Back to the grind.

"The Black Widow" is over. It was much condensed and I changed the end to make for a good feeling at the end. All too often, I wanted to be a tad macabre with my stories and usually ended up making them nicer ...

 Having a little trouble with Simon. He has decided to be "King of the Castle" and will not allow Tacky on the porch to get her food. As you can see, he has made himself a crow's nest out of the rail planter to watch her better. I didn't see her for a couple of days and I was pretty worried about her and ready to wring his little neck if he had really hurt her. Sigh, I guess I will have to try to re-home him if they can't get along. Found Tacky in the part of the garage where we keep the lawnmower, so she is okay for now. (Whew!)

 A happy picture of Jill. Looks like it's time to take her for a tooth cleaning. That smile won't last when she finds out.

 All Souls Day tomorrow today. I just finished coloring this, I like it. 

On other fronts, DH had appointment with the cardiologist, the girl at the desk called and confirmed the time and date, I had the phone on for him to hear it too. I wrote it down and DH put the info in his phone at the time. So, the day came, he drove like a crazy person to get there in time. I guess butter wouldn't melt in that jane's mouth when she told him as he skidded into the office, "Doctor doesn't see anyone on a Tuesday, your appointment was yesterday." She wanted to reschedule, he told her to call if there was a problem. This was the third time they had a mix-up with the time. A nurse called later and said he was fine.

I had quite a few ripe tomatoes, so I tried my hand at roasting them. The smell here in the house was almost overwhelming. Mmm, that roasting garlic!

We finally had a hard frost. The fig tree leaves are all curled and getting crunchy. Summer is officially over. Sigh ...

Y'all take care now!

Letter from Home

Hi Peoples!

  It just dawned on me that we haven't turned the central unit on for the fall yet. Oh, we had a chilly spell of a couple days where I turned it on to warm me up a while back, but we haven't set the unit to come on automatically. We usually do that around the 7th of October. I'm hoping for a good fall this year, of no freakishly early snow or cold weather. The year (long ago) I made my son a dinosaur costume for Halloween, we had sleet and snow for our little trek to go Trick or Treating. We had a real bear of a winter that year. Of course, even further back, it was 81 on Halloween, and that winter it was pleasantly warm. I am hoping for another one of those decent winters. 

   DH went in for a stress test on Thursday. We don't know the results, but he made it through to the end without having to stop. I hope that is a good sign. He did say that he wanted to quit and the technician talked him through it. He had his echogram about a week before. He's been having some spells with shortness of breath and weakness. No chest pains ... Naturally, he's worried, but I think if he has a big reason, they would have called him for a quick return  to the doctor's office. His sister called him last night and told him she has a blockage and they are going to put in a stint/stent/shunt. So he's now convinced he is doomed ... We went through the same thing when his second sister was found to have cancer. He's of that age, I guess. Anything is possible. He finally realizes he is not immortal.

Looking at the hits for my blog. Getting a whole lot of visitors from Russia. Really? I wish somebody would say, "Hello."

He's back from shopping, so I will close. He brought me breakfast! I'm going to have eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy! Well, looks like Jill will be getting some eggs! Ha Ha.

Have a most lovely day, evening, whatever! 

P. S. Breakfast was not so good. I ate one bite of eggs. Biscuit was small and over baked. The sausage gravy tasted like the had an accident with the salt shaker and the sausage patty was tough. He bought the breakfasts at Krystal, as Hardies had closed down.  Jill did love the greasy eggs ...

Fall?

The 'Feels like' is 95. (Actual is 85) The air is thick with pollen and humidity. I am not going to go outside to enjoy my deck today. DH has gone for some chest x-rays and one of those double layered pizzas. 

I have been busy watching TV, erm, broadcast and videos. PBS is doing that thing on Vietnam. Son sent me this:

 I had never heard of it, but found it enjoyable. DH said it had been on the television. I had no clue. I began re-watching my Poldark videos to refresh my memory before season 3 begins in a little over a week.

I've been practicing my coloring. It does need a certain touch. Found out the pages in those color books are like flat wicks. I started a page to see what colors went with what colors, I have in the marker pens. No idea how long the markers will last with it being sucked into the paper so fast.

This is the back of my page. The front is a little better. Haha. I've tried some of the gel pens. Some are impressive and some of them simply don't work. Guess I shouldn't expect too much for what I paid for them - Think it was $11 something for 100 of them. Did part of one design with the gel and the level in the tube went down half an inch. I will have to plan carefully on anything big. I do take my time, still make mistakes, but it's not like I'm doing it to make a living. It is relaxing and time does seem to fly.

I haven't been able to take a picture yet, but it looks like Tacky's friend plans on sticking around. He's black like she is, but not as fluffy. Just glancing, it's easy to mix up who is who. I've named it Simon not knowing if it's a boy or girl, can always add an 'e' later if need be. He let DH pet him yesterday, so he is cautiously friendly. Not that we need another animal to feed, I don't mind one bit.

Well, DH is back and the pizza is smelling ready! Y'all have a great weekend and I'll see you next week! Take care!  

Extra - Added at 11:00 in the evening: 

Foggy Morning

 The top picture is across the road, the meadow. I can see why my nose has been so drippy and why I sneeze so hard. Goldenrod! Well, too blah to take pictures, so I gave Tacky some loving as long as I was out there . I hung around, waiting for sunrise.

I think this is it. The fog has lifted some. I imagine DH hated the drive in to work this morning. I don't know if you can see 3 spiderwebs in the tree in the foreground, but you better believe I am going to stay clear of it.

We had a nice surprise yesterday. J came for a visit with his wife. She made us a delicious peach cobbler, fresh out of the oven. It was scrumptious with vanilla ice cream on top. Mmm-mm!

We need to get a gate on the ramp to the deck. One of the neighbor's dogs has already decided to mark the deck. He/she pooped on it! I know it wasn't the big white dog, not that he wouldn't do that, he did the patio big time, last year. Thank heaven DH had it sealed already.

Y'all have a great day, night, whatever. I'm going to bed soon, no sleep last night. I watched the first part of the PBS Vietnam story, and well, one thought led to another and DH was getting up. 

Friday Mix

DH went to the doc for labs today and hopefully get his BP taken. I think his pills are too strong. He could hardly drag himself into the house yesterday. His BP was 98/68! He came home after 8 hours, but was ready to come home at noon. I believe it's the new pills. I remember when the docs were trying to get me regulated, years ago, it was, "Let's try this one," and , "Let's try THIS one." I was in hell for several months. (I need to do that again, but I'm a tad apprehensive.)

 I took this shot a couple days ago. Tacky wouldn't hold still, of course, but I wanted to show how DH's tomato was growing behind her. It's planted in the ground about 3' below the level of the porch. It sort of climbed the wall and through the railing. It still has blossoms and several tomatoes. That plant didn't get staked and it has spread in several directions. I bet we have gotten over a peck of tomatoes off just that one plant already.

 Sorry this is fuzzy. From my chair, I couldn't tell what it was, so used the camera (through the dirty window) to identify it and took some shots. I don't recall ever seeing that woodpecker looking for bugs in the grass before, but I suppose there are bugs for them out there as well. I don't see them very often here.

I sort of wish I could "see" the eclipse. I suppose I could hitch a ride with someone to Nashville. Kind of silly though. I can watch it on the computer, just as well. I guess Nashville will have have about 1:28 minutes of total eclipse. Hardly worth the trip for me. It will be close enough here. I guess a lot of folks are going to make the drive to get closer. Hate to think of the traffic jam of those last minute watchers. Ha ha.

Y'all have great weekend!

Cleaning up ...

This post is probably going all over the place. Sorry.

Cleaning up after the mice - again! Dishwasher installer sort of left a hole for the nasty things under the sink when he added another hose. Why? We have no clue, maybe his hose was shorter than the original and he had to jury rig it in. All I know is that the hole under the sink is like the doors to the grand ballroom of mousedom. They made tracks to get in and start families again - under the sink, in the buckets, under the stove, and in my lower cabinets. I won't be able to walk tomorrow from crawling around on the floor. I vacuumed up a sh--load of mouse turds and insulation, literally filling the vacuum cleaner! 

So ... The dogs have fleas. DH gave Jill a bath today. Jack got his last night. He brought the vacuum in here to clean out Jill's corner after he sprayed her bed for fleas with Bengal. (Best I know of)  Well, bless his heart, he didn't think to empty the bag and bleep near killed me with the stench! I screamed and got him out of here. Shortly after that, I heard the vacuum in the living room and immediately smelled the stench again. 

DH was vacuuming the double recliner. I admit, I am a bit short fused when it comes to not paying attention ... I flew (as well as I could) in there and shut it off. Then I grabbed a new bag for the vacuum. He was all, "Wha ..." I opened the bag door, and thick wads of mouse stinking insulation 'fluff' began pouring out. I showed him how full it had gotten. He's like, "It was still sucking," and I just blew as I tried to pick up the mess oozing out of the hose. Then, yes, then, he blew the hose clear in my face! I simply must learn to have more patience ... 

One of the local cousins is coming tomorrow to fix one of the outside faucets. DH can't get to it now with his knee problem. We need to run a hose to his little veggie garden and my blueberries. Carrying water is not an easy thing. My fingers are crossed - I would love to have all new plumbing put in under there, it needs it.

The whole day was exhausting. I must say that DH is not the village idiot. He is bored and was on a roll, thinking he was helping. I seriously am worried about how long I will last when he takes his retirement. I don't know how some of you retirees do it. He should be able to back to work the second week of July, sigh ...

Blackberry Winter

I'm sitting here in my heavy robe. I'm cold. The blackberries are blooming, I knew this would be here. It's the second day of a real cool down, commonly known in these parts as Blackberry Winter. In the spring, after it warms up, we still have a few cool spells before the wretched heat and they are called winters. It will warm back up in a couple days. I'm in no hurry, it's still better than the real thing. Ruth picked the best time to visit - before it got chilly.

I used my pressure cooker yesterday. Made the loveliest pot of ham and beans. They weren't quite done, so I had to do them an additional 5 minutes, but I will learn. (Hopefully)

Son J hooked up the new wifi printer on Friday. I haven't figured that out yet. The buttons are in an awkward spot on the top and my eyes just can't see them, with or without glasses.

Watching Doc Martin, love it and the characters! Not much else going on here besides the normal things. A rather large storm went through yesterday, the tornadoes  went through the same spot they usually do (E. of Waynesboro toward Lawrenceburg) I wonder what causes that. Had a wren check out the window birdhouse, guess she didn't like it. Sigh ...

Plants -  I have a question about my lavender. Does anyone know what is going on here? What are these teeny, tiny white bugs/spiders/mites? I have tried picking them off, but they just show up elsewhere. Any suggestions? The plant is not doing very well.

 My chocolate mint is growing marvelously - maybe. I heard that mint was invasive and I will have to agree. It is sending out runners like crazy. Do the runners eventually grow roots along the run so a person could make more plants? If not, I am going to nip them in the bud (runner) or they would take over the planter. If some take root, I'll let them and plant them outside where the ants are.
    A couple of the tiny tomatoes were transplanted and still are very tiny, though they are getting to look more like tomato plants.

Birds - No occupants for my window bird house. It had started out looking so promising. I had two looks and then nothing. Ruth hasn't had any better luck with hers.
    I have ordered a window mounted hummingbird feeder. I was quite surprised on Friday, when a hummer came to the window, looking in! I do want to try it and hope I can figure out a way to keep the various wasps from bugging it. Normally the hummers don't come until around the third week in April, but like the dogwood blossoms, they are coming sooner and sooner. Nobody can convince me that global warming isn't happening!
    The cowbirds are out in full force, gobbling up the seed in the feeder like nobody's business. I shouldn't feel such dislike for them, the dirty rotten scum birds. Such parasites!

Anyone have one of those little electric pressure cookers? I have seen their commercials on TV and I think to myself about how many meals we had the next day because somebody forgot to thaw out the meat or we started too late and ended up eating sandwiches. So, I ordered one from the web site. I figured they would want me to buy this or that for it and didn't want to be hit with that over the phone. I was right! They say free extras but you are slammed with high shipping/handling. I just ordered the cooker and did end up paying for the liner - although I thought the liner should have been part of the package to begin with. The shipping/handling for the cooker must be where they make the money ... I hope it truly is as useful as they say. I know I enjoyed my Swivel Sweeper and considered it a bargain!

I didn't mean to write a book. Have a most lovely day and a wonderful week ahead! 
 

Sleepless in the country

Sleepless night. It began by getting hung up in one of my movies. I finally pulled the covers up around 1:00 a.m. Just as I started drifting off, Jill started  having a dream. The thing with Jill is that she sleeps on her side facing the wall, and then the dreams begin with paws flapping and nails clacking on the wall. In the quiet, it sounds like she's tap dancing with an occasional growl, woof, or moan. Unless I am dead asleep, there is no sleeping through this. I don't know if DH heard her or what, but he was up watching TV by 3:00.  I don't understand how I can sleep in broad daylight, but that TV lit down the hall seems so irritating ... So, anyway, I caught maybe 12 winks in the whole night. For a change, Jack didn't kick me at all - all night.

This is just a mention, one of those little known weird Sharon facts - When Jack isn't coming (or going) and he's not listening (being a brat), I can call him with my 'Mommy means it' voice - and I count, "One ... Two ..." I'm sure he doesn't really know how to count, but he knows I mean business and (ha ha) it sounds good. He comes (or goes) running and that looks like I have the smartest, most obedient dog. (And me a bit of a b*tch) I've never had to go to Three. I have no idea how either of us would react to that.

Just after DH went to work, I saw an ambulance parked here on the corner, lights flashing. I see a lot of odd people park on the corner, in the night. It's as busy as a late night city corner. This wasn't the usual late night pick-up, or drug deal. I'll never know. I am curious about it and hope if they were working on some middle of the trip life saving procedure that it worked.

Well, now that I've bored you to tears ... my work is done. Hahahaha, just kidding! Have a great day, night, whatever.

It's over now

Victoria and Mercy Street are done for now. :(  I feel a little like when all the company leaves and there's an empty space where they had been. Sigh ... Now what? I guess they have a new show coming this fall about Vietnam, but that's not until the fall. They say we will get some more Doc Martin - next month, maybe. I don't see it on the schedule yet.

DH has tomorrow night off, it's the only night off for the week. It's just enough to really mess him up. Today, he actually got a full 6 1/2 hours sleep, which is the max he can get right now. I believe next weekend will be the clock change. That messes us up enough without this night shift. When I mentioned it to him, he swore. I think he could be hoping to see a lay-off slip. 

The peach trees are blooming. They aren't as pretty as usual, maybe that hard frost got to them. The flowering crab has a few blossoms. I don't know if it was affected or it's just starting. We'll see. The woods are looking more and more hazy every day. I would say, spring is on its way, ready or not. Brad still hasn't been parked in the garage and has that odd green powder on it. Noses are running, eyes itching - time to buy some Zyrtec.

The lavender leaves are kind of curling and looking dried. I think the dirt booster is a little too much for it. Mumble, mumble ... I may end up having to discard it and put in regular potting soil. Good thing it's right next to the window, I can just bail it out without having to carry it out in a bucket, if I have to change it.

All for tonight, I'm heading for bed as soon as I potty the dogs, feed the cat, and lock the doors. G'night all.

 

 

Letter from home - December 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

Where to start? I guess I better just jump in. It's the first of December already. How odd, even with a chill in the air, the days are flying by! Winter is definitely here, judging by the forecast for my area. It's time to check the light bulbs under the house - we don't need any frozen pipes.

 I received my new blanket and it isn't as warm as I expected. Sigh. I'll need additional something by the end of next week. I guess I should have bought a sleeping bag.

DH has been going to the doctors. Multiple. He's had this painful thing going on in his chest and back. It was suggested that he had pleurisy although nothing showed on his x-rays. Separated ribs was the next idea. No treatment. Went to chiropractor, twice, came home more miserable. Next trip, they did a CT scan, which showed a kidney stone and spots on his kidney and a couple spots on his lungs that they figured were nothing to worry about. Then he had an ultrasound on his kidneys - he is supposed to go in in six months to be checked again. He still hurt. By now, he had been having this horrible pain for almost 3 weeks. I noticed some spots like bites on his side, chest and back. It didn't really look like the rash I had when I had the shingles, but I mentioned it to him. Back to the doctor's office. SHINGLES! He got some pills supposedly for shingles. 3 days later, (yesterday) he went to a different doctor in a different town. Yep, shingles! He now has some ointment and pain pills. He is some better today. Seems some people don't break out as bad as others and the pain is more inside than out. Doctors! I just don't trust them.

I tried doing a little Christmas shopping online. I thought I found the perfect gift for my SILs at Teleflora and when I was filling out the information, the site had me check the dates - seems as I was ordering - they ran out! I can kinda tell that shopping isn't going to be a picnic. Good thing I started early. Now, to think up something else.

Either my puny tomatoes are ripening or rottening.

 I was surprised when I looked at the 'trimmings' from a couple of weeks ago. I had stuck them into a bottle of water with idiotic thoughts of sticking them into another pot of dirt. 

 Yes, there are five tiny tomatoes growing, I was sure the blossoms would be shocked from the cutting and fall off. Tough tomato plants!

As some of you know, my printer gave me grief over the new ink and refuses to print with it. My little dream of actually making and sending out a few Christmas cards, went down the drain. I have yet to get a different printer. DH bought me a few cards to send out and I sat on the bed making them out while watching the newest DVD of Poldark. 

Yes, the last Poldark for the season was broadcast. No more Call the Midwife for now. Jewel in the Crown finished, as well as Indian Summers and The Durrels of Corfu. Sigh ... I checked December programming - it isn't my kind of stuff. January looks promising.

I am getting excited about Christmas - because our youngest son will be flying in for the holidays! I hope I don't go overboard and get sick. I normally don't 'Do' Christmas, but with him coming and how bad I've missed him, well, I just can't help myself! I may even do up my little trees. I have no idea what to get him, or his dad for that matter, so I search the internet in hopes I can spot the perfect gifts.

All for now, sorry this is so long. Have a great 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!



 

Show and Tell

Not sure if this was mockingbird nest or not. Close to front steps.

Time to bring at least one of the impatiens in!

Tacky likes to keep me company when I'm on the porch.

Remember when something broke my little tomato plant off? Well, at the time, there was one little one just coming through the dirt. Here are pictures of that pip now. I noticed that some of the leaves looked as if a mold or disease had it. I couldn't see anything. Today, as I sat outside with Tacky, I looked the plant over and saw a very small tomato worm! It was about 3/8" long and busy eating on one of the leaves. Ah-hah! I searched the plant over and found more, each smaller than the next. The pic shows the smallest - 3/16th of an inch and going like a house afire! I'll have to look and keep watching. I picked off about ten of those nasty things, funny, they don't seem half as icky when they are so tiny. LOL! In the final pic, you can see that it is getting blossom buds! I figure the plant must be about a month old. If the other plants would have made it, I may have had tomatoes before frost using the ripe tomato slice method. I have to say that this was the most successful experiment of the summer!

I hope you are having a bright start to your week!

This and That

It's been a week, probably not by your standards, but busy, tiring, and eventful for me. September is half gone though summer lingers on and on, a little warmer than I would like. I'm ready to sit on my front porch and watch the world go by. 

That guy never did show up to treat our tree. DH hasn't had time to take care of it. People don't seem to really care about what they do anymore. To my face he was almost apologetic, though he didn't seem all that concerned. I suppose he thinks as long as it's out in the country, it doesn't matter all that much. I don't know.

I never got around to making anything with the grapes I picked. Sigh ... there is still plenty of time, but I really have lost my enthusiasm. The steel post on one end of that huge vine was bent from the weight of it. DH must have tried to straighten it - and it snapped. Now, that end of the vine is on the ground and DH has seemed to have lost his enthusiasm as well. Some days it feels like the place is falling down around our ears. I suppose I feel like that because I can't take care of everything as I used to.

The day the car was towed away, I didn't think anything of it until after supper - the driver was supposed to have given me a receipt! All sorts of things went on in my brain like, "Was he really from APT? Did he just take the car, key, and title and leave?" No one would know the difference, I had signed the title and the rest was blank! There are times when I wish that I didn't have such an imagination! It keeps me up many a night. I did call in the morning and the woman emailed me a receipt. Then I called my insurance company and took it off our policy.

What I really want to know: How do you save TV programming? I know that the recorder isn't working properly and I would like to save some things to watch a second or third time. What do you suggest I buy? I was searching how to record from my TV to my laptop and thought I had it figured out. I guess you can do it with Win7 Media Center - only, I don't allow updates anymore because of Win10 - which I am told does not have the Media Center anymore. Oh, for the days of the VHS tapes! 

I am very tired today. Jack and Jill had me up late - again! There I was, holding a squirming Jack, trying to trim whatever nail was clacking on the floor. I'm ready for a little rain one night, so they stay put! I know that sounds mean, but jeesh!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap Up

All of a sudden, it's Monday again. Time does slip away when you're not looking. I can honestly say that I used a lot of that time if not wisely, but well. I think. We'll see. I'm tired.

This is a Mommy, I would say.

 I saw somewhere that someone planted tomato slices and it made tomato plants. I had a tomato that was somewhat over ripe and I just had to see if I could do that. Yes, I know it's pretty late to consider, but I thought if it did work, I could bring the pot inside at night after the frost starts. You know?

Of all the flowerpots I painted during my painting passion, we could only find 2 to pot the impatiens. They were getting kind of unhappy, maybe they will survive. The other will go into the little rail thing DH bought, as soon as I can get to it. 

 I began my first batch of blueberry wine? There are many different recipes for blueberry wine with various ways of treating the blueberries to start the must. There were also differences of opinion as to how much sugar it would need and if it needed yeast or not. I read, pondered, and read some more. I am not exactly a expert. I opted to go in the back yard and picked some concord grapes (about a cup) to add for the yeast that is on the grapes naturally. They say it's not on the blueberries. Sigh. Well, all it cost me was the sugar, so it it doesn't make wine ... One can only hope.

I hope the coming week is a good one for you! Tomorrow, I plan on really taking it easy - unless I decide to make that lemon pie from scratch, I've been thinking about it. Not so much making it, but eating it. Ha Ha!

Mixed Bag

Last week, I sent this pic to my son, asking if he could come and pick - the ones on the bush to the right ... Saturday, he came and I was surprised at the small size of the berries in the bucket. He didn't seem too enthused about them. I asked if he had gotten the berries from the last bush on the right. No, he just picked what was closest to the house ... Sigh.

Even at a distance a person can tell where the good ones are.

 We had a cooler morning on Monday, I went out and picked half a bucket for the freezer. The rollator is a dandy, goes over the lumps and holes in the yard like it is on pavement! It guess it pays to get a good one. DH has his uncle coming in the morning to pick more, as the bushes on the left are now ripening like crazy.

DH said that Uncle Jimmy is going to marry someone in a few days. I did a double take, wondering what happened to his aunt. It seems that his uncle is officiating, lol! He knew he would get me with his statement! Jimmy is an old duffer like me ...

 DH was planning on taking the red car out, but it was out of gas. He needs to have the gas tank taken off and have a new whatsy put in, so he knows how much gas he has. I've named the car Scarlet Charlotte. Seems as good a name as any.

Losing more words, it's so irritating! It's even worse when I'm excited. I must sound like a babbling idiot on the phone. At least when I write, I have some time to think of the lost word. Ruth, bless her heart, has the patience of a saint when it comes to our 2 - 3 hour conversations at night.

 Matt, one of my original o2 handlers, brought my tank out today. I asked him honestly, how long it was going to take ... He said I would probably be here next year. He sees many like me all the time, he would know, but seriously I hope he is wrong. Matt had all of his teeth pulled and his mouth looks so sore. He's waiting for his gums to heal before he gets his teeth. I hope that all goes well for him. My new teeth were such a disappointment.

Youngest son bought me the first season of a show I never heard of. It's called Dollhouse. I still haven't finished Firefly yet. It is nice to have something come in the mail besides bills and pills though, not knocking it. Ha Ha.

That's it for now, it's still basically calm around here, but working its way up to being busy. Have a good day on the morrow!

This and That

Back to the drawing board - At least everything is sorted. I have decided that the book would be too floppy with the larger pages and multiple pic on each page. I will have to make it smaller and pay the $ for more pages. 

You know, it could be interesting if your computer spit out a 'ticket' every day as to how many hours were spent on various venues and how many on actual work.

The wind was so strong yesterday, one of the trees across the road lost about a quarter of its height.

My son J gave me a 'Make-over' the other day - for those who didn't see it on Fb - here it is. I'll have to get hold of his program and swap out some of their baby faces with them now.

He looks just like me, LOL!

 We have a squirrel again. He opened up the top of the feeder to help himself. Smart little fellow!

I was so tired yesterday (sans nap) that I fell asleep around 9:00. I woke up at 4:00, the stars were shining brightly. Went back to bed and slept until 7:00. Maybe I won't need a nap today.

Have a good one!

Monday Babbling

The goldfinch are back. I checked last year's pictures and it was about time. Not going to make myself nuts, trying to get perfect shots. There were a bunch of them in the bones of the old fig and I decided they were pretty and you would believe me - I didn't have to have proof, one's good.

Monday, garbage day, DH had a bunch to gather today. I wish I had the energy to clean like a Tasmanian Devil in my womb - the spirit is willing, but ...The fountain is going, hopefully. I guess a really heavy squirrel or something made it fall over and it broke.

I was reading some post for writer's on Facebook - we (writers) need to make our face known. Yeah, my face is wrinkled, my brows are bushy, my neck ...Well, you get the idea. I've liked using the moon - it's almost a trademark for me. My face? I don't want to give anyone nightmares or turn them off. The picture of me on my books is 2 1/2 years old, it's awful, and now I look a lot worse. (I'm good for Halloween) Need I really subject people to what I look like now? Or should I do an Ann Landers  and show a photo of me 30 years ago? (Isn't she dead?)

Old Photo, Blech!

I'm reading another one of my old books. I barely remember it, although it's only 1 1/2 years old. I am surprised that it looks professionally written. Hmm, maybe I'm not as lousy as I thought. I'm going to change the few little problems and resubmit it to the book patch. (problems such as - ma'am instead of Ma'am, and getting rid of ; in the middle of dialog, I didn't know you weren't supposed to use them - at the time - I guess some things that I learn, do stick to me.) 

We are in for another beautiful day. Yesterday was fantastic. DH took his motorcycle for a ride - it doesn't get out much - first time this year. Well, anyway, it will be another good day to open the windows and add pollen to the dust in the air. ;-)

I went shopping (online) yesterday. DH bought himself a nice bed in a bag when he went shopping. He offered to go pick one out for me. I told him thanks but no thanks. So - I sat looking in the various sites and maybe I found one. Read the particulars and it only came in a twin size. I knew I should have bought the one on Craig's List when I bought the bed! DH discouraged me. I've looked at comforters, spreads, quilts and even blankets. You may think me overly picky, BUT I know it will be the last I buy for the bed and I want to really like it. I have been stuck with the one I've got for nearly 20 years, so I know. Yeah, I know that I could buy a new one every year, but that's not the nature of the beast.

All for now, I need to get this posted and get dressed for the day! ;-)

Have a great day/night/whatever!

All's Quiet

The week ahead looks fairly promising.

(I will take this with a grain of salt.)

DH is still working the night shift, I have my own version of "The Walking Dead" going on here. I am so tired of being quiet and keeping the dogs quiet all day so he can sleep. About 3 more weeks of this left. Ugh! Sleep is getting messed up for everyone.

The foliage for my "Naked Ladies" has come up about 6" so far! My first sign of spring has arrived! Yeah! It won't be long and we'll have blossoms coming up all over.

It hasn't been an eventful week - Thank Goodness! Have a good weekend!