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 ...

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. 

Curious?

Thought I would post a picture of what the kit looks like for 23andMe. Our kits came today. We'll do them in the morning before we eat or drink or brush ...

 I hope it's clear enough for you to read it. Says it takes 2-5 minutes to get enough spit. Sounds like fun, will have to look at a cookbook or something. Ha Ha!

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 ...

"Listen my children and you shall hear ..."

How many of you had to memorize the midnight ride of Paul Revere? Well, it's the 18th of April and very year it comes to me like a ghost of the past. How can I remember this when what I did with my shoes eludes me? I would nearly book bet that your dad or grandfather could (and would) quote some poem they remembered from their school days, but wondered where they had left their reading glasses. I only remember certain parts of what he used to spout on occasion. "You're a better man than I [am], Gunga Din!" and various other numerous poems and prose. He knew them from beginning to end. [You know I have to be grinning at the memory - Dad sitting in his favorite living room chair, his white shirt sleeves rolled half way up, his dress slacks dotted with paint smears, and his feet bare - he's reciting something with gusto. My dad should have been an actor, not an artist!] I only have a few pictures of my dad. My ex said my family pictures were ruined, but some of the 'ruined' pictures are still around. He took them for spite. Jerk. I do have many memories and I can still see him in my mind's eye. Too bad that I can't print them to share with my other kids.

My electric pressure cooker comes today. I'm kind of excited. I hope it works good! I want to make Red Mike and Violets! [Corned beef and cabbage] I'm anxious to take a gander at the cookbook that comes with it.

I finished that collection of The Twilight Zone and have ordered the Doc Martin series to watch before bed. It's due in today, too. I had been streaming Lark Rise to Candleford, an episode each day. Guess that's where my GBs went. Maybe, I don't know how that streaming thing works. I saw 8 episodes before it didn't really want to work. Yesterday, I watched an episode and it was fine, no jerking or stopping or circling. 

I seem to have diarrhea of the keys this morning. Have a good, day, night, whatever.

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.

Must be that time of the month

Sometimes having a blog can be hard on the brain. Is it just me? So many blogs are asking us questions, questions that require a lot of thinking, a lot of time, if you are as slow as I am to think of the answers. I have a question for you, hopefully it's a simple one.

How much time do you have to spend reading, commenting, writing, and responding to comments?

I, myself, have no set amount of time that I reserve for blogging, but I like to be able to read and comment to every one, even if it is just a simple :-) I like to read the other comments too. I figure I take 5-15 minutes on each visit, depending. I average about 5 or 6 blogs in an hour. I spend approximately 30 minutes writing my blog and a few minutes responding to each comment. It's nobody's fault that I'm slow, I'm not saying that.

I'm not sure what it is that I am saying, maybe sometimes when someone asks questions that are of a personal nature, I feel like I am in a survey for an up and coming book. Sigh ... I won't ask you how you feel about that ...

My planter garden is not doing so well. The lavender that I put in the other day isn't happy. I thought it would perk up by today. I'll give it more time, no other choice. The tomato seeds are not sprouting at all. I lost the Tiny Tim seeds, but had some cherry tomato seeds from a couple of years ago. Thought for sure at least one would come up. The planter garden is looking more like a wasteland. :-(

DH is now on the full 12 hr night shift. Takes him 2 hours to drive there, find a place to park, and walk to the building. The place is packed ... Then the same to come home. He's beginning to look like death warmed over.

Jack and Jill did their nighttime potty thing and as soon as they came in - they made themselves comfortable. I really ought to just give up making the bed ...

Have a great weekend!

 

Going back ...

Years ago, I would go to sleep with The Rockford Files. I could actually go to sleep without it drawing me in. It was my lullaby. I'm considerably older now, and unless I am drugged, I can't get to sleep when the TV is on; but I have found that a single show of The Twilight Zone while we (Jack and I) are getting comfortable (shoving, pushing, pleading w/Jack to move over) and cozy, is enough to get me ready for dreamland after I shut the TV off. Tonight is a different animal, too many things on my mind.

My son gave me this for Christmas. I'm really not in the mood for listening to that much do-do-do-do or playing with the remote to skip it, to do any marathon. I do love it though. 

It hardly seems that it could have been over half a century ago when it started. The first show was in 1959! During a break they suggest a person should watch different shows. (Obviously new at the time) Shows like The Rifleman and The Andy Griffith show. I still listen to Andy when I'm playing cards or doing a puzzle if he's on - and my over-the-air channel has it on 2-3 times a day.

I like cars, I especially like old cars. In The Twilight Zone, they do a lot of 'now time' shows. In other words, the cars in those shows are mostly brand new. When I realized this, I began to look at things a little closer! It's almost as good as watching those car auction shows where they sell an old 'classic' for 100K and more, except it's in B/W and in traffic. I think about that, looking forward to the 1962 shows to see if there is a "Charlotte" there! I haven't seen a "Brad" there, but Brad is a street rod w/custom 2-tone paint, and he's 20 years older, would probably have been a clunker by then.

Sometimes they show inside a home, I look closer. I have seen kitchen things like we had when I was a kid. I used to think the clothes then weren't all that different. I guess I have never been that observant, not consciously, anyway. Whoa! The glasses, the shoes, the hair, it's all quite dated! But, you know, they had style back then, class. No underwear and jeans at half-mast. Men wore belts at the waist, not simply snapped and zipped under their bellies.

Every episode, Rod Serling opens in his 'living room,' telling the viewers about the show and afterward, he's telling you about the next show, a cigarette burning in his hand. They sure don't do that anymore, now do they? I've watched 1 1/2 seasons, so far. The series had a good run, 156 episodes. Who remembers when a show was new for something like 30 shows a year? I think now we are doing good if we get half that!

There was something else I was going to write, but it escapes me like smoke in a bad draft. Have a great day!

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?

Why the oceans are blue.

Rainbow at night, full moonlight!

I might have known this and forgot, but then again I may never have known why the oceans are blue. I was watching PBS tonight and they were talking about light. It seems that blue is the only color that can go into the depths. They had scuba divers checking how far down they could go and what colors they saw. The blue protons were the top winner. I guess that is why the sky is blue, somehow.

Well, okay, y'all probably knew all that, right? I was NOT aware though, that we can't really see color at night, even in the moonlight. The color protons don't bounce back at us without good old Mr. Sun. The scientist/photographer went out in the wilderness to this beautiful falls, at night. The moon was full, (I think he worried that the clouds could be a problem) but it came out for some beautiful footage. I was amazed at the rainbow. I thought, if anything, it be washed out or not all there. Sorry about my picture, taking a picture of a TV screen is not always the best. I just wanted to show y'all.

If I could, I would love to try this out during a full moon, with the sprinkler, a spray bottle and somewhere in the yard with no neighbor lights. I do apologize for such a 'little kid's excitement' over something so simple, but I was excited.

Enjoy your Sunday! (Maybe Monday)

Water, Water, Everywhere ...

Water, something most of us take for granted, or at  least we did. I remember living in town in the late 40's early 50's, we had a well and plenty of water. I never thought about how refreshing it was, as I was a kid. There was no taste or smell, it was just water. I lived in a small world. As far as I knew, nobody ever bought water. If asked, I'm sure that I would have considered it pretty stupid.

I know this is a pretty deep subject, given that people drank mead and ale as a normal thing centuries ago - it killed the bacteria in the water. This said ... People were aware that pollution (at least the ground) caused problems with the drinking water.

We never learn, do we?

So ... Here we are, our wells are polluted, as well as our lakes, streams, rivers and oceans. Now, we buy water. How many ways are they coming up with to correct this problem? Not nearly enough.

Label from the last water DH picked up.

Purified, I wonder if this has always been a word. Purified with Flavor Enhancing Minerals. 

I added the fat and sugar free, myself. Why not? Did water ever come with sodium - so much that it was a bad thing? Is the water they start with, ocean water? Purified brings some pretty strong images of the original water to my mind.

This, by itself, is scary. Scary that it comes from Wal Mart and scary that there are so many brands out there. What are we really drinking? Maybe it's time to be drinking mead again. Just a thought.
 
 

For Wordless Wednesday

My ceiling - with zoom

NOT Wordless Wednesday here!

My morning was filled with angst - not mine - all DH. He still hadn't gotten his unemployment. He kept getting these letters from TN office stating how much he owed KY and they were taking his money and sending it to them. We're thinking ????? Nearly two years ago, KY gave DH an extension and after a good while, they said "Our bad, you have to give it back." So they got paid - Wish I could find the receipt for it. They said he couldn't get for a year. Again ????? So, he filed late this fall with TN, as he hadn't worked in KY. No check ????? Let the games begin! For some reason he has received two checks all told. Letters keep coming from TN saying he still owed KY. Now he was getting really BLEEPED. He talked to KY and they sent him a letter stating he didn't owe anything. A few days later TN sends another letter contending he will not get any unemployment until he pays $870! ????? He has been on the phone, hanging over my shoulder instructing me on emails, and had me worried he would go postal over all this. He even faxed a copy of KY's letter up to TN office.

Finally, it is resolved ????? TN is going to send him a couple of checks. There was some problem about his bankruptcy -  ????? (He never in his life had one) and then there was a problem that somehow his last name was spelled with XXXX on the end. They pulled his debit card for benefits and we were told he could get direct deposit for his unemployment. Went to the site to change it and we got The name and social security number do not match. I tried it 3 times. Back to the phone, they must know our number on sight by now. The woman said to try again tomorrow to change it. I told DH that I wanted Chinese for supper and nothing more about unemployment!

Meanwhile I am trying to make a cover for my second Dusty Trunk and coming up empty. I thought I would list The Pear Tree pdf for sale on the BP site. so I did that, trying to mellow out a bit. The cover can wait for tomorrow, right? I noticed that The Pear Tree was still listed on a google search. Curious, I did a regular search and found this:

 What? Is this a scam or what? Bleep! I didn't investigate much, but they had other books from other folks there. I was afraid of some nasty virus or something. I hope they are shut down. If this is/was truly a site, they should be bleeped and then bleeped some more! No wonder I never had any sales! I am never giving any of my stuff away again! I love to write but it is bleep hard work! I hope I can sleep tonight, but this puppy is so wired up now - I doubt it.

If I was a drinker - I would be passed out on the floor by now or at least mellowed out and not giving a bleep! Snot running and not caring.

So - you think I just lay around all day, being waited on and reading, HAH! I usually don't bleat it out all the time. Tonight, I can't be a nice, little, old, gray haired lady. Enjoy your day/night. I plan on taking one of my Xanax and let the world go by tomorrow.

Sleepless in Tennessee

A loud, BEEP! and then a disembodied female voice said, "Low Battery."
This scared me as I sat reading in the absolute quiet before bed last night. It also scared the dogs, it may as well have been thunder. I looked at the clock and it was 10:20 pm.
BEEP! "Low Battery"
Sounded just a couple of minutes later.

I knew this would be one sleepless night. I called DH to let him know to bring batteries or he wasn't going to sleep after his shift either. Shutting my door helped a little, but through the night the alarm and voice continued. Around 3:00 am, it slowed down and occasionally was just the BEEP! and the disembodied voice was quieter, creepier. There was no sleeping at all. 

DH arrived home at 7:30 am  and took it off the wall to change the batteries. I guess when they say to change the batteries in your smoke detector when you 'spring forward' they are confident about how long the batteries will last. Have you changed your batteries?  

For John - Going Gently Story

I saw John's post and it made me chuckle. Thought there could be something for me to play with. Here it is - 15 minutes of playing around waiting for my son to show up.
John's Blog

Ms Grumble let out a heavy sigh; at last, the little monsters were going home for the day. She had about had it with their high-pitched voices and their runny noses that they wiped away on their shirtsleeves. Nasty creatures, the lot of them, yelling and screaming the second they passed through the outer doors. Glancing out the window, she noticed that slightly shabby man with a dog again.

The man had become a familiar figure to her, hanging around just when school let out. He always had a dog with him, but it never seemed to be the same dog. What was he up too? He couldn’t be one of the monster’s grandparents; she knew them all on sight. She got closer to the window and craned her neck to see where he was going. Little Liv had run to him and was petting the beast who immediately rolled to her back. Ms Grumble pulled back in horror to see the monsters touching the dog and it appeared they were having a conversation with the man about the dog’s teats, laughing!

Ms Grumble considered calling the principle at first, but then decided she would have to stop this horrific scene, herself. Why, the pervert had no business talking to the brats about something that was obviously sexual! In her haste, she ran into the doorway, almost knocking herself out. Stunned, she groped her way up and fell against the doorway again, as the heel of her shoe had broken off as she sprained her ankle. In a panic, she crawled back to the window to see Liv’s sister, Eve, joining them.

Oh, my! He’s after both of those girls!

“Help me! That pervert has got two of the girls in his clutches!” she cried.

Another teacher came rushing into the room. “What is the matter?”

“That pervert is taking Liv and Eve. Run quick and get help before they are out of sight! Look, there they go.”

The other teacher looked out the window, seeing nothing unusual. “You mean Jason’s babysitter? That’s John ‘the dog,’ obviously picking up the children for a couple of hours. Really, Harriet, you must get a grip on yourself. I think you are letting the kids get to you.”

Feels like Monday or Saturday, not Friday!

It's hard wrapping my head around what day it is. DH is working the night shift and has a day off in the middle of the week instead of the weekend. He had yesterday (night) off, which is really not like having a day off. This night shift thing has us messed up, the dogs included. It's as hard keeping Jack and Jill quiet as it would be to keep a couple of two-year-olds quiet. They see a dog (cat, man, leaf blowing) and the mayhem begins.

Son came down to visit on the 'day off' and the two guys went grocery shopping, did laundry, and finally played some wii golf after supper. Not much of a day off, if you ask me. They did play 'monster in the blanket' with J & J on the bed (mine, of course) until Jill fell off. Son caught her, but it traumatized her, nonetheless. Now she's avoiding my room, which has her stationed on the big chair by the windows and seeing every little thing ...

When it snowed the other day, it snowed all day long. It was mostly just pretty coming down and blowing about. I took pictures of Tacky. She thought she wanted to come in, but was having a hard time making up her mind for sure. She was full of snow. I took some pictures - I have so few opportunities for photo shots anymore, so here goes.

 Have a great day, weekend, whatever!

Green Eyes

Green Eyes

As you know, I read - a lot! I'm partial to historical romance, where men were men and women were special. I have noticed that many characters, be they hero or heroine, are blessed with [add desirable description here] green eyes. I understand that that genre is the fantasy of what most women desire, but I wonder how many women really desire green eyes or if the writers are picking an uncommon color because they have this fantasy themselves or they are making them memorable? I remember them, oh yeah. I have known three people that were memorable because they had green eyes. One set of eyes belonged to my son who was transitioning from foggy blue to brown as a baby. For a period of time, his eyes were a yucky army green. The other was a boy [a very nasty one - but that's another story] in my freshman class in high school. His eyes didn't sparkle, gleam, or shimmer. The third belonged to a guy I met in a bar - I will never forget his eyes, they looked like a frog in a Bloody Mary. Definitely not charming. If I met any other green-eyed people, obviously, I was not impressed enough to remember.

How many green-eyed people have you known? Were they memorable? Sexy? Did they make you swoon and want to drop your pants or chase after them? Could be that my own personal fantasy lover is not green-eyed and that's why I'm not drawn to them. I don't know. How about you?