“Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.”
“There is only one smartest dog in the world, and every boy has it.”
“My Labrador retriever had a nervous breakdown. I kept throwing him a boomerang.” ~ Nick Arnette
“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.” ~ Dave Barry
Filed under Amazing Animals
This wonderful .gif isn’t from OUR deck, but my husband saw our first hummingbird this morning while we were sitting at the dining area trying to wake up.
We didn’t have a feeder out there yet, so we jumped up, ran up the ladder in the garage, grabbed one of the feeders. I made some hummingbird food quickly and my husband took it out to hang on the deck.
Nothing could have lifted my spirits more. (Well, learning that we won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes would have certainly raised them, too.) :0)
Filed under Favorite Things, Seasons
Filed under sculpture
Today is sunshine-y and pretty, but it’s still only 37 degrees outside now. This is the third night I’ve had to cover my veggie plants, hoping they won’t freeze in the uncharacteristically cold weather we’ve been having. I think after tonight, this cold wave will be finished and we can get back to normal. So far, so good. Fingers – and all other appendages – including my eyes – are crossed.
I finally gave up on my elephant ear bulbs that I tried to winter over in peat moss in my garage. They aren’t showing anything good. I have ordered some bulbs and will plant them as soon as they arrive. I’m sad to lose the ones I received from my friend, Laufrain.
My husband and I went searching for new carpet and flooring yesterday. We compromised on some new carpet and I got my choice of flooring for the porch. The man is coming today to measure and give us a final cost. My husband told the lady we got the carpet and flooring from them in 2012, but it turns out that we got our kitchen tiles in 2012. We got the carpeting and porch floor in 2008, so it’s a good time to get new.
I sold a hand painted tote bag on Amazon Handmade overnight, so I’m heading out in just a minute to get our mail and then drive to the post office to mail the tote. It really makes my day when someone likes what I’ve created enough to buy it for themselves or as a gift for someone else. :0)
I wish you a happy Wednesday.
This is me in a nutshell and my basic attitude toward the world.
I particularly felt this way this morning, when my scales greeted me with a big raspberry because SOMEHOW I gaine 1-1/2 lbs yesterday. I wasn’t aware that I ate lead, but apparently that is the case.
I have decided to ignore it, since I ate a normal lunch and will eat a normal dinner. I’m HOPING that I’m just retaining water and find it gone tomorrow….
Filed under Stained Glass Art
Images found in various places on Pinterest
Filed under Towel Critter Art
Our iris season always starts with deep purple iris. They are almost finished now. They are followed by pale yellow iris, and those are blooming madly all over the place now, along with some mauve colored ones here. :0)
We also have a few very pale coral iris and some ‘mauve’ iris, but those are few and far in-between.
A few years ago I devoted one of our brick planters to planting new colors of iris. Each year I did up some of those and replant them elsewhere in the yard.
I love all colors of iris, but I wish the deep purple and the yellow would bloom at the same time. Apparently, though, they have a system which decides which bloom when, and mostly, only one color blooms at a time around here.
These are two yellow iris from the planter I talked about. They have a really nice, deep yellow color. We also brought in one of the mauve ones.
If I get bogged down, I just go outside and walk around the yard a bit. Seeing things blooming lifts my spirits.
Filed under Favorite Things, Gardening, Mother Nature
Filed under Amazing Animals, paintings I love
I got some things accomplished over the weekend that make me feel like I’m starting the coming week well.
I caught up on the filing and bookkeeping that had been piling up for quite awhile. I gathered the things I brought home from the booth my friend and I were renting in a local shop. I’m not ready to go through them right now, but at least I’m not in danger of falling over them on my way to and from the computer.
Our credit card was frauded and we had to cancel the one we had and start over with a new one. We had to contact a bunch of places to get things updated. I’ll finish the list today with some phone calls.
I discovered the local weather people were warning of a frost and freezes the coming three days. I got my plants covered last night. They came through just fine. I’ll cover them again tonight and tomorrow night. I enjoyed gathering my first harvest of spinach and lettuce yesterday! :0)
I will start hanging things up on the porch today. We have decided to start researching putting a new floor cover out there, since the project to replace the ceiling, seal off where the squirrels were getting in, and hanging a new shutter are finished. As an added project, I paid the guys to repaint the rest of the woodwork out there, so things look fresh and clean. Ahhhh!
At the same time we replace the porch floor covering, we’re going to research replacing the carpeting in our living room, foyer and office. It’s beyond being able to look better with cleaning. Our records show we have had it since 2009.
Our list of things to repair or replace is getting a bit shorter, so it feels good.
I hope that your spirits are lifting, too.
Stay safe and well.
As you can see, the plants in my veggie garden are happy at the moment!
I celebrated our first harvest of 2021 this afternoon.
I will get out tomorrow and do some weeding – particularly in one of the tomato planters, plus do some fertilizing. I will also mix and spray more weed killer, starting under the planters in the garden.
Here is today’s harvest of leaf lettuce. I actually have three kinds this year – head lettuce, a kind of frilly leaf lettuce I haven’t harvested yet, and Butter Crunch lettuce. I had enough to fill 3 one-gallon storage bags.
Here is the harvest of spinach today. Again, I had enough to fill 3 one-gallon storage bags. This is the best lucky I’ve had with spinach ever.
We will have a nice, fresh salad tonight to go with our leftover hamburger patties and macaroni and cheese.
I’m smiling on my way back out to the garden. :0)
Filed under Stained Glass Art
Last night I gave into our desire for comfort food, since our weather has been gray, cool, and rainy lately and made hamburger patties and macaroni and cheese. It hit just the right note with my husband, and he declared the meal ‘delicious’ several times.
Mostly we are trying to watch what we eat in an effort to lose our lard, get as healthy as we can, and be able to continue doing most of what we would like to do. We have found two places locally who are offering REAL FOOD and STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’ – individual frozen dinners with few ingredients – all of which you can pronounce and understand – with measured portions that are GOOD for us. We feel as it we have found a treasure trove.
Particularly when the weather is good, I like to spend a lot of time outside – working in our veggie garden, gathering harvests of lettuce, spinach, radishes, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, onions, and tomatoes each time I can for us to enjoy right from the garden. Much of the time I am helping with the lawn or weeding my flower beds, so it’s nice to have veggies from the garden and a good-for-us delicious dinner that only has to be nuked to be ready to eat.
As soon as I finish here, I’m planning to go out and take pics to share with you, hopefully harvest my first gathering of veggies, plus get things ready to cover the plants for some possible freezes this week.
I hope that you are well and happy this morning, and that your Sunday is a nice one.
My mom loved ‘baby anythings.’ She would melt into a puddle, her heart on the floor as she oohed and ahhed over pictures or the sweet animals in the flesh.
She had three dogs – two chihuahuas and a toy poodle, who ALL stayed small and ALL sat in her chair with her whenever she sat down. She would cuddle, and talk in a baby voice FOR the doggies, giving each a definite personality.
My dad, who wanted to please my mom, sometimes brought home baby animals to try to please her. I will never forget a baby monkey that my dad brought home from a pet shop. They named him “Philbert,” and he basically hated everyone. One day he escaped from his cage and ran into the kitchen. My mother was soaking a head of lettuce in the sink. Philbert grabbed the head of lettuce and proceeded to run all over the house with it dripping – up and down draperies, over the carpet, onto the furniture, even up a wall or two as my mom ran around screeching. My dad tried to catch it, carrying a towel. He finally caught it. I remember seeing the monkey’s TEETH biting through the towel as he stuffed the monkey back into the cage and locked the door. (I was given custody of the head of lettuce to take back to the kitchen while my brother got more towels for the cleanup. (Philbert was taken back to the pet shop the next day to be adopted by someone else.)
We had baby rabbits as pets, too, because my mom fell in love with the ones at the store being sold at Easter. We brought home two gaily colored rabbits who became members of our family. We named them “Peter Rabbit” and “Welch Rabbit.” They grew out of their pastel-dyed fur and became quite sweet pets for us.
My mom saw a special on elephants on National Geographic. She oohed and ahhed, but by that point, had learned to look at my dad sternly and say firmly, “But, Jim. I DON’T want one!”
It’s a good thing that my husband doesn’t react to MY melting into a puddle over baby animals. We wouldn’t be able to get into our home because of all the cats and dogs, in particular, I would want to adopt… BUT – probably NOT an elephant… AREN’T THEY CUTE!?
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Since Mother Nature is giving us a cool-for-the-season, WET day, I will get the makings of chili in the slow cooker when we get home from Lunch Bunch. When whatever we decide to do is done for the day, a nice warm comfort-food-type dinner will be ready.
Stay warm and dry and have a wonderful day!
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day
I feel GOOD this morning.
Yesterday I had a glorious massage after SEVERAL days of mixing and spraying 2-gallon containers of weed killer, and then switching to 6 hours of using the power washer a couple of days ago, cleaning outdoor furniture, our deck, and the back sidewalk. My body was really anticipating the miracle that is Lynn Moody, my massage therapist. 479-629-7601. I spent the rest of the day reading, resting, and sleeping. AHHHHHH! I capped it off by getting a good night’s sleep last night.
Not even the fact that today is supposed to be very rainy can dampen my spirits.
We’ll go to Lunch Bunch in about an hour, catch up with our friends while enjoying chicken fingers, and then hit the local grocery store for supplies before coming back home.
Weather permitting, I’m hoping to gather the first harvest of the season from my veggie garden! My mouth is watering for a salad made with lettuce and spinach from our own garden.
I hope that you are safe and well. Enjoy your Friday.
I am about to leave to get a massage!
After all the power washing I did this week – 9 chairs, our deck, and the back sidewalk, I kind of limped around all day yesterday, stiff and sore and not the least bit motivated to do much, my body is really looking forward to some pampering today. I got a good night’s sleep last night – except for an hour or so when I went downstairs to read some more – so this massage will finish off a nice bit of pampering.
The weather forecast is such that I will probably have to wait until at least Saturday to do the power washing I want to do in the front – the porch, front sidewalk, and garage pad – plus, I will see what it does on the water stains on some planter bricks.
I’m not sure what the rest of the day will hold, but the sun is shining brightly and I’m almost on the way to get a massage. I can imagine few better ways to start a day.
Have a wonderful Thursday.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, taking care of yourself
My husband recommended Ashfall by Mike Mullen several months ago. I was too engrossed in re-reading other books to try it until a couple of days ago.
I was thoroughly caught up on the first page and read as much as I could each day, finishing it this afternoon. It is a ‘youth’ series, written for teenagers. My husband usually chooses books with LOTS of violence, but he was caught up in the story, as well, and recommended it to me, thinking I would enjoy it.
This is a 3-book series – Ashfall, Ashen Winter, and Sunrise (with more to follow, I hope) about teenagers caught in the utter catastrophe of an eruption of the super-volcano that is Yellowstone.
I was totally caught up in the characters, situation, emotions, decision-making and more of this first book. I CARED what happened to these people and reacted as they did as they met each obstacle.
I have ordered the second and third books, plus another called Darla’s Story, and can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews
One of the LAST ways I thought I would describe myself is a ‘power washer’ person. That changed when we got one and I tried it several years ago.
Most of the time I clean things and the ‘miracle’ lasts for 30 seconds or so until it’s time to do it again. The power washer does a REALLY good job, it’s FAST, and it STAYS done for the season – or maybe TWO!
My husband set up our power washer this morning. When we got back from errands, I went out to clean the 4 chairs from the porch and the 5 chairs from the deck. By the time I was finishing the last chair, my husband was handing me other things that could use a good, powerful wash, like the hanging things for the porch, a couple of stools, a laundry basket, a dog bowl, and a basketball.
By the time I finished, I just stripped off my wet jeans and spread them out to dry out there. I left my shoes, too.
I’m going to do some serious resting now. We’ll have some lunch and maybe a nap, and then I want to power wash the floor of the deck. I can finish the rest tomorrow or the next day, but we can get the fresh chairs – dried in the sun – back where they belong, plus get the hanging things put on the floor on the porch. (We, of COURSE, are expecting rain tonight.)
My power washing project will include finishing the whole deck, and then the sidewalk that goes from the deck to the garage pad, the pad, the sidewalk that goes to the front porch, that porch, and then I think that will be it for awhile. This may take me a couple of days.
I truly LOVE a tool that makes your life easier, and the power washer is something I NEVER would have thought would have gone at the top of my list.
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
They quickly tore out the old sheet rock. They were careful removing our fluorescent light fixtures and ceiling fan. Cliff told me he appreciated the good job I had done getting everything on the porch out onto the deck. They got the new sheet rock up in a day, I think. They were very careful on the mudding and taping – even tearing one part off and redoing it because it didn’t meet their standards for excellence. Their ‘texture guy’ came and did a beautiful job of adding texture to the ceiling before painting. It really is an art.
Here is a picture of the finished ceiling with the fluorescent fixtures and ceiling fan back up.
We expanded the contract – at my instigation – to include painting the rest of the woodwork on the porch. I knew – having painted it before – that you have to use roller AND brush and it takes forever.
So now I feel we have a new porch. The only exception to that is the floor, which will address at a later time. The guys spent a long time on cleanup, cleaning our brick as well as possible, our painted door, and especially the floor, which two of them mopped at least a couple of times. They were careful to take all the trash away. There is no sign of anything in our yard or on the deck that a work crew was here.
My husband and I moved the table back onto the porch after they finished last night, and hauled 4 long pieces of painted wood from the previous ‘fix’ that we might use for another project to our shop.
This afternoon we will get our power washer out and I will try to get chairs clean. We have 4 that go back on the porch and another 5 that live on our deck.
I will go through the rest of the stuff on the deck, cleaning the things that hang up, creating a pile to go in the donation pile, and throwing away some things.
I feel I have a new porch. The Safe Elite Transformations guys are good people and hard workers. I can’t say enough about how nice it was to work with them, their competence, their passion for excellence. No ‘ranking’ is high enough. You will be lucky if you get them to do work for you.
I love this painting. Sorry, but I am unable to read the signature to give credit.
I have told you that we are having to have our ceiling replaced on the porch due to an invasion of squirrels who ate wiring and chewed a hole through the ceiling. The painter is out on the porch today, finishing up the project! Their company name is Safe Elite Transformations 479-849-0520, but I secretly call them the “Band of Brothers”. Cliff Harden is the owner, and his brothers, Jared and Cameron (among others) work with him. They are honest, hard-working guys. I trust them. They do what they say they will do. They will work with you. I am waiting to give feedback on Home Advisor until the job is completely finished, but I will give them the highest possible rating.
Yesterday I stared mixing up KillzAll Weed Killer. My container with a sprayer holds two gallons. I filled it up and sprayed things 6 times yesterday. At that point I was pooped and stopped for the day. I hope to finish the job today.
Our weather is beautiful. I hope that you are having a great day, too.
“When your horse follows you without being asked, when he rubs his head on yours, and when you look at him and feel a tingle down your spine…you know you are loved.” ~ John Lyons
“For one to fly, one needs only to take the reins.” ~ Melissa James
“I am still under the impression that there is nothing alive quite so beautiful as a horse.” ~ John Galsworthy
“The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and freedom.” ~ Sharon Ralls Lemon
“There is something about riding down the street on a prancing horse that makes you feel like something, even when you ain’t a thing.” ~ Will Rogers
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” ~ Sir Winston Churchill
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
Filed under aging, Attitude, Encouragement
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