Oh that Jazzy dog!

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!

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!

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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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...

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

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

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...

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

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

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!

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.