End of the day

I took some pictures yesterday evening as I watched the light fade. The days are indeed longer, as the sun begins its journey in a westerly manner. I liked how this last shot came out, with the clouds still quite visible. Day's End. How appropriate. Tomorrow will be 1 min. 45 sec. longer than today. I love the predictability of it all, no matter what else happens, the sun will rise and set.

Peace, folks!

Little Blessings

This happy baby is my youngest great-granddaughter with her equally happy mommy. Even though we are many miles apart and I will probably not have a chance to meet them in person - it does my heart good to see them, and smile back.

Good Sunday, Folks!

I hope you are good sports ...

First off, I must say, I'm sorry. Shortly before I wrote my last post, I was watching the news with DH - well it was on and I was in the living room to talk to him, anyway. I don't like to be political, it's not me, but Mr. Trump was on the news and the talk was about him wanting Mexico to pay for that wall. Sigh ... You guys are pretty good eggs for trying to be helpful with a cranky old lady. My sons were not so sympathetic and a friends even said, "Good luck with that!" Has there been any consideration for walls on the Canadian borders? How about mines or something in our coastal waters? You and I and the fence post know who will pay for said wall. Argh.

The good stuff - It's 5:30 and still light enough to see to walk around outside. The days are really getting longer and the weather averages have begun their slow winter temperature climb. One degree warmer for lows and two degrees warmer for daytime highs.
Promising. We almost have January kicked, but February will hold some surprises I'm sure.

We have a new bird feeder. This one holds a bunch, so DH doesn't have to go out there every day. Visitors for now have been Sparrows, Cardinals, and RW Blackbirds. A few other odd ones from time to time. I don't see that thin cable holding up any better than the other one. I cleaned the window and was promptly rewarded (or punished, you choose) by one of the birds slamming into it.

I finished watching Damages with Glenn Close and Rose Byrne, and a host of names in smaller parts. I really liked it. 5 seasons in 5 days! I should have dragged it out, but I couldn't wait to see what happened next!
 

Have a pleasant day, night or in-between!

Playing with this thought ...

What do you think?

You know I have Jack and Jill and though they are dogs, they are like my children, my family, right? Well, I have a problem and I'd like your opinion. I keep Jack and Jill in what's called a radio fence to keep them safe from the traffic on the road. It does keep them in the yard, but it doesn't have any affect on any of the neighbors' dogs that come into the yard. Occasionally, the neighborhood dogs come into my yard, they use my yard as their own private rest room. They also drag garbage onto the grass and steal some of our property, carrying it off to God knows where. They steal the cat's food and have dragged her little barn across the porch. I have decided I want to build a fence or wall, all around my yard. I don't want these intruders anymore!

So ... My question is this ... I plan to ask my neighbors for the cost of the enclosure, or at least half the cost, after all it's their dogs coming onto my property and causing all the problems. They should be ready and willing to shoulder the burden of protecting my property. Right?

Nothing, Zero, Zilch, Nada

There is nothing to report. I have been watching some of the DVDs my son gave me for Christmas. The last couple of days, it's been Damages, a series about a lawyer and the corruption around her and her firm. It's pretty good, so far, with the exception of all the flash backs done in poorer grade 'film.' 

I hadn't been watching the news at all. I just noticed that Mr. Trump signed the papers for those bleep pipelines. I won't add more thoughts on the subject because I am burning a bit. 

I've noticed that commercials take up 1/4 to 1/3 of the viewing time for programs with the exception of PBS. We're buying too many disposables these days and it seems that everything is disposable. 

Sorry for the nothing post, it's just that time of year, I guess. Have a good day, night, whatever. 

Saturday

Not exactly sure how it got to be Saturday, but here it is. I am surprised , but have not caught a mouse in 1 1/2 days. Could it be that we have them all, or did they go back outside because of the warmer temperatures? It's near 70F again today. Seems most of us are having a January Thaw and better.

I've been caught up in my DVDs. Currently watching Scandal, I only have the first two seasons. I watched the first season of House of Cards and not sure if I want to buy any more. They are both about corruption in the White House. I still have the complete collection of Damages and that one sounds like lawyers and scandals. Am trying to stay off my feet, as my legs and feet are being more problematic, it helps.

It's a gorgeous day today. It has been warmer than normal, but damp, rainy, foggy, and pretty much yucky, until today. It's most likely going to get cold again.  Normal winter pattern in these parts. Warm equals dismal and cold equals bright and sunny. Is nice to see the sun for a change!

DH took Brad out for a drive, it's been too long. His brakes went out, so it's in the shop. (So far only one mouse has been caught in the garage, yay!) He took Charlotte for a spin, too. Wish I could drive, think I might like her. With him working nights, he hasn't got the time or energy to mess with his toys. 

Jack catching rays.

Good-bye Mr. Jingles

So - I ruined a perfectly good 5 gallon bucket making my mouse trap. Sigh ...
DH did the shopping on Saturday and bought some glue traps. We will need more. They work slicker than snot! I'm sure there are a lot of members of the Jingles family waiting in the wings and I believe we need to put them out in the shed and in the garage. 
The insurance on "Brad," the '41 Dodge, doesn't cover rodent infestation or damage. We need to prevent asap!
I didn't notice what brand he had - they are all gone now - but I will need to order a case of them as soon as I know. He's sleeping now, I'll ask when he gets up. I don't know if those traps are all created equally.
It's nice to know that we finally have a solution! Now to figure out how to get rid of the smell. DH says he can't smell them, but he may already be nose blind.

I hope you are not too squeamish.

 

They don't get out much

DH finally had a chance to get Jack and Jill to the vet for their annual check-ups. They were so excited when I put their harnesses on and could hardly contain themselves.

 They practically dragged him out to the car. "We're going for a ride, we're going bye-bye!" DH told me they were not willing to go inside, once they saw their destination.
Jack has lost a little, he's back to his best weight at 20#, Jill is still holding at 35#.

Foggy day, the 'kids' couldn't tell, right away, where they were going.

A Mr. Jingles came by last night. I hope the seeds swelled up and gave the little brat a belly ache! He hadn't touched this in a month, why last night?
 

Mr Jingles

I'm sure you all know about my problem. I made the peanut butter/can/bucket trap. The web shows many pictures of them in varied styles, some look great and some look clunky, but they all kill mice. Not mine. Are they that smart? It's been a few days and nothing. Yesterday, I was on my comp and Mr. Jingles was all over my desk checking out my stuff. Gutsy little guy. I would say not full grown. (They will all be called Mr. Jingles, BTW.)

This morning, I caught Mr. Jingles 1 in my live trap. Sorry it's such a lousy picture. Jill watched it with great interest, but I was afraid to let her have it. DH dispatched it. Well, that's bucket 0, Tacky 1, live trap 1, only about 50 or more to go ...

It's a beautiful evening out. It is the first full moon I've seen for a few months. It's 65F, cloudless, and the wind has finally died down. Perfect!

Have a great day, night, whatever!

 

The future is now.

One of the gifts my son bought me was a virtual View*Master. He's going to have me buying a new cell phone one way or another.

We played with it while he was here with his phone. He neglected to help his dad put the app on his phone though, so it may be a while before I use it again. Yes, I know, I need to get one for myself. It doesn't work with a flip-phone. I really liked the concept and might even enjoy a real virtual reality set up.

He bought me a bag of these too - a Japanese company has a candy factory here in the USA! Real fresh fruit flavors - I was surprised. Is good stuff. Happy to see something else made here in the states! 

First snow 2017

Pretty, isn't it?

Pretty darn cold!

It's like I have a poltergist!

We are still battling the mice. There has been an invasion of the womb. I have named their representative, "Mr. Jingles," although I don't have any plans other than catching that rat! He comes on my desk (which needs a thorough sorting) and slinks through my stuff. Tasting things as he shinnies under the papers, cameras, cords and other odd things I can't throw away, but necessary to keep. He had me up, on and off all night. I haven't slept at all!

 Here you can see him dodging me after looking straight at me! 
DH has gone to work now and I can make noise, so even though I planned to break down some of the packing boxes from Christmas, I am going to clean off my desk. (Someone's suggestion of using Irish Spring soap to ward them off - doesn't faze them. Oh, and peppermint oil? Have to apply every day or every other day and I didn't see any improvement in the population) I have cleaned my live trap and I'll set it right behind my computer with what's left of Jill's fortune cookie he found in the middle of the night. 

 Taken shortly before they left for the airport. I think he's going to miss the dogs as much as they miss him!

Stock picture of the gift from DH. It's a very sturdy planter about 3' long and 1' wide. It went together easily and I'm going to like the shelf underneath to store some of my gardening stuff like Miracle Grow and my moisture tester. I hope to get it up and growing by next week - no promises ... Have a packet of *Tiny Tim* heirloom seeds to stick in it and some basil. It's a great size to fit right in front of the window. I noticed that Amazon has them on sale now, for $31 something. Sure, now that I have mine. Still a bargain, I believe!

I thought this was interesting. Am fairly sure it's light refracting off the beveled glass in the door. It looked all smeary inside. First reaction was, "Oh, bleep, there goes the TV!" Odd that it's the first time ever and the door is open most days it's warm enough. I thought it was pretty - opal looking.
All for now folks, Mr. Jingles is back to bug me again. I have GOT to start killing them off, mushy heart or no, I don't drive anymore and there is no car that I would drive here. Where's a snake when you need one?
Please ignore typos!
 

Not quite a National Lampoon Christmas

Son ordered too many gifts!

He seemed to get carried away. I took the picture when I thought it (the influx) was over. I was wrong. Even after he came home, we got things every day for the next 4 delivery days. Got on first name basis with the UPS driver ... 

He really did spoil us. DH got all kinds of games - Nintendo etc and all the different gear, a huge selection of blue ray movies, and Japanese goodies. I got a dozen books, a dozen DVD movies and 5 complete series in DVD. (Twilight Zone, Fringe etc.) Also a view master and an external 1TB hard drive with more movies. Then too, all kinds of candies and treats. He even got me some cherry cocoa! It was a never ending bunch of gifts!

We had a great time until - 

BL went to visit a friend for a couple days. The Sebring (remember the car we had *fixed* twice and had to put on new tires?) died on the way. He did make it (over a hundred miles away) but then the bleep thing didn't want to run, oil was so low it didn't register. EEE! He added oil and it registered full  and we relaxed a bit. He stayed an extra day. On his way home - he got maybe 20 miles, it was dead on the side of the road. Meanwhile DH was driving toward him. He ended up driving for him. DH was set on just taking everything out and abandoning it on the side of the road. I talked him into seeing if some salvage yard would come for it and pay a little. I was thinking of all the $ we blew on it. They got home when the day was ending. The car was disposed of legally for $200. Time to relax.

The next day, the guys went to pick up my old Buick. After 2 months, it had not been repaired. I'm sure BL was on needles and pins and I was holding my breath. It ran rough, but it's now in the yard. Breathe ... It will not be driven, DH is considering scrapping it. We shall see ...

 The dogs were so happy to see their boy. He spent lots of time cuddling and playing with them. Now, I will have them looking for him every time a car pulls into the yard for a while.

 I made this berry coffee cake for breakfast on New Year's morning. It was berry good! I used ice cream for the cream. Yum!

We had company and played a lot of games. It was a very eventful Christmas and New Year's vacation. I finally crapped out last night and ended up going to bed early with a headache. The guys stayed up for another movie and I didn't hear a thing. Today was hard. Saying good-bye is always hard for me. I will miss BL, more than he could possibly know.

Forsythia - thanks for your address! I will try my best to get that out to you as soon as I can before the week ends. Congratulations, sorry about the email mess. I thought I had that email set up properly. I am not computer savvy.

This is a shortened version of my *Christmas Vacation* I may add parts later on.

Happy New Year, Y'all!

Bobby draws the name

... and the winner is ...

... Forsythia!

Please email me your physical address and I will mail out your book by the weekend. Thanks for participating! Thanks to everyone else, too!

Happy New Year to you all! Son leaves tomorrow afternoon and I will try to *visit* everyone!