Monthly Archives: November 2016

Santa Mailbox Decoration is Finished!

santa-befsnotex

This is the mailbox decoration before I had fun using my new Snow-Tex and glitter glue.

 

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I had trouble getting pictures today, but the left mitten gives you an idea of what the glitter glue does, and you get an idea of the Snow-tex on Santa’s eyebrows, etc.

 

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This is a close up of the Snow-Tex. As my husband says, when you’re driving past the house at 45 mph, you probably won’t be able to appreciate the texture. I think my husband would have preferred I left Santa as he was before the new experiments, but I had so much fun doing it, I’ll just let his opinion slide. HE can paint the next one… :0)

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Filed under holidays, Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations

Monet’s Pond

This is a beautiful video that is mesmerizing. It’s called “Monet’s Pond, Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

Art’s video, Cheryl Glatt, Via Angela Tag

If clicking on the link above doesn’t work, please paste this URL in your browser – http://www.facebook.com/artstorica/videos/10345

(trying again to get the URL to print out. Fingers crossed.)

 

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Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Creativity

Happy Thanksgiving 2016

Victoria Park Animal Hospital

Victoria Park Animal Hospital

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ” ~William Arthur Ward

I’m grateful for MANY things this year – these are some of them –

  • I’m grateful we discovered my husband’s diabetes and that he is no longer in denial or depression and is actively working to cut out the sugar and get healthier.
  • My efforts to get my lard off and move more are paying off, giving me the motivation to continue to do all I can to be healthier.
  • My husband and I truly enjoy being together after 47 years of marriage. Our lives are so rich and full!
  • Our son is living his dreams. Although he’s across the world from us, we chat almost every day, staying close.
  • Our animals are enjoying their lives, even though some are getting a little long in the tooth – as we are.
  • I have friends who mean the world to me.
  • Our cousins in Louisiana have both weathered health crises and are still bringing joy to everyone lucky enough to know them.
  • I have a sister-in-law in North Carolina who is truly my friend, sharing giggles and challenges every day.
  • I enjoy my life so much – having the time and freedom to try to create things, either in the shop or in my art room, trying out new media, challenging myself to do the best I can.
  • Our raised bed, square foot garden is perfect for my needs for years to come. I love trying to grow some of our own food.
  • We’re surrounded by flowers most of the year. We built planters with irrigation systems that allow us to feel rich in blooms.
  • I have too many things I would like to do in any given day.
  • I have the joy of reading – in books and the Internet, allowing me to learn as much as my brain will allow.
  • I have my husband, sitting across the office from me, scowling at the computer, trying to design a phone answering machine specifically for us to block calls we don’t want.
  • I have a warm, dry home filled with love where I can watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, enjoy football games, wash clothes and fix a turkey dinner today.

I hope you have a lot to be thankful for. Take a few minutes and realize how lucky you are!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  ENJOY YOUR DAY!

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Snow-Tex!

santa5

I don’t have pics to show you yet, but I had SUCH fun playing with the new (to me) Snow-Tex stuff. It comes in a jar kind of like grout. You can use almost anything to put it on whatever surface you want. I used a brush, but was dabbing heavily on the hat fur, his mitten fur, his eyebrows, mustache, beard, etc. My husband wasn’t impressed with the texture, but I loved it. I also used the glitter glue on the sign frame, his mittens and the red part of his hat. Gaudy and Christmas-y! :0)

Will turn the piece over tomorrow, paint the special effects, and take some pics to post.

Such a fun day!!!!

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Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations

“Do Not Cross”

"Do Not Cross" - Paul Militaru Photography

“Do Not Cross” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Hopelessly Spoiled

artbox3

This showed up this morning!  We weren’t up yet when it was delivered, but whoever it was pushed the package through the cat door in the garage, making lots of noise with our driveway detector.  As you can see, the company personalizes the art box. :0)

 

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I was dazzled by the wonderful array of art media when I opened the suitcase type box! Here there are watercolors on the left with nice places to put water under each group of watercolors. There is a beautiful group of oil pastels. I’ve used ‘regular’ pastels, but never oil, so my mouth is watering. You can also see there are two brushes.

 

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On the other side is a nice group of colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, and two nice erasers. There is also a group of colored pens.

My husband said he found this offer on Brad’s Deals, a favorite free-subscription-to-nice-deals-on-all-kinds-of-things place.

I’m really looking forward to using this. I can take it anywhere, bringing a bottle of water and some paper, and be all set up for some serious playing!

What a happy gift!

 

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“Happy Places”

mlshappyplace

This is my sister-in-law’s “Happy Place,” and what a glorious place it is!  Whenever she’s feeling down she can simply go to her happy place and immediately feels a lift in her spirits.

I think we should all have a happy place when we need one. A thing that makes me grin like a Cheshire cat every time I see it is this owl I got recently.

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He lives in my dining area window on a special display piece my husband and I made. Right now he’s helping me celebrate the fall and Thanksgiving, but I’ll probably dress him up for Christmas when the time comes.

Build YOURSELF a happy place somewhere, if you don’t already have one. Someplace you can go when you’re feeling down to give your spirits a lift.

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Filed under Attitude, Encouragement

Present to Myself

It’s not my birthday. It’s not a holiday when you get presents, but I got myself a present recently and I’m grinning from ear to ear.

 

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Robyn Soules is one of the talented artists on my website, Creative Artworks.

She makes beautiful jewelry and Christmas ornament wraps from gazillions of tiny beads.

I liked this necklace –

 

I wrote to Robyn and said, “I love the design of this necklace, but can you make it in all white? She immediately wrote back, saying, “You bet!” She got more details, such as how long I wanted the necklace, and whether I wanted her to use all white beads or would prefer clear Swarovski crystals. I asked her to do what she thought looked best, but that I loved ‘sparkly.’

 

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These photos just don’t do the necklace justice. I wore it out with friends Monday evening, and they were already talking about my necklace even before I took off my vest! It lies down perfectly, staying nicely spread out like this as you wear it, rather than bunching up like some other necklaces do. Robyn really listened to my love of sparklies. The crystals catch the light and reflect it beautifully.  I’m delighted with her work and feel really special when I wear it. :0)

Besides these gorgeous beaded necklaces, she makes earrings, luxurious ‘garden’ bracelets, sports bracelets, and Christmas ornament wraps.

See Robyn Soules’ work on Creative Artworks!

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Thanksgiving Wednesday

What's Trending

What’s Trending

“Thanksgiving is America’s national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.”  ~Michael Dresser

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Bookish Problem

I Love Reading Books via Cathy Ruggiero

I Love Reading Books via Cathy Ruggiero

I have almost all the books Robert B. Parker ever wrote, including the Spenser series, the Jesse Stone series, the Sunny Randall series, the westerns, the books for youths, etc. I have about 50 books and I just finished re-reading them. I’m feeling a bit blue now, since I probably won’t read them again for awhile, but insanely rich that I can pick one any time I want and dive into his world of wit, wry dialogue, great stories, and characters I know and care about.

For the next few days I’ll dabble in all the wonderful things on my Kindle, letting all the good work from Mr. Parker settle once again in my psyche.

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Watercolors I Love – Take 3

wc-boredpanda

Bored Panda

I love the way this artist has gone from an almost pointillism technique for the lion’s head to a free form, glorious color watercolor!

 

 

wc-canvaswallartandcanvasprints

Canvas Wall Art and Canvas Prints

I love the wonderful explosions of color, the soft edges of the flowers, and the background. Maybe in my next life I can learn to paint in this manner.

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Fingers (and all other appendages) Crossed for Rain

123RF.com

123RF.com

If the ‘weather weenies’ (as my husband calls them) are correct, we have a 60% chance of some rain this afternoon and evening.  I have all appendages (including my eyes) crossed.

Although we don’t have many wildfires happening in Arkansas right now, we are about 15 inches below normal and burn bans have been issued because the risk of wildfires is high. Since we turned off our irrigation systems for the winter, it’s a lot of trouble to water my fall garden, so it would be great if they get a good, long drink.  If we actually get some, I can then send any remaining moisture to my sister-in-law, Mary Lou, who IS suffering from wildfires in North Carolina.

I have lots of errands, plus a haircut, this afternoon, and if I drown while doing them, I promise you I’ll be smiling.

Clipart Kid

Clipart Kid

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Think Life Differently – Take 3

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Higher Perspective via Bill Lites

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Thanksgiving Tuesday

Pinterest

The Lucky Penny

The Lucky Penny

“Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise – then you will discover the fullness of your life.” ~ Brother David Steindl-Rast

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Getting the Lard Off – Progress Report Nov. 21, 2016

Pinterest.com

Pinterest.com

I’m happy to say that I am FINALLY back on the getting the lard off road! I lost my way for a bit, but – with the addition of yoga poses done daily – I’m starting to lose again.

My husband – who is a newly-diagnosed diabetic – and I are eating a low carb diet, substituting sugar-free candy, pudding, and tea for the things he’s missing the most.

 

Bored Panda

Bored Panda

The biggest change is that I’m doing two sections of my yoga DVD set daily. Today, for example, I’m doing “Joint Mobility” and “Overall Flow.”

Yesterday I ALMOST skipped the yoga because I had some sore muscles. I went ahead, grimly, and found that my soreness disappeared! Let this be an ongoing lesson for me!!!!!

I’ve been doing the two sections daily for a bit over a week now, and I decided to see whether my measuring tape was impressed or not.

It was! To date, I’ve lost 21.75 inches and 40 pounds. (Some of these pounds have been regained and now lost again. I’m looking forward to breaking into new territory soon.)

Yesterday I was doing the ‘fold-yourself-into-a-paper-airplane-and-twist’ pose. I end up with my leg bent and twisted over to the side across my body with my knee on the floor. The opposite arm is stretched up above my head. See what I mean about folding yourself into a paper airplane?

Anyway, you get into the pose, holding it while you breathe in deeply into the stretch, and then exhale several times. When I was doing the last deep breath, my fingers touched the floor! Just barely – but they did!!!!! Only on one side, and only for a second, but HOOORAAAAAY!

The only other exercise I’m doing right now is sitting on the exercise ball while watching TV.  This is supposed to be good for building up my ‘core’ muscles and strengthening my balance. Since I need both, I spend some time bouncing around each evening.

I’m going right now to do my yoga sessions.

Hope YOUR day is good, too.

 

 

 

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off

The Merry Christmas Santa is Coming to Life!

mcsanta1

Yesterday I finished the second coat on the front of the mailbox decoration. Today I’ll flip it over and do the 2nd coat on the back of the piece.

I checked on my order of Sno-Tex, the textured white paint I want to experiment with on this. It had not been shipped! I cancelled that order and ordered from another source, so it should be delivered tomorrow. HOORAAAY!

When the 2nd coat is on the back and is dry, then I get to play.

Clipart Kid

Clipart Kid

I already have my glitter glue to make some things sparkly. THEN the Sno-Tex is supposed to make things like Santa’s hair, mustache, bear, and fur on his mittens and hat 3-dimensional. I’ve never used these before, so I’m like a kid at Christmas.

I’ll show you some progress on these two things as I can.

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The Garden Still Lives!

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For two nights this week I’ve had to spread sheets over our fall raised bed, square foot garden, trying to bring the plants through the freezes. Last night it wasn’t supposed to freeze, so I held my breath and didn’t cover the plants. I went out to check on things this morning and all our plants were still alive! I have several different types of lettuce that I’m HOPING I can continue to harvest into January. Time will tell. The above is head lettuce.

 

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I’m not sure what this is called, but the leaves are frilly and curly.

 

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This is kind of ruffle-y.

 

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This is one of the two raised bed planters that are almost entirely devoted to broccoli and cauliflower, although you can see two lettuce plants on the left.

 

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This planter is almost entirely lettuces. If you look carefully, there’s a ‘salad blend’ brownish lettuce in the center. The weather was so warm I almost lost the lettuce plants due to them trying to bolt. That’s why the plants are so tall. I have no clue what will happen, but I’m harvesting every two or three days for as long as they’ll allow.

 

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This is the treasure I found this morning – a teeny, tiny head of cauliflower! Isn’t it cute? :0)

I tried to grow celery this year, planting three ‘bottoms’ of celery I had gotten at the store. Two immediately croaked when I transferred them to the planter, but one is still alive, quite green, but only has small leaves and doesn’t seem to be growing. I’m just glad I tried, kept one alive, and will keep trying.

I finally folded up the king sized sheets I used to cover the planters. We MIGHT get much-needed rain tomorrow and I don’t want the sheets to get wet.

So far, so good!

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Think Life Differently – Take 2

tld3

 

 

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Higher Perspective via Bill Lites

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Thanksgiving Monday

“We’re having something a little different this year for Thanksgiving. Instead of a turkey, we’re having a swan. You get more stuffing.” ~ George Carlin

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“Advice on Cooking Your Thanksgiving Bird”

This is a repost of a blog by Pobept of Town & Country Gardening. I laughed out loud several times, and thought you might enjoy it, too. If you’re interested in wise words about gardening, food, DIY, Health, homemade, and more, please check out and follow this website.

Advice on Cooking Your Thanksgiving Bird

If the link above doesn’t work, here is the URL to paste into your browser –

Advice on cooking your Thanksgiving bird

ENJOY!

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Filed under Blog Repost - Wonderful Posts, holidays

Mailbox Santa Progress

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This is the front side with the first coat on. This will need a second coat, and then the glitter glue and Snow-Tex before it’s finished.

 

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This is the back side of the piece, with the progress I made yesterday. I’m about to go out and start working on all the black on the piece.

I received my glitter glue, but I haven’t received the Sno-Tex yet. I’m excited to see what interest I can add with those new media for me.

 

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Pink Roses

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“Rose Beauty 1” – Paul Militaru Photography

 

 

 

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“Wild Roses” – Paul Militaru Photography

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We Made it Through Freeze One!

Ramblings from a Desert Garden

Ramblings from a Desert Garden

I covered my fall raised bed garden plants yesterday afternoon in preparation for our first freeze of the season. This gives you an idea of what my garden looked liked, except mine are boxes up in the air about 4 feet or so. I used three bed sheets anchored with a gazillion clothes pins, trying to keep the covers from blowing off in the gusty, cold wind.

I forgot to take my camera, but I was too cold by the time I finished to take a pic anyway. :0)

My plants made it through the first freeze of the season. I went out to the garden, afraid that the sheets would be bunched up against one fence or another in the garden, but all stayed where I put them! And when I took the sheets off, the plants seemed to be fine. HOOOOOORAAAAAY!

I left the sheets and clothes pins in the empty planter boxes, ready to cover things again tonight. If I can pull the plants through another two nights, I think we’re home free until NEXT Saturday, unless they change the forecast.

We turned the heat on downstairs for the first time this season yesterday.

We just put up a cat cube in the garage for our newest cat, Smoke, who is used to sleeping on the back porch. We closed that off to her about three weeks ago, and she’s finally learning that we feed Abby and her on top of the wood pile in the garage. I hope she likes the cube, as it will allow her to be safe and warm this winter.  (You can see from the pic that Abby’s cube on the left has been well used. My husband built a strong support for each cube and then anchored the cubes to the wooden support so they won’t move as the cat jumps up or moves around inside.)

 

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Appendages crossed that we make it through Freeze #2 tonight!

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Think Life Differently – Take 1

tld1

 

 

tld2

Higher Perspective via Bill Lites

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Folding Myself into a Paper Airplane – Take 7

You Tube

You Tube

At Lunch Bunch today, I told my friends that I had discovered an inflexible thing I didn’t even know I had – the fact that I can’t lie on my back and put my arms up over my head touching the floor.

They both reacted that they were going to go home and try it because they didn’t know if they could do it, either.

Today I did “Legs” and “Overall Flow” on the “Gentle Yoga” DVD set. The legs is one of the harder sections for me. The back of my legs needs a LOT of stretching, I find. I think I did a bit better today, though, and I’m learning to breathe into the strain, causing my body to eventually ‘give’ a bit more.

I definitely feel more relaxed when I finish the two sessions each day. I’m able to get up from that, drink some water, and then I’m ready to go on with my day, rather than having to crash, take a nap, or similar – a definite improvement.

I’ll have to let you know if doing yoga every day impresses the tape measure. Time will tell.

Even if it doesn’t, I FEEL better. I’m sleeping better that last couple of nights. I feel looser when I move. It’s hard to describe, but I’m more aware of my CORE moving, where it has just been ‘along-for-the-ride’ for as long as I can remember.

I’m not dreading going into the living room to exercise now – also a definite improvement.

I may never get to the point where I’m really good at yoga, but trying sure seems to be helping me.

GrowingBolder. com via Cathy Ruggiero

GrowingBolder. com via Cathy Ruggiero

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Good Thoughts – Take 5

gt18

 

 

gt19

 

 

gt20

Thanks to http://www.yesemails.com via Marsha Koenig

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Filed under Attitude, Favorite Quotes, Good Thoughts

Brrr!

gabWorthy

gabWorthy

Wow. Were the weather people right!  I went out at 4:30 to harvest some stuff from the garden, in case the weather people were right and we would get a freeze for the next three mornings. I wore a quilted vest and added my gardening gloves, thinking I would probably get too hot trying to cover up the garden plants.

Was I wrong! The temperature has gone down to about 50 degrees with a really strong, whippy wind. By the time I finished covering the plants, I was practically frozen!

I came in a turned on the heat in the house and shut the door we still had open.  We’re just about finished with our getting-ready-for-winter list, but not any too soon.

I hope you’re staying warm and snug as a bug in a rug wherever you are this evening.  I’m going to be on the lookout for some sugar-free hot chocolate this weekend!

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First Freezes

We’re supposed to have freezing temperatures tomorrow morning, Sunday morning, and Monday morning before temperatures warm up again. I’m hoping to bring my garden plants through this three-day period, and will go out to harvest again – just in case we lose them – and then cover up the plants with sheets for the night. The idea of the freezes makes me a bit nostalgic. view2

We had a really nice summer, and have been enjoying a longer than usual fall. We just had a bunch of stuff cut down in the back by Shane, a young, strong hard worker, so our view is opened up again and the danger from wildfire is a bit less.

 

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We enjoyed lots of flowers this year: mandevilla, wave petunias, periwinkles, impatiens, purslane, zinnias, phlox, lilies, iris, and more. I’ve just finished cleaning out the flower planters and filling them with mulch I made grinding up leaves.

 

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We’ve unhooked our irrigation systems for both flowers and the garden now. The past two days we had temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  We’re due to have a freeze tomorrow morning and then a high of 55.  We’ve had a strong wind for a couple of days now – blowing from the south until last night and now from the north, taking our temperatures down.

 

 

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Most of our flowers are gone now, but we still have some mandevilla blooming. I went out to take some last pictures, as I’m sure, with the coming freezes, they’ll be gone.

 

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All seasons come to an end, but this one was especially nice.

NOW – out to harvest and cover my garden!

Fingers crossed!!!!

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I am a Reader

The Literacy Site via Cathy Ruggiero

The Literacy Site via Cathy Ruggiero

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Autumn

Almaz Imanova via Akiva Huber

Almaz Imanova via Akiva Huber

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.” William Cullen Bryant

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Prepping for Winter Continued

Essential Hardware

Essential Hardware

This afternoon my husband and I prepared the fall garden for winter. We fixed a hose that needed to be relocated in the fall garden section, draining the hose and reattaching it where it needs to go. Then we took off the irrigation system controller that fit between our above the ground agricultural faucet and the hose that goes out to the garden. Now we don’t have to worry about the brains of the system freezing. I took the batteries out and stored the system in the shop.

We also had our geothermal heat and air conditioning checked out by the expert who checks things spring and fall to make sure we don’t have any problems, and we changed the big filters. We then discovered that the exhaust flexible hose from the dryer to the outside of the house was loose and we could see sunlight! We got that fixed pretty easily and THINK it’ll now stay put.

We’re now pretty well ready for winter. The garage now has dry wood up the wall below the cat cubes where the kitties can stay warm. We won’t have to get out into the weather if we need to replace the firewood we have ready to light in the fireplace. (We didn’t actually need the fireplace last winter, but we love to light one, anyway, just for the comfort factor of being in a nice warm house when it’s yucky outside.) :0)

We have a big list on the fridge of what we need to finish in order to be ready to get snowed in. I think there are still a few things to go, but they’re minor things.

One of my friends in Denver said she was watching it snow outside today! I told her it was 86 here today, but that we were supposed to get rain tomorrow along with a stiff cold front, bringing freezing morning temps Sat, Sun, and Monday. Hard to believe, but we know it’s coming.

I’m ready to put sheets over my fall garden plants tomorrow night – hoping to keep my plants alive as long as possible.

Are you getting ready for winter?

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