Yesterday afternoon I took the time to clean the aquarium. My fish are now happily swimming in a squeaky-clean tank, even though they haven’t said anything about it.
They did, however, both get into the corner of the tank and wiggle their little bodies at me, opening and closing their mouths, hoping I would put some extra food in the tank. (I caved and gave it to them.)
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
It’s 44, bleak and rainy here this morning. A wonderful time to be inside and dry, with a cup of coffee, family, and lots of animals.
My lap has been like Grand Central Station, first with 95-pound-Amber wanting to get up in my office chair with me as I type, (we have hugged three or four times already today) then each of 2 cats – Abby and Smoke – and sometimes both at the same time!
Today’s project is to repurpose the shelves in the guest room. There are still a few books on the shelves and a stuffed closet (my off season clothes and extra bedding, etc. I’m going to try to make things more organized and accessible while doing some good cleaning.
I don’t have to cook today! I don’t MIND the actual cooking – it’s the ‘figuring-what-to-have-for-dinner’ problem always hanging over my head that gets to me. Since we have been getting lots of HEALTHY frozen meals from REAL FOOD and STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’ in Greenwood, I only cook on the weekends, simplifying my life considerably. Today we’ll have the 2nd half of the chicken fingers meals we enjoyed at Lunch Bunch Friday plus more of the sausage/egg/cheese bake I made yesterday.
Yesterday I vacuumed our first floor tiled areas (kitchen, pantry, two half-baths, dining area, and utility room) and I got an entire dog’s worth of hair along with the usual stuff. With our temperatures getting cooler, I am HOPING that the dog will decide that she NEEDS her hair to stay warm and quit tossing it on the floors with abandon.
I hope that YOUR Sunday has lots of sunshine and happiness. If not, stay safe, warm, and dry.
It’s 44 degrees F. and sunny now, with a high of 70 for this afternoon. NICE!
Yesterday afternoon was calm and still, so we burned the pile of branches we cut down after the fiber optic people had to remove huge parts of our trees that were encroaching on the new lines they were running. The main part of what was cut down is down the hill some. We’re just going to ignore THAT group. THIS one was where we need to mow in the future, so it couldn’t be left alone. There is one pretty large section of log remaining. I will roll that down the hill when I’m sure it’s safe.
My ‘cull-the-book-collection’ efforts continue. I told you I listed 47 books on Amazon last week. I’ve sold about half of them now. I continue to go through my collection upstairs, basically one shelf or more each day, to try to get down to the books I will continue wanting to savor. It’s hard to get rid of ANY books, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s time to share the wealth and pare down the space needed to house my fiction. I’m trying to clean and reorganize things, as well – a good character-building exercise.
We have lots of errands this afternoon, and a beautiful day to be outside, both doing necessary things and working in the yard.
I hope that YOUR Tuesday is a nice one, too.
It’s sunny and 50 outside. Just beautiful.
I told you recently that I’ve started going through my book collection, trying to ‘share the wealth’ with books with which I can part, either by trying to sell some on Amazon or giving books to our local library for their twice-a-year fundraisers. One of our errands today is to mail the books we sold at the post office. I’m trying to go through at least one shelf each day. I would LIKE to get to the point that most of my personal fiction collection is in our bedroom…
This afternoon I will try to cut down some of the ‘stuff’ that is between the civilized portion of our back yard and our view. We have a LOT of it, and I’m not sure how steady the footing is where I will have to cut things down, but I’ll check it out today.
I hope that your weather is beautiful and that you have a wonderful day.
I’m enjoying re-rereading part of my collection of Nora Roberts books lately. Happily, I have a good number of them. Diving into them is a wonderful escape from the challenges of our world, personal problems, or just to revisit a wonderful experience, learn something new, relax.
I am going through my books once again, culling out those that I probably won’t read again. I will sell some of them and donate the rest to our public library which usually has fundraisers a couple of times each year.
Since I am definitely not Suzy Homemaker, I have gotten on some old clothes, have dust rags and damp cloths ready to clean up my shelves as I gather books to get rid of and attempt to reorganize my collection.
It seems I am ruthless each time I do this, but I have to admit there are books that will be someone else’s choice on ‘redistribution’ after I am gone.
I’m so lucky to be rich in books! :0)
A cold front is due to come through around lunch time, bringing thunderstorms, gusty winds, and lots of rain with longer temperatures. I went out this morning to gather some roses before the plants get clobbered by the storms.
I talked to the wonderful men who are running fiber optic lines in the area yesterday as they road a cute little car in the back and side yards. We discussed the tree they cut branches from that were encroaching on their lines. I asked them if it were possible for them to ‘neaten up’ the tree – that we were too old to do it ourselves and it would be really expensive to hire someone. They said they would be here today and would see what they could do.
This is a group of three evergreen trees that have been there a long time – long enough to essentially grow together. Right now with big branches hanging down, it looks like they were hit by lightning or something and exploded. I told them that I would appreciate whatever they could do, whether it’s cutting more branches or chainsawing the whole thing down.
They are wonderful men. I’ll be grateful whatever they do.
Our bug spraying man will be here around 11:00 to protect us from critters large and small. I have only seen dead bugs – the best kind, as far as I’m concerned, plus a few wasps that have figured out how to get in the house. I always feel good when the quarterly treatment has been done. Since we live in ‘the country’ in our own ‘woods,’ we get a lot of critters I hadn’t ever seen before, including a rare snake, centipedes, tarantulas, and scorpions, as well as the usual stuff. I’m really serious about spraying for EVERYTHING – including elephants, around here. I will deal with stuff outside – but there is a no tolerance policy about INSIDE.
My sister-in-law and my massage therapist are both having surgery today, so they are both in my thoughts and prayers today – for smooth procedures and complete recoveries as soon as possible.
I hope you’re having a good day.
Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Thoughts on a ________
Amber is a very boisterous 3-year-old, 95-pound yellow lab. Her hair is short, but just as we are about to go into cooler weather, she is driving me nuts shedding hair! She is happy, healthy, and seems to shed an entire dog on a regular basis.
Yesterday is a typical example. I vacuumed our first floor, appalled at the huge amount of hair accumulated in the vacuum. I cleaned out the vacuum canister and then showed my husband – who had to be reminded that this wasn’t an accumulation over several times of vacuuming – I got it all with ONE session of vacuuming.
I then went up to tackle the second floor, starting in our bathroom and bed room. I have a smaller vacuum up there, but FILLED IT UP with the vacuuming of the two rooms!
I will finish the job today, with the guest room, guest bath, my art room, the 2nd floor hallway, and the stairs.
I am definitely not Suzy Homemaker, and I’m a slob, but I vacuum an average of twice a week and this accumulation seems over the top.
I am thinking of giving Amber a buzz cut. She has a coat we bought her for cold weather. She hates it, but that may be the price she has to pay for shedding whole dogs of hair cavalierly…
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob
I’m leaving shortly to have a massage. Ahhhhh!
My wonderful massage therapist will be having surgery very soon, though, and the recovery time is pretty long, so this massage will need to last me until February or so. My wish is that the surgery goes smoothly and that she heals thoroughly, feeling good again.
I was going to call to arrange to have our fall checkup on our geothermal system, plus our quarterly bug spraying, but both companies called ME to schedule! We had the geothermal check yesterday and are good to go now through the winter into the spring. Not only is our guy super competent about how our system works, but he crawls up into the attic to change out one of the filters for us – saving my husband and me the chore – AND our dog, Amber, is in love with him. She wags her tail so hard the whole time he is here that she sleeps soundly after he leaves. He always stops to talk to her and give her a lot of love before he leaves.
Our fish are swimming around in a sparkling clean tank again. They thanked me in their way, for the nice digs.
Our weather has warmed up again, so we’re able to open doors in the afternoon, airing out the house. :0) I’m hoping to be able to do some work outside this afternoon.
I hope that you are having a great day, too!
CoolFunnyQuotes.com
Stephanie Stamm
It’s quite dark outside right now. Our rain is supposed to finish sometime this afternoon. All our growing things have really gotten good, thorough drinks the past few days.
Since it’s not a good day to continue work in the garden, I’m switching to INSIDE things. Since I’m such a lousy housekeeper, there is a plethora of things from which to choose on things needing to be cleaned. :0/
I am planning to try to get up to my art room today to try to finish the bookmarks I started recently. I have more ideas rattling around in my head that I would like to start when I finish the current project and get things cleared off.
source unknown
I am happy to report that I lost another couple of pounds this morning! That gets me back to my 40 pounds off from my lardiest!
These sweet bears are from when I lost weight several years ago with Nutrisystem. As with the gold stars I put on my desk calendar for exercise, these were motivating. We stopped this program because they discontinued most of the food my husband liked. I’m happy to have re-earned the green bear…
So far I am very happy with our new eating regimen of having our main meal of the day a frozen entrée from REAL FOOD in Greenwood. Their food is delicious, and the portion is controlled. We are skipping breakfast and eating something light, such as tuna fish salad, for lunch and then MAYBE a careful snack mid to late afternoon, if we are hungry. The careful eating plus exercise (elliptical trainer and yoga stretches) seem to have me on track again, and for that I’m truly grateful. (We will pre-order for next week when they list the choices this afternoon. )
I hope that you are having a good day, full of love and free from stress.
Stay safe and well.
“The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.”
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Evgeni Evgeniev-Unsplash
Fall is my favorite season.
I love it when I am a bit too cool and need to throw on a hoodie to be comfortable. I enjoy snuggling under my throw in my recliner and nodding off when I get sleepy. One of my favorite drinks is hot chocolate. A fire in the fireplace is a luxurious, comfort thing. The colors of the leaves lift my spirits. I hope we get a good, long autumn this year!
Gardening Know How
I got SOME of the onions harvested yesterday before I pulled one and a gazillion ants swarmed out. Thankfully, I was armed with my new 2-gallon sprayer of Eight Bug Killer and hosed down the planter box again. It’s raining today (Tropical Storm Beta) but I’ll try it again when the weather is cooperative.
Depositphotos
I also managed to file (or throw away) the huge pile of paper sitting on the table beside my computer yesterday. Today I will tackle August bookkeeping. Hopefully, I can get that accomplished today – since September’s stuff will be staring me in the face soon.
“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda
My husband and I enjoyed Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad for our dinner last night from REAL FOOD in Greenwood. It was truly YUMMY. We are so lucky it is so good and so convenient for us. I also lost a bit more weight! I looked at my records for South Beach and BistroMD, and I’m losing at the same – if slow – rate. If I live 100 more years, I’ll eventually reach my goal! :0)
Penn Fitness Warehouse
Another thing I love about the fall – I can use my elliptical trainer in our garage in a lot more comfort. My husband mounted a wall fan on the wall in front of it for the summer, but I still end up overheated when the temperatures and heat indices go nuts in the summer. I won’t say I look forward to going out there, but putting in the time is much more palatable now. My yoga stretching in the afternoons is rounding out my exercise nicely.
I don’t have a big project for the day. We drove the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, and I have load #2 in the clothes washer. The dishwasher is running. I’ll go do the elliptical (hopefully doing 35 minutes) and then hit the bookkeeping. I live such an exciting life! :0)
I hope that things are good for you today.
PositivePrayers.com
I just finished cleaning out the aquarium, and all is squeaky clean again. The fish are busily checking out the ‘new’ decorations.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
I am in awe of people who think outside the box, creating something new and wonderful, making us laugh, touching our emotions with things we probably will never make or do ourselves. I’m grateful to live on the same planet, and hope they continue to thrive – appreciated for their uniqueness and talent.
In a more literal sense this morning, my fish – and their aquarium – have a clean bill of health, all being squeaky, sparkling clean at the moment.
They didn’t SAY anything when I scooped them up and put them back in their tank, but they were busily checking everything out when I left.
Do you know any fish who do tricks? I don’t, but I’m trying to get them to do things like swim along with my finger when I come up to the tank and talk to them. I start on one end of the tank and move my finger to the other, trying to get them to follow me. No luck so far. I don’t even know what one would CALL a trick like that, in the off chance they might actually DO it…
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
One Green Planet
I’ve been upstairs in our master bathroom most of the afternoon. I have filled half a leaf bag with things I’m throwing away. I have things I can donate to others. I have gone through ONE of the floor-to-ceiling shelves, pulling everything out and going through, deciding what needs to be done. I have cleaned the shelves and put things back. I have taken things downstairs to be thrown away. A bag of things is by my office chair to be added to the donation list. Other things have been moved elsewhere.
My husband won’t be able to tell I’ve been upstairs or done anything. It will probably take me through the weekend to finish going through the second set of floor-to-ceiling shelves, medicine cabinet, and then clean the bathroom. THEN my husband will mainly notice that our counter top looks neater and that the rugs have been vacuumed.
I’m lucky that he DOESN’T notice a lot of things. Lots of people would go crazy with all the STUFF we have, or the fact that I’m such a lousy housekeeper.
Having him finally notice a difference when I’ve been cleaning for several days is good enough. :0)
Reader’s Digest
We have several errands this morning, and more this afternoon, so I might not get ANYTHING else done today.
In about an hour, we’ll leave 4 leaf bags of trash at the bottom of our driveway for pickup. (I made my goal of finding 2 extra bags of things that SHOULD have been thrown away a long time ago. I’m hoping to continue this each week.) We will also get our mail.
We have been experiencing serial failures of our fluorescent light fixtures this year. We have changed out the ballast transformers on many of them. Now we are replacing the switches that control them. We will pick up those at Yeagers. We will stop at our co-op to see if they have lettuce plants. (I’m hoping to pull out the spent tomato plants in the long brick planter by the house and put in lettuce plants.) Then we will stop and check the new Real Food store on the way home, hoping to find some frozen meals to buy and try.) Later, we’ll go back for my husband’s hair cut and a quick trip to the clinic for a shot for him.
I got lazy yesterday and didn’t do anything outside. This afternoon I’m planning to mix up EIGHT bug killer and will hose down my raised bed, square foot garden planters before I even THINK about trying to harvest the rest of our onions. I am finally healed up from the attack of the fire ants that I discovered living among my onions, so I’m ready to wage war. If I’m successful on getting the lettuce plants, I’ll take some pics for you.
I finally got an email from Amazon Handmade, confirming that I have been accepted to list my work there, and giving me some directions on how to get to a place I can register. When I have a calm space of time, I’ll try to follow them. Fingers crossed!
I hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day and that you make today a great day, too.
Bored Panda
Good Morning!
We MAY finally be getting a reprieve from the rain and some cooler temperatures soon! I couldn’t be more ready. The humidity is 98% right now, according to the local weather website. It’s like pea soup outside. We still have the doors open, getting what breezes we can. I’m ready for fall.
First thing this morning I cleaned out the aquarium. These two goldfish have the award for messing up their water faster than any other fish on the planet, I think. Even with the new, fancy, three-part filter, the water was terrible this morning. Thankfully, I can change things out in about half an hour now.
The water is now clean enough that when I take a picture of the aquarium, you can also see parts of the kitchen behind it, PLUS the reflection of the dining area window on the other side of the room. :0) I’m trying to teach them to say, “Thank You,” when they get into the sparkling clean tank, but no luck so far. I would even be happy if they did a cartwheel or something, or blew some bubbles at me. They only do THAT when I feed them. The thing I DON’T want them to do is roll over and play dead…
Today I will try to register for my Amazon Handmade account and see what happens. I am hopeful I can get lots of questions answered so I feel I know what I’m doing.
Amazon Handmade
I have started two leaf bags:
Leaf Bag # 1 is for things to donate to the Disabled Vets Thrift Store in Fort Smith.
Leaf Bag # 2 is for trash.
I received an email that we are supposed to receive our first week’s delivery of BistroMD meals tomorrow! We have both chosen the diabetic plan. My husband denies he has Type II diabetes (he says he has a sugar problem). He thinks only people who have to give themselves injections are ‘diabetics.’ Since we are both trying to stay away from any added sugar, we feel this is a good choice for us. I will let you know how it goes.
My ant stings/bites/welts are almost gone now. I have a couple of spots I still need to put anti-itch ointment on, but I’m back to normal, otherwise. If things dry out a bit, the revenge murdering of ants commences tomorrow…
PestWorld.org
Have a happy Thursday!
wallpaper.smsmania.co.in
Tonight we took advantage of one of life’s greatest luxuries – a hot shower.
We have been having water pressure problems for some time now. Our wonderful plumber has been trying to get to us, but COVID-19 concerns required the schools in Greenwood to adapt the water fountains in the school for maximum safety. In addition. lots of people have had NO water, or bad water leaks.
Travis Hawkins 479-461-8347 came over and installed a new water pressure tank the other day, which we hoped would solve the problem. We then had nice water pressure and hot water everywhere EXCEPT our shower. We discovered this when I was thoroughly soaped and then had to rinse off in COLD water.
We ordered and installed a new shower head. My husband didn’t like the ‘rain’ shower head I had chosen and this was obviously the time to try something different. When it was installed, we tested it, only to find the water was still cold. I checked the guest room shower, and there were no problems at all there, so that narrowed it down to only our shower again.
Our plumber’s partner, Josh, came this afternoon to strip down the shower fixture and see if he could figure out what was wrong. Very soon after he and my husband went upstairs, they came down. It turned out that the part that holds the rain shower head away from the wall was completely clogged with hard water deposits, hardly allowing any water to go through it. Once that was removed, we had good pressure and gloriously hot water!
We celebrated by taking a shower right away, grinning from ear to ear.
I KNOW that I’m hopelessly spoiled. I didn’t realize, though, that much of my happiness depends on the ability to go up and stand under a glorious hot shower…
Integrated Children’s Therapy
I noticed the sound of the TV come on in the living room while I was in our office at the computer. Our TV is possessed, and turns the sound on by itself from time to time, so I went in to see if my husband was actually watching it or if he was sleeping.
He wasn’t there. I found him trudging across the yard, a long 2 x 4 in one arm and a half sheet of plywood in the other, making way from the greenhouse to the shop. He has been having strokes, losing the ability to speak intermittently, so he has promised me he will tell me when he decides to do something like this. He didn’t. Imagine my surprise. :0(
Anyhow, I rushed outside and took the 2 x 4 and we walked out to the shop. We put the wood away and he was super hot and tired. Imagine my surprise.
We walked back to the house. I got him in his recliner and got him a big glass of iced tea.
He is sleeping now.
While I have the chance, I am moving the rest of the wood from the greenhouse out to the shop. I’m using the wheelbarrow, which is slow, but not as bad as actually trying to carry the sheets of plywood. I’ve moved the two sheets halfway across the yard now. I’m drinking some water and resting. I’ll finish this trip, and then I only have a half sheet of plywood and three 2 x 4’s left – one more trip.
Since our ‘agreements’ lately seem to be so much hot air, I’ll need to get more proactive about things to keep him from hurting himself.
I’m counting all this wood moving as my elliptical trainer exercise for the day. I’ll do some yoga later to try to stretch myself out.
Filed under greenhouse, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Lewis projects
The City
We just got back from relocating raccoon # 13 of the spring/summer season this year. This one was so large, he almost completely filled the humane cage! We are getting tired of having to deal with this. I think our highest count in all the years we have lived here (over 30) is about 4. We are ready to be finished with this for the year.
We will leave for Lunch Bunch soon. We lucked out so far on Tropical Storm Laura. It went to the east of us. We got some rain, but nothing severe. We are still due for more rain, but we feel very, very lucky. The sun is shining and we will turn on the a/c when we return.
We are narrowing down our trouble with low water pressure – which then causes trouble with our hot-water-on-demand system – which means not enough water pressure or hot water for our shower. We now have a new water pressure tank in the well house. We now have a new shower head. My husband thinks the problem is the valve in the shower. Our plumber, Travis Hawkins, will be here later today to see if he can fix things for us. HOORAY!
I’m not sure what my project for the day will be yet.
My heart goes out to the people still in jeopardy from the wildfires in California and the people who sustained damage, or will sustain damage, from Laura.
Try to be strong and stay safe.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Tricolor Heron_Green Cay Wetlands_Scott Helfrich_The Natl Wildlife Federation Blog
I’m not sure if we’re JUST getting rain today, or this is the first of Laura’s impact on Arkansas, but it looks like night outside right now. Rain is imminent, so I’ve scrapped my plans – at least for the moment – on doing another session of clean out in the greenhouse. The forecast is for HEAVY rain, gusty winds from today through Friday. UGH.
My husband got our yard mowed again, for the first time since the last storm made it look like a sudden, violent fall, with branches and leaves all over the yard. It took me three days to get that cleaned up enough so that there was a chance he could mow once it dried out some. I hope that Mother Nature is not looking at this as a great chance to do it to us again –
Happily, my sister-in-law is enjoying her time at Topsail Beach this week! She shared two beautiful photos she took of the sunrise this morning –
I’m hoping she’ll kiss a sandpiper for me.
I’m not sure what I’ll do today, since it looks like my plans will be rained out.
Our wonderful plumber installed a new water pressure tank in the well house for us yesterday. There is a clear difference in our water pressure, plus lots of hot water on demand EXCEPT in our shower upstairs. My husband suspects we have a bad valve. I have no head for things like this, so that doesn’t mean much to me. I got all soaped up last night and then had to rinse off in COLD water. We had good pressure and hot water in the lavatories up there, but NOT in our shower. I’ll check the guest room shower today to see if there is hot water there. We have a new shower head on the way. One way or another, we will be able to take wonderful hot showers for granted SOME day…
I may scoot outside and see if I can get my greenhouse session in before the rain starts…
I hope that you are staying safe from wildfires and storms where you are today.
source unknown
Isn’t he beautiful?
My project of emptying out our ruined greenhouse is coming along. I figure that in a couple more days of filling up the wheelbarrow with salvageable things and gathering one leaf bag full of trash, I’ll be down to the tables we set up. Once the greenhouse is empty, we MAY leave it to the fall for the final take-down of the structure. It’s too hot now for two old people to be laboring in the sun for long.
Meanwhile, I cleaned off my counter space in the garage so that I can set up a seed-sprouting station with grow lights. We will get a new switch for one of the lights at Yeager’s today while we’re out. We already have a nice grow light. I will continue reorganizing the ‘stuff’ UNDER the counter so that I can THEN arrange the supplies I need for the grow station. Between this and a wonderful video my friend, Cathy, sent me about growing hacks that I can do on the window sill or on the deck, I hope to be able to grow several of my own plants to put in the garden this spring, rather than having to buy them at the store.
My diet and exercising efforts have been going well. I’m using all the work pulling and hauling in the greenhouse as my ‘elliptical trainer’ exercise, and then doing my usual half hour or so of yoga stretches daily. I am continuing to lose weight slowly, and am almost into ‘new territory’ on weight loss. To date I am down 40.2 pounds and 33.2 inches. I plan to lose another 30 pounds or so. My husband has agreed, since we will finish our Month # 2 boxes of the South Beach diet soon, that he will try not to fill the grocery cart with things we are trying to avoid that call to me from the pantry. I hear, “Linnnnnnnnnnnnnn-dahhhhhhhhhhhh…” over and over coming from the greasy, salty, delicious chips of various types, cookies, and bread. He has agreed to eat what I fix, as we transition to all DIY meals soon. He only has about 7 more pounds he wants to lose, but the keto diet is also good for his Type II diabetes, so he SAYS he will cooperate… We will have DIY bacon-wrapped hamburger patties, sliced tomato, and spinach tonight for dinner.
Our wonderful plumber, Travis Hawkins, is TRYING to get to us this week some time with a new water pressure tank for the well house. With the pandemic, and our kids going back to school, he has been working non-stop on modifying all of the water fountains in all of the schools so that they are safe for the kids to use without transmitting the virus. He has also had people with NO water, or water leaks, and that beats out our small problem of low water pressure. He is the best guy, and we are lucky he is trying to fit us in.
My heart and thoughts go out to California, with the wildfires, and to the people in the path of the tropical storms/hurricanes.
Stay safe and well.
I am still trying to find a solution to my goldfish messing up the water in their tank extremely quickly. The latest change was the filter system. It has three media in layers to help keep the water clean. You change the charcoal layer each month, the foam layer every two months, and the biomax pellet bag every three months. So much for what the directions say.
I changed the charcoal part last week. All of a sudden yesterday their water was greenish. YUCK.
The foam layer, which is supposed to be white, was pink.
I cleaned out the tank, changing all three layers and now the fish have sparkling clear water again. I have no clue why these two sweet fish continue to be able to make their water so yucky so quickly with seeming so little effort. Speaking to them about it doesn’t help.
At least, with all the practice I get, I’ve gotten down to about half an hour from start to finish on changing everything in the tank.
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Marabou Stork-photo credit unknown- via Penny Yaffe Krakow
If you have a candidate for the “ugliest/most beautiful bird in the world,” please let me know. So far, I love the Shoebill Stork, the Tawny Frogmouth, and the Marabou Stork. I love them because they are unusual, and they have character.
We are at the end of our gorgeous weather streak and are back to normal August weather for Arkansas today. We will keep the doors open for a bit longer, and then close up and turn on the air conditioning.
Yesterday I started what will be a long project – dismantling the greenhouse that was killed by the storm.
I gathered a wheelbarrow load of things I can salvage. It is in the garage now. I will reorganize my counter area in there and store what makes sense there. The rest will go out to the shop. I also gathered a leaf bag full of trash. I will do this steadily, a bit at a time, until it is empty and then we can dismantle the shell. I was amazed that the plastic tubs I was discarding wouldn’t hold together long enough for me to pick them up by the edges without shattering. I then used things that acted like a spatula to scoop them up and put them into the leaf bag.
The thermometer I keep out there showed 120 degrees yesterday – and this is on a COOL day here for August, showing one of the reasons the greenhouse didn’t work well for us. We couldn’t afford to add heating and cooling, and the cost to run it would have been astronomical. I will try to set up a seed-starting area in the future with a grow light in the garage, along with starting things on the window sill in the dining area, plus pots on the deck.
This shows you one of the many reasons I have hope for the future. The pandemic kept us from planting our usual flowers all around the house. I thought we would be completely bare on the deck. Instead, seeds from the wave petunias we planted last year sprouted and have given us a lovely display. (If you look carefully, you can see our yellow lab, Amber, keeping me company while I took this picture. :0)
I am continuing my efforts to become a seller via Amazon Handmade, though I’m not making much progress yet. I’m trying to find out if I can simply put things up for sale via my regular Amazon account where I sell used books, or if I need to apply for separate accounts for each of the categories my products fit in. So far, everyone I manage to finally connect with gives me links back to Seller Central. Seller Central sends me to Handmade, and so the cycle from Hell continues…
All the good people in the path of storms Marco and Laura are in my thoughts and prayers.
Have a good day today and stay safe.
My poor tomato plants are looking pretty sad now. I’m watering them, but the sun is just too much for them. I AM getting some good cherry-tomato-sized tomatoes, and I’m enjoying those on the side for lunch and in our salads.
My raised bed, square foot garden is almost completely done. I got the one weird green thing shown above. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it was on a vine that was supposed to be yellow crookneck squash…. Maybe he didn’t get the memo. Anyhow, I will cut into it and decide if it would be good to use as one of my substitutes for pasta.
Our lovely weather is giving over to regular August now – hot and humid. The minute you go out, it’s like you are your own private shower. You’re immediately wet – head to toe. I wear a sweat band so I can see to do what I need to do. :0)
I’m STARTING today to empty out the greenhouse that was killed in our last storm. This is going to be a huge job. I’m not going to push myself in this heat. If I fill up one wheelbarrow load of things I can salvage, plus start a bag of trash today, I’ll consider that good. No time limits on this project.
source unknown
I can’t decide my favorite between the Tawny Owl and this sweet Shoebill Stork. I think they are both wonderful.
I had fun yesterday working in my art room a bit. I decided to try a new ‘stained glass’ look on a couple of pairs of earrings. I’ll post them later to see what you think.
My South Beach efforts are paying off. I’m down 11.2 lbs since we started with them, and down 40.2 overall since my lardiest. I’m almost into ‘new territory’ on my weight loss efforts – about 2 lbs to go.
I’ve decided that no matter how hard I try, my body measurements aren’t that accurate. Today they are showing I’ve lost 33.2 inches since I began trying to lose weight and exercise. This varies – due to my ineptness – but it shows the general trend is downward, always a good thing. Suffice to say I’m down a few sizes and my current clothes are looser. My husband noticed my jeans are looser, and I was able to finally wear a blouse today that I’ve kept for years, hoping I could lose enough weight for it to not be too tight. Today it’s loose! :0)
I’m getting into the habit of doing my elliptical trainer (or equivalent cardio/whole body exercise plus about 30 minutes or so of yoga stretches & abdominal exercises daily. I am feeling better with less pain/stiffness and am feeling my stomach muscles when I walk now, if that makes any sense…
We will join our friends for Lunch Bunch in about an hour. I love getting to see their faces, laugh with them, and catch up on what has been happening since last week.
I will start getting things out of our greenhouse today.
It would take too much money and too much work to get it back to working condition since the storm. We weren’t able to afford to heat and cool it, so it’s better to take it down. We will do this a bit at a time, salvaging what we can.
Our weather has been perfect lately – cooler temperatures and lower humidity. I think tomorrow we start getting back to our normal too hot, too humid summer tomorrow, so we will enjoy every minute today, enjoying having the doors open and ceiling fans.
I hope YOUR day is wonderful, too.
Stay safe and well.
Tawny Frogmouth Owl-hcreations72 via Penny Yaffe Krakow
I LOVE this bird! So ugly she’s beautiful. AND unique in the world.
Lowes
I will finish the yard clean up today from our storm last Friday. I have used all the picking up branches and using the leaf blower to try to clear up the yard as a stand-in for my elliptical trainer since Friday. I have done at least two sessions each day in the hot sun, getting my heart rate up, breathing hard, then resting and drinking LOTS and LOTS of water to re-hydrate. I’ve been finishing that off with an abbreviated session of yoga each day to stretch out my poor, sore muscles. I had one day of neck, shoulders and arms really complaining about working with the leaf blower again, so finishing today will be a good thing.
I have a haircut this afternoon! I go to Tangles in Greenwood, owned and operated by Michael Remillard. He has cut my husband’s hair and beard, plus my hair, for years now. He makes us look presentable, and that’s no small task! I went really short last time and I have really liked it, so I’ll ask him to do that again. I just wash and blow it dry every morning. No muss, no fuss. Wonderful! If you would like to contact him, his phone number is 479-357-9305. He is the best.
I have lost almost 10 lbs via South Beach now. I am about to break into new territory on my losing-the-lard efforts, rather than re-losing what I lost before. I will be really happy when I reach that point, and will probably make you roll your eyes with my jubilance when that goal is reached. :0)
Gfycat
I am trying to finish my newest earrings today, putting various findings on them, (pierced, post, or clip-on) so I can take individual pictures of each pair and list them for sale on my EyecatchingEarrings on Etsy website.
I have no big project today, other than finishing the yard clean up. If I can do that, plus get the newest earrings finished and listed, I will be happy with my day.
Pop Sugar
I am counting the work I’m doing in the yard each day, trying to clean up from the storm, as my elliptical/cardio exercise for each day. Yesterday I spent a total of 2 hours out in the hot sun blowing leaves and picking up branches. I gave myself a gold star for each hour. I drank water like a camel preparing for a stroll across the Sahara, and that led to a lot of exercise getting up to pee! I had a nice shower and did a very abbreviated set of yoga stretches to try to keep myself from feeling sore.
I plan to do more of the same today, since everything is still covered in branches and leaves. I will do short sessions, drinking lots of water and resting in-between.
Tonight is a DIY (do-it-yourself) meal on our South Beach plan. Thanks to Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto, I have a recipe for bacon-wrapped chicken breasts that is to die for. My husband’s reaction when I told him what I planned to cook was, “Oh, GOOD!”
I am PLANNING to get up to my art room to work on the newest earring painting.
I hope you have a beautiful Sunday!
Honest to Paws
I spent two hours in the yard, cleaning up today. I used the leaf blower to clear the concrete areas first, and then tackled the front yard. It took me quite a while, but I finished it. I did short sessions, resting and drinking a ton of water in-between. I will do more tomorrow, but that’s it for today.
I also cleaned out the aquarium. This is an experiment, really, because the filter system says to only change the charcoal filter part this time. I did this, but the water still turned cloudy. I’m hoping that with the fresh water and decorations today, we can go another month before having to clean out again. Next month the schedule says to change the charcoal part again, plus the foam part. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, the fish have sparkling clean water to swim around in. They didn’t say anything about the changes. They are just interested in feeding times, but “I” am happy that we seem to be making good progress on coming up with a better system to keep my fish healthy.
I have now taken a shower and feel MUCH better. I’m planning to veg out the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the air conditioning, my recliner, my book, and maybe a nap.
Hope you’re having a fine day.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Lowes
I love my leaf blower! I was able to blow the leaves off the front porch, the sidewalks, and the garage pad this morning. We ate lunch and then I went out again to try to blow the majority of the leaves off the front yard today. If I can finish that, I’ll be satisfied with my progress today.
I’m still having to stop and pick up branches, but the leaf blower is working well. I feel very lucky I have this.
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
We had a bad storm overnight and into the morning hours yesterday, with a LOT of wind and rain. My husband says it was the worst damage we have had since we have lived here – over 30 years now. We lost a shutter beside one of our second floor windows, and there are branches and leaves EVERYWHERE.
The main loss is our greenhouse.
We have decided to take it down. The cost to repair it, plus our labor on it, is just too much at this point in our lives. We couldn’t afford to heat or cool it, so the ability to get seeds to sprout, grow plants for the garden, and over winter plants was disappointing. We will salvage what we can and dispose of the rest.
I am concentrating on cleaning up around the house and the yard first. I spent over an hour yesterday picking up branches and throwing them off the edge of the civilized part of our yard. My back is telling me about it today. I will concentrate today’s efforts on using the leaf blower to clean off the deck, sidewalks, driveway pad and front porch.
Lowes
I am giving myself a gold star for this work, counting the exercise in the heat as my elliptical practice. Today I will do the leaf blowing and then do my yoga to try to stretch things out afterwards.
I was so hot and tired yesterday I didn’t get up to my art room to work on the new earrings I have started. I will try to make sure I make time to get up there today. I have the basic solid colors on both sides of the wooden earrings, and am eager to start the decorative fun part as soon as possible. I will post pics when they are finished.
I told you recently that we bought a new filter system for our aquarium.
It has a three-medium system to filter the water: charcoal, foam, and a stuff they call biomax. The three media are changed at different times – charcoal every month, foam every two months, and biomax every three months. I have had to resort to putting these on my calendar as recurring items with the time differential to keep up. What I have learned to this point is that I will need to change the water once a month to keep the water as clean as I would like it. It has been a MONTH this time (!) instead of every week, but the water is getting cloudy now. This is quite a change and I am grateful. I want to take good care of my fish, but cleaning out the tank and changing the water is not one of my favorite activities. Once a month seems like a luxury!!!! :0) It’s on my list for today.
GMW.cn
Due to the South Beach diet and my exercising, I have now recently lost 9 pounds. (A total of 37 pounds and 41 inches since my lardiest.) I am hopeful to be able to report more poundage and inches lost by the end of Month # 2 on the commercial stuff. I am re-learning portion control and the fact that I don’t need to eat until I don’t want any more at each meal. I am re-learning to serve a SERVING – either as measured by the South Beach stuff, or in my recipe books on servings on my DIY meals each week – reminding myself that there is a snack coming mid-morning or mid-afternoon and I probably won’t starve to death today. ( I DON’T remind myself often that I could live off my lard for MONTHS, if needed, as I am trying to think positively.) :0) I am carefully planning DIY meals for each week, and my husband is cooperating by not throwing as many poor choices into the cart while we’re grocery shopping.
I hope you have an enjoyable day today.
My husband got out and mowed the yard yesterday evening. It looked particularly good. Then the storm came and everything looks truly awful. It’s mainly cosmetic, with sticky leaves on windows and doors, and eaves, etc, plus ‘stuff’ all over the yard.
We are really lucky that it seems that all we have lost is the greenhouse. We are pretty much in agreement we will salvage what we can and dispose of the rest.
I’m hopeful that we can do the clean up a bit at a time, rather than my husband wearing his Energizer Bunny hat and deciding we can do it all in one day….
On the way to Lunch Bunch this morning, there were some large limbs of two trees all the way across the road. While we were sitting there trying to figure out what to do, a lady on a tractor came up behind us and then passed us. She had some fork thingies on the front and used them to lift the branches and then move them to the right into the ditch! We have no idea who she was, but she sure was wonderful.
I’m resting a bit before doing a first session in the yard. I’m going to give myself a star for my activity in picking up limbs and raking up leaves instead of doing my elliptical practice today.
I hope things are good where you are.
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance, Mother Nature
creativeartworksblog 