everything is blooming.  But my skin allergies are starting to kick in today.  I'm itchy!  I don't particularly like having allergies to so much stuff, but Otter's are even worse than mine.  I'm allergic to lots of things, she's allergic to nearly everything!

Sunday Gophers

To be strictly accurate, this should have been Saturday Gophers.  But I didn't blog on Saturday.  It does have gophers, so it's not totally off.

Yesterday morning, I was looking out the dining room window and noticed a small pile of dirt.  Which means gophers.  They dig tunnels underground, then they come up to the surface and deposit all the dirt that they then need out of the way.  Moles dig as well, but they don't usually make dirt piles.

I saw movement, so I kept watching.  And pretty soon, there was more movement.  It was small and furry.  It almost looked like a prarie dog at first, but it was definitely a gopher.  And he was busy, he kept bringing more and more dirt up to the surface.  Every so often, he'd poke his head up and look around.  Then he'd get back to work.

One of the specific things the vet said to keep Maggie away from was dirt and digging.  So I wasn't able to let her out.  After a while, we decided to let Frasier out to play with the gopher.  He runs out the door.  And immediately goes to the opposite side of the yard from the gopher.  That's my Frasier, always dependable.  We didn't see any more gopher pop-ups at that point, so we let Maggie out and she at least went in the general direction.  But she was more interested in tracking it, we think she could hear it underground by the way she was acting.  After a few minutes, I called them back in and went to check it myself.  The gopher had a nice sized hole dug.  But he didn't come back again yesterday.

This morning, there were two dirt piles.  One right next to the other one.

After we got home from church, there were three!

We have another spider.  It might actually be the same one.  We thought that he was dead, but this one is the same size and markings.  We're leaving him there, he's happy.

I just heard Bill yelling at a dog.  I think that it was most likely Maggie Moo.  She keeps getting on the couch or love seat when we aren't in the living room.

We were kind of worried about Beagle Brat yesterday.  One of her stitches came loose.  My crochet scissors are actually nurse's scissors and they are very sharp.  Heavy duty, one side is rounded and the other side is flat (to go under stitches).  I got my trusty nurse's scissors and snipped the part off that was sticking up, I was afraid she'd get it caught on something and then we'd have a big problem on our hands.  The swelling has gone done quite a bit, the incision is still unattractive but it's better.  But last night, she started scratching at it and we didn't catch her until she'd made it start to bleed.  We've been wiping her head off with a damp washcloth, which has seemed to soothe her.  We try not to touch the incision but we had to wipe it off a little bit.  Then it took both Otter and me to keep her from scratching it more.  Eventually, the dog curled up on a blanket in the floor and went to sleep.  And we left her there.  This morning, it still is a little red but it looks much better.  I guess it itches as it heals, like people's stitches and cuts do.

Otter and I went in search of a yard sale today.  It was advertised as a Saturday sale, but they had a pachinko machine.  Since we had a couple of errands to run, we decided to head that way anyway.  Bing maps won't be getting a good review from me any time soon!  (It became what we refer to affectionatly as a Toadles Trip.)  The map put us on a highway that runs through town, and then it had us exit off and head into a neighborhood.  Then it took us in a circle through the neighborhood.  Then it took us right back up to and on the highway we'd just left!  The next step was to go a couple of miles to the correct exit for the street and turn on a couple of streets which was accurate.  But the part in the middle?  And, after all that, the yard sale was not open today.  Which didn't surprise me.

We decided to make lemonade out of lemons.  There is a large bookstore that we love but don't get to go to very often.  It was about a mile away from us at that point.  So that's where we went.  Otter found a couple of books.

We also went to Michael's.  I bought yarn, but this was for a specific project and not the same gauge/size/weight that I already have.  Details later, if it works.

I have done 4 rows on the afghan.  I am going to change colors every four rows.  I was thinking that I'd do three rows and then change, but it looked too narrow at three rows so I put a fourth row on.  Pictures later!

I was out in the back yard while ago, and the dogsters were both out there.  I was filling in a hole that they left on one of their previous gopher hunting expiditions, and I noticed movement and the sound of something running through leaves.  Then Frasier exploded (he was parked on the grass, probably dozing off) and ran to the shed.  And then he ran around it a few times, stopping here and there to look underneath.  Maggier had to get in on the fun, but she was trying to dig to get under the shed herself.  I grabbed her by the collar and put her inside, then it took a few minutes to catch Frasier.  I caught him by the collar and gave him to Otter, she took him inside.  I was afraid that he might have distured a "black & white kitty" and I had zero interest in that type of an encounter.  But it was a regular cat.  As soon as Fraiser was inside, the cat ran out from under the shed and over the fence.  Hopefully, it won't be back.  I didn't see it, but Otter said it was grey.  I think it's the same cat that Frasier spotted when we were walking the other day and zeroed in on.  He got very alert and I had to hustle him up the street at a pretty good clip.

Back to my laundry now!  And Otter needs to clean her bathroom.  Then, I think I'm going to make Bill's Bachelor Stew and rice for dinner.  It's cool but not cold, however it is a perfect day for Bachelor Stew.