Musings

Spring in January

2012-01-28T10:15:00.000-05:00

Everybody's talking about it, but there's nothing we can do about it...the weather! We are having spring-like weather here in North Florida in January! Azaleas are blooming as are the Japanese magnolias and they are at least 2 months early! March is notoriously a nasty month in this area and February speaks for it's self! I'm not so worried about the blooms being killed back with our next hard freeze, but I'm a bit worried about the plants themselves! Actually it is rather pretty having these blooms to offset the grey, barren winter landscape!

I voted this past Wednesday. I got a sticker and I'm thinking that's probably the best thing I'll get from this election. I'm not crazy about any of the candidates and I just having to choose from among them, but I feel an obligation to vote. This is a right women, not so long ago, fought to win and I think every woman (actually, everyone!) needs to exercise this right to vote!

Yesterday I hosted bridge here. We were to meet here at 9:30am, but my sister over slept and was 1/2 an hour late. So we didn't break up until almost 3pm! I made a breakfast casserole, fruit and savory monkey bread...it turned out quite nicely! A friend of mine made us a key lime pie for dessert and it was wonderful! So we ate, played bridge and visited for hours and had a great time!

Shirley's doing very well! She's seizure-free so far (still meds 2x a day), but she has really become a chow hound! I've actually seen her bully Jazzy away from her breakfast bowl several times and try to eat it herself. The only thing that stopped her was removing the bowl and giving it to Jazzy later. There's no telling how many times I missed her doing that! Her hips are another matter. They go out at least once a day, but often several time a day. I'm sure her weight doesn't help with the hips. At least my hips are okay, but if this weight keeps piling on they might start going out!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!

2012-01-15T05:23:00.000-05:00

The weather is really being quite odd. One day I can keep the back door open until dark, the next the temp is in the teens! Luckily for me, I dress in layers year round...so I can add more when needed. The animals aren't quite so lucky.

This morning it's cold! All of the cats and both of the dogs slept with me last night. I woke up at one point sweating! They had all piled on top of me! Smokey & Bandi act like they are trapped when the back door is closed & they're inside...so they're out now at 5:15am...I'm going to have to invite them back in soon.

You know, I guess this is why I'm not posting much lately...not much to say.

Again, some this and that!

2012-01-08T06:28:00.001-05:00

2012 is a week old today. As with many week-old things it's much too early to know how it will turn out, but I do feel comfort knowing that it has a pretty good chance of being a very good year.

I'm hoping to take advantage of this mild weather to get some yard work done today. Just a few days ago the temp. was in the teens and today is beginning with temps. in the 50s! That cold splash killed back many of the annuals that had hung around long past their normal time and it's looking pretty ratty outside! The Chinese Lantern vine on the fence was still quite pretty last week but is all brown & crumbly now and MUST come down! The vinca, elephant ears and angel trumpet all have to be cut back...as do all of the crape myrtles.

I was doing a little weeding last week and something bit me on one of my fingers. It had two little puncture places about a quarter of an inch apart...I figure it was either a large spider or a small snake. The finger was angry for a couple of days, but nothing else. It's fine now, but the marks are still there!

Okay, there's something I must get off my chest. For Christmas I sent my three oldest children and their families packages...granted, they might not have wanted or needed anything I sent, but I did spend a great deal of thought putting those packages together. Both Rosie and Terri (and their children) quickly responded, but I didn't hear from the two youngest. I sent a check to Beth and she did cash it, but that's the only way I know she got it. Besides not hearing from the two younger children, I didn't receive anything at all from them, not a card or call or e-mail...not anything. There. I don't feel particularly better, but it's off my chest.

Shirley's seizures seem to have stabilized. She's on phenobarbitol twice a day (I can almost set a clock by her...she comes and gets me when it's time for her pill!) and has been for three months now. Dr. Spencer said it might take a while for it to get in her system properly and at first I didn't think it was working, but she has been seizure-free for about three weeks now and seems more "with it"! I just say to her that it's time for her pill and she lays down on her back and waits for it. She has become very sly and has been known to get the pill between her gum and cheek and spit it out later, so I watch her like a hawk for a while after poking the pill down her gullet! The other day I saw a piece on the floor right beside her, so I picked it up and prepared to shove it down her throat. It felt a little funny so I put on my glasses to check it out...it was a piece of styrofoam!!! Makes me wonder how many doses of styrofoam she's had! So maybe it isn't the phenobarbitol, but the styrofoam that's making her better! Her hips are another matter. When she first started the medication she'd jump up in the easy chair by the back door for her pill but she misjudged one morning and fell pretty hard. She injured her left hip several years ago when she jumped from a high bed and this fall from the chair injured her right hip. Some days she seems just fine, but there are days when one or both will go out and she's just pitiful to watch. If it's just one hip she'll hobble around with the bad leg tucked up to her stomach, but if both go out she can't do anything. I carry her outside and lift her up to the bed or my chair or wherever she needs/wants to be...but that's taking quite a toll on my back. So, the other day I tried to rig a ramp on the back steps with a piece of plywood, but that was a total fiasco. Not only would the dogs not use it, but as soon as Bandi (the smallest of cats) stepped on it it fell! I really need to have a real ramp built...wonder how much that's going to cost? I'm still doing damage control with Bandi...not only is she a very small cat, but a very skittish cat to boot! She is now afraid of the back steps and has a hard time getting in to the house! She hasn't missed a meal yet and I feel sure she'll recover!

The 21st of next month marks a year since Stewball Achley and Goodness died.

I seldom make New Year's resolutions because I seldom keep them and I'll spend too much time kicking myself and feeling worthless, etc. But, this year there is one thing I'm going to try to do...I'm going to try to update this blog more often. We'll see.......

Cold morning!

2011-12-02T06:25:00.000-05:00

It's currently 32° and the temp is expected to drop a few more degrees before dawn. I'm guessing winter is finally here! It's so funny how we complain about the heat of summer and wish for winter, then we gripe about the cold of winter and wish for summer!

Shirley is really having such troubles. About 3 months ago she was diagnosed with petite mals and put on phenobarbytol (sp?) twice a day. It took about a month to get the dosage regulated, but I haven't seen a seizure in weeks now. The pheno has caused her already heavy weight to rage out of control and that's giving her bad hips fits. She fell while trying to get in a chair over the weekend and hurt her bad hip again, then on Wednesday night she injured her good hip and was totally unable to walk for 12 or so hours. I called the vet & made an appointment, but she began hobbling around so I cancelled the appointment. This morning she's really stove up again & I had to carry her outside. Don't know what to do. There's really nothing the vet can do and she's miserable. I hate to think of having her put down, but it's in my mind.

My friend Norma died a month ago. She called me just to chat on Tuesday afternoon and was dead the next morning. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around this!

Don't know why this season of holidays makes me so blue, but it really does...always has.

Tomorrow my sister & I will be taking our stepfather, Bert, to breakfast to celebrate his 94th birthday! He's absolutely amazing, golfs every day, drives and lives alone. He keeps a really neat house and is always dressed to kill!

Stormy, stormy night!

2011-04-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

The sky was dark and full of movement all day yesterday and along with the strong winds really let us know that a storm was coming! The animals and I woke up around 2:30 or 3:00 this morning to shrilling winds, rattling windows and one lighting flash after another. The rain was coming down so fast and furious that even with my bad hearing and all of the other noises I could hear it splashing when it hit. Everything was standing in water (even the driveway and patio), but it has now drained away except for a few places here and there. It's really chilly outside now and the forecasters are saying we could go down to the upper 30s tonight!

I had my yearly check up with my dermatologist yesterday. There was a small spot on my right arm that he biopsied and he scheduled me for surgery to remove a "golf ball and a half" size fatty tumor on my back that he's been keeping an eye on for a couple of years. I'm certainly not looking forward to the removal, but the benefits will be great. The place is in my upper back near my spine and as it has grown it has become increasingly uncomfortable to drive and even to relax in my chair. I find myself sitting funny to compensate for what feels like a boulder in my back and this has really done a number on my scoliosis. So I tell myself once more that the benefits will be great.

Before my appointment yesterday my sister and I met at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. It was absolutely delicious and as always, there was a lot of food. We each left with a to-go box and I finished mine this morning early in the storm.

Ran by Walmart on the way home and picked up some seeds and 2 solar spot lights for the patio. Since I don't have a light out there it's rather hard to use at night. I got them out in time for them to collect enough to shine through the entire storm! They do make a major difference. It isn't bright out there, but you can see where you're going!

Just as I was almost home yesterday I spotted a very little dog running down the middle of the road right on the white line, just like Shirley was in NC. I stopped and picked her up, I knew she wasn't from this neighborhood and she was obviously lost. Had on a collar, but no ID. Brought her home, put her in the back yard and let my two idiots out. It was touch and go there for a minute as I was afraid the little one would kill my two, but they worked it out and no one was hurt! It was a hoot! Last week Norma had told me that Leah Jane was bringing her cousin's oldest (17) Yorkie home with her and her car was at her house when I passed by. So after making certain that the dogs would be okay together I went in and picked up the phone to call Leah Jane and it rang in my hand. It was LJ. I said when I answered, "I heard you were bringing a dog home with you" she said "I did and it's lost". When I told here that it actually wasn't lost, but in my back yard she was thrilled and down in a minute to get her! Whew! The last thing I need is another animal!

Not much going on. Will let you know when there is.

Long time no see...

2011-04-01T06:36:00.000-04:00

It's been months since I've posted due to multiple reasons, can't think of one right now!

Hi! It's good to see you!

Not so sure where I left off, so I'll try to do a quick catch up.

The dining room was finished around the middle of November, had 2 chairs recovered and delivered the day before Thanksgiving, had 4 women who had no family close for Thanksgiving dinner, did nothing for Christmas and the same goes for New Years Eve. We had a really short, but hard winter. 'bout froze my butt off! Got a new heating/cooling system installed and noticed an immediate reduction in my electric bill! I think we're looking at a pretty hot and early summer...well, it's already gotten up to 89 degrees 2 different days in March! Can't believe it's already April! Saturday was a year since Mother died. Goodness died 3 weeks ago. I've started ripping out the nasty wall to wall carpet in my bedroom...I'm finding that a major job that really does a number on my back...slow and steady wins the race...this may take me years as I'm having to jockey around the furniture and I'm not the strongest person in the world. Plywood underneath, not sure what I'll do about that, maybe just paint it for now. The three planter I got for the patio last summer bombed. When I dumped them out I realized why...even with 6" of rock for drainage they held much too much water and everything drowned because there were no drainage holes, so last week I drilled multiple holes in them and replanted. One has a golden rain tree, one an althea and one a flowering plum and each is liberally sprinkled with saved marigold seeds...we'll see how that turns out. I got 2 pumpkins for halloween/thanksgiving decorations, awfully pretty until they started rotting. Tossed the largest one into one of the patio planters and when I dumped it the pumpkin was on the bottom of a nice rich pile of dirt. I now have the prettiest pumpkin plants...not sure what I'm going to do with them, probably just leave them where they are and hope for a pumpkin or 2 for the season! The yard was beautiful this spring. Everything bloomed quite early and the storms we had this week tore all of the blossoms to smithereens. Irises have put up bloom stalks and look very promising. As always there is so much yard work I need to do. Saturday my sister and I went to Tallahassee Mall very early and stood in line with many others for rain barrels. Mine's already full! Jazzy had her 3rd birthday on the 15th of February and it was like a switch was flipped. She's a grown up!

There, I think I've hit most of the high (and low) points of the void in blogging, I'll post more if I think of them later.

Rosie, thank you for getting me back up and running!

Election day

2010-11-02T10:36:00.000-04:00

It's being said that the election today will be "one to remember"...we'll see. I voted early this year on the 18th of October...much easier that way and should anything happen between then and now my vote would still count!

My msn email account has been hacked. I can't even go to it, the password has been changed and I'm not sure just what to do. I've opened a new account at google on their email, but have no addresses to use to send my new address to folks...damn! What a mess!

A trip to the beach

2010-10-01T07:48:00.000-04:00

Last week my sister and I borrowed our step-father's house in St. Teresa for about a week...actually he said we could stay as long as we wanted. We went down on Thursday, the 23rd and got back on Monday, the 27th. As we were wanting it to be a true vacation, we each boarded our animals and it was just the two of us.

On the way down on Thursday we stopped at Iris Anne's in Crawfordville. Wow, what a shop! My sister had been several times, but this was a first for me. Years ago Mother gave me a really cute purse she bought there, with a dog on it that looks like Shirley. The store was having a 75% off sale and for next to nothing both of us got some really cute things!

Then, when we hit Panacea we stopped at the Funky Fiddler another really neat shop. I bought the gaudiest tri-fold screen I've ever seen in my life! I love it! Sister got a salmon pink desk and chair set. They just marked them paid so we could pick them up on our way back.

Then it was on to the house. It seemed to take us forever to unload our cars, we had to take everything including gallons of water. As it turned out we both really overpacked on some things and hit it just about right on other things. We each took a lot of cold cuts and cheeses and breads and salad fixings...you know, that sort of stuff. Except for two meals we ate at the house...Thursday night we went back over the bridge and had dinner at the new Angelo's. Wonderful broiled bay scallops...to die for. Then Sunday morning we went back to Panacea for breakfast at the Coastal...$2.49 for a pretty big meal!

We walked the beach a couple of times each day except for Sunday as it was just too stormy. It rained off and on all day Saturday, but with enough time in between to walk. I found the most exquisit piece of bright orange coral floating on the crest of a wave on Saturday.

Sunday after breakfast at the Coastal we went on to the Funky Fiddler and picked up our purchases. We were able to get everything into my car with a little packing room left over and when we loaded up mid-morning Monday we were able to get the remainder of my stuff in sister's car...thank goodness, we actually talked about maybe taking two trips to get everything home!

When we got back to the beach house from shopping and breakfast on Sunday we were rather at loose ends...what with the storm and all. I taught my sister to play backgammon on Friday, but 3 games seemed to be her limit. We read a bunch and played crazy eights, but needed to do something else............soooooo, we rearranged the house! Our step-father build the house 60 years ago and I do believe that every stick of furniture had stayed in the same spot for ever! We probably started working on the living room around 1pm and thought it was about 3 when we decided to break for lunch. I checked my watch and it was 10 to 6! Boy were we bushed! Everything really looked good, we didn't throw anything away or hide anything, but it really made a big difference!

On the way home on Monday we were stopped in Tallahassee for a procession escorting the body of a young man home from Afganistan and back home to Thomasville. Both of us stood out by our cars in the drizzling rain as our way to say thank you and how sorry we were.

We went to sister's house first and unloaded her purchases from my car and emptied her car...it seems so much easier with two people doing it. Then it was on to Monticello to unload the rest of the things at my house. We were pooped!

First thing Tuesday morning I picked up my 2 dogs and 4 cats. That was a riot...I took them to the vet's in two trips, but brought them home in 1. The noise inside my car was so loud that I couldn't hear the radio! We were all so delighted to be back home!

Things

2010-09-14T08:37:00.000-04:00

The dining room is coming right along! Today the trim work will be installed...crown molding, base moldings and door/window trim. They'll probably paint it this weekend! Yeah! Then I can get the table/chairs out of the funny room and the chest and wing chair out of the living room and the rug down. Oh what a relief that'll be!

Friday I met my sister at the Greek Church in Tallahassee for their monthly spaghetti dinner. As always it was wonderful and we had mega left-overs! We each got 2 bakalvas to take home!!! After eating as much as we comfortably could we sat outside and smoked and visited and even with that I got home a little after 6. I actually got 4 more spaghetti meals and 2 salad meals from my left-overs! Not bad for $8.00!

While I was in Tallahassee my contractor came and put another coat of paint on the ceiling and walls...looks really good!

Sunday my sister, stepfather and I went to the coast. I drove us in my new car and we all had a blast! Bert took us to a place I'd never heard of, Spring Creek. The restaurant there is over 50 years old and just wonderful! Great food, I had fried oysters...the salad is brought out unassembled and you do it yourself. There were mason jars of croutons and bacon bits, etc. on the table and a wine bottle with the house dressing. It was quite different and fun! We got desserts to go and went on to Bert's house at St. Teresa and sat on the big screened porch in a blazing thunder storm and pigged out on pie! Good time!

Yesterday was catch-up day. I cleaned bathrooms and began laundry (I'd ignored it for several weeks). With my 2nd load in the dryer I filled the washer with my third load, measured in soap and turned the knob...well, the knob turned and turned and broke off in my hand! The washer is 22 years old and never given me any problems so this was completely unexpected! While I was pondering what to do the lawn mowing folks came and I asked them who to call about the washer. After finding the number and calling I just waited for a call back which finally came an hour or so later. The fellow is coming this morning to look at the washer and said he'll probably have to order the part.

Just got a call from my contractor...they'll be here in 15 mins! Earlier than I expected! They are going to set up in the carport, so I just ran out and backed the car out.

Got my flu shot yesterday. This year it includes H1N1. No charge this time for me! Yeah Medicare! Make sure to get your shot early this year...they say it may be a bad year.

Again, the dining room

2010-08-23T10:46:00.000-04:00

The dining room is coming right along! Tuesday of last week they tore out all of the remaining wallpaper and paneling! Underneath is the most wonderful old siding on all 4 walls! Then they took out the ceiling tiles and uncovered an old bead board type ceiling! Then on Thursday they came over and patched damaged places and spackled holes. The next step will be sanding and then painting. I'm having the ceiling and trim done in a semi-gloss white and the walls a sort of a paprika color. I'm thinking it'll be quite striking...if not, I can always repaint!

The animals are going to hate when the dining room is put back together! The dogs romp in the empty room daily and at any given time you can find 1 to 4 cats lounging in it. Oh well, I'm looking forward to getting everything out of the rest of the house and back in place! It's mighty cramped in the living room and funny room!

My sister and I had brunch at Ruby Tuesday's yesterday. It was her treat for my birthday! It really was yummy and I actually got 4 meals out of it...1 at the restuarant and 3 here at home from my left-overs!

Today is my oldest grandaughter's 19th birthday! Where did all of that time go? It really seems like it was only yesterday that she was 5 years old and we took her to Disney World! Thursday I'll be 65! Ouch!

The Dining Room

2010-08-18T07:54:00.000-04:00

The fellow who's doing my dining room came over Monday to check the room out again and give me a cost estimate. This house has been added onto and modified many times in its life time and the dining room at one time was a back porch. One of the things my contractor asked was did I know what was under everything...I didn't. He asked had I considered that there could be old siding...I hadn't. All I knew was there was the most awful wallpaper, a wallpaper support paper and wood panelling.

A few years back I ripped out the wall to wall carpet and pad, but only took the tack strips up from the doorways (3) and not from around the walls and there was still a large chunk of it under the hutch. Then a couple of years ago I tried to strip the wall paper out...what a mess! Uncovered a very heavily adhesive underlay and then paneling. That all came to a screeching halt and I've just been living with this horrid mess since then.

After he left I emptied the dining room of everything but the hutch, but did empty the hutch. Then my curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know what was under the paneling...so I ripped out the trim from around all three doorways and pulled out the paneling and lo and behold there is old siding. It's in wonderful shape, dirty and stained and painted many times, but in wonderful shape! Pretty! So, I've opted to keep it!

Yesterday Rick and his helper were here from 10 until 3 (they were gone for about an hour and a half to go to the dump and to lunch). They got the hutch out, took up the tack strips from the perimeter of the room, ripped out the remaining carpet, tore out the ceiling tiles (pretty bead board underneath), and took out the paneling. It's absolutely amazing how wonderful it looks! The ceiling and walls will be scraped and sanded and painted and since the floor has also been painted many times I'm just going to have it painted also.

Now comes the hard part, color! I had thought of one color when I was thinking the walls would just have drywall, not sure that will be what I want on the siding, so last night I tacked up empty Meow Mix bags all over the dining room and I'm thinking I want the walls some version of the main part of the bags, the ceiling white and the floor a rich chocolate brown...sounds good to me.

They won't be back today as they were waiting for cement to dry on a rather large job they have...they'll be fitting me in and that's okay. I need to get paint, more chain for the light fixture as it's hung much too high and something else...can't remember what right now...it'll come to me. This is all much more exciting than the kitchen was because I'm not as disrupted as I was then.

The dogs go for grooming this afternoon...I wish I were!

Astonishing hair!

2010-08-14T20:33:00.000-04:00

I probably won't recognize myself when I wake up tomorrow...I now have the most astonishing hair color! It's sorta a cross between fire engine red and sunflower yellow. It is, however, growing on me!

Ann came to town for a few days and we've done a lot of eating and visiting. She's staying with Leah Jane and will be going back to Carrabelle tomorrow. I really wish she hadn't moved.

Night before last I got up at 3am and sat on the patio until 5am watching the Perseid Meteor Shower. It really put on quite a show this year! One came over that seemed close enough to need to duck and it was so big and lasted quite a while! I tried it again last night, but only saw a few small ones. I really went out at the wrong time, about 11pm, the peak is between midnight and dawn. I'll meander out again tonight, but Thursday was the peak.

I started a jig-saw puzzle today. It's been years since I've done one...had forgotten how much I enjoy them! This one is an old ad for Winchester shotguns with two of the prettiest bird dogs I've ever seen in the ad. It's 1,000 pieces and I still am working on getting the edges done. This may take a while! I got one of those things that you can roll up while you're not working on the puzzle...I hope to save it from the cats!

This past Monday I went to Thomasville. I needed to go to Walmart for pet food and stopped at the Goodwill store on the way. I've been wishing for a lamp for the bedroom...found the cutest elephant lamp for $4.99 and the shade for $1.99! So for $7.00 I have just what I needed...you really can't beat the prices!

The weather's still a major topic of conversation around here...guess it is everywhere right now. The temp has moderated a bit, instead of the high 90s and low 100s it's low to mid 90s. Of course the rain is keeping the humidity very high. It's like being slapped in the face with a hot wet towel when you walk outside! This too shall pass! Next we'll all be moaning and groaning about how cold it is!

Old friends

2010-08-04T07:36:00.000-04:00

"Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver the other gold".

Yesterday five of us from the class of '63 (and one husband) met for lunch at Sage here in Monticello. Betty Hodge, Rachael Ward, Colleen Capps and her husband, Gene, Charlie Walker and I met, ate, talked and laughed for hours. We all just picked up as if yesterday was our graduation...such fun! You know, sometimes the smaller groups are better than the big ones, for one thing, it's much easier to hear each other! I, of course, forgot to take my camera, but all three of the girls had theirs and plan to post on FaceBook.

I roasted my Angle Foods chicken yesterday morning. I really needed to get it out of the freezer so I could tell what's in there! I made a rub with brown sugar, Kosher salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, Cajun seasoning, fresh garlic and olive oil. Stuffed the cavity with fresh rosemary and onions...it was so big I had to roast it for 2 hours! Once it was cooled I cut it in half and put 1/2 in the 'fridge and 1/2 back in the freezer. Supper was a nice salad with cubed chicken breast...yum! This morning after feeding the animals I made a curried shrimp salad, ended having that for my breakfast, so good!

Our weather continues to be really hot and awfully muggy. We are back in our daily storm pattern (thank goodness), but that just adds to the muggy! The grass is so high that I'm afraid I'll lose Shirley in it...she runs and hops through it so I am able to keep an eye on her. She's escaping from the fenced area at will! I've crawled the length of the house and can't find where it's happening. She's so unstreet savy and that really frightens me!

The power bill came this week, $201.70! Wow! The water/sewer/garbage bill also came and the base charge has dropped $5.00, that's better!

$70.00

2010-07-31T09:46:00.000-04:00

Well, I just got back from picking up my first Angel Food order and I'm here to tell you that it's the best $70.00 I've ever spent. For those of you not familiar with Angel Food Ministries, it's a national organization that's non-profit and distributes food to anyone...absolutely no qualifications necessary. One dollar of each order goes into a pot to feed the hungry. The food is top-notch and very affordable!

I'm going to give you a brief (sorta) run down of what my $70.00 got me. 1 doz. eggs, a whole large chicken, lasagna, meat loaf, Polish sausage, 2 split Cornish game hens, 4 rib-eye steaks, 4 sirloin steaks, 6 cheese burgers, a package of hot dogs, frozen carrots, frozen mangos, a large pizza, a box of cereal, hamburger helper, baked beans, 8 sweet rolls, a lb. of ground beef, a bag of split chicken breasts, a large cabbage, frozen mashed potatoes, frozen corn, a quart of shelf stable milk, country fried steak with gravy and there's more that I can't remember. This will last me longer than the month of August! I'll need to get pet food and that's it!

You owe it to yourself to check out http://www.angelfoodministries.com/ and find a location in your area. I had to drive to Tallahassee, but it's well worth it!

Leah Jane and Norma came over last night for hamburgers, slaw and baked beans. It's good to see Leah Jane healing from the loss of Max, but she still has a way to go. Bless her heart, at the end of last week she was stung by a wasp on her ankle...the swelling was immediate and just awful, but she was pretty much over it by Tuesday of this week. Then on Thursday another wasp stung her on her right thumb and she looks like she wearing someone elses hand and arm. She's swollen from the tips of her fingers to her shoulder!

I started a painting this week. It's been years since I've painted anything other than furniture or walls, so getting back to a canvas is sorta exciting! I'm doing a painting of Leah Jane and Max. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't insult her and turns out okay!

Max

2010-07-20T07:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Leah Jane had to have Max put down. He was 15 years old and fighting kidney failure for several months. I was with her when she buried him in her back yard and then stayed for several hours. Many of her neighbors (including our mayor) and family came by. She's a wreck, of course, but I feel sure that she'll be okay. The next few weeks are going to be awful for her (she's 75), but everyone is concerned and will rally for her.

Good stuff

2010-07-16T07:14:00.000-04:00

Tuesday evening Leah Jane and her dog Max and Norma and her dog Maggie came over for wine and visiting. We always have a good time when we get together and when you add their two dogs into the mix with my four cats and two dogs it's usually a riot! We laughed so much watching the interactions of the animals that our sides ached!

Wednesday I hosted bridge here at my house. We didn't play in May or June as my sister and I were so overwhelmed with dealing with Mother's things and frankly couldn't wrap our heads around doing anything else. Everyone arrived around 5pm and I think it was around 9 when we broke up. As usual, I was low and my sister was high, but I play so poorly that I'm never surprised! It was so nice not having to drive to Tallahassee to play...I just hate driving home at night! I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all.

I got up yesterday morning, drove to Tallahassee and bought a car! This is the first new car I've ever bought and it was exciting. I was shocked at how long it took, hours! I got a sage green 2010 Subaru Forester. She's just beautiful and handles like a dream! She even has a moon roof! It'll take me a while to figure out all of the bells and whistles, I guess reading the book will help! I drove home the long way just to drive! I'm so looking forward to really driving somewhere!

Last night we had an unbelievable storm! My patio, driveway, carport and porch are all covered with shreaded leaves and small (thank goodness) limbs. From the reports that I'm getting from tv, parts of Tallahassee had it even worse than we did with some pretty major flooding, fires and power outages! The forecast for today and tomorrow is more of the same!

Three's the charm

2010-07-10T09:48:00.000-04:00

You know how "they" say that things happen in threes, well since my two falls last month I've been so careful and waiting for that third shoe to drop. It dropped this morning (I think...I hope).

Funny how things work. I've been wishing for a bicycle for a long time, but haven't found one that fits my criteria...it needs to be rather small/short, has to have coaster breaks and it has to have a basket.

Yesterday Ann came to town for a vet appointment and she, Leah Jane, Norma and I met for lunch at Sage. At some point during the conversations and laughter I said to Ann, "Well, I guess that since you've moved away I can stop wishing for a bike, because the main reason I wanted one was to ride to your house".

Around 7 last night my next door neighbor's mother, Anita, came over to bring me some recipes and we sat and talked for a couple of hours. Funny, I gave her twirling lessions when she was 5 and I was 15! I walked outside with her as she was leaving and out of the blue she asked me if I'd like to keep her bike over here and use it whenever I wanted to. Said sure and walked next door to look at it. Wow! Rather small/short, coaster breaks and a white wicker basket! It's old and a little rusty, but so am I!

I was so excited about riding the bike that I had trouble sleeping last night and got up this morning at 5:30. Fed the animals, had breakfast and checked my e-mail. Then the sun finally came up and out to the bike I went! Well, when I sat on the seat my feet didn't touch the ground and that made me a little nervous, but I managed to get it going and went down the driveway a bit. I remembered all of the times I snickered inside at little old ladies who talked about being afraid of falling again, well, I'm here to tell you it's not a very funny fear! All I could thing about as the bike and I wobbled down the driveway was "please don't fall, please don't fall"! And, I didn't! I got off the bike about half way down, walked it back to the carport, parked it and came inside. Phew!

Of course as I sat here playing around on Facebook I was chastizing myself big time. I was so angry with me!

So I gave it about an hour (long enough for my shaking to stop) and decided I had to get back up on that horse! I moved her into the fenced area and used 409 to clean the seat and wipe down the fenders, etc. Then I WD40ed the kick stand and looked at the tires. Couldn't think of anything else to do, so I got on the bike off of the patio and actually rode her around a bit on the grass, circled the back area and headed back to the patio and fell, kerplunk! This really excited the dogs, they had been so proud of me and now there I lay bike and all! I slightly skinned my right elbow and sorta turned my right ankle and the seat hit me in a funny place, but all in all I'm okay and have almost stopped shaking.

I keep thinking about everything I did wrong. #1. had on flip flops (can't wear closed toe shoes because of my stupid toe). #2. I was afraid. #3. I was afraid. #4. I was afraid!

It's been over 30 years since I've been on a bike and that last time I got hurt pretty good. Went over the handle bars and tore up my left knee...it gives me fits to this day.

I remember the exileration of riding bikes when I was young. There's such a feeling of freedom and abandonment...where did all of that recklessness go? I want it back. I'll try again tomorrow. It's too hot now.

You just never know!

2010-06-23T07:26:00.000-04:00

Well, you just never know what's gonna happen next!

Sister started setting up for the estate sale at her house on Thursday and actually made the first sale then! I arrived on Friday morning and Sharon was already there helping with the set-up. The sale was advertised for Saturday, but folks were out in force Friday and we sold quite a bit! Come Saturday morning things were really popping and we were very thankful that shoppers come in waves...it's really interesting that there are mad rushes and then restful lulls! Lots sold and we couldn't have done it without Sharon! We had either hot direct sun or downpours...very little inbetween. Even with a hat I got too much sun...Sunday we had planned to pack up, but were actually too tired and just sat outside with a 1/2 price sign at the bottom of the driveway...we were hoping to sell everything and not have anything to pack. Sold a bunch, but not all.

Monday we started packing things for Wag the Dog. Got hungry and decided to go to lunch. Of course it was raining 'most all day. We had to park in the back parking lot of Marie Livingston's and walk through the rain to get to the front of the restuarant. With my first step up to the tiled walkway my feet flew out from under me and I took quite a spill. Managed to grab something and didn't hurt myself too much, but my right shoulder felt awful. We had a fantastic lunch with enough left overs for each of us for supper. Then it was back to sister's house to continue packing in the rain. A couple of hours into the packing I had another fall, much worse than the first one...I was carrying a big black garbage bag full of holiday decorations to the garage and my foot hit a slick black patch of slime and, frankly, it all happened so fast that I'm not sure just what happened. I hit the cement face first and remember feeling my teeth hit and thinking "oh, please don't let them break" and then I had stars and blackness. Somehow I scraped the side of my left leg and broke a toe on my right foot. I have a very small chip on one of my front teeth, a swollen nose and a bruised and very sore chin. Both of my shoulders hurt like all get out and my back and hips are giving me fits. All in all however, I'm doing quite well. It could have been a lot worse. Managed to drive home and to the vet's to pick Jazzy up...I'd picked Shirley up before going to Tallahassee that morning.

Yesterday, except for filling and emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the litter boxes and taking out the kitchen trash I did nothing...stayed in bed most of the morning and slept in fits. Hobbled out to my chair around 3 and other than bringing in the mail and letting dogs and cats in and out did nothing. Didn't even get on the computer. Today is looking like it'll be very much the same, I'm much sorer today for some reason. Feel sure that tomorrow will be better.

Overwhelmed and Pooped!

2010-06-15T07:41:00.000-04:00

The past couple of weeks have really been rough! My sister and I finally just quit going through Mother's things and called it done for now. The weekend of the 5th we had an estate sale here at my house. The response was amazing!

Sister made many, many trips back and forth from Tallahassee all week with loads of things and thank goodness was unable to get everything here! I went to the local police station and told them what we were going to be doing and asked for their help with security. They said they'd increase their patrolling, but we didn't see them!

On Wednesday, the 2nd, a friend of my sister brought 6 6' tables and several card tables. I had 1 6' table, a card table and 2 smaller tables. 2 other friends of my sister each brought an 8' table and a card table and my sister had a couple of card tables along with 2-3 card tables of Mother's. Even with all of these surfaces we still had things on the ground and things we didn't put out!

We had ads in the local paper here and the Tallahassee Democrat and folks started driving by when the tables were set out on Wed. By Thursday folks were stopping by, so I put a sign at the end of the driveway saying Estate Sale Saturday 8-4, laughable now that I look back at it. We made sales Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday! Wow! I packed the last of the things on Tuesday and got the final table out of the yard and onto the front porch. That was a relief!

The main things that made it so hard was the weather. It was unseasonly hot and each day we had 3-4 downpours/storms! We got so good at tarping and untarping tables that at the end we didn't even think about it, just did it.

We were also extremely tired by the time Saturday finally rolled around. We stayed on my front porch until 3:15am Friday morning just to keep an eye on things and finally couldn't take it any longer. My sister and her dog (mine were boarded) slept in her car until 6:15am and I slept in my bed until 6:15am and then we started again. A retired antique dealer that my sister met the weekend before came over from Tallahassee early Friday morning to help us price things. By about 10am she was so overwhelmed that she call her husband, daughter and 2 friends to come over and help! and Sharon came on Friday to help also!

Friday night we were so tired that we decided we had to lay down and try to get some sleep/rest, but we were both too tired and too keyed up for any rest to be restful! I made a dummy in one of the chairs on the front porch and with the back light from the living room it looked real. Sister and Maria started the night (@ midnight) in her car, but ended up on the sofa in the living room and once more 6:15am came mighty early!

The sale went quite well on Saturday and we were relieved when the last of the shoppers left and we tarped the tables for the final time. We both agreed that neither of us could worry about what was left out and sister went home and I went to bed.

We packed up Sunday and Monday...but we still made so many sales on Sunday that we stopped packing and just sat on the porch until rather late. Sister went home and was back again first thing Monday morning. We finished our packing, but also made a few more sales.

We each took a car load to sister's house on Monday and I took another load on Tuesday. Either Sat or Sun, I can't remember which, sister came over and we had breakfast at the Rare Door and each took another load to her house and I think I took another load over another day...wow! The brain is gone!!!

The good thing it I'm on my way to reclaiming my house. I know it'll take a while longer, but it's much better. Yesterday I took a car load of empty boxes to the dump and that pretty much cleared out the carport (at least of the extra stuff!).

A few things of mine are missing. The big pot and dipper I keep on the front steps for rain water are gone along with a couple of big boxes of candles...things I'll get over. But dang it, the big pot was Murr's!

Well, we are doing it all over again this weekend at sister's house. We think it should go smoother as most things are priced and we are more seasoned. Wish us luck!

Hot, hot, hot!!!

2010-05-23T16:01:00.000-04:00

Gracious it's hot down here! 92, 93, 94 degrees during the days and not cooling off much at night...and this is just MAY! Imagine August! Also, we're not getting the rain we need, we're having 5-6 days in the 90s and then just enough rain to raise the humidity and you know how that feels.

I got outside before 8 this morning to do some work that I've been putting off because of the heat. By 9 I was soaking wet and the color of a beet. Thank goodness I got the front bed by the porch semi-weeded and the major limbs picked up from the yard and out to the street. Toward the end of last week I cut back my 2 pink Knock Out roses at the back door and just left the cuttings on the patio to dry...they're so much easier to handle dry. Got those out to the street this morning, too.

I'm really having trouble keeping my two big herb pots. They're drying out practially before I finish watering them...perhaps I'll put them in the shade.

I'll be so thankful when the estate sales are done! Now, because of my things I've pulled out, the living room is almost as bad as the dining room and guest room! At least I still have a clear shot from my chair to the tv!

Leah Jane's home. She was gone for 3ish weeks to her cousin's house in central FL. She said the weather wasn't as severe there as it is here...go figure! She's having Ann, Norma and me for supper and a movie one night this week. That'll probably be the last time the four of us get together, but Ann and her 2 dogs will be staying with me for a couple of nights before her closing. That is sure to be interesting as Jazz is really not too good with dogs other than Shirley! We'll just have to see how it goes...

Well, it's almost 4 o'clock and the sun should be pretty much off of the patio, so I think I'll take the garbage out to the street and then water out back...I can almost hear everything begging for water!

We're finished for now!

2010-05-16T10:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my sister and I worked at finishing up as much of Mother's things as we're going to do for now. We finished the kitchen, garage and the last of Mother's closets. We were both totally wiped out, but done for now and it feels good! Of course, when Bert moves into a retirement center or whatever, there will be a ton of work to do, in fact, if you were to walk into the house you wouldn't realize at all how much we've taken out. 'Most all of the decorative items are still in place and all of the furniture. The kitchen is still quite usable with dishes and pots and pans, etc. My sister followed me home yesterday. First we stopped at Wag the Dog and gave them the last of Mother's clothes and then came here. We unloaded her car into my guest room and dining room...what a mess! I still haven't unloaded mine, not sure where I'll put everything as there isn't room in the dining room at all and the guest room is quite stuffed!

We've set the dates for our yard sales. Mine will be June 5th and my sister's June 19th. Once that's done it will feel much better. Except for the really good pieces, we'll donate to charity what doesn't sell. The good stuff we'll market another way...the way still to be decided.

Friday, the 7th of May my sister and I went to the spaghetti supper at the Greek Church in Tallahassee. Greek spaghetti is very different from Italian spaghetti, the herbs and spices used are intirely unique to Greek cooking. Delicious!!!! They give you so much that I can't imagine being able to eat it all in one sitting. I got 4 good meals and 2 snacks out of mine, plus I ate the salad for breakfast one morning! We'll certainly do that again!

My first tomato is ripening in the garden. I didn't plant in the ground or in the hay bales this time...I've had such bad luck with that here...this time almost everything's in pots and looking good (as long as I water!). When my sister and I got back here yesterday everything was looking pitiful. We've had several days with temps hovering around 90 (yesterday it was above 90) and we've had no rain for a long while. Thank goodness rain's in the forecast for the next few days, but I did water heavily yesterday just in case!

My friend Ann has sold her house and is moving to the coast the middle of June. Sure will miss her. Am having supper with her tonight, probably not again for a long while. Sorta sad isn't it? But, good for her...

I've really gotten into the Patricia Cornwell books lately...I've read 10 or so of them so far and have 4-5 more in reserve. I just hate the thought of finishing them! But I am enjoying James Patterson, too and have several more of his to read. Will have to find someone else to read soon, as I've really gotten back into reading. Funny, I haven't read much of anything for the past few years and reading was such a passion for me all of my life. Feels good to be doing it again!

Friends

2010-04-29T08:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Ann, Leah Jane w/Max and Norma w/Maggie came over. We sat on the patio and had wine and cocktails and shrimp and veggies w/pesto dip and we ate, drank and laughed for several hours. It was so much fun. The weather was perfect and the yard is really looking nice. Can't ask for more!

After 2+ weeks of dry weather the rains we've had lately are really welcome! It looks as if we may finally be getting into a pattern of alternating days with sun and rain and that's a good thing! I'm going to put out zinnia and sweet alyssum seeds today. As I'm such a lazy gardener I usually only broadcast flower seeds, so the rain we're expecting tomorrow will help seat them. I really enjoy the random look of flowers that have been broadcast and generally have remarkable luck. Cross your fingers that this holds true this time, too!

Last night I was reclining in my new chair dozing while watching tv. Suddenly I woke just sweltering hot. Turns out I was covered from ankles to chin in animals. Shirley, Goodness and Mercy had managed to catch me unawares and very creatively drape themselves all over me! Now, we're talking roughly 45-50 pounds of sneakiness and that's quite warm! Thank goodness Jazz, Smokey and Bandi didn't join in or I may have smothered!

Not too much to say

2010-04-22T09:15:00.000-04:00

My sister and I are maybe 2-3 days away from finishing up with Mother's things. That sounds quite close, but in actuality it isn't. We are only doing it on Saturdays as my sister really can't take more time off from work for this and it's something neither of us want to do alone...and since we're both exhausted from everything we're not working on it this coming weekend. That's not to say we're doing nothing, just not the clearing out. We're taking things to a cosignment shop and researching silver/china/crystal prices at an antique shop or two.

Yesterday I did 6 loads of laundry. It's amazing how much had piled up as I hadn't done any since the week before Mother died. I got all of the clothes washed, folded and put away along with some towels, pillow cases and dish towels. There is still a big pile of winter bedding that must be addressed at some point, but it sure does feel better getting the stuff done that I did! I was so suprised that the majority of the clothes were winter things!

I've spent most of my time and energy in the yard...the patio area inside the fence to be more exact. It is really looking good and it feels so good to go out there! My first iris of the year opened Monday. It's an unusual color, a deep wine with a gold throat, beautiful! Two or three more are almost ready to open!

The dogs just went crazy with their barking and it took me a bit to get them in. I just found out what it was about...my yard cutting guy is mowing and his aide is weed eating. Thank goodness! It's almost knee-high in spots in the back yard and was really beginning to look ratty! This will make everything else I've done look even better!

Enough for now, it's hard to think and type as they're mowing under my window now.

What happened to Spring?

2010-04-06T09:28:00.000-04:00

Wow, we went from almost Spring to SUMMER! Yesterday the temperature actually got up to 89 degrees! Of course, the nights are still in the 50s and we have a front moving in tomorrow (I think that's what they said) and we should be back to the 70s for daytime highs. That will be nice, I mean, my heavens, it's only early April!!!!!

I came home from Tallahassee Sunday with the trunk and back seat of the car stuffed to the brim with things from Mother's closet. At first when my sister and I were loading everything I didn't think much about it, but then it hit me that Wag the Dog doesn't open until Thursday and both Shirley and Jazzy have an appointment for grooming on Wednesday. There wasn't room to stuff a match book in the car much less two dogs! I called the Humane Society first thing yesterday morning and got no answer, so I called my vet's office. Told them my delima and they said to just bring everything there and leave it and they'd have Wag the Dog pick it up. Nice, huh? Well, when I got there the receptionist told me I was in luck, the Wag the Dog folks were there picking up their dog! I talked with them and met them at the shop and unloaded everything! What a relief! There will be lots more as we've not finished with either of Mother's closets and haven't touched the kitchen or garage!

I took advantage of an empty car and went to the hardware store and got 5 2-cubic ft bags of natural cypress mulch, would have gotten more, but they didn't have it. They should have some in Thursday and I'll get more. You know these past 2 years with Mother caused both my sister and me to ignore so much of our own stuff. Managed to get 4 of the bags spread before the heat became too much, I'd like to get the last one out this morning before it gets too hot.

Oh, you should see my hair...you know how I tend to do stuff to it when I'm stressed, well, the night before Mother died I cut it quite drastically, actually I cut it three different times that night. Then this past week I bleached it pretty good. Now it's quite short and a really odd color, sorta a light red or gold or something. I meant to get some dye yesterday while I was out, but forgot, so maybe I'll remember when I drop the dogs off tomorrow. I only think about it when I catch sight of it in a mirror and I really try not to look in one of those things very often! I think one of the blessing of aging is the eye sight dims a bit and unless you look in a mirror with your glasses on or in a magnifying one (shame on whoever invented those!) you can't really see the results of the years.

My house is a mess. Not only have I not cleaned it much in a while, but there are all of these bags of stuff from Mother's house everywhere. You can see the problem I'm sure, I can't do much cleaning with all the stuff around and I can't do anything with all of the stuff until we finish up. My sister and I plan to have yard sales both here and at her house. I guess we'll donate what doesn't sell as neither of us want more stuff, in fact, we're planning on putting lots of our own things in the sales, too. I hope to sew up the sofa one last time and put it out to sell along with my chair and the other dog chewed easy chair in the living room.

I do know that this will all get sorted out and fixed in time, it's just that I'd like it finished NOW! The only two places here at home that I can go that are clean and ordered are the kitchen and the back patio...well, my bathroom, too (I try not to go in there too often as there's a really big mirror!). It'll be nice to reclaim the house!

It's Easter

2010-04-04T06:18:00.000-04:00

We buried Mother a week ago today. Even typing that doesn't seem real. My sister and I have spent countless hours going through her things and find that very depressing. Going through 84+ years of someone's personal stuff is just awful! It seems that she saved everything...every scrap of paper, every letter, every Christmas card, etc. We've not made great headway, but know we'll finish at some point. We plan to give most of her clothing to Wag The Dog. This is our local Humane Society's thrift shop. They should bring in some good money for them. The silver and crystal we hope to sell along with her jewelery. Mother left everything to our stepfather (the house and the place in the mountains), so if we are to realize anything it will be from the crystal, silver and jewelery. With the economy in the state it's in I don't know if there's much of a market for that sort of stuff or not. Neither of us want any of it.

Spring is just beartiful this year. Everything is now in full bloom and is breath-taking. I spent 7 hours yesterday putting out some colorful annuals and that felt good. All of the rain we had earlier this year really brought out the weeds, some totally unfamiliar ones, too!

I want to build some raised beds for vegetables, not sure how to go about it though. Wish I had someone to help.

Mother April 23, 1925 - March 26, 2010

2010-03-28T06:54:00.000-04:00

Mother died at 3:35 Friday morning...she was less than a month shy of her 85th birthday. Even though I know in my heart that this was for the best and expected, it came as a shock and it hurts.

On Wednesday of last week the nursing home called my sister at work and told her that Mother had taken a turn for the worse, they were unable to get a pulse, blood pressure reading or an oxygen reading. She called me and I met her at the nursing home. Mother was alive, but comotose. We met with the Hospice nurse and the nursing home nurse and they told us it wasn't looking good, but that you never know... We stayed most of the afternoon. Mother was unresponsive and had no idea we were there. We were told that there was no reason to stay and that they would call if there was any change.

Because my sister had jury duty on Thursday and was out of pocket I called the nursing home early Thursday morning to see how the night had gone and to see if I needed to go to Tallahassee. I was shocked when her nurse told me that Mother had roused in the middle of the night and hollered and made a general ruckus that woke several of the folks there and that she was sitting up and having breakfast. Sounded much better!

When my sister finished with her jury duty she went by the Nursing home and found Mother in the same state that she had been in when we were with her on Wednesday, but there was a cup of broth on her tray.

Friday morning before 5 (I'm not sure exactly what time) I woke to the dogs barking their heads off and my doorbell ringing and ringing. It was my friend Ann. My sister had called her because she couldn't wake me by phone (I sleep on my good ear). Anyway, Ann told me that Mother had died and I needed to call my sister at the nursing home, which I did. I met her at our step-father's house.

To make a long and rather boring story a bit shorter I'll just say that Thursday I made 2 trips to Tallahassee and that in between there were countless phone calls, etc. Yesterday was filled with same. Today we bury her.

updates

2010-03-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

Lunch yesterday with two old friends was delightful! We picked up friendships where we left off years and years ago as if the years inbetween had never happened! It was all too brief however. I hope we'll do this again before too long!

I had dinner with Leah Jane...we had left-overs from Ann's birthday dinner last weekend. Everything was still delicious.

Mother is now under Hospice care. They will augment the care the nursing home is providing and do periodic reevaluations of her condition. No drugs or invasive care will be used. As the Hospice lady pointed out to my sister some people live for years under Hospice care, some don't.

I'm sitting here listening to Mercy snore. Not only is she a master purrer, she's a master snorer!

It's a little chilly this morning...the furnace has cut on a couple of times and the thermostat is set on 58!

Changes

2010-03-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness, Spring does seem to finally be here! We are still in the high 30s to low 40s in the early mornings, but it's warming up to the 60s in the day time. I have had to use the little heaters a bit, mostly in the bathroom when I shower, but mainly I'm not using heat and it's so nice!

The first few azaleas are starting to bloom. They are always spotty at first and then seem to just all burst open at once. I love that! The Japanese magnolias are still blooming as are the red buds. Bulbs are blooming everywhere and everything looks so festive! Oh, and the blueberry bush is just covered with blooms!

Yesterday I got just a bit of Spring cleaning fever. I cleaned the front porch and back porch as well as the French doors inside and out. It's amazing how much better that make one feel...then I Swiffered the ceiling and walls in my bedroom. It looks like it has a fresh coat of paint!

Today I'm having lunch with two old friends...one of whom I see fairly often because she moved back to town right after I did and one I haven't seen in 42-43 years! We were majorettes together a hundred years ago! This should be fun.

As of Tuesday I no longer have a job. That's good news and not so good news...I don't feel like going into it too much, just that I was told to "take early retirement". Will be paid for 6 weeks with insurance. The first few days have been sorta odd, but it'll be fine.

The nursing home has called for a Hospice evaluation of Mother. When I find out the outcome I'll let you know.

Oh, a hint of spring!

2010-03-07T13:01:00.000-05:00

The past few days have been glorious! The nights have been in the 20s, but the days have been sunny, clear and beautiful! I've turned the heaters off and opened the back door several days in a row come around noonish! Lovely!

Yesterday Leah Jane and Max (her dog) and Norma and Maggie (her dog) came over for a visit. We sat outside on the patio for around 3 hours and noshed and drank wine. We had such a nice time visiting and laughing...the wonderful weather made it so special! All of the animals got along quite well, but Maggie wanted to chase cats. Jazzy was having fits every time Maggie went after one of "her" cats and would shoulder bump Maggie and growl at her. They finally worked it out and the cats were none the worse for wear!

No change in Mother. Bert's doing remarkably well, can drive again starting tomorrow!

A Bert report

2010-03-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Bert, my 92 year old step-father had a (aortic?) stent put in today. I didn't know about it until it was all over. My step-sister called a little while ago from the hospital and told me about it. It seems Bert was having extreme pressure in his chest and shortness of breath and went to the hospital today about it. His doctor was on call and opted for the stent. I talked to my step-sister, my step-brother-in-law and to Bert tonight. He's doing extremely well and will be going home tomorrow. I asked him who would be staying with him and he said either he'd stay at his daughter's house or she would stay with him for the night, but that after that he'd be on his own. I asked what I could do and was told that tomorrow was when he was going to see Mother at the nursing home, so I'll be doing that for him...doesn't seem like a lot of help to me.

The only thing in life we can be sure of is change!

A little bit of nothing

2010-03-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

There's really nothing to blog about right now, but I just didn't want you to think I'd fallen off the face of the earth!

The 2 major earthquakes recently have truely been horrible! I was listening to NPR this morning and Diane Reems had two experts on her show. They were talking about the world-wide effects these major quakes will have. The one that stuck in my little one brain cell was that this latest quake (8.8 on the Ricter scale) was large enough to affect the earth's rotation! The amount of affect and resulting consequences have not been calculated or published yet, but will be! And, we thought global warming was a problem!

I was in Tallahassee Saturday and breakfasted with my sister. That was nice! Then I went to Walmart to do my monthly pet food shopping. While I was there I decided to get 2 new litter boxes as the 2 I had were quite old and one had a bad crack in the bottom and I had it sitting in a cardboard box! Well, I'm here to tell you that cats don't make changes too well! After throwing the old boxes away and cleaning the area well I put the two new litter boxes down in the same spots and filled them with new litter. The cats (dogs, too) had watched what I was doing with great interest and I had no inkling that there would be a problem. Well, you'd have thought I'd cut their tails off or something! Those 4 cats walked through the house yowling and carping and being generally pitiful! Finally after about half an hour of this I tossed 3 of them outside and left Mercy in. Finally she very grudgingly used one of the boxes and declared it good. Later the other 3 came in and made friends with the boxes, too. Whew! That was an ordeal!

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful! Sunshine and a light breeze with the temp in the high 60s. I left the back door open all day and, of course had no heat on. Well, today it's raining and overcast and dark and chilly. Do you think Spring is really just around the corner? Our town's beginning to look a little like Spring. The Japanese magnolias (the white and pink and purple ones) are all blooming. Redbuds are blooming and bulbs are blooming everywhere. Just enough to really hint at Spring! And then it'll be Summer...ouch!

I didn't watch the Olympics. There was enough on the news and on the computer to keep me as informed as I wanted to be. The good ol' USA did good! Now that they are over my regular tv programing can go back to normal, thank goodness! The Biggest Loser is tonight. Since we missed two week of it because of the games do you think the contestants will have lost even more weight or maybe gained from sitting around watching the Olympics?

As I said, not much news. Will post again when I have a bit more to say.

Mother, etc.

2010-02-20T06:26:00.000-05:00

My sister and I met at the nursing home at 1pm yesterday. Mother was having lunch in the small dining room with an attendant assisting her. She didn't know me. My sister and I went out to the garden and had a cigarette while waiting for lunch to be finished. When we got back inside Mother was asleep in her wheelchair. We didn't wake her, but did talk to some of the staff about her and they were getting ready to put her to bed when we left.

The weather seems to be moderating some. Yesterday was the first morning in a long time that the temperature wasn't in the 20s or teens when I got up. This morning it's a balmy 34...really it's amazing that that feels better, not really warm, but better. The afternoons are getting up to the mid to upper 50s and that's actually spured me into doing some yard work. I'm planning on cutting back all of the crape myrtles this afternoon. This seems early in the year to me to be cutting them back, but it's being done all over town and this town does have the MOST beautiful crape myrtles in the world!

Shirley's better.

I got 2 (buy one get one free!) of those Emory Cats you see advertised on TV. The cats LOVE them! Goodness often lays on one and drools and at any given moment you can find Mercy clawing away on one. The two little cats haven't gotten much of a chance to use them, but I suppose they'll work it out.

Monday Jazzy turned 2 years old. She really has matured so much this past year, but she still has a long way to go. A few months ago I recovered the arms of my recliner because the puppies had chewed them down to the wood. Tuesday Jazzy opened one up and unstuffed it!

Damn animals!

Global Warming?

2010-02-11T11:50:00.000-05:00

It's mighty cold here, but expected to get colder with snow actually in our forecast for tomorrow! I have the thermostat set on 58 degrees at night and the furnace ran all night last night! I sure hope this newest cold snap doesn't empty the propane tank...I can't afford to fill it again this year!

Financially this month is one of my most challanging. I pay my car insurance twice a year and this was the month! Anytime I have to fork out over $400.00 it almost kills me, even though I try to put some of the Social Security aside each month for just that sort of thing. You know, you can only stretch $719 so far!

Luckly I don't need to lay in supplies for the snow tomorrow! That's something else I try to do right along. I will stop and get kitty litter (as I'm out), bread and some ground beef...I'm thinking a pot of chili would hit the spot!

This "global warming" thingy is something, isn't it?

Baby sister's birthday!

2010-02-02T07:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my baby sister turned 61! Can you imagine? I'm not sure just how that happened...

We played bridge last night at my sister's house in Tallahassee. For supper she created a major spread of cold cuts and cheeses for sandwiches and had a big pot of bean and bacon soup. I ended up bringing half of my sandwich home and just ate it for breakfast. I made sure the others knew it was her b'day and everyone brought gifts and we had cake and ice cream and it was quite festive! For the first time since I began playing with the girls I didn't have the lowest score, in fact this time I was HIGH score! It was 10 to 10 before I got home and I had a horrible time getting to sleep, I guess I was keyed up from winning! And it's off to work this morning. Ish!

Rain overnight, warmish temps.

Yet again

2010-01-30T11:18:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning around 4:30 with the wind howling, maga thunder and lighting and rain coming down in buckets! I huddled under animals and the cover until around 5:00, but then the power started flickering on and off, so I got up and dashed to the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot, just in case it went out completely. It's always nice to have coffee in a storm even if it's cold! After feeding the animals I made a pot of spaghetti sauce and cooked up some pasta, I can always eat cold spaghetti!

By 7:00 this morning things had let up a bit and the power seemed stable so I put on a load of laundry. Funny how storms seem to make me much more industrious!

It's 11:16 now and the wind is calm with occasional gusts and it's only drizzling rain. I feel like I've already done a full day's work, so I may spend the remainder of it in front of the tv with a book! Sounds like a plan to me!

Storms

2010-01-25T10:58:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday was a really wild weather day! Officially we got 8.52 inches of rain in about 4 hours. As luck, or lack of thought, would have it I was out driving in my little Honda during the worst of the storm. We lost power at work and since there was nothing for my to do I made my run to town, to the bank and the post office. I waded through running water up to my knees at the post office and even though I had an umbrella both the mail and I got soaking wet. When I got back to the office I was shaking so badly that it was hard to distribute the sloppy mail! I'm not sure if I was shaking from being so wet and cold or from the absolutely wild drive back from town! Probably a combination of both! The trip back to the office was really a knuckle whitener with water above my headlights in a couple of places and sheets of water from one side of the highway, across the median and over the other side. On hind sight it might have made more sense to wait until the next day for the mail, but the storm wasn't so bad when I left for town! I stayed at work as long as possible, but did leave a little after noon. I was so cold and so wet!

When I got home (it was still storming) the first thing I did was get out of my shoes...I actually poured water from them! Today is Monday and as of yesterday my shoes are still wet, I've not checked them today.

Yesterday we had another storm, nothing as wild as Thursday, but really windy and rainy with tornado watches until after 1:00 this morning. We lost power several times, but the longest was only about 30 minutes, just long enough to gather battery operated things and light candles! I waited until this morning to reset the clocks.

Thankful

2010-01-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

I was thankful when I woke before dawn this morning covered in sweat. My fever had broken and I was still alive. When I turned my bedside lamp off last night I wondered if I'd wake up today...I felt that bad. Today is much better, I'm still achy and very tired, but much better. Thank goodness! I even left the back door open so the animals could get out if something happened to me and, for that matter, so anyone who happened to check on me could get in.

Forgivness

2010-01-16T11:33:00.000-05:00

The rain is lightly batheing everything that the cruel freeze of two weeks tortured & browned, as if asking forgivness. For many things it's too late. Some of the plants are probably gone for good, but some, the rosemarys, lavender, irises and azaleas are reaching tall and appear to be saying "yes, yes we forgive".

It is quite mild today. The themometer registers 54 degrees on the carport and compared to the past few weeks it feels warm.. The space heaters are unplugged and the thermostat for the furnace is set very low so as not to kick in. The back door is open and the clean smell of rain is replacing the stale smell of a closed up house filled with animals and illness.

I'm still in bed with 2 dogs and an asmaticly purring cat. My temperature isn't as high as it's been the past few days, but perhaps running a fever is contributing to the feeling of warmth today.

I'm longing for ginger ale. I feel well enough that I could go out and get it, but as long as I have a fever I could infect someone. That's probably how I got this, someone trying to take care of themself and not thinking about passing it on to someone else. I know that Leah Jane would go out in this mess for me, but she's 75 years old and I can't ask that of her. My sister would bring me whateve I need, but I can't have her drive from Tallahassee in this messy weather for ginger ale!

I think I'll make a pitcher of sweet tea. That should slake this yearning. We'll see.

Sick

2010-01-15T08:11:00.000-05:00

I've been sick for several days. H1N1....how 'bout them apples? Cough, running nose, headache, body aches, chills and fever. Today I'm breathing better, but still achy and chills & fever.

SE Propane filled my tank after 6:30 Monday evening. I still had 30% in the tank...I'm truly miserly with the heat. $255.00...thank goodness I've been anticipating this and had socked some money aside for it.

Read a good book yesterday, Roses by Leila Meacham. 609 pages, but had nothing else to do. Good read, I recommend it.

Can't type much longer...arms ache and head hurts. Cold right now, will be sweltering soon.

Records right and left!

2010-01-11T08:35:00.000-05:00

This is our 10th day in a row of record low temps here in North Florida. It's 15 degrees right now and that's down right cold! The Dawn dishwashing liquid under the sink in the kitchen isn't liquid! It froze last night, no telling what else is frozen under there, but it's just too chilly to worry about right now.

The animals are staying in most of the time. Mercy hasn't been outside in days and days. The dogs have on both their sweaters and their jackets and usually stay huddled with each other or the cats or both! The two youngest cats just can't stand to be inside and yowl to go out, but are back inside in record time!

Yesterday afternoon a neighbor came over needing a lever to close off his water main, he had a pipe burst. I don't have what he needed. I'm dripping the outside pipes and have the water inside dripping too. I'm hoping that's enough.

While sitting in my chair in the living room yesterday, dressed in multiple layers and a cap and scarf with a wool lap throw and 2 cats and a dog in my lap, I was COLD! I could feel a cold breeze coming in from the French doors in the funny room and through the large living room windows. The lr windows had wooden blinds and purple shears over them, but it felt as if they were open and uncovered! Last year I bought some purple velvet drapes (everytime Ruth and I talked she'd ask if I'd hung them yet). I didn't hang them because I didn't have the rod, etc. and frankly didn't think I could do it myself. Well, I'm here to tell you that I now have them hanging over the living room windows (took me a bit of awkward effort and still don't have the rod, etc) and the relief was immediate. I took the purple shears and threaded them onto a bamboo fishing pole and nailed 4 nails in the trim over the door between the funny room and the living room and hung those puppies up there. Again relief. I wish Ruth were still here so I could tell her that I hung the drapes, she'd be so proud!

Today Southeast Propane is suppose to fill the propane tank. I think there's still about 25-30% in there and I've really tried not to use it. The thermostat is on 62 (I'd been keeping it on 58, but that's too cold for me) and I am using 2 space heaters that don't really make it warm, but provide little pockets of warmth that are greatly appreciated by the animals and me! Anyway, back to SE Propane...I think they aren't nice folks. In fact, I think they are cheaters. I called them last Tuesday to get propane and they quoted one price to fill the tank and another to just get a partial tank...that doesn't seem fair. Then she asked how much I have in the tank and when I said about 30% she did some figuring and said they couldn't fill it until today. I think that's so I could use up the gas in the tank and they could fill it to the brim and make more money! On Friday they filled my next door neighbor's tank and also filled Leah Jane's (she lives right down the street) and she didn't want her's filled!...hadn't even called them and doesn't have an agreement to have if filled reguarly. Now, they were all over me and didn't fill my tank...something's wrong with this picture! Leah Jane's bill is right at $500! Oh God, that'll wipe me out!

Brrr!

2010-01-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

Boy howdy, it's cold! Low 20s and the prediction for Wed. night is 9 degrees with snow! How 'bout them apples? And, this is Florida, North Florida, but Florida never the less!

I knocked the temperature on the thermostat back a bit to 57 degrees...just can't afford the propane, but would like to keep the house above freezing! I'm afraid to leave the little space heaters plugged in while I'm not home and when I'm in bed for that matter, but I can't let the temp drop too far!

Looking toward the New Year

2009-12-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

Christmas is over and I feel much better having survived it. My sister and I met our step-father, step-sister and step-brother-in-law for dinner Christmas day at the Waukulla Springs Lodge. As usual the lodge was beautiful, the food bountiful and the company quite enjoyable. Bert went ahead and made reservations for dinner next year...nothing like planning ahead!

I do hope to get a grip on myself before next Christmas. I can't keep having this depression, it's depressing!

Can you believe that 2010 is less than a week away! How can that be? I suwanee it was 1963 just a year or so ago! Perhaps that explains some of this funk I've been in lately...40+ years ago I had so much I was looking forward to, plans, expectations and now I don't. Well, I am looking forward to Medicare coverage this next year...woopee! You think it'll still be available? Then what? Mother's not going to get any better, we're all going to be older, I'll probably still be alone and I think I'm getting fat!

Now on the plus side...

Mother update

2009-12-20T12:14:00.000-05:00

I met my sister in Tallahassee yesterday and we went to Village Inn for breakfast. I had the mushroom and swiss burger that I often have and my sister had the Denver omelet. We were delighted with the food, but were overwhelmed with the quanity...we got "to-go" boxes!

Then it was off to see Mother. When we got to the nursing home we found her in the dining room alone and asleep at the table. She had eaten all of her scrambled eggs and about half of her milk...the grits and toast were untouched. I hated to wake her, but did. She has developed this little high pitched falsetta type voice and actually squealed our names out...I thought she was going to cry. I suspect it's quite lonely in her head as she only remembers the past before the stroke and the now. I wonder how she puts the two together. Of course, she can't tell us. We gave her her Christmas gifts in the dining room and then took her to her room to sing Christmas songs...my sister had printed out a bunch of songs and we planned to regale her for an hour or so as we did once before. We only sang two songs (she sorta sang along, too) before she said that she had to "go home" (to bed) and that we should leave. We let an aide know that mother wanted to go to bed and left.

From the nursing home we went to World Market...possibly my favorite store...and finished up our Christmas Shopping. Then we went to one of those walk-in hair cut places and for $5.00 each we got our hair trimmed (since I've been cutting my hair I've been having trouble with the back and this girl neatened it up for me quite nicely!).

Then (all in the same strip mall as World Market) we went to a pet shop. My sister needed a harness and a sweater for Maria and Shirley and Jazzy needed sweaters.

From there it was off to Pier I Imports where we just browsed and acted like nuts and had a good time. Then home.

My sister gave me two of the largest lemons I've ever seen, Ponderosa lemons the size of really big grapefruits, from her tree! I have them sitting on the little island table in the kitchen and they are beautiful! Look like decorations! I hate to use them, but know I must.

All in all, it was a good day in Tallahassee and I was home by 1ish...not bad!

It's cold today. The dogs have on their sweaters with their coats on top. I have on so many layers that it's hard to reach the keyboard because my arms would actually rather just stick out to the sides! Freeze warning for tomorrow night.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is this coming Friday. I'll be glad when it's over. I have such seasonal depression each year for the holidays, but for some reason it's much worse this year. I could cry at the drop of a hat! I know I'll get over it, it's just hard going through it. I go through all of the motions and I really don't think anyone knows.

Just when you think it's over...

2009-12-17T10:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the sun poked his head out for a few minutes a couple of times and it was a beautiful sight! I was even able to leave the back door open for most of the day. Now the weatherman is putting rain back in our forecast...not just rain, but downpours, storms!

Last Saturday was bridge. It was my turn to host and being that this house is in such a state of disrepair, I opted to have bridge at Tupelo's. Except that the rain was actually coming down in sheets, the day was lovely. We met at 10:30 and they kicked us out at 2:15! We all had quiche and a salad for lunch which, as always, was wonderful. I took goodies to snack on and the coffee pot was bottomless. We exchanged gifts and all in all had a great time!

Of course, since it was raining I left the dogs in the house. Not too much was done, but Jazzy had shreaded all of the paper in the trash can in the bedroom (all over the house) and she almost finished emptying the stuffing out of one of the pillows in the living room. Nothing too dramatic was done, but there was a lot to clean up.

This coming Saturday my sister and I will visit Mother and take the opportunity to do some last minute shopping...I still need to find something little for some of the folks at work...everything else is done. No decorations this year, except for the wreath that Bert sent on the front door, 2 Christmas cards on the mantle and a centerpiece on the dining room table. That's just about right, a little festive and quite easy to undo!

I sure hope we don't wash away tonight and tomorrow as the ground is super-saturated and several inches of rain are predicted. Cross your fingers for us!

Odd weather!

2009-12-09T09:10:00.000-05:00

When the furry children and I got up at 5 this morning it was 70 something degrees outside and I found that my flannel sheets and flannel pajamas were much too much! The past several days it's been quite cold and look at it now! However, the powers that be say the temperature will be dropping as the day goes on and that by sundown it will be in the low 60s to high 50s and it's down from there. There's another storm front moving in and the rain we had overnight (and now) is just a prelude of things to come, so it's batten down the hatches one more time!

This coming Saturday is my day to host the bridge group from Tallahassee that I've been playing with for the past few months. Boy is my game pitiful! As my house is in a total state of disrepair what with ladders everywhere, wallpaper hanging in the dining room and partially painted walls I asked one of our local restuarants if we could play there...thank goodness thay said yes! So we'll be meeting there for a day of it! Should be great fun!

I ordered winter coats for Shirley and Jazzy a week or so ago and they arrived just in time for this last cold snap. I worried about Jazzy wearing a coat, but she loves it and gets so excited when I put it on her. Of course when she rolls around in the yard everything sticks to the coat and then it's right into the house! They do look so cute in their matching outfits!

I made beef stroganoff for supper yesterday. It's very tasty and I've piles of left-overs. That's a good thing!

Stormy, stormy weather

2009-12-03T08:02:00.000-05:00

Quite a storm came through yesterday. Actually it came through in two parts, part 1 being the worse. At one point it rained so hard that I had a leak over the front door that leaked into the house! The house was completely surrounded by standing water, both the carport and patio were flooded. The only thing above water was the front walk and it seemed like a path to the rest of the world! Before the 2nd part of the storm hit the water receeded and left a sea of mud in its wake. This morning everything still looks quite wet, but it isn't raining!

All of the animals were underfoot all day yesterday. I couldn't shift in my chair with out everyone standing up ready to follow me to where ever I might head. I tripped over several of them more than once, but thank goodness never fell, of course the fall would have been cushioned by many animal bodies!

Naturally I made a pot of soup. Can't have a storm without soup! Cream of mushroom and chicken soup with a pound of mushrooms, half a baked chicken, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, Etheopian mixed spices, terregon, salt/pepper and noodles. Is to die for!

The weather today is forecast to be clear and chilly. It's not expected to get out of the 50s. Then rain is back tomorrow and Saturday. Sigh.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

Today is the day to reflect on the true blessings we all have as Americans. Often it's easy to forget just what we have,"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", along with many other freedoms. We are truely blessed to have this wonderful country that our forefathers had the vision to create.

The animals and I will celebrate today with just ourselves. My sister and I agreed that neither of us wished to leave our homes or animals and that we'd each just stay home. I have the makings of a mini-feast that I'll start cooking in a little while and then I intend to over-eat the rest of the day!

It's quite cool this morning, mid 40s, but we have a taste of winter coming in later today and mid to low 30s are in the forecast for the next several nights! I just laid out some wonderful flannel sheets and a blanket that I plan to put on the bed today and even though I keep the thermostate quite low (60 degrees) it's comforting to know that the propane tank is over half full!

We (the animals and I) are all very well, safe and happy. I hope everyone can say that about themselves!

I stumbled onto some interesting blogs...

2009-11-18T08:10:00.000-05:00

While surfing blogspot I stumbled onto several interesting blogs that I want to share. They all have one thing in common, some really yummy sounding recipes.

Here goes:

bakinglikebetty.blogspot.com

thepathwetravel.blogspot.com

crockpot365.blogspot.com (homemade yogurt in a crockpot!)

funkyfoodallergies.blogspot.com

anothermamakitchen.blogspot.com

prendy.blogspot.com

makearoux.blogspot.com

kimfromthesouth.blogspot.com (sweetness & light muffins with several veriations)

I printed out some of the recipes, but since I don't know how to select just a section to print I ended up printing 2 whole blogs and ran out of ink. I'll just bookmark them all and read when I need inspiration!

The kindness of friends

2009-11-18T07:19:00.000-05:00

Last week in the aftermath of the stormy rains from Ida a huge Spanish moss draped limb came crashing down from one of the "old grove" pecan trees in the back yard. Fortunately, even though the tree is right next to the shed, the limb fell away from it, but hung up in the dogwoods bordering the area back there way up off the ground!

Yesterday one of the fellows from work brought one of his workmen and a front end loader and after a couple of mishaps (a chunk of it fell on his shoulder, skinned it up pretty badly) they were able to get the majority of it down, cut up and hauled out to the road...took several loads in the front end loader. There is still a very large piece hung up there, but it's wedged quite securely and isn't threating any of the area.

Thank goodness for the kindness of friends!

My Review of Ajara Foyer Table

2009-11-14T09:03:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at Cost Plus World Market

The Craftsman construction of the Ajara Collection fits any space with this narrow Ajara Foyer Table. Place it near the door and you'll always have a handy place to set your bundle of mail. The center drawer is a nice spot for house keys. Its warm, gently distressed finish brings a hint of ant...

Wonderful table

By bamajane from Monticello, FL on 11/14/2009

Pros: Durable, Solid Construction

Best Uses: Informal

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

Primary use: Personal

I bought this table to use in a very small, narrow kitchen as an island of sorts. It is wonderful, just what I needed! Even though the directions that came with it for assembly said have two people, I did it all by myself (I'm a small 64 yr old woman) and had it completely assembled in under 15 mins! The hardest part was unpacking! Love the table and am thinking of getting another for the back hall.

(legalese)

At odds

2009-11-04T06:39:00.002-05:00

Today begins my second week of 5 days off and 2 days on at work. Last week I gave myself such a pep talk about all of the things I could get done, but I didn't do much. Well, that's not exactly true, I did all of the regular things, bathroom, sweeping/vacuuming, laundry, that sort of stuff, but my list of big projects has barely been touched. I hope to tackle at least one big project every week, but where to start? The wallpaper in the dining room is still hanging around, the carpet in the bedroom still needs cleaning, the funny room is still partially painted and my work room!!! I did get the work room started, but there's still so much to do! It's hard to get much done with my fingers crossed, but I'm crossing them in the hope that something will happen and I'll get off my bum and DO IT!

Mother update

2009-10-31T12:36:00.002-04:00

My sister and I had breakfast at our usual place this morning and it was quite good! Awfully good service too...you know, that can make or break a meal!

From there we went to see Mother. We were both amazed! This was the most lucid we've seen her since the stroke. She was vaguely discontented, but any partially aware person would be in her circumstance. She said that everyone is good to her there and that there was nothing in particular the matter. The 3 of us sat in the garden and visited for about an hour and she said it was time to go in. While we were out there several gaggles of geese flew over honking loudly. She was able to see them and hear them and enjoyed that a lot. We left her in the dining room where they were setting up for a Halloween party.

Grocery shopped and went by the Vet's office and still got home by noon. Not bad.

It's hot today, but the weatherman says that's gonna change! Thank goodness!

Natalie Eades

2009-10-28T17:59:00.002-04:00

There's a little girl in our town with leukemia. Her name is Natalie Eades. I don't remember for sure how old she is, but it's 2ish. Her mother's sister, Allison, works where I work. This has been an ongoing thing for months and months and months. Please go to benjaminglenbishop.blogspot.com to read more about this remarkable child and the struggle she and her family have been going through. You can also go to carepages.com and put in Our Natalie for updates.

Less work

2009-10-28T10:47:00.002-04:00

Well, something happened at work yesterday that I've been worrying about. Hours were cut for all of the folks in the office that are clock punchers. The two full time girls were cut from 5 days to 3 days and I was cut from 3 days to 2 days. I'm worried that it'll be enough to pay for my insurance...if it is, there will be nothing at all left over.

Times are tough for everyone. I knew we were slow at work and obviously I could tell that the number of orders were way down...just didn't realize that my measly 5 hours that were cut would make enough of a difference. Must really be bad.

So now I'll be dipping into my emergency supplies...well, of course! That's what they are for! The only thing I haven't stockpiled is pet food and of course perishables. Everything should be okay.

Now if I'd only get off my duff and do something positive with this extra day at home!

Busy day

2009-10-23T08:30:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a busy day. I didn't plan it that way, but sometimes it just happens.

It began with a fellow coming to measure the roof for replacement...while he was up there he almost stepped through in a couple of places. One spot I suspected (there's a damp spot in the dining room) the other surprised me, it's over the spare room in the little part of the house. He'll get back with the estimate...hope it's soon!

While the fellow was on the roof he swept sections of it, so that created a pretty big job for me. I had to sweep the front porch and walkway. Not that that's such a big deal, but I'm still not 100% from that fibro attack and it felt like a big deal!

Before the roof fellow got here I started laundry and it was way into the afternoon before I finished as it had been several weeks since I'd done any. Sure feels good to have it done, but it's not all put away yet and I still need to change the bed and wash those sheets. Hope to do that today.

While I was out on the side porch doing something with the laundry the dogs went nuts. When I checked it out there was a strange truck in the driveway with two men. Turned out they were at the wrong house, but I knew one of them. They'd been fishing and had a cooler overflowing with mullet just caught. They gave me two really pretty ones and went on their way. that was awfully nice, but these were whole, uncleaned fish and it's probably been 30 years since I've cleaned a fish and never a mullet.

I scaled them inside a plastic grocery bag in the kitchen sink and that turned out pretty well with very little mess, but then when I cut the heads of there was more blood that I expected and the insides were interesting, too. Mullet are quite different that brim! Anyway, then I filleted them and put them in a brine in the fridge. Later made cheese grits and a salad then dried the fillets and dipped them in a seasoned flour, beaten egg/water and then in cornmeal. Fried them up in canola oil and then had quite the unexpected feast! Talk about wonderful! Just finished fish and cheese grits topped with diced tomatoes for breakfast! Yummy!!!!!

My to do list is bottomless.

2009-10-19T07:35:00.003-04:00

Going to work today. Not feeling wonderful, but so much better than I've felt for the last week or two.

It's 36 degrees this morning. Awfully cold. Can't turn the furnace on as I've not had it checked out and the pilot light lit...got the space heaters out last night. Ran them long enough to get the thermostat up to 65. Used one in the bathroom this morning to shower.

Can't leave the dogs out in this. If it were sun shiny I would, but it's dark. Maybe I can come by and put them out on my morning run. We'll see.

2009-10-16T09:22:00.002-04:00

I've felt awful for so long that I've almost forgotten what it feels like to feel good. Yesterday I found out what the problem is...Fibromyalgia. I understand there's no cure for this and the current drugs on the market are scary with side effects that I certainly don't want to deal with. The only answer to date is to learn to live with it...what else can one do?

Our weather is going to be grand starting tonight! Low 70s for highs and 50s for lows. How perfect is that? We had a big storm last night that lasted until about 2 hours ago with high winds, lightening and booming thunder that caused the dogs to burrow deep into the bed!

My sister wants to go to the 2nd fish fry at the Methodist Church in Waukeenah tonight. I think I'll be able to go. I'd like to go. We'll see.

Hot, hot, hot

2009-10-09T07:13:00.002-04:00

Wow! talk about unusual weather! Last week was luscious! Highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s, Fall! Well, this week is July in October. Highs in the upper 90s and lows in the mid 70s! Talk about a very unwelcomed switch! The weatherman just said that this trend will hold until early next week. Ick!

No particular news about Mother. Nancy and I saw her Saturday and she seemed the same. Bert is visiting with her daily and thinks she doing great. Last night Uncle Buddy called and wanted to know what's going on. Bert had called him and told him we had the feeding tube removed. Well, as you know, in order to have a feeding tube or any other life saving device removed it takes a court order. That's not what happened. The staff at the nursing home don't know how the tube came out, but it did. Neither the staff or the family had anything to do with the removal, but we elected not to reinsert it. Mother's living will (which we found after the fact) was very clear about no artificial means being used if something like this stroke (or anything else) happened. She is able to both eat and drink, in fact she's able to feed herself. The feeding tube has kept her from feeling hunger and she has only picked at food. Perhaps now she'll eat.

I feel like I'm defending our decision. Maybe I am, but I'm convinced that it was the right one.

I also talked with Aunt Betty last night. It's the first time I've heard her voice in years, but I'd know it anywhere! She sounds great, but when I asked her how she's doing she told me that she's on a walker and does have a lot of trouble getting around. But, she added, the walker's RED and that does help, it makes her happy!

Well, about a minute ago NASA crashed a probe into the surface of the Moon's south pole. They are looking for water. I went out to see if the moon's still there, but the fog's so thick that I can barely see the roof of the house much less the moon.

Well, lets see what tomorrow brings!

Mother update

2009-10-03T10:23:00.002-04:00

Just got home from Tallahassee.

Mother's feeding tube came out this week. We don't know how, did she perhaps pull it out herself? We'll never know just what happened. The staff nurses at the nursing home tried a couple of times to reinsert it and couldn't, so she was scheduled for surgery to have another one put in. Neither my sister nor I wanted the tube in the first place and Mother's living will states that she didn't want a tube either. The original feeding tube was put in shortly after Mother had the stroke at Bert's urging and before we found her living will. The tube was replaced once already and both my sister and I think that another surgery is the last thing Mother needs. So, after soul searching and a talk with Mother's doctor, my sister (she's Mother's medical surogate) told the nursing home not to have the tube replaced. We were told that "nature will take its course" and that she won't be getting the fluids or nourishment a normal body needs. This could take as long as 2 years.

Reconnected once more!

2009-10-01T11:58:00.002-04:00

The fellow who fixed my computer brought it by late yesterday. I had really dreaded putting it all back together, but when he offered to do it I said yes, of course. It actually took him less than one minute...would have taken me quite a while. What a relief! Anyway, he said the computer had a worm. That's why it just gradually went down hill and finally died. So now I have a new hard drive and a pristine computer, it's taking me a while to find stuff, but I'm sure I will.

The weather is absolutely wonderful! It was 50 when I got up at 5 this morning and at 7 it was 48! Love it!

Went to the Rare Door for breakfast this morning and then ran some errands. Got home in time to take Jazzy in for her rabies shot. Weighed her and she's 41 pounds!

So now I'm in for the duration, well sort of. Norma called and we're doing dinner tomorrow night. Haven't done that for a while, so I guess it's about time.

Sat down and paid all my bills this morning on the computer. It's really, really nice to have it back!

Oh drat!

2009-09-28T11:42:00.002-04:00

DRAT, DRAT, DRAT!!!!!

My computer died Saturday. It had been acting funny, sluggish and balky and then it died. So I have it in the back seat of the car and the fellow who works on these computers at work is going to come and get it and try to do something with it for me. Oh I hope he can fix it and that it doesn't cost too much! It's absolutely amazing how empty my life feels without the dumb computer!

However, I really do get a lot more done at home. I sanded the carport door and got two coats of rust neutralizer on it. I'll paint it maybe next weekend.

Then I started the biggest project of all, the WORK ROOM!

I took 2 large garbage cans and 4 black plastic bags of stuff out to the street yesterday along with a gigantic lamp shade. I can actually walk around in the work room and see stuff! I had boxes of stuff I hadn't unpacked from Orlando as well as some I hadn't unpacked from my move into the house a little over 4 years ago! Now, of course, the dining room is filled with empty boxes...not sure if I'm going to put them out with the recycling stuff or just take them to the dump...they have cardboard bins there. I'll think about that another day.

It's finally cooling down outside! It's not supposed to get out of the 80s for the next week or so and a few night are supposed to be in the low 50s! Yeah!!!!! This should help with the power bill.

You know, I was thinking last night that I don't know how to pay my bills without a computer! Wild isn't it?

Fish fry

2009-09-25T19:11:00.002-04:00

Just got home from the Waukeenah Methodist Church fish fry! Talk about good!!!!! Had fried mullet, cheese grits, slaw, baked beans, hush puppies and unsweet tea. Couldn't eat my pound cake, so I brought it home! Since Waukeenah is about half way between my house and my sister's house we met there and sat with a bunch of old friends that just happened to be there at the same time. It was great!

Took Shirley to the vet to have her rabies shot this afternoon and to have her nails clipped. She has lost 2 pounds! I've really been working hard on her diet and it's good to know that it's working. She needs to lose about 3 more pounds and I need to lose about 30!

The door from the carport is rusting something terrible! So yesterday I got some rust neutralizer from Lowe's and some paint. I'm going to try to fix it tomorrow. Not sure if I need to sand it first or not...guess it couldn't hurt. Cross your fingers that it works, it really looks horrible!

2009-09-24T05:52:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was spent doing little things, things that are so easy to put off 'til tomorrow.

I started by washing candle containers...now this sounds like such a simple thing, but as I use coffee beans in these glass containers it was a little more complicated...in fact one of the larger ones is topped off with potpourri, so I had to fish out the dried stuff first and then the candles and then pour the coffee beans into a colander so I could shake the dust off. The potpourri went into a recycled brown bag to be shaken with a cloth that had lavender oil on it...then I was able to wash the glasses. It's amazing how much more light they put out when they're clean! Look much better, too!

Then, I went to work on my recliner. The puppies chewed the fabric and stuffing off of both arms leaving big chunks of ragged wood exposed and I've actually gotten splinters in my arms a couple of times! The chair has wooden arms topped with fabric covered wood things and I thought I could just unscrew the wood things and recover them and reattach...well, the best laid plans of mice and men... Number one snag was that no matter what I used I couldn't undo the screws. I even got my drill out and that didn't work. So I ended up adding padding and just stapling the fabric on the underside. The fabric I had chosen was a little colorful, but I liked the tone on tone of the reverse side and decided to use that. However when I started the stapling I reversed the reverse on the first arm and ended up with the color on top, so I just went ahead and did the same to the second arm...doesn't look too bad and no more splinters!

Made a beef stew with some certified organic stew beef that I ordered over the computer from White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, GA. I got several different cuts, some strip steaks, short ribs, stew beef, ground beef and it seems there was something else. Well, I mean to tell you, that that was the very best investment I've made in a while! The meat is wonderful, tender, lean, flavorful and almost seems like a new type of meat because it's so different from the stuff I buy in the grocery store. I will definitely order from them again! And, it's delivered right to my door!!!!!

I have some organic lettuce starts that I need to pot up. They are in six-packs in a cardboard box on the kitchen counter under florescent light for now and doing quite well, but they really need to get into something with a little more foot room (and out of the reach of the cats who seem to thing the lettuce is there for them!). I hope to do that today, but first I need to run up to Lowes in Thomasville, GA and pick up a couple of things, dirt being one of them!

Tuesday night was bridge in Tallahassee. Our hostess served sausage, black beans and rice and a really nice salad for supper and a fruit cocktail cake with ice cream for dessert. I know, "FRUIT COCKTAIL CAKE!!!", but really, it's wonderful! You actually don't know the fruit cocktail's in it and it's delightful! She sent me the recipe yesterday and I hope to make it and take it to work soon. Oh, and bridge was fun, too! I didn't win, but did much better than my norm. I think that's why they like for me to play with them...it makes everyone else look so much better!

There are so many little projects I'd like to take care of. I'll see what today brings!

Rain

2009-09-18T06:11:00.002-04:00

We have had enough! It has rained for days and nights for so long that I can't count the numbers. We have mosquitoes the size of birds and when the back door is opened they flock in in droves!

Funny, isn't it, that when we need rain we pray for it and when we think we've had enough we pray for it to be gone! Perhaps this is what religion really is, prayer for our needs.

The planters that I splurged to fill this past spring are pitiful. They had about 3 weeks of glory and the remainder of the summer have really had to struggle to live, much less bloom or produce. Rotten tomatoes, rotten peppers, rotten marigolds, rotten geraniums...you get the picture...not pretty is it? Funny, but the weeds are really doing quite well. Not sure what the name of the one that has tiny leaves and grows in a rosette pattern closely hugging the ground and strangles out everything it reaches is, but it's really flourishing, even in planters!

This hasn't been a good summer for gardening. When it wasn't flooding it was bone dry and awfully hot. Nothing in between. I remember a time in central FL when we could count on a pretty good rain around 3 every afternoon and sun the rest of the time. Now, if I could pray up the perfect gardening weather, that would be it for me! Now, I understand that this is north FL and it is different, but shouldn't prayer make up for the difference? Evidently not.

A rainy day in north Florida

2009-09-12T20:25:00.002-04:00

I left home around 7 this morning and went to Tallahassee to my sister's house. We decided to vary our regular breakfast routine and go to I-Hop instead of The Village Inn. I was tickled to see that they actually had a few seniors selections and we both ordered omelets with pancakes from that section. We were both slightly unhappy...the pancakes were very good, the omelets were quite dry. I think we'll try Denny's next time, but I really think we'll end up going back to The Village Inn...we usually get good service (we didn't the last time, however) and we always enjoy the food.

We went to the nursing home from breakfast...that's something you should never do on an empty stomach! Mother was asleep in her wheelchair at the breakfast table and we didn't stay long.

Publix was having a really good buy-one get-one-free sale and a bunch of things priced 10 for $10, so we went there from the nursing home. Bought a bit more than I should have, but really got some good deals!

I stopped for gas before I came home and saved 16 cents a gallon by gassing up in Tallahassee! I managed to get home right before the rain started and it hasn't stopped yet and it's after 8:30! We've had a bit of a dry spell lately so this is really welcomed!

Back among the living

2009-09-07T17:43:00.002-04:00

Today is the first time in a week or so that I've almost felt like myself. I still have 2 more days of the antibiotic to take...I took all of the steroid I'm gonna take, don't like the way it makes me feel, my heart races and I'm jittery on it.

No news to speak of. I did a couple of loads of laundry today and when I folded them to put them away it thought they were rather odd. I had 8 sets of underwear, 3 nightgowns, 3 pairs of pajamas, 3 extra pillow cases along with the sheets and pillow cases that I normally use on the bed and 2 towels. No clothes! I've been quite sick.

I almost missed Big Brother last night because I'd lost track of the days. If Leah Jane hadn't mentioned going to Church when she called I probably wouldn't have known it was Sunday.

We didn't work today and that was a blessing. I'm pretty sure I'll make it tomorrow.

Thank goodness for the computer and tv! I pretty much lived with one or the other then entire week. FaceBook is a life saver! Love it!

Neighbor things

2009-09-03T08:37:00.002-04:00

One day last week, I think it was Thursday, I heard a chain saw going 90 to nothing next door. A little later I went out to check the mail and saw a pretty big tree down on my hedge between my yard and his. Well, I waited and waited and the tree just sat there and I heard nothing from the neighbor about his intentions. So Tuesday I wrote a little note asking if he had any plans to clear the tree from my yard and Scotch tapped it to his front door. Later that afternoon he came over and told me that he had someone coming to take down some other trees and they would be getting the one in my yard, too. Late yesterday when I went out to check the mail and bring in the recycle bin I saw a young fellow with a chain saw clearing the mess out of my yard and hedge. I haven't been out to look at it yet, I don't feel good, but I'm sure it's much better!

I didn't go to work yesterday. I've been fighting a sore throat for a few days and when I got up yesterday my left ear was also involved and I really felt awful. I called my doctor's office and they finally called me back just a little while ago. I'm going in for a 12:45 appointment today. There is so much sickness (H1N1 included)going around right now and I really hate to go to the doctor's office, but this thing is only getting worse...I'd hoped it'd clear up on it's own...no such luck.

When I emptied my rain gauge on Tuesday it had 3 and 3/4 inches in it from 2 days of rain!

Tonight's Big Brother should really be exciting...both of my favorite players are on the chopping block!

Oh that Jazzy dog!

2009-08-30T08:01:00.002-04:00

Just when I think Jazzy is maturing she goes and does something awful. When I got up this morning the bed was covered with poly fiber fill....she'd chewed up the little child's quilt that she sleeps on on her side of the bed! I told her that I'd like to shoot her! Of course I really don't want to, but she doesn't know that. Damn dog!

Night before last around 2am both dogs woke me up by standing on the bed and growling. As soon as I lifted my head they both broke into barking and jumped from the bed and ran to the back door. I let them out and they both became quiet. I left them out for a few minutes and then called them in. Shirley came in, but Jazz wouldn't. So I got the flashlight and went out to try and herd her in to no avail. However, I discovered several large drops of wet blood on the patio and spatters in a couple of places. I flashed the light around both the fenced in area and the yard around the fence...saw nothing. Jazz was out by the large gate and wouldn't come to me nor would she go into the house, so I left her and went back to bed. After about an hour she barked to come in and went back to bed and to sleep. Yesterday I hosed the blood off the patio and walked the yard and found nothing. I have no idea what all of that was about.

What a nice birthday!

2009-08-28T07:40:00.003-04:00

Wednesday was my birthday and as much as I dreaded it, it turned out to be a really good one!

My day started with numerous birthday wishes on Facebook. Then they had a little party with a Snickers cake at work. When I got home from work my yard had been mowed and even though it had nothing to do with my birthday, I took it as a wonderful thing! Wednesday evening I went to Tallahassee to my sister's house for bridge. Bless her heart, she ordered out from Olive Garden and served cheese stuffed manicotti, a delicious beef dish, salad and bread sticks along with an absolutely beautiful chocolate cake with raspberry filling! Even though I was low man on the scoring for bridge it was just wonderful!

Yesterday it was back to Tallahassee for a birthday celebration with our step-father at Outback! Of course I ate much too much, but brought home a ton of food also! The crew there sang a happy birthday song and furnished a birthday sundae for three! Talk about good! Bert had an extremely funny birthday card for me and one that he got for me from Mother, along with a check and bags of Dove candy...one for my sister and one for me! Checked my mailbox when I got home and had an extremely funny birthday card from Bennett...a lovely way to cap off two very nice days of celebration!

Then last night at 8, Big Brother!!!!! It's getting to the end and the tension is really building. Can't wait for Sunday night's episode!

Thank goodness Survivor starts on the 17th...I must have my reality tv fix! And both The Biggest Loser and The Amazing Race start next month, too. Yeah!

Oh, and yesterday I donated my very large, heavy dining room table, 2 leaves and 6 chairs to a local restaurant. The two girls came in a rather small van and actually just the two of them managed to fit it all in! I was impressed! It was such a relief to give all of that away. It was much too big for my house and not my style at all. I moved the smaller, round table and 4 chairs into the dining room and it looks much better. And, the living room looks SOOOO much bigger with them out of there! Whew!

I'm wishing for new furniture for the living room. The puppies pretty much destroyed what's in there now. But I'm thinking I need to save some money and wait a bit. I left both Shirley and Jazzy inside when I went to Tallahassee Wednesday and when I got back Jazz had torn up a throw pillow and chewed a hole in the slipcover on the chair. She also chewed up a note pad and a tube of Chapstick...it was a mess when I walked in!

This is our second day and night of rain. Solid, steady rain. I feel totally hydrated and could use a little break!

Glorious weather!

2009-08-24T06:28:00.002-04:00

Today is supposed to be a carbon copy of yesterday and it was perfect! NO humidity, mid-80s and sunshine! This morning it's 60 degrees and lovely!

I'm not sure that it actually correlates, but for some reason I don't seem able to do housework when it's raining. But these past few days have seen some major scurrying around the house. I finally got all of the quilts and comforters from last winter washed and ready for the coming winter. Floors were vacuumed, swept and Swiffered (and then the Swiffer thingy fell apart!), dusting done and all sorts of odd jobs taken care of! And, I bathed both dogs! I'm not sure that dogs that smell like green apples is better than dirty dog smell or not.

Not much going on...work this morning.

2009-08-21T10:44:00.002-04:00

These past two days have been filled with food. Not a bad thing in my book...just a little fattening!

Last night I made chicken and rice for supper and had some delicious collards that Leah Jane brought down. It was all so good that I ate it again for breakfast this morning. Now the only thing left is rice and I may put that in the remainder of my hurricane soup for supper tonight! Gotta use up those leftovers!

While I was doing laundry and cleaning up the side porch yesterday I ran across a 12-pack of Michelob Lite that Bert gave me a year (?) or so ago. I'd completely forgotten that it was out there. Nancy T. had brought it down from the mountain condo and it had been in his garage for a bit. I brought it home and put it out on the porch (not heated or cooled) and since I'm not much of a beer drinker just forgot about it. Things had piled up and around the carton and you know how it is, "out of sight out of mind"! So, anyway, when I found it I decided to put in in the refrigerator. Also looked for the use-by date and it was sometime in 2007! So last night with supper I thought "why not have a beer with this?"! It almost ruined my meal! It was awful! Sorta flat and nasty tasting! Spent a little while after supper uncapping bottles and pouring them down the drain. Boy, the recycle folks are going to think I had a party!

Wednesday, or was it Tuesday?, I found a basket filled with Jalapeno peppers and another with big very ripe peaches and mangoes on the dollar table at the farmers market. You know what that made me think, HOT SAUCE!!!! Well, I added brown sugar, cider vinegar, an 8 ounce Coke, garlic, Kosher salt, onion and it seems like something else and cooked it all down for a few hours, then used the plunge blender and pureed it and put it all through a strainer. It's mighty good...sweet with a major KICK! I can see it as a marinade or the base for a bar-b-que sauce. Put it in jars and am calling it "Bama Jane's peach, mango & jalapeno HOT sauce. I took one jar down to Leah Jane and have a few other folks I want to give some to. It didn't make as much as I hoped for, so I can't give it to everyone I'd like to.

I'm thinking I'll make brownies today.

I know what it is! It's been stormy every day for a while and that makes me want to cook! Oh gosh, it also makes me want to eat!

How 'bout that Bill?

2009-08-19T07:00:00.002-04:00

Have you seen hurricane Bill yet this morning? He strengthened to a category 4 over night! He has sustained winds of 135mph! Wow! Fortunately he seems to be no threat to the U. S., but Bermuda and the other islands are really in for a wild ride!

Claudette brought our area wind and rain, but nothing horrible. Sunday afternoon I had quite a few small limbs, lots of Spanish moss and general flora trash to pick up. They made a large pile out by the street. I was amazed when I got home from work on Monday to find that the crew that picks up yard trash had already picked mine up. They really do try to stay on top of that sort of stuff, especially in hurricane season.

About a block down the road a very old Live Oak lost a limb that took several days to cut up and clear out. I may be a bit misleading when I say "limb". This was the size of a 20+ year old oak! Very big!

By the way, I know I haven't mentioned the hay bale garden experiment lately. Well, that's because it's just a fizzle!!!!!!! Not sure if the alternate rainy/stormy and droughty weather is to blame or not, but I haven't gotten one single thing from that pile of straw out back! Am going to try a cool weather garden in it. I'll replenish the top soil and plant cabbage and stuff. If by Spring nothing is working I'll just make that into a mulch pile!

Time for work.

Things we don't like to think about

2009-08-16T21:35:00.002-04:00

Often my mind prays that I'll skip a thought or two, but I tend to be quite stubborn and usually win...even if it's only in my mind

The emotions that the thought of an eminent hurricane today have caused surprised me...it has been 5ish years since I've really worried about a storm. Charlie, Francis and Jean, I think, hit our house in Central Florida within 4 weeks back in '04. The damage that Charlie did was awful not only at our house, but our neighborhood. The weekend I moved into this house in 2005 a hurricane, Dennis, hit the panhandle and the animals, Shirley, Goodness, Mercy and I were without power and furniture for a week. That, however, doesn't compare to the 2004 Central Fl hurricanes. Today, perhaps because I'm so alone, this silly little storm, Claudette, has had me on edge. I'm as prepared as one can be with battery operated lights, Tracfone, both battery and wind-up radios, battery operated fans and little battery operated digital tv. I have food and pet food and toilet plans. I have a grill and charcoal and water. However, even with all of the preparations, I'm a bit nervous and anxious, and she's landing way west of here! Not sure just what the emotional problem is, but I sure do wish it would go away...I'm okay, but slightly a wreck.

If you have a moment, think about me please.

Our first hurricane of the season

2009-08-16T13:10:00.002-04:00

Well, Claudette is expected to hit the panhandle of Florida this afternoon. Yesterday she was just a mass of storms and rain in the Gulf of Mexico and suddenly she organized and just moments ago was upgraded from a tropical depression to a tropical storm. "They" just said on the weather channel that she could strengthen to a category 1 hurricane before she hits land in another hour or 2.

After hearing about this storm this morning I dashed to the grocery store and got batteries, cat & dog food, kitty litter, bread, tuna, Spam, peanut butter & jelly, water and a book (along with a few other things). I've charged my Tracfone and made sure my portable digital tv is charged, put fresh batteries in my GameBoy and located the fans and lights that run on batteries. I'm getting ready to make a soup with onions, mushrooms, barley and beef broth and besides taking down the umbrella I think I'll call myself done!

We really had a quiet first 2 1/2 months of hurricane season, but once it started heating up it's something else! Ana and Bill are out in the Atlantic. Ana is expected to fizzle out, but they are saying that Bill is looking like a really big storm! And then there's Claudette coming here from the Gulf!

No real news. Work is very slow. It's not only the slow season, but it's also the economy.

The animals are all hale and hardy, as am I.

Well, I feel the urge to get to the kitchen. Not sure what it is about storms, but they make me want to cook!

A corrected Mother update

2009-08-12T19:37:00.002-04:00

Well, the good news is that Mother DOES NOT have clots in her legs. The bad news is that the misinformation came from our stepfather and we don't really know why...maybe he didn't understand what the doctors said? Anyway, I'm rather embarrassed that I passed on news without checking it out for myself. My sister went to the nursing home and found out just what was going on. Mother was having fluid retention and they gave her a diuretic that took care of the problem. Whew! That a far piece from blood clots!

We are having major storms! I've unplugged the phones after the last ones were killed by a power surge and I only have the computer up in order to update between the thunder...must go, I'm really uncomfortable with it powered up!

Mother update

2009-08-09T17:54:00.002-04:00

Our stepfather called my sister earlier to let us know that he'd been to the nursing home to see Mother and that she has developed blood clots. Evidently in her legs as her feet are cold (but they always are), actually he said cyanotic (sp?), and they have her feet on pillows. He did talk to one of the doctors, but I'm not sure just what he was told since he was with Mother at the time. He told my sister that it doesn't look good. But, he's been saying that off and on for a year and a half!

I'll post more about this as I find out more.

Well, today is another day!

2009-08-07T16:17:00.003-04:00

I met my friend from high school, Bennett as she's called now, Betty in my head, for lunch at Sage today. We sat out on the porch with the ceiling fans going and an occasional breeze and were quite comfortable, thank goodness, because we sat for close to 2 hours! It amazes me how we just seem to pick up where we left off at lunch in the Spring! There's always something to talk about when you're with an old friend! How pleasant and I look forward to getting together around Thanksgiving when she'll be back in town.

The weather has gone back to "Summer"...sure did enjoy the touch of Fall we had for a couple of weeks. The air conditioner seems to run all of the time even with the thermostat set at 82...dread the next electric bill, but the one I just paid was down $20+ from the last one! That helped!

So, I've paid all of my bills this month; electric, water, cable, phone, car insurance and got a whole new tag for the car and I still have a few dollars left. I'm not sure how I did it, but I did and feel like I can breath for the rest of the month! Whew!

I'm slightly depressed. Not sure why. I hope I'm not so shallow that the upcoming birthday is the cause, but you never know. It just seems as if there's nothing to look forward to and that in itself can be depressing. I'm not particularly lonely, I'm not hungry, I don't really have any needs (or wants for that matter). The animals are healthy and happy and funny. I have a roof over my head and a project or two going...so, I'm not sure what's wrong, but I have that full chest almost in tears feeling and I don't like it! Wish I knew what to do.

I spent 5 or so hours yesterday going through a humongous box filled with pictures that my sister got from Mother's house. Mother won't be looking at them and, of course, Bert isn't interested in them. One of the things that was quite interesting was Mother's scrapbook from high school. A lot had been torn out or fallen out or something, but there were some great articles and pictures. Then there were also pictures of Mother, her twin brother and their older brother when they were young. I'm going to try to get a couple of packets off to Rosie and Terri, they may enjoy having some of these. Don't know when I'll get around to doing it, yesterday was terrible! My back hurt like all get out when I was finished.

The gateless door to the kitchen is still causing chuckles. I find myself lifting my leg to step over it and the dogs are finding it quite enticing. The cat food bowls have never been so clean!

Glorious rain!

2009-08-02T11:52:00.002-04:00

For several days we've had both rain and sun. That's the way I like it!

Yesterday morning I left around 7am for my trip to Tallahassee, of course I bribed the dogs out of the house with their chicken breast jerky treats and quickly locked the door. I made it to my sister's house a little after 7:40 and we dashed to the restaurant for breakfast and then to the nursing home where we only stayed about 15 minutes. Then it was back to my sister's house to go through some old photos that she'd picked up from Mother's house. Then it was a dash back home.

All of this dashing was because of the rain, I didn't want the dogs out in it...you know how dogs are! Well, the dashing was to no avail. The closer I got to town the blacker the sky became and as I approached the city limits it became apparent that it had been pouring rain for quite a while. Sho' nuf, the dogs were not only soaked, but quite muddy. You couldn't even tell that Shirley is (usually) mostly white! They quickly dried themselves on the sofa and felt much better. Boy are they in for a rude awakening if I'm ever able to get a new sofa!

Friday I decided to take the gate down from the kitchen doorway. It's been up for about a year and a half. The purpose was to keep the dogs out and to give the cats a break from them. Well, I put the dogs on their honor, but I'm finding that where cat food is concerned there is no honor among dogs! They are good about staying out if I'm in the kitchen or if they happen to catch me looking at them, but just let me turn my back! I caught Jazzy sauntering into the kitchen this morning and when she saw me she skidded all over the kitchen trying to put it into reverse! I couldn't help but laugh and she did, too!

I watched "Batman Begins" on AMC yesterday. I haven't enjoyed a movie quite as much in a long time! I'd really like to see it without commercials as I missed a few spots by doing something else while the commercials were on and didn't get back soon enough. Then later I watched "Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith", cute little movie.

I should be outside weeding as they have really taken off in this rain/sun weather, but I'm thinking that today is a lazy day. Got the housekeeping I'm going to do done on Friday and the laundry, too. Am going to make a pot of spaghetti sauce and call my day done!

Grocery shopping

2009-07-28T17:10:00.002-04:00

I finally had to break down and go to the grocery store, but was quite pleased with the outcome. I found some great bargains and did pretty well. For a total of $30.15 I got: 4 cans of cat food, a box of Milk Bone Dog Biscuits (.35 off coupon), Chicken Jerky Dog Treats, a Bag of Dole Classic Romaine Salad ($1.00 off coupon), a tub of watermelon chunks, 1 red onion, a large baking potato, 1 lime, 2 packages of chicken thighs (buy one get one free), 3 flatiron steaks ($3.00 off in-store coupon), a bag/block of coffee and a 12-pack of 1/2 liter bottles of water! Then I went to the farmers market and for $1.86 I got: a pretty tomato, a head of cabbage, an eggplant and a large head of garlic! Not bad for a total of $32.01! Unfortunately I went from work and didn't have my list with me and I did forget a few things, but I figure that tomorrow I'll spend less than $5.00 and get the items I missed, so I'm breathing a little easier about money this month, even though I still have the car insurance and car tag along with the electric and cable bills to pay, I may just make it after all.

My next door neighbor (88 years old) tripped over her cat in her garage and fell. Thank goodness she didn't break anything, but she did have a concussion and badly bruised her lower back...you just never know! Watch out for those animals! They cost you money and just might trip you up!

I talked to the boss today about the big project I finished last week and he agreed that I should add the time I spent at home on my computer doing research to my time card this week. Whew! That'll help a little even though it's only 7 hours I added (I probably spent a little more, but I was enjoying it!).

Over the weekend I pruned my loropetelums and some of my Knock Out Roses. Well, it seems I got a rose thorn stuck in my arm. I thought I had gotten it all out, but now it's festering. I don't see anything in it, nor do I feel anything, but it's swollen and gooey. Ick!

Friends

2009-07-27T06:05:00.002-04:00

Thursday Ann, Robert and I met at Sage for lunch. It's almost impossible to catch up on 46 years, but we darn sure tried! The weather was nice and we ate on the covered porch and since we waited until 1 to meet we pretty much had the porch to ourselves. Good, good meeting!

Early last week (or maybe the week before) a gigantic limb fell from one of the humongous trees in the back yard. It landed between the tree and the hedge of azaleas, dogwoods and redbuds...leaning on the hedge. I couldn't budge it and, of course, the fellow who cuts my yard mowed around it. I was stewing about what to do about it to one of the girls at work. Saturday she, her husband and their two daughters came and cut it up and hauled off the largest pieces. There is a pile of little stuff that I may either haul out to the road or cut up to use in my little fireplace on the patio. Now, wasn't that nice?

The yard needs so much work. I did some Saturday and some again yesterday, but it seems that while I'm working one section the others go berserk!

Looked at my last post...it may have been misleading. Mercy it just fine...it was a rare good picture.

Must prepare for work.

It's over for now...

2009-07-23T06:42:00.002-04:00

Mercy the cat.

Our wonderful streak of record-smashing cool weather has come to an end. Our week of early mornings in the low 60s sure spoiled me and now I'm anticipating Fall more than ever! We even held to the mid 80s for daytime temps.!

I'm having lunch today with two friends from high school, Ann & Robert. Even though Ann moved back home (from Asheville, NC) shortly after I did, we don't see each other often. Every time we get together we swear to do it more often, but lives have a way of creating their own circles and ours only overlap on occasion. Robert is back in town visiting his mother and enjoying the escape of the major heat wave that Texas is having. Sure am looking forward to lunch!

I finished a project at work yesterday that I've been working on for 3-4 weeks. It was such a relief to finish, but also a let down. I've been researching the Shenandoah Valley area, topography, weather, soil composition, population, etc. I've enjoyed the search so much, learned quite a bit and can't help but wonder what my next assignment may be. I hope it's as interesting as this one was!

Something odd

2009-07-19T06:19:00.003-04:00

I have no phone...no dial tone...no phone. Well, I do have my pre-paid cell and it has a little over 500 hours loaded on it, thank goodness, but I have no home phone. Odd thing is, I still have internet service and I get it from Embarq, too. I don't understand how I can have one and not the other...oh well...I used the cell and called Embarq yesterday. They say I should have phone service back tomorrow.

It's down right chilly outside this morning! Love it! Went out to bring in the newspaper and only had on crops and a tee, almost froze to death! It sure would be nice if this stuck around for a while!

It sure seems that everything hits at once. Car insurance and tag are due next month (pay ins. twice a year) and combined that's over $400.00! Which leaves me $319.00 from my SS check. Sure hope I can figure out how to pay the monthly bills and gas the car and feed the animals and eat on that! Bet I'll make it work somehow, it's just all iffy at the moment.

Wondering if the cell phone should be turned on or off when charging...or does it matter?

The picture is what I've done with some of the area that the puppies dug up. I'm enjoying it and, thought I'd never let them know, I really think they may have done me a favor! The ol' lemonade thing!

A photo attempt

2009-07-16T07:42:00.006-04:00

Okay, here goes...once more I'm going to attempt to post some snapshots...sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. Well, that worked out pretty well, I just can't seem to put them where I want them.

The second photo is the horrid, makes me vibrate wallpaper in the dining room. The first photo is trying to take the wallpaper down, but if you look in the corner you'll see that under the wallpaper is wood paneling...now what do I do?

The third and fourth potos are Jazzy after her makeover. She looks great! Wanted to post before photo too, but even though I loaded them into the computer today, I can't find them. So, you'll just have to use your imagination!

And life goes on...

2009-07-10T09:09:00.002-04:00

It seems that we are going from feast to famine and back again weather-wise here. For 8 or 9 days in a row we had temps in the 100s and no rain, now we've had 7-8 days in a row of rain and temps in the 80s. I, of course, much prefer the rain and cooler weather and luckily we have a few more days of this sort of weather in the forecast, but then it's back into the 90+ stuff. It is, after all, summer!

Tuesday I had the migraine from hell. Here it is Friday and I can still feel the residuals.

Last night my cable tv went out around 11pm. I waited for about 20 minutes and when it didn't automaticly come back on I called Comcast. They said they'll fit me in sometime today...couldn't say when, just that they'd fit me in. So this morning when it got light enough I walked around the house to where all of the utilities feed into the house and nothing looked unusual, but when I walked out to get the neighbor's old dog out of the road I saw that the tall green round box thing out by the power pole was opened. In fact the entire top is off and sitting to the side. I'm wondering if someone hit it or something, though there are no skid marks in the grass or anything. Leah Jane said she bets someone cut the cable (hers didn't go off). Now why would someone do something like that? I hope it's fixed today, "What Not To Wear" is on tonight! I did get to see the season premiere of "Big Brother" last night, thank goodness!

Last Thursday I took Jazzy to a groomer for a "make-over"! She looks wonderful! Sue gave her a Schnauzer (is that right?) clip and she looks like a new dog! As soon as my ss check comes in I'll get some film and try to post a picture. She's just adorable!

I've been searching the internet for goat meat recipes. I found one that reads yummily for Caribbean curried goat stew and I'm thinking that I'll take the goat stew meat out of the freezer and start the stew tomorrow.

I'm meeting my sister tomorrow morning for breakfast and then we'll go see mother. We both have a 20 percent off coupon for our breakfasts!

Catching up

2009-07-05T14:00:00.002-04:00

Ruth's funeral was yesterday. It was a 10am graveside service and it seemed the entire town was there! The service was lovely, and one of the local veterinarians (he tended all of Ruth's dogs) played guitar and sang "How Great Thou Art". Even though it was awfully hot and muggy, everyone stayed for the entire hour and a half. There was a luncheon reception at the First Baptist Church and Leah Jane and I went, but didn't stay to eat. They seemed to have a good turn out.

Last night Norma had Leah Jane, Gloria and me over for hamburgers. It was a rather sad little group and the main topic of conversation, of course, was Ruth. I'm afraid I got a bit into my cups and fussed at Leah Jane about her Vicodin use (along with alcohol), I know I shouldn't have done that, but she's shrinking up and seeming to die before my very eyes. I don't know what to do, I care very much about her and hate to see this happening. She may never speak to me again...I don't know what to do.

Happy 5th of July.

Ruth Gambill - Dibiase

2009-06-30T09:20:00.002-04:00

Ruth died this morning around 4am in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as a result of injuries suffered in the accident on the Saturday morning of the Watermelon Festival in Monticello. She was 84.

She will be missed by many people.

Her daughter, Susan Simmons is still hospitalized in TMH. She is recovering from 2 surgeries to repair 7 breaks in her pelvis. Yesterday they were able to get Susan into a wheelchair and take her to visit her mother for the first (and last) time.

This is all very tragic.

Ice cream and spiders and turkeys, oh my!

2009-06-26T06:50:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm in the process of trying to shed one habit and replace it with another! Still am not smoking, but have eaten an entire pint of Breyers ice cream in 2 days! Finished it off this morning for breakfast!...and just spent almost an hour searching the web for ice cream coupons! Gotta watch this!

I'm having trouble going into the kitchen for coffee. There is a very large wolf spider lurking behind the coffee pot. Whenever I lift the pot he jumps out...he's a good 2 inches long and very intimidating. Not sure what I'm gonna do...don't want to kill him and don't want him in the kitchen/house! Help!

Yesterday I was standing at the kitchen sink (no, I wasn't eating!) just looking out the window and daydreaming. Must have been standing there for several minutes when I thought, "what in the world is that big stump doing inside the fence?"...then I came to and realized that it couldn't be a stump 'cause first you have to have a tree! So I went out the French doors to the stoop and as I did, the stump turned around, spread it's wings and took a running lift off toward the fence. He cleared the fence, but just barely! His wing span was very large, at least 5 feet, maybe more. He was a wild TURKEY! In my fenced area! And it's not even Thanksgiving! I watched him go through the wooded hedge between my yard and the neighbor's yard and I could see him through the trees for a while. He flew off headed north...there's a pond about a block away, guess he was headed there. Now isn't that something!

We've gone 2 days with the temperature under 100 degrees! It's amazing how much cooler 94 feels after a couple of days of 104+ (and 7 straight days of over 100)! I'm still needing rain. Haven't had a drop in about a week. There has been rain in the area for the past couple of days, sure wish it would come here!

The hay-bale garden is suffering. The herbs don't look like they'll make it, nor do the yellow squash...zucchini looks okay and the tomatoes are hanging in there. Need rain.

We're out of the woods!

2009-06-24T06:22:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we didn't hit 100 degrees (we hit 99!) for the first time in 8 days! I know it sounds weird, but the high 90s were okay! Today "they" are predicting low to mid 90s! Should be right balmy!!! However, we are awfully dry...sure do need rain!

Well, I have 4 friends in TMH. Step-brother-in-law, Mark: heart attack, in ICU; Ruth: accident, very broken up and in ICU; Susan: Ruth's daughter: broken pelvic, surgery today; Mary: friend, broken hip! Gracious, you just never know! Do you think the weather did it?

Still find myself reaching for a cigarette...not smoking...wanting. Didn't realize there would be such awful physical symptoms: headache, stomach churning, various aches and pains, cravings (not just for cigarettes, but foods, too!), antsy, shaky and quite irritable. I can just see myself ballooning up to a million pounds, of course, that's not a very good reason to smoke, but if I'm not careful I'm sure I could use that as a reason to talk myself into having that occasional smoke...and you know what would happen then! I wonder how long it'll take to get the smoke from my lungs...I can still smell smoke on my breath.

They mowed my yard yesterday. The grass and weeds were so high that they left huge piles of cut grass piled up against the fence and everything else that it could pile against. I'll try to get out there early tomorrow and rake it up...it looks horrible now.

One of the nursery sons got back yesterday from a 10 day tour of the orient...China, Viet Nam, etc. I heard him talking to some of the guys about how much Americans are hated in Viet Nam and how one of the folks in his party was spat on! I didn't know this! Sad.

TGIW!!!!

To smoke or not to smoke, that is the question~

2009-06-23T06:07:00.002-04:00

Okay, I'm working on 48 hrs. of not smoking. I've gathered up the ashtrays and have put them in the dishwasher. I'm not saying I've quit, just that at the moment I'm not smoking.

My sister came over early Saturday and we went to the Watermelon Festival Breakfast. As usual, it was very good. Bennett didn't join us...got an e-mail from her saying it was too damn hot! She was right, it WAS too damn hot! Ann was serving (she works for the bank and was named employee of the year for 2008!) food, but we got hugged anyway!

After breakfast sister and I went to Norma's house and we each picked lots of blueberries. Then we came back to my house and sat on the front porch, drank coffee, fanned and watched traffic. It was a nice day.

Then at 3pm a young fellow came over to give me an estimate on doing some insurance things on the exterior of the house. We had to change insurance companies and this new one wants railings on stairs (3 sets) and a piece of roofing trim put back up before they'll insure the house.

Just finished breakfast and reached for my pack of cigarettes which isn't there!

On Saturday right after the parade there was a terrible wreck in town. My old (84) friend Ruth and her daughter were parked in the SUV when an 18 yr old sped through town 60+mph, rear ended an ambulance, then hit Ruth's SUV, flipped it and spun it around. Ruth was ejected and her daughter who had gotten out and gone around to help Ruth into her wheelchair was terribly injured. The daughter had a broken pelvis...word has it that it's broken in 7-8 places. I'm not sure what Ruth's injuries are, but rumor has it that she may come home today. You just never know, you know?

Hot, hot, hot!!!

2009-06-19T10:29:00.002-04:00

Well, today is the day of our party at work. It will be outside...250+ people and it's HOT! This is our 4th day of temps in the 100s! I'm dressing cool, shorts and a loose top and flip flops (platform ones!), but I'm thinking that this may not help. We do have giant old oak trees that we'll set up under, so that may make it bearable. Here's hoping so! I really need to think about doing my hair and face as it's 11am now and the party starts at 12!

I just made a wonderful discovery! The swiffer pads that you dust furniture with do a much better job on pet hair and dust on floors than the flat floor pads! I may be on to something here!

Norma called last night and invited me over to pick more blueberries (I am starting to run out), but I told her I'd have to wait until the weather down shifts a bit...the berries may be out of season then!

Talked with RM for a couple of hours last night. Can you believe she turned 44 yesterday? Wow! Where does time go?

I googled "girl scout camp songs" a while ago. Bunches of sites came up. I didn't know some of the songs, after all, it's been almost 50 years since I went to Camp Juliette Low, but some of the old standbys were there. Brought back some wonderful memories!

Tomorrow morning is the Watermelon Festival breakfast at the bank. I get hungry just thinking about it. Funny how much I look forward to it! My life is rather bland, of course that is by choice, but something different on occasion is nice! Both my sister and my high school friend, Betty will be there and Norma said she may go also. Sounds like a party to me!

The only thing I've noticed that's loving this weather is my yard. We've had just enough rain (about every 3 days) and the heat seems to be greenhousing the grass, shrubs and weeds. It's all growing like wild! And, the daylilies I put out earlier this spring have begun blooming...so far, it's only one or two here and there, but I'm hoping that by next year they'll get their acts together and really give me a show! The ones that have bloomed are quite different and awfully pretty! Sure am enjoying them!

Say a prayer for daughter #2...they didn't get all of the cancer on her eyelid and she facing some rather invasive surgery this next week that may involve skin grafts and sewing the eye shut for the summer.

Also, my step brother-in-law isn't doing too well. He had a heart attack Sunday and now is fighting pneumonia. He's in intensive care at TMH. He's too young for all this, just a couple of years older than I am.

And, that's the way the world turns.

We're having a party!

2009-06-16T06:05:00.002-04:00

This coming Friday is our big party at work. I was charged with getting the caterer and feel fortunate that I was able to get the Seinyard!!! We'll have the "works", fried fish, shrimp, oysters and chicken fingers with cheese grits, slaw and hush puppies! Yum! Sure am looking forward to the food!

Just found out last night that this weekend is the annual Watermelon Festival here in Monticello. It's been going on longer than I can remember (and that's a while!). Need to check with my sister and see if she wants to do the breakfast, we have for the past 2 years and it's great fun.

It was raining when I got ready to leave for work yesterday, so I left the dogs in the house. My bad. One arm of the sofa is almost empty of stuffing. Damn that Jazzy. Today, no matter what the weather is doing, she's OUTSIDE!

Got a letter from the new insurance company that we got to insure the house. It seems I have to have hand rail put on the back steps and a piece of trim that came down 4 years ago put back up. Now this little house is about 80 years old and hasn't had hand railings. Why now? Finding a handyman to do these simple things has turned out to be quite a chore. My sister called friends of hers here in town and they recommended a fellow that had done some work for a family member. I called him and he's not doing any side work now...is working full time for the bank. I'm going to call a couple of folks today and ask at work. Hate this sort of stuff!

Was sitting here at the computer this past weekend and the back of my chair broke. A cheap plastic piece worried through a bolt and it and a heavy spring fell off. Don't know how to fix it.

I'm worried that something's up with my sister...she's quiet.

Happenings

2009-06-12T07:59:00.002-04:00

Dinner Wednesday night at Leah Jane's was very nice. There were 6 of us and the food and conversation flowed. Was only gone a couple of hours, but had 3 new holes in the sofa when I got home. Damn dog...

Our temperature has been flirting with 100 degrees for the past week. "They" say that today it may not only hit 100, but pass it....ouch!

Yesterday I went to Norma's house about 9:30am. We picked blueberries for about 20 minutes. The temperature was already in the high 80s and the humidity was 98 percent. 20 minutes of picking in the shade was about all either of us could handle. Even so, I picked 1 1/2 quarts of some of the prettiest blueberries I've seen in a while. The bushes are still loaded and Norma invited me to come back and pick more soon. I'm going to freeze the majority, but have been thinking about dehydrating some to see how that'll work. I'm also contemplating refrigerator jam.

I had lunch at Sage with my friend Betty (Bennett as she's called now) from high school. We outlasted everyone there. Did a lot of catching up, after all, high school was 46 years ago! It's so funny how differently life happens to everyone. I also find it interesting that memories of basically the same thing can be so different! The brain is a strange and miraculous thing!

I'm torn today between 2 projects. I need to sew up the holes in the sofa and I want to start beading. Both projects require using these arthritic old hands and I know they won't last through both projects and either one of them will leave me mighty sore tomorrow. Of course, I could just vegetate on the computer and do nothing! We'll see.

El Nino

2009-06-10T06:21:00.003-04:00

Just read an article that said "El Nino is Back"...Not sure just what the impact will be for everyone, but the article said stormier in the deep south and a warmer winter with storms. Drat.

We are very hot and dry now. High 90s during the day and 70s at night. They were just joking about triple digit temps being just around the corner on tv. I don't find that very amusing. I've been keeping the thermostat on 80 during the day, but I do turn in down when I go to bed. The last electric bill was up $20. This next one will be worse.

Yesterday was the meeting at the nursing home. I left here at 8:30 even though the meeting wasn't scheduled until 9:45. I read in the paper Sunday that there would be one land traffic in spots on US 90 and to expect delays. Wouldn't you know it, I got there in 30 minutes! I don't think I've ever made it that quickly...nope, I didn't speed, well, just a little. The meeting was uneventful, except that they told us they had taken Mother off the anti-psychotic drug she's been on for about a year...some kind of regulation that requires they reduce or remove. I hope she behaves! Both Bert and my sister were also there. Bless his heart, Bert is sure beginning to show his 91 1/2 years! He focuses on minutia and trivia. The staff is very patient with him.

When I got home the propane folks had already filled the tank and hung a bill on the back door. I delayed opening it for an hour or so...was afraid. It wasn't so bad, about $158.00, so I wrote a check and put it in the mailbox. I didn't grocery shop in Tallahassee yesterday because I was worrying about how much that bill would be. It's just as well.

When I got in to work on Monday there was a note on my desk from HWB (former boss) saying to call him that he needed to see me. So I did, asked him what was going on, but he wouldn't say on the phone, wants to talk to me in person. So, I'm going to go see him after work today. Haven't the foggiest idea what's up.

Leah Jane's having a little dinner party tonight and tomorrow I'm going to Norma's to pick blue berries.

Last Thursday I decided to use a hair color that we found in Mother's bathroom when we cleaned out the vanity and linen closet. Well, I guess they expire or something. When I began applying it to my hair the plastic bottle burst wide open splattering hair gunk everywhere. Of course I used what was usable and finished doing my hair. I now have hair the color of Goodness the cat and Jazzy the dog...looks good on them (see photo at top). My sister said yesterday that it's not awful. I'll wear it for a while and then do something else.

Return of the rain

2009-06-07T06:36:00.002-04:00

Well, rain's back in our daily forecast...yesterday was day 4 of rain...not just a sprinkle, but major downpours! Each day I dumped more than an inch of rain out of the rain gauge...Friday more than 2 inches!

The hay bale garden is looking pitiful. The rain's leaching everything nutrient-wise out. The squash looks like it may not make it at all...all of the leaves are yellow. I'm thinking of trying a slow release fertilizer. Will go to the garden center tomorrow.

Friday SE Propane called to say they are running a special on propane, $2.90 a gal. The last time I had the tank filled was a year ago this past February and I paid $4.30 a gal. So, even though I didn't run the furnace once this past winter I told them to fill the tank. They'll do it on Tuesday. It doesn't evaporate and if I can afford to have the system checked out I may use it this coming winter...just on a really need to basis.

I guess I'll hold off on Jazzy's makeover since this month propane trumps dog!

I'm gradually getting the house in order. With all of the rainy days it's hard to work outside so the house is reaping the rewards! Yesterday in the midst of the downpour I backed the car in and out of the carport a bunch of times and then squeegeed all of the windows and lights. It looks much better. Next time I may throw a little soap on the body and see how that does. I try not to use tap water for anything other than necessities.

Hurricane season is here. Prepare folks, prepare!

TGIW!! again

2009-06-03T07:14:00.002-04:00

It's absolutely amazing to me how long it is from Monday to Wednesday and how short it is from Thursday to Sunday! When Tuesday finally rolls around (my "hump" day) I'm exhausted. Sounds weird, I know, but it's true. When I'm at work I go full steam from the moment I walk in until I leave. That's one reason I'm able to work Monday - Wednesday...I get everything done that would normally take a 5-day work week. It's good for me, but generally Thursday is a wasted day. I do the bare minimum around here and rest up. Then I go full tilt for the remainder of the weekend. What a way to live.

Sunday night at Ann's house was nice. It was so good seeing Kay after 46+ years!

Am thinking about having Jazzy sheared...she could use a make over!

No particular news.

Sunshine!!!

2009-05-31T06:58:00.002-04:00

The sun was out all day yesterday! Now, I'm not much of a sun person, but this was a welcomed event! Of course it was hot and quite muggy, but this dark side of the moon person loved every moment of it! The same weather is forecast for the next 3-4 days and then rain gradually slips back into the picture. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd request a good soaking every 3 days with sun in between. I have requested that numerous times, just evidently not getting the right ear.

Met with my sister around 7:30 yesterday morning. We went to our usual restaurant for breakfast. We both had turkey and avocado sandwiches that were to die for! They were so big that each of us took a half home!

After breakfast we went to see Mother. She was still in bed with a breakfast tray that was totally untouched and getting cold. With a little urging from us she ate quite a bit! So much so that the aide that came and took her tray commented on it! Since Mother wasn't up or dressed there wasn't much we could do with her, so we sang every song we could think of standing by her bed! When her roommate came in we got a little self conscious, but she urged us to continue, so we did. We ended up spending about an hour and a half singing. Everyone enjoyed it, but I think my sister and I enjoyed it the most! We'll have to come up with a few more songs for next time!

When we left I did my monthly main grocery shopping and got home around noon. Not bad.

Around 7 last night I was sitting on the front porch and the very old dog that lives across the road actually crossed the road and walked down my driveway a little bit and looked at me. We've never met, but always make eye contact and he watches me when I drive out. This was the first time I've seen him cross the road and it felt important. So, I dashed into the kitchen and got a bowl of water and a soft treat (don't know what shape his teeth are in), but by the time I got back out he was on his side of the road. He saw me come out and stopped and waited while I crossed over to him. I sat on the ground and gave him the treat which he really enjoyed. Then he let me rub his head. I wanted to rub his hips as they really seem to hurt him (he has to squat to pee and walks really, really slow), but he didn't want me to. The fur on his back is so dirty and sticky and almost matted and he smells really bad...I guess that's why they never seem to let him in the house anymore. When he finished our visit he drank quite a bit of water and continued his nightly stroll down the way. I'm not sure where he goes, but he does it every night.

Tonight I'm going to my friend Ann's house for hamburgers. Her sister is here for a visit. I haven't seen Kay for over 45 years and am surely looking forward to it!

and, yet more rain....

2009-05-29T09:40:00.002-04:00

Today is our 16th day in a row of rain. Yesterday we had intermittent spots of sunshine and we had a little bit earlier this morning...just enough to get my hopes up. At first I was thrilled to be getting so much rain, but as it continued day in and day out my attitude underwent daily changes, mostly downhill! The soft plants aren't so happy either. The tomatoes and mint are especially unhappy...who woulda thunk it? They are sparse and leggy and borderline fungusy.

No particular news today. My sister and I are meeting for breakfast tomorrow and then planning to go see Mother. It's so much more pleasant seeing her with the two of us...I guess it gives us a buffer or something.

Work is slow. Hope it'll pick up soon. I get sooooo bored!

The weatherman says that tomorrow and Sunday will be hot and sunny! We'll see!

Rain.....

2009-05-23T07:50:00.002-04:00

Today is our 10th day in a row of rain! The first few were so welcomed! Now it's getting to be a bit much! The poor dogs hold their bodily functions until they are about to burst and then dash outside and pee and poop in the rain for what seem like an eternity! They are so totally over the rain!

Yesterday one of the ladies from Garden Club had an open house. She has a rather large farm south of town and hybridises daylilies. The open house was from 10 to 3. I really debated about going in the rainy weather, but I thought I saw a patch of blue around noon, so I went. Her farm is really off the beaten path, down a one lane clay road forever! I was so glad I went. When I got there I asked her how the turn-out had been and she said I was the first. Even with the weather the rows and rows and rows of daylilies were breath-taking!

I got home in time for the bottom to drop out once more!

Thursday I roasted a chicken and made potato salad. Yesterday I made chicken soup and turtle walnut chocolate chip brownies. For breakfast I ate a brownie with my coffee. I've got a hankering to cook something now, but I'm forcing myself to wait until I at least finish the chicken, the meatloaf (and mashed potatoes) from Tuesday and the chicken soup. I figure I don't have to finish the brownies before cooking something else! I've always liked to cook, but I'm thinking this compulsion is being driven by the weather!

Didn't do dinner with the ladies last night. Was a chicken and just didn't answer the calls from Ruth. It's so hard to tell her no. Last week after telling her no she called again at the last minute and begged me to go. Said no. Then she wanted me to go as her guest. Said no. Then she offered to lend me money. Said no. This is all very hard.

The meeting with staff at the nursing home has been changed from this coming Tuesday to (I think) June 9th. They called my sister Friday and said they hadn't realized that Monday was Memorial Day when the first appointment was set and that some of the staff wouldn't be there. That's okay with me.

We work Memorial Day. Our leader says that's a "Yankee holiday"!

It's still quite early in the day and very muggy! and raining!

Perfect egg

2009-05-17T07:52:00.002-04:00

This morning I cooked the world's most perfect poached egg! The other day Alton Brown (Good Eats) did a show on eggs. He's so good! I really sat up and took notice when he got to the poached egg part. That is probably my favorite way to have an egg and I've never been satisfied with the way mine turn out. His secret is to swirl the water and gently place the egg in the swirling water. That tightens the white up. The result is just wonderful. This morning I had mine on a buttered slice of 15 grain toast and topped it with a little finely shredded sharp cheddar and some cayenne pepper. Talk about good!

We have had three days in a row of made to order weather! Clear, sunny and hot in the mornings and major rain in the afternoons! I haven't heard about our rain deficit situation, but I'm willing to bet it's much better!

The hay bales are coming along nicely. The squash seeds are the only ones germinating yet, but I'm hopeful for the rest. Just in case they don't make it, yesterday I put out (in the bales) 2 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants (1 bell and 1 jalapeno), 1 Japanese eggplant, 3 clumps of flat leaf parsley and 1 mint plant. Then I went a bit nuts and seeded lots of herbs in the raised bed in the fenced area and zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds in the new bed that Jazzy and I dug right off the patio. If everything comes up it will be unreal! It's quite a large bed and it's the one I've planted crape myrtles and daylilies in. I put out 5 3cu.ft. bags of cypress mulch, but it looks like I need about ten more to really cover it. Then I really need to weed and mulch the front beds, they are getting away from me and they show! No one sees the back except for me.

A week from this coming Tuesday we have a meeting at the nursing home about Mother. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say. My sister and I think she's slowly going down hill, but Bert thinks she's okay. So to have a professional perspective will be good.

More rain is in the forecast for this afternoon and then both Monday and Tuesday it's supposed to rain 'most all day! How good is that?!

Rain, rain, rain!

2009-05-15T06:01:00.002-04:00

We've had rain! Thank goodness!

Yesterday I came home from Garden Club with two crepe myrtles and an angle trumpet. As it was mighty hot and dry I just put them in the shade and took a nap. We had such an incredible luncheon. There were a gazillion salads, several different deviled eggs and desserts to die for! I tried my best to have some of each and when I finally got home a nap was my only option!

Around 4 o'clock I decided to go ahead and do my plantings. Got the 3 shrubs planted and 5 bags of cypress mulch spread out along with some weeding and then it started raining!!! Not just a sprinkle, but a downpour that lasted for about 40 minutes. Then it settled down and did a really nice rain all night! How perfect is that? The temperature dropped from 90 to the mid 70's and it actually felt cold! I turned the air conditioner off and opened both the front and back doors and watched Survivor with a lap robe, a dog and a couple of cats on me! More rain is in the forecast for the next few days!

The hay bales are coming along nicely! I have germination already from the squash.

My Uncle Buddy's Jeep dealership is one of the ones that Chrysler is closing. They've been in business for 40 or so years. He said that he's not sure what they'll do. Say a prayer for them and all the folks that have lost jobs. Times are hard and life so unpredictable!

Next month is the beginning of hurricane season. That sure seems to come around so quickly. Stock up, be prepared. Get batteries, food, water, etc. Don't get caught at the last minute needing to stock up, especially if you live on or near the coast (that includes everyone in Florida!). Remind your friends and neighbors and if you are able, help the folks that need it. You know, we're all in this boat together.