Happy Birthday!

DH picked up a pizza on his way home from work and made a stop for a cake. Son, J., was going to come by after his work.

 Small party, but sufficient. I ate too much, as usual. Mmmm!

Hard to believe my girl, Jill, is nine years old! Her 'gottcha' anniversary is tomorrow. Time goes so fast!

Pizza, for me?

 

Hot August

Well, it's been over a year now and Jill has finally become an "only" dog, rather than a "lonely" dog. It took long enough, for a while I thought she would continue to act like her second half was missing. I've caught her playing 'Monster in the bed' by herself, growling and rolling around in the bedding the way she did with Jack. She pretty much stays by me, but it's more of a "Hi Mom, give me a scritch," rather than, "I'm lonely." She has decided that the closet is her preferred spot during rainy days. I still haven't sorted all the closet. One of these first days ... Sigh. The vet put Jill on diet dog food. I didn't see it happen, but she is slimmer. Of course, she's more active now, too.

So, Jill is slimming down and I seem to be going in the opposite direction. I bought a new dress and it looks more like a tent than a dress. Ugh! It looked pretty on the website - then I get it home and it reeked from the dye, so I gave it a wash and the red fabric shrunk, but the yoke and band on the skirt didn't. I can't seem to win ...

No luck with the tomatoes this year, too wet, too hot. They pretty much burst. We had 4 that were worth anything. Maybe next year ... Even the flowers didn't do as well as expected.

 Sorry, I'm not more chatty.

Wednesday January 10, 2018

 My son helped me with the apps for some games on the tablet. I was hoping to help with my words and cognition. These puzzles are pretty darn hard. I figured I would have to play with the letters - I am out of 'hints'. I'm sure the words are there, but they aren't jumping out and biting me. Ha Ha. Losing words has become a scary proposition and it's getting worse.

 I don't remember why Jill was so mad at me yesterday, but it's the first time she has turned her back on me. (I think)

I believe she is trying to smile at me. Silly girl!

Proof of Life

Jill - January Calendar Girl

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!

Wednesday 101817

I just noticed that Jill is getting gray around her mouth. Probably is a lot more gray, but can't really tell with her coloring. She is 8 now, I was wondering when she would start to 'show' her age.

Wishing I had a better selection of colors. Also a better idea of what colors worked with what, so as you can see, some of my choices were not the best. Once a person starts, you are committed as the cards are not cheap. No tossing them in the garbage and starting over.

Feeling melancholy today. I planned on putting up some old pictures and got caught looking at pictures of Jack ... 

Wordless Wednesday

Jill's Special Day

Today is Jill's 'Gottcha' day. Eight years ago, today, we answered an ad in the paper from an animal shelter for a puppy. A supposedly half chihuahua puppy. It's kind of a family joke about our Taco Bell dog. Okay, the people lied, but I fell in love with her there and told DH I wanted the pretty one and Jill came home with us that day.

That first day, Aug. 15, 2009

Taken yesterday, Aug. 14, 2017

She's as sweet as she looks. Oh, sure, her puppyhood was a real challenge, but that's just a distant memory. and she's making up for it now, in sweetness.

Wordless Wednesday

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.

Everybody has snow ...

Except us! This is an old photo from January 2011. I thought I'd post this for all the folks who are under the delusion that it is always warm and sunny in Tennessee. Heck, we are almost in Alabama! Jill was only a couple of years old and she loved the snow and playing in it with Daddy.

 We may not have snow now, but it's down right chilly!

Cheap garbage!

Remember DH bought a big enough bird feeder to last longer than a day? Well, you would think the manufacturers could make the cable strong enough to hold that much food. He paid enough for the large size, but seems it was just a large price paid for a faulty product. It landed in the grass during the winds from the front coming in. This morning the birds found it and had a free for all. 

The cow birds have joined in the feeding frenzy. They really went nuts for quite a while, at least as long as the seeds lasted.

See the reddish haze through that tree? I won't bore you with a bunch of them, but the haze is growing in the woods. The neighbor's daffodils are blooming and so are the pear trees in their yard. Looks like spring is starting. Will probably freeze tomorrow  night or the next night. It's going to get cold again.

I have been busy (Hah!) watching Fringe and am nearing the end. I am so hooked into it. Jill keeps giving me this look ... I must not waste so much time with my face in the tube. I'll have to quit - after I see the completion. Haha.

Have a great weekend, Folks!

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!

 

Fear ... Conquered!

Jill's new fave spot.

Jack is is really getting gray.

Jack - 1 yr old

Monday ... Wait a minute, it's Tuesday already!

Whilst walking the yard this morning to check on the pecan and clean out my little car, I decided to take some pictures.

 I honestly thought we had finally killed them. The Honeysuckle are back.

 I swear to you, I have been working at trying to kill these, honest!

 They are everywhere around the porch, I hate to resort to poison ...

 Thanks, Bubba! So much for patching up our tree! Lousy crumb!

Any idea what ate theleaves and left this mess hanging on the tree? See pecans? Bet the crows get them first!

Wild Persimmons

 Wild Persimmons, these are on a small tree. There are 3 persimmon trees on our property and another on the other side of the fence. Nearly impossible to get at, they are in the 3-4' strip of property between the horses fence and the idiotic barb wire fence the regular grapes are on. There are also blackberry canes and some kind of spiked Devil's Club trees in the mix. I think we need to rent one of those 'DR trimmers' to even get close! There is no walking in there.

 Tacky and Jill were curious as to why I was out there so long.

Jill late not forgotten

It's a good thing Jill is a dog, or she might have felt slighted. Her gottchversary was on Monday. There is no explaining it to her. She's 7 now, who would have thought she would live that long after all the shenanigans she pulled as a pup? Now, for the most part, she sleeps or watches out the window. She's a pretty good watch dog - when she is not dead to the world. Anyone coming to the house who doesn't know her, would think she's larger than she is by her barking and howling,  and I seriously haven't a clue how she would react to an intruder. 

 She loves her 'Daddy' and will give him a hug, but she is definitely my girl. I don't know where the time went. She is one of my weak spots.