Filed under Family, Favorite Quotes, Friendship
I’m a relaxed, happy cat right now. I just got home from doing a few errands and having my second massage for the month. (My first was an unexpected and thoroughly appreciated gift from my cousin in Thibodaux, LA.) So this is one very spoiled lady. :0)
It’s also my husband’s birthday today. (Shhhh! He’s very grumpy and doesn’t want to talk about it. I took this opportunity to sing “Happy Birthday” to him this morning. His response was a stuck-out tongue, and then a pat. I’ve done some other things I’ll surprise him with later, but we are officially ‘ignoring’ his birthday. I think it’s wonderful that he gets to all the birthdays first. By the time I have that birthday, it doesn’t hurt so much.
In a couple of minutes I’ll fix our lunch, then we’ll relax awhile.
Filed under Family, taking care of yourself, Thoughts on a ________
We had a wonderful time this morning on a conference call with our son, who is all the way across the world from us. The fact that we talk all the time on a chat program, plus every once in a while enjoy a conference call where we can see and talk to him real time, makes me almost forget how far away he is.
One of the things I admire most about him is his independence. He decided what he wanted to do, where he wanted to live, how he wanted to live when he got there, and figured out how to make it happen.
He told me today that his meditation brings him so much happiness it seems to flow out, bringing that happiness to others he sees. He is calm, content with the freelance work he is doing, happy with his rental house in the woods, happy he is becoming proficient in another language, and more.
He wanted to know if we are happy with what he is doing. I told him there are no words to express how proud we are of the kind and generous man he is and how happy we are that he is building the life he wants. (I also told him that I would be happier if I saw the light of love in his eyes again and found someone to share this beautiful life with him. His dad wants rug rats. :0) (I told him I would be happier if he gets married first.)
My heart is full that we are so close, if not geographically. We are so lucky to have him in our lives.
My hair is blowing as I realize we’re at the end of another week and we’ve started September. We will leave for Lunch Bunch soon. I love seeing my friends’ faces, hugging their necks (vicariously – with Covid), and sharing a meal, seeing with my own eyes that all remains well.
Since the main people who pass our driveway these days are the kids who ride on the school bus, we will concentrate on displaying the decorations we hope they will enjoy. We will put up Godzilla today.
When we get back from Lunch Bunch and a few errands, I’ll check the dragonfly in the shop to see if he’s ready for us to put back up on the side of the house. I’ll also check the Christmas presents that I think are finished and ready to come inside. I THINK all is finished, except for painting on some polyurethane for protection.
I will make a chef salad with chicken left from our lunches today for dinner tonight.
I’m HOPING our weather forecasters are right with chances of rain tomorrow night into Sunday. My husband is smiling because he’s only had to mow once lately, but our plants could really use a good soaky rain. In CASE they’re right, I need to check our tomato plants and do some weed whacking today and tomorrow.
On the start of this Labor Day Weekend, I think of my dad, who was born – he said ‘quite appropriately’ – on Labor Day. My parents have been gone a long time now. I still feel them encouraging me to enjoy each day the best I can.
I hope that you enjoy YOUR Friday, too.
Filed under Family, Friendship, Thoughts on a ________, Tribute
I’m resting a bit this morning from trying to clean up my square foot garden. I finished the weeding yesterday, but I haven’t done the final spraying (one for bugs and another for any weed roots I missed) or covered the boxes with tarps yet. ONE ant found me yesterday and bit/stung me on my left forearm, making it swell up like a toad. I treated it with Benadryl Ointment, one of my miracle drugs, so I just have one small white ‘bubble’ on my mildly swollen, slightly itchy, tender arm this morning. I have about an hour of work left to secure the garden. I will try to take some pics for to share with you later today.
We will pick up our order of some frozen meals from Real Food in Greenwood today. We are really lucky to have Real Food and Stu’s Clean Cookin’ both of which opened in Greenwood in the past year. The cooking styles are quite different, which gives us nice variety. Both provide good meals with reasonable portions, no preservatives, frozen into individual meals perfect for us. Interspersed are some splurges with Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice, plus my own cooking separated and frozen into individual meals after our initial meal.
It is on my list to clean up my drafting table in my art room before I try any more experiments. The last acrylic pour I did spilled over onto the glass I use to protect the table. I’m HOPING I have enough ‘spills’ to try a 4th technique I saw on YouTube. :0)
I hope this Monday finds you healthy and happy.
I’ve had my goldfish for about 6 years now.
I didn’t give them names, but we ‘talked’ several times a day. Twice a day they would bunch up in the corner of the tank, opening and closing their mouths rapidly and wiggling their little bodies in anticipation of the ‘delicious’ food I sprinkled in. There was a lot of activity as they avidly ate every little bit, and then were calm again.
After lots of research, I had finally found a combination of filters and treatments that kept their tank water clean and sparkling. My husband was noticing the other day that I wasn’t having to clean the tank every week anymore.
Last week the smaller fish died. We talked about getting another fish, but I thought we should just be thankful we had one fish.
This morning the larger fish was gone, too.
I guess it’s stupid to be sad over a couple of fish, but even with no names, they were members of our family for a long time. They will be missed.
Filed under Family
We had a quiet celebration yesterday. Last night our wonderful neighbors in the valley put on a beautiful display of fireworks. They don’t know how much I look forward to it. :0)
Independence Day was my father’s favorite holiday. He used to get a whole double-armful of ‘ladyfingers’ that were all tied together. You were supposed to untie each one and set it off. My dad would light the one on one end, then throw the whole bunch into the yard. Each went off with a bang, making the whole bunch jump with non-stop bangs. The group jumped all over the yard by the time it was finished. He would stand there watching with a huge grin on his face.
He had a challenging couple of years the result of which was that his vision was mostly gone. (My mom laboriously copied the cryptoquote from the newspaper onto a huge piece of paper with a sharpie so that he could try to work it every day.)
In preparation for the holiday, he had bought the usual fireworks he loved, including some ones for after dark. My husband and I were dating, and we all had dinner together, my dad having grill chicken quarters outside. My husband picked up the mantle without a word, setting off the fireworks for all of us, having my dad ‘choose’ which one was next. Of course, the celebration started with the ladyfinger ‘detonation.’ We followed that with my favorite ‘snakes’ and ‘sparklers.’
Finally, my husband set off the night ones, one at a time, with my dad choosing the order. It was super hot that year, and I brought out a wet washcloth so my husband could mop his face. When the display was finished, my dad had tears quietly rolling down his face as he smiled. He stood up, put his hand out in thanks to my husband, then pulled him in for a hug.
If I hadn’t already decided my husband was the one, that would have sealed the deal.
Have a love-filled celebration today.
Amber is a 95-pound yellow lab. She thinks she is a ferocious guard dog. I don’t really think she gets the idea, though.
Instead of barking, she greets everyone who comes to the house with tail wagging, wanting to get up on them and give them a kiss or two. (She might bowl them over while doing that, but her intentions are to LOVE, not DEFEND.
She will run like a nut after a rabbit or other critter in the yard, but she’s never come close to catching anything – leaving that job to Abby, our cat.
She routinely sits on her bed in the living room late in the evening, when we’re watching TV or reading, suddenly growling or barking – scaring us to death. There is never anything that she is growling or barking AT – and we have to encourage her NOT to do it.
Last night she was in the office with me. Suddenly she was growling and barking – looking at the stairs to the second floor. When I got up to go with her and check out what the problem was, I had to laugh. I had ‘walked’ a big ‘package’ of bottled water up the stairs and left it at the top, to be taken into our bedroom when we went up for the night. Amber saw that at the top of the stairs, recognized that she didn’t normally see that there, and freaked out.
SO – our guard dog was great at defending us from the bottled water. We can rest easy.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Today is a pretty day, though the humidity is still high. Thanks to a neighbor’s super-kind compliments about our mailbox decorations, we will change our decoration when we leave to go to Lunch Bunch. This is what we’ll put up –
We will enjoy catching up with our long time friends as we have every Friday for over 17 years now. It’s impossible to explain how close we feel, having shared highs and lows, laughs and tears all this time. The number of people at lunch changes from time to time, depending on who is being visited, which other friends took time to be with us, but the core remains the same – Kay, Linda, and me, plus my husband who was ‘graciously’ taken in as an honorary member of Lunch Bunch. Kay’s husband also joins us from time to time when he isn’t working. He is in high demand because he can run many huge machines like an artist – a vanishing skill.
When we come home, I’m planning to get out and weed whack the yard. My husband got the recalcitrant riding mower running and got the main part of the yard done. I need to do the parts he can’t get with the mower, of which there are many, followed by leaf blowing to clean things up, and then spraying with KillzAll weed killer to discourage new growth. I don’t know how long I’ll last in the heat, but it’s good knowing I can come in, jump into the shower, dress in clean clothes, and maybe even have a nap this afternoon.
Tomorrow is the official start of “Lewis Refurb 2021” where I wash, scrape and thoroughly clean one of our yard metal critters, then repair or replace parts, repaint, and finally spray with polyurethane for protection so it can go back outside. The sun and rain and temperature ranges are very hard on them. I’ll do the best I can to give them some more years as members of the Lewis family. I’ll start with our “Box Turtle.” –
This is what he used to look like. I’ll take a picture when I get started so you can see what Mother Nature does to our ‘creations.’ The poor thing is NOT a happy camper right now.
The other thing I’m hoping for this weekend is that my husband will be in the mood to cook out. I have some kielbasa and some lovely veggies that would make a delicious meal. I’m hoping we can have a late dinner, sit and talk on the deck, with our rope LED lights on, making things festive, while we enjoy the evening and our animals.
I hope that you’re having a nice day today and that you’re looking forward to an enjoyable weekend.
He came home and they went to college – he at the University of Tulsa and she at Oklahoma State University. When she had one semester left of practice teaching, they married – June 14, 1969.
Today we celebrate sharing our lives for 52 years, and we haven’t killed each other! He asked me for another 52 years, and, in a moment of weakness, I said. “Let’s do it!”
We have a pretty good start now. We will enjoy sharing a seafood platter tonight in quiet celebration.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family, love, marriage
Amber is a 4-year-old, 95-pound yellow lab who thinks she is a lap dog. Every day when I’m sitting at the computer, she tries her best to climb up in my chair with me. This results in a lot of laughter (on my part), face-licking (on hers), hugs, and some colorful bruised spots on my legs.
She also SAYS she wants us to throw a ball (or one of her other squeeky toys or ropes) for her. There is a lot of drama in the game. She brings the toy with great enthusiasm (I don’t really understand how she manages to smile with a ball in her mouth, but she does, making it squeak as she comes to us, shaking her head to break the ball’s neck.
We hold out our hands for her to give us the ball so we can throw it. She doesn’t really want us to THROW the ball as much as she wants to engage us while she lords it over us that the ball is HERS. She actually wants us to play Tug of War. She will actually put the ball in our hands, but won’t let go of it. She will pull it away, eyes twinkling, then run around and around the living room, squeaking the ball madly, return to us again to tease us, over and over.
Finally, when we give up, she drops the ball in our lap. We throw the ball, she dashes to get it, bringing it back eyes filled with triumph. She really would LIKE for us to play Tug of War, but she can pull us up right out of our chairs, so we aren’t excited about that challenge.
Would you like to come over and play with Amber for awhile?
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
I’ve been trying to get to cleaning my aquarium for the past week. I TALK a good game sometimes, but am not always terrific about actually following through. I just finished finally DOING it as one of my two projects for the day.
Everything is squeeky clean for them now. They didn’t SAY anything, or do back flips, but they HAVE been checking out the huge shell in the tank, swimming the length of the opening over and over. They are too big to actually get inside, so they can look to their heart’s content.
I only have two fish, but they are goldfish – notorious for needing a lot of care to keep their tank clean. I have found a combination that works really well, after a lot of trial and error. I’m using a filtering system called AquaClear. It has a three-part filter consisting of foam, a layer called, BioMax that filters out bio ‘stuff,’ and finally a carbon filter. This worked pretty well, but I was still getting a lot of algae pretty quickly. I found a product call No More Algae. It’s a tablet you put into the tank after you clean it. It says not to use a carbon filter with it, so I paid attention. Now I can go a month or more before even thinking about having to change the water.
Now I finally have happy, clean fish who are pleased with the addition of the shell to explore.
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Amber, our 4-year-old, 95-pound yellow lab, is driving me nuts this morning. She won’t settle down, and I have tried everything to try to make her happy. I hugged her, talked to her, petted her, gave her a treat, let her outside, let her back inside… She has crawled up as far as she can with me in my office chair over and over. She doesn’t seem to be hurting. I got up and took her outside, walking around the house, and out to the garden with her. She will get on her bed in the office, and then this is what I see.
Filed under Family
Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, Betty Hamblin Wheaton. She would have been 98 this coming July. She was one of the strongest, most admirable women I’ve known, and I was lucky to share part of her life.
She loved small or baby animals. They simply melted her heart. Not so much when they grew up or grew large. My dad tried to indulge her weakness, and one of my favorite memories was when she would gush over a picture or video of a baby ‘whatever,’ and then would look at my dad and say firmly, “BUT I DON’T WANT ONE!”
She usually had several small dogs at once. She loved chihuahuas. At one point she had two, plus a toy poodle (shown here.) All three would sit with her in her chair in the living room. She would have a coffee cup by her side, the three dogs, plus a big lapboard on which she would spread the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle and the CryptoQuote. She would sit there industriously working on the board, drinking coffee, and talking TO (or FOR) all the doggies.
She was super smart. Her dad considered educating women a waste of money. She wanted to go to the University of Chicago, but he said no. She ended up going to Cottey College in Nevada, MO where they lived. It was a two-year college. She only got to attend one year, living at home, and finished everything they offered for the two-year course in one year, with the exception of one gym class, which wasn’t offered when she could work it into her schedule.
She was gutsy. My dad got the chance to get into advertising, something he really wanted to do, after they had been married about 9 years. They were living on Long Island in Levittown at the time. I was 5 and my brother was about 8. My mother loved going to shows in New York City. She loved the big city life, even though things were tough at that point due to the world war, rationing, etc. The ‘catch’ on the chance for the job was that it was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My mom had to get a map to find out where that WAS, and she was appalled. But they bundled us up and we moved to a place where we had to drive quite far away to get groceries, and we took a bus to the closest school. A lady came on her horse to say hello and welcome us to the neighborhood. She and the horse stood in what would later be our living room. Each house was built on an acre and a quarter. There were two mile-long streets between Sheridan and Memorial streets – 24th Street and 25th Place. The lady on the horse would much later become my mother-in-law.
My mom never went back to school. She should have been a lawyer. She read voraciously and worked the crossword puzzle in the paper every day, including the Sunday one which was a post-graduate course in vocabulary. She would go to community meetings, fired up about one thing or another. She would stand up, saying what she had to say in a very impressive manner. She persuaded people to adopt her point of view. One funny thing – if she were really angry, her words would get longer and longer as she spoke. Her vocabulary was amazing. Sometimes she would tell someone off, and the person wasn’t sure exactly what she had said – unless they could remember the words and look them up in the dictionary when they got home. :0)
I’m proud of my mom. I miss her. I feel her most strongly when I’m sticking my neck out, trying something new, cheering me on. Happy Mother’s Day.
I’ve been emptying out moveable shelves and furniture for several days now, trying to get ready for new carpet in our office, foyer, and living room, plus new vinyl for our porch. I’m very aware right now of WHY new flooring is such a big decision around here. Even with my efforts to go through things, donate, throw away, reorganize, we STILL have way too much STUFF.
AND I’m finding out how awful your house can get when you don’t empty things out, move the furniture away from the wall and clean behind it at LEAST every 13 years or so. Now it’s a matter of pride, like a teenage boy or young man washing his car before a date, wanting to show his best face. I’m cleaning like a nut, not wanting the flooring guys to see what a slob I am. :0)
Happily, the company called yesterday to schedule our installation. The guy started with May 10th and 11th. I said, “But we’re ready NOW!” (We’re not actually completely ready, but could be). He got with the others and we compromised. They are now coming this Friday morning, the 30th. If they don’t finish, they will come back on Tuesday, May 4th. I’m hoping that we can get the carpet in Friday, and then I don’t mind waiting until the 4th for them to do the vinyl on the porch.
I had a good chat with our son this morning, so my day started in one of the best possible ways there is. He lives and works in Thailand. He loves it there. Even though I don’t like the fact that he is halfway across the planet from us, he is such a good communicator that I can almost forget that. We talk several times a week, send pics to each other, and even talk with a conference call program from time to time where I can see his face and try to make him smile and laugh.
His newest thing is taking private lessons on reading and writing Thai. He already speaks the language. In fact, he has a phone app where he acts as a translator between people speaking English, Mandarin, and Thai. He has 3 keyboards on the phone and is able to switch between them quickly. Someone will write in to the app, asking, “How do you say ___ in (English, Mandarin/Thai)?” He types in the answer and then goes on to the next question. The last time he was home, I could have watched him do that for hours. He wants to be able to read and write in Thai. He considers this basic courtesy.
Yesterday was DAY 1 on my experiment using Green Tea Extract supplements to try to control my appetite, which has gone through the roof lately. The directions say to take one capsule each day with a meal. I took mine after lunch yesterday. I managed to NOT eat anything between meals while eating a normal amount for lunch and dinner. Most importantly, I did NOT end up downstairs in the middle of the night, eating everything except for the wall.
I don’t know whether the supplement does anything or if I just want it to help so badly I got through Day 1. The mind is a powerful thing, and motivation is such a big part of changing a lifestyle. I don’t know whether this eating binge is due to stress (of which I have more than my share these days) or simply bad habits I have to work harder to break. I am determined to give this an honest shot. This is DAY 2.
Filed under Challenges, DIET!, Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
I hope this special day is a good one for you and your family. May you be surrounded with love, peace, and hope for the future.
It’s a fine start to a pretty day here. We’re supposed to have some sunshine and 63 degrees this afternoon before having thunderstorms overnight. I’ll take it!
The gremlins who have been plaguing us lately seem to have decided to ease up some. We’re waiting for the new valve we ordered for the shop heater to be delivered. Our long awaited window replacements from Window World are due to be brought and installed late tomorrow afternoon – “weather permitting and the creek don’t rise.”
I made a major decision this week. My friend and I decided to close the booth we shared in the local shop in Greenwood and I closed my Etsy shops online. I will concentrate my efforts on my online shop on Amazon Handmade now. If you would like to visit the shop, click on this link Linda Lewis Artworks. If the link doesn’t work for you, here is the URL – https://www.amazon.com/handmade/Linda-Lewis-Artworks. I will be adding things to this site steadily.
Though nothing was said, our fish are swimming happily in the aquarium after I cleaned it for them yesterday. The new combination of things I’m using makes it so we can go several weeks now without cleaning and the water stays nice. Ever since I changed from the regular aquarium gravel to the glass beads, the fish seem to be having a “Bead Sucking” contest as to who can suck one up and swim up the highest with it before dropping it. It makes a funny, “tick, tick” sound as the beads fall back down.
Not sure what the day will hold, but it’s wonderful to have some nice weather to do it in.
Happy Monday.
When we were in the co-op buying veggie plants, we found this huge, long pork stick for Amber. We balanced it on the garage trash can while we brought in packages from our errands. Amber came out of the utility room, as usual, went right over to the pork stick, picked it up and carried it outside.
She finally picked it up, her tail wagging like mad.
She whipped it all around, like she was doing a victory lap.
This photo should be captioned, “Amber’s Joy.”
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Four years ago Amber was born and soon came to live with us. She is a yellow lab.
We had done some research before getting her, and saw that labs tend to be a bit hyperactive for the first two years, but then they settle down.
Amber did not get the memo.
(I remember my parents, both only children, sitting me down at times for ‘serious discussions.’ They would calmly tell me that they had read the book (probably Dr. Spock) and that they realized that I was apparently going through the ‘terrible two’s.’ They had decided that I would SKIP this stage, moving right on to whatever came next. The talks really didn’t work that well, but I understand their motivation.)
Amber HAS calmed down – to be fair – but still is a maniac. She does pretty well when nothing is happening and we are by ourselves. The minute anyone ELSE comes, she acts as though she has never seen us before. All the time we’ve spent trying to train her goes out the window.
Since she weighs 95 pounds, it isn’t ‘cute’ that she wants to run right up to you, jump up, and lick you in the face. We have baby gates all over the house so that we can contain her. She is sneaky, and very smart, knowing that we can’t pay attention to her every minute. She calmly waits and then goes into the kitchen and eats my husband’s treats off the counter, leaving only the container on the floor, coming in where we are in the living room, smiling and belching. My husband and I try really hard to remember to close the baby gate between the living room and the kitchen, but we’re old and we get busy…
My other worst time is when she is outside and I come out, usually going out to the shop to check on my husband, or out to the garden. When she sees me, her eyes light up and she comes running FULL SPEED. She has knocked me flat onto my back on the ground several times. I now try to hurry to a tree, or at least turn sideways to give her a smaller target. She doesn’t mean to hurt me, but the damage is done before she tries to lick my face.
If I had to describe Amber in one word, it would be ‘EXUBERANT.’ The love for life and wish to experience all there is overflowS in this sweet dog. I wish her parents were smarter…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges, Family
Friends and family are priceless; but maybe even more appreciated with all we are dealing with today.
When I got to the computer this morning, I had emails from two of my favorite people in the world. I don’t feel as if the day has started without hearing from them. They ground me. We can share anything and everything and don’t have to worry about judgment. And we CARE about each other. If that isn’t priceless, I really don’t know what is.
In about an hour, we will go to Lunch Bunch. Every Friday for over 17 years, we go and share a bite to eat and catch each other up on what has happened during the past week. We share hopes and dreams, help each other through sadness. Our core group remains the same, though Lunch Bunch changes on how many people come each week. I am so grateful I have two wonderful friends who mean the world to me.
When the world is hostile, angry, and dangerous – and we need to be careful about everything we do and say – loving, and having the love and care of friends and family, will help us through to better times. May we all “make our souls blossom.”
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Encouragement, Family, Friendship, kindness
Can you see me grinning?
I just enjoyed an ALMOST perfect beginning to my day.
Our son lives and works in Thailand. Before he left years ago, he set up a secure chat program for us to use, plus a secure video chat program. He is a really good communicator, so I can almost forget that he is across the world from us.
This morning we not only used the chat program, but switched to the video program. I got to see his wonderful face, and watched him smile and laugh. My heart simply filled. My husband came in and said “Hi.” Our son thought he looked “handsome.” :0)
We had such a good visit. The only thing that would have made it perfect was one of his hugs. As far as I am concerned, he gives the best hugs on the planet. If I don’t squeeze him hard enough, he lets me know. They make me cry they are so good, healing all the little places that could use a little love.
I hope that you are close to your kids – geographically or with good communication.
Beyond priceless.
I cleaned out my aquarium yesterday. We have a new issue, and I’m not sure why – that of ‘green water algae.’ I researched it, but didn’t find a whole lot of information about the ‘why’ of it. Since we have it and I don’t want it, I found and ordered some stuff that is supposed to be safe for fish but gets rid of – and then helps prevent more – algae. It’s called, “No More Algae.”
Right now the water is sparkling clean. I really am beginning to think that cleaning the aquarium spurs the fish on to poop more – if possible. Maybe it’s boredom. Maybe I can find some kind of decoration that sings, dances, or talks to the fish to give them more to do than eat, swim, and poop.
I love my fish. I like going past the aquarium umpteen times each day, talking to them, seeing the clean tank and water, feeding them, and occasionally finding another decoration I hope they’ll enjoy. The smaller, almost white gold fish is about 3 times as large as it was when I bought them. The gold fish is a good 4 or 5 times as large as it was. They seem healthy and happy. Hopefully the new algae killer/fighter will help me keep the aquarium nicer.
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Filed under Family, Favorite Pictures
I finally took the time needed to clean out the aquarium yesterday afternoon, providing a huge sigh of relief for my fish. I was a couple of days late this time and their water and tank really needed my attention.
When I got everything back together – all squeaky clean – the fish checked everything out avidly, noting the differences in decorations, but mainly looking to see if I gave them extra food. They got in the corner, blowing bubbles at me and wriggling their bodies, and I caved, as usual, and gave them a bit extra.
I have decided that the AquaClear system is the best filter system for my 5 gallon tank. I use the ’20’ size. I’ve tried all kinds of things, since I was having to clean out the tank and provide fresh water WAAAAAY too often – my research baldly stated that gold fish take pride in being champion poopers and messing up whatever container they are in.
The AquaClear system is a 3-piece system with the large part of the filter hanging outside the tank, giving the fish more room to swim around unimpeded. There is a block of foam, a charcoal filter bag, and finally a ‘bio bag’ that fit together to filter the water. I think I average once a month now on cleaning out the tank – a MUCH better thing than once a week!
I smile every time I go past the tank, with the happy fish and sparkling clean water…
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
I don’t really know, but my fish SHOULD be. Their water is sparkling clean. They have nice decorations in the tank. New filter innards….
They have made it clear over the years that the only thing they really care about is getting fed twice a day. They see me coming, jam themselves into the corner of the tank, wriggle their bodies and blow bubbles at me until the flakes come raining down. Then I am forgotten.
Our aquarium is on the divider between our kitchen and our dining area. This is a high traffic area in our house, so it makes me happy when the aquarium is bright and shiny.
I have made lots of changes on how I take care of the tank and what I put into it, but the fish remain goldfish – and seem to take pride in their reputation as ‘messy fish and champion poopers.’ I used to have a 40 gallon tank with lots of fish. It stayed looking good with relatively little work. THOSE fish didn’t react to me at ALL, so I finally gave the fish and the equipment away. I’M not easy to live with, either, so this is a good match. :0)
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
“As A Single Dad, I Had To Put My Foot Down And Tell My Seven Year Old Daughter That There Was No Way She Was Getting A Dog For Chanukah, No Matter How Much She Asked. Anyway, Meet Waffle.”
Denis Tymulis and Rokas Laurinavičius – BoredPanda
Filed under Family
Merry Christmas! I hope you’re enjoying a safe and love-filled day.
My Christmas memories are filling me up and spilling out today.
Favorite childhood Christmases include the one where I received the most gorgeous, soft, pink, furry, FEMININE sweater I’ve ever had. Another was when my brother and I received 3-speed bicycles called English racers. One of the most cherished memories is the Christmas caroling that started at our house each year. We gathered neighbors at each house, singing and laughing, freezing our parts off, ending with hot chocolate and cookies at home when we were finished.
My husband’s and my first Christmas together was in 1969. Our very best Christmas present was our son, born in December of 1978. The next was December of 1980 when our daughter was born. Today we are celebrating our 51st Christmas together. It’s just the two of us this year, but we are very grateful to be together. We talked to our son in Thailand on our chat program this morning.
This has been a challenging year for us all. I hope that you are staying safe and well, surrounded by love however you can manage it.
As it happens, we are having a lovely day today – sunny with highs in the 60’s today. :0) I’m planning to at LEAST walk around in our yard today, telling Mother Nature what a great day she produced, if not do some actual work out there.
USPS emailed me this morning that two packages I mailed recently are out for delivery. I really enjoy making things and sending them to people, no matter what time of the year. I love reminding people that they mean so much to me.
Amber thinks she is a lapdog. She weighs around 95 lbs. She comes up to my chair in our office with a gleam in her eye. She stuffs her wet nose under my arm as I type. I look at her, stop and pet her, speak to her, maybe kiss her on the head, and then go back to typing.
The next thing I know, as reliable as clockwork, the front half of Amber is up in my chair with me. I have the bruises on my legs to prove it! I have to stop everything and watch out, being very careful. She whips her head around, trying to be everywhere at once. If I don’t watch out, she clocks me in the face with her head. We love, with me laughing every morning before she will back off and climb down. We usually do this 5 or 6 times each morning.
I found the picture below on BoredPanda and wanted to share it with you. Amber isn’t THIS large, but you can certainly share the feeling.
Have a wonderful first day of winter!
What is usually a 30 minute job turned into at least a two-HOUR job this morning and afternoon. I was putting together the aquarium after cleaning and ran into a problem with the filter. The motor wasn’t running when I plugged it in. I played with it, my muttering becoming more and more colorful as nothing worked. I finally asked my husband to come look at it.
He looked at things, tested it, and decided it was dead. I found one of our old filters and installed it so that the sweet fish wouldn’t croak while we waited for a replacement. My husband continued to look at the one that wasn’t working, and decided it was working again. I changed things out, only to find out the motor died. We did this two more times. Finally, he took the filter apart as far as he could and found a part he thought had been jammed. I changed the filters out for the fourth time and it worked. I told my husband I would fix lunch and leave the new filter running and see if it quit again.
I came back after lunch and it was still working. I then proceeded to clean up the kitchen – which is always a mess after aquarium cleaning – PLUS now from the lunch fixing. I have just now finished cleaning up and leaving the dishwasher running.
All this for two goldfish who never say a word, show any affection, do tricks, or perform any service. They DID get into the far right corner of the tank and wriggle their little bodies, opening and closing their mouths as they looked at me. I broke down and put a bit more food in the tank.
Filed under Challenges, Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
I love this. It shows a great sense of humor. I’m still smiling. Thanks to the creator of it. :0)
When we started up our driveway yesterday, there were two white-tailed deer! We stopped and watched as they looked at us briefly and then crossed the driveway to disappear into the trees to the west of our property. Beautiful sight.
We had a really special Lunch Bunch on Friday with our friends. Since Christmas is next Friday, we exchanged gifts. We have been meeting at The Pizza Barn every Friday for over 17 years now, and this is more of a family gathering than simply really good friends. The two waitresses, Susan and Mikey, are a definite part of our family and we exchange gifts with them, too. My husband kept us all entertained by opening all of his food goodies, sampling each one (while waiting for his lunch order to be delivered) and then stashing them in a humongous gift bag, being quite territorial about his presents. The way the holidays fall this year, we won’t meet NEXT Friday or the NEXT – and will have to wait until Jan. 8th to meet again.
Otherwise, that is our Christmas this year. Our son is in Thailand, and I’m hoping that we can arrange a video chat either on Christmas day or that weekend sometime. There is 12 hours time difference, so it’s a bit of a challenge to find a time we’re all up and functional, but we’ll manage. I am grateful that we are all pretty healthy right now. I am thankful for a quiet holiday.
Today’s project is cleaning the aquarium. I will see if I can find something festive to put in their tank for the holidays.
Have a wonderful Sunday!
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