Busy in Tennessee!

Not sure how many of you have heard about the fires in TN, or how many are familiar with Dollywood and Gatlinburg. Bad mess over there in East Tennessee! Between the tinder dry and the high winds the area is a disaster area. I sympathize with those who lost family and their homes on Monday.

Then too, we had tornadoes rip through a swath of MS, AL, and TN, last night. It was one wild ride. 5 people were killed. I think there were 23 tornadoes reported. Lots of damage. I was in the watch zone, but I didn't feel the danger I often do - nothing was that close. There are times when I wish I had an underground shelter though.

I hope this bad stuff doesn't deter visitors. Tennessee is a beautiful state and we're tough folk here. Prayers and good vibes are welcomed here at this time. Check the net for areas most desperately in need of your concern.

OMG! It's raining!

I can hardly believe this, but it's raining, a soaking-in type of rain. Of course, we have some windy conditions with it and the dogs are upset about it. I see another good chance of rain coming up again real soon, so maybe the drought is over. (I also see a 30% chance of frozen precipitation one night. I hope not.)

 It really is about time. I wish it was bedtime so I could lie in bed and listen to the rain pitter-pattering on the window as I fall asleep. I imagine if it keeps up too long, I'll be griping about the gloomy days and damp, but we were quite far behind in the rain department and we really needed this.

Over the river and through the streets ...

This was my grandparent's home when I was growing up. It is a bit different now, the new owners have winterized the screen porch and only visitors can see the stained glass windows in the living room and dining rooms. The roof is a different color, I think it may have been brown. The house had the most god-awful paint - it was Flamingo - a popular dirty pink color that was so popular at the time. (1950s and early 1960s)

I came from a large extended family and holidays were spent there with Grandma and Grandpa. The house was packed, the tables filled with good food, every chair or space to sit was filled. 

I think they must have been in their late 50s in my earliest memories. Every time I was there, I took these people for granted. Grandma was always cooking, and catering to everyone. 

When I was a young newlywed, I asked my husband to take me for a visit every now and again. The house was empty, so different from the holidays. They were always happy to see us come. Something was off, though. The holidays weren't the same crowded affairs. I would ask if they had seen this one or that one and they said it had been a long time. They all had their own thing going on. Not even my uncles and aunts had been for a visit. The older relatives had passed on. Grandma would say someone had called. It felt so sad. We had rented a house nearby, so it was no big deal to run over for a visit. 

Kids (yes, I was essentially still a kid) look in the refrigerator. When I checked, it was pretty empty. Seems their income and bills didn't match. One day, we stopped and they were eating oatmeal. Of course, we weren't in much better financial shape. I remember being angry that one of their kids didn't bring food over or help with some of the repairs they needed. My father was disabled, but I had 3 uncles who could have come to help. They didn't. I knew they were able to pitch in. They didn't.

I suppose you are wondering what I'm getting at, huh? It would appear that the times do not change, just the aging people. Don't let the holidays be the only time you reach out to old Aunt Mable or old Uncle Richard. Maybe what goes around will come around for you. Don't let your life get too busy, you'll be old yourself, one day.

This and That

I suppose most of you are busy making pies and doing a little last minute cleaning. The holidays are definitely upon us, aren't they? Gotta face this with the bit in our teeth. Sigh.

First thing - I'm wondering about the stability of my tomato plant, a part of it collapsed. I don't think it's strong enough to support actual fully developed tomatoes. Lost a 'branch' and 4 little babies tomatoes. Sniffle ...

I have been feeling a shade better the last couple of days and decided that I could vacuum some of the dog hair if I did a little at a time. Ahah! The vacuum cleaner barely sucked. Oh, goody, now I know why he didn't finish (a long time ago) the living room. I greatly regretted throwing out the wire hangers and replacing them with plastic a couple years ago. I finally found one sad, bent wire hanger and began trying to straighten it out enough to hopefully clean out the obstruction. It was a fight, I was sweating and gasping. Who knew a simple wire hanger could cause so much trouble? And one of those little plastic bread closure things shaped like a tag with a hole in it had been sucked up and lodged in the flexible part of the hose. It took me forever to hook that thing and clear the blockage. Now I don't have any energy to even think of vacuuming.

While I was playing at repairman, a mouse trap snapped in the stove drawer. Yes, we are still fighting the mouse problem. I still haven't made the 5 gallon bucket mouse trap ... (which requires a straight wire coat hanger, btw) Now my hands are aching and it just isn't happening tonight. Maybe tomorrow or ?

The nights are cooler now that summer has succumbed to winter in a day. My fluffy blanket is just not warm enough. I searched Amazon for one of those cozy Vellux blankets, I picked one out and decided to wait until I checked to see what else I needed to order. Four hours later, I ordered some personal items and went to order the blanket. Gone! So I ordered something different. When they say 'Only two left' I guess they mean it. Argh.

Well, y'all, I am going to put the vacuum away for now, and try to get that mouse in the bucket so I can do some reading before I sleep. Have a nice Thanksgiving and whatever!



 

One shot, multiple subjects

How many can you spot?

Tomato, again, sorry ...

You have to forgive me for harping on my tomato plant. For the last 10 days or so, I feel as if I had the stuffing knocked out of me. There is nothing new really happening - I planned on making a 5 gallon bucket mouse trap, because Ruth said hers worked so well. I got as far as getting the supplies together, and then I went to bed. Sigh ...

I did massacre 'Tom' and I couldn't figure out how much foliage to keep to feed the plant sunshine and the grow light. It is sitting in my bedroom and I didn't want it to look like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

 

From first blossoms to now. (A month) Tomato watching is getting pretty boring. I want them to fill out and get ripe already! I wonder if it's taking so long because I'm watching it or if it just takes this long and I was busy with other things before.

Nothing else to report. I'm glad that I got to see my oldest boy and take a couple pictures, but the whole thing was just too sad. Looking at his picture, I see my dad. He's the only one of my kids with his features, I guess that's kind of nice. None of the grandkids look like him, and there's a bunch of them. I never thought about it before.

Bought new ink to make some Christmas cards and postal labels - new ink cartridge is not being accepted by the bleep printer. I don't understand it, same brand, same everything, but the printer doesn't think so and just sits there acting ugly. It's a HP printer. I messed with it 2 days before throwing up my hands in surrender. Bleep technology! Takes the fun out of my plans ...

Guess I came back from my break too soon. If I don't see you before then, have a nice Thanksgiving!

Hard to believe

One of the bloggers on my list posted that bowling as we know it is a thing of the past. Now, I have never seen the 'bumpers' he spoke of, but I haven't been to the bowling alley for about 10 years.

Read Cranky old man's post here http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/

I used to bowl on two leagues, one was in the morning with the girls. I was given a trophy after my second year - "Most Consistent Bowler" yeah, my scores averaged 111. Try not to laugh too hard, Cranky. On Friday nights I bowled with mixed doubles and I did better then, I would get a Black Russian from the bar and relax. One year, the girls  went to the tournaments and I relaxed and then my handicap helped us win! We played the last game slightly hung over, but then, so were the other teams. Good Times! 

Short visit

My oldest son, Daniel, drove down from MN for Dan's funeral. He came by for a short visit to sort out some family things as long as he was here. It was good to see him - lousy timing though.

I am emotionally exhausted. Later, folks.

Good-Bye

I spent most of the day going through my pictures looking for a certain picture of my son-in-law. I know I saw it recently because I thought how cute he looked in it. This is Dan with two of his kids at a family Christmas gathering, a long time ago. The kids are grown up now, of course, but the picture is all Dan, a real great family man and one hell of a nice guy. 
He passed away yesterday morning in a car accident. Any extra warm thoughts or prayers you have would be welcomed by his family.

Little Shop of Horrors

So, okay, yesterday, I hacked off some of the leaf fronds to ease up on the weight, it wasn't enough. Tom is getting too big. It's listing and I fear for my plant. On one hand, I consider hacking off the top half to let the tomatoes that are present grow up and ripen - On the other hand, I'm greedy and want to see more of those blossoms turn into tomatoes. What to do? You can see some of my Grandma Engineering - pony tail bands turned bungee cords to support to chair and curtain rod. It is not enough. DH suggested cutting a hole in the seat of the chair for the pot and 2x4's attached to the chair seat to trellis the rapidly growing plant. I looked for a cheap set-up on Amazon. I really don't want a broken chair (and it would be) and 2x4's in my bedroom - no matter how bad I want those BLTs!

Shades of 'Little Shop of Horrors'

 I would ask you what you would do in my situation, but I believe you wouldn't even do such a thing in your bedroom. Am I wrong?

Feelings Hurt?

DH brought this home from work, guess it is making the rounds. Occasionally the little boys there get silly and I hear about it.

 I hope you can read it okay. If this offends you ... I'm sorry.